Lesson 3: Addressing Problems Related to Rapid Population Growth

Lesson 3: Addressing Problems Related to Rapid Population Growth

World Population: 1950-2050

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1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020 2030 2040 2050

The worlds population is increasing rapidly, especially in developing countries like the Philippines. This brings about enormous problems relating to adequate food supply, availability of land and water, energy and acceptable standards of living for the majority of the population.

In 1994, representatives from 179 countries convened to form an international agreement to put population concerns at the center of all economic, political and environmental activities. The goal was to address the critical challenges and interrelationships between population and development. Collectively, the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) has agreed on the following programs of action:

Universal access to primary educationReduction of infant and child mortalityReduction of maternal mortalityAccess to reproductive and sexual health services including family planning

After five years of program implementation, the ICPD program of action was reviewed and additional 4 programs were included to benchmark on the following:

Education and literacyReproductive health care and unmet need for contraceptionMaternal mortality reductionHIV/AIDS prevention

The member states of the United Nations including the Philippines met in September 2000. the body adopted the Millennium Declaration, which is actually a commitment of the international community to sustain social and economic progress in all countries. The development goals are as follows:

Eradicate extreme poverty and hungerAchieve universal primary educationPromote gender equality and empower womenReduce child mortalityImprove womens reproductive healthCombat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases Ensure environmental sustainabilityDevelop goals partnership for development

How far has the Philippines gone in achieving the ICPD and MDG? The 2003 National Demographic and Health Survey has statistical data to show and to report the achievements of the program as well as the unmet needs

In terms of universal access to reproductive health services, the 2003 NDHS reports that fertility is highest among the less educated, the poor, and those in the rural areas. The actual fertility is higher than the desired fertility. Over 60% of currently marries women want to have 2.5 children (actual fertility rate) but the total fertility rate is 3.5 per woman. This could be explained by the fact that those who were surveyed really intended to have fewer children but did not use any family planning methods, religion, access to free services, mens participation in reproductive health and poverty.

Maternal mortality is reduces due to antenatal care visits of the mothers to clinics and the birth occurs in health facilities rather than at home where rural folks normally do.

In dealing with HIV/AIDS and other diseases, the 2003 NDHS survey showed a high level of awareness but misconceptions still flourished. Two of the misconceptions are on HIV transmission through sharing of food with someone infected with virus and mosquito bites. These misconceptions add to the discrimination and stigmatization of people living with the infection

The survey also showed the overall practices and attitudes of Filipinos with communicable diseases such as dengue fever, leprosy and malaria and non-communicable diseases such as cancer and diabetes.

Most of the respondents are aware of dengue prevention through removal of breeding places of mosquitoes, elimination of mosquitoes, use of mosquito places nets, mosquito coils and intake of medicines

Twenty Six Percent (26%) of those who were surveyed are not aware that leprosy spreads from one person to another through skin-to-skin transmision.

Filipino households are said to be knowledgeable about non-communicable diseases such as cancer whose symptoms may be a lump or a mass; diabetes which could be acquired through eating sweets and fatty foods which leads to obesity, which in turn makes the person prone to develop diabetes mellitus II

The government, in its effort to attain the development goals, can only do so much. People need to cooperate, learn, participate and avail the benefits from the various programs which are actually designed to uplift their standards of living and live a happy quality life.

Problems Related to Rapid Growth Population

Why rapid population growth is a problem?Population growth remains rapid in many poor countries. For example, the population of West Africa is expanding at an annual rate of 2.6 % and is expected to more than quadruple in size by the end of the century. The projected addition of one billion people to the regions current population of 320 million is an obstacle to development and makes it difficult to be optimistic about the future of this and other regions with similar demographic and socio-economic conditions. There are several reasons for concern:

-Environmental degradation: Global environmental problems (e.g. climate change, decreasing biodiversity) receive much media and scientific attention in the West, but are not a high priority for policy makers in poor countries, except where substantial populations live in low lying coastal areas (e.g. Bangladesh). Instead, most developing countries have critical local environmental problems that require urgent attention, including shortages of fresh water and arable land, and water, air and soil pollution. Environmental stresses have been building up over time and are likely to become much more severe as populations and economies expand further.

-Economic stagnation: In poor societies population sizes often double in two or three decades. As a result, industries, housing, schools, health clinics, and infrastructure must be built at least at the same rate in order for standards of living not to deteriorate. Many communities are unable to keep up, as is evident from high unemployment rates, explosive growth of slum populations, overcrowded schools and health facilities and dilapidated public infrastructure (i.e. roads, bridges, sewage systems, piped water, electric power, etc)

In addition, rapidly growing populations have young age structures. The resulting low ratio of workers to dependents depresses standards of living and makes it more difficult to invest in the physical and human capital needed for expanding economies. The size of the formal labor force is also limited by the need for women to remain at home to take care of large families.

-Maternal mortality: High birth rates imply frequent childbearing throughout the potential reproductive years. Each pregnancy is associated with a risk of death, and this risk rises with age of the mother and the order of the pregnancy. In the least developed countries the life-time risk of dying from pregnancy related causes is near 5% and many more women suffer related health problems or disabilities.

-Political unrest: Half the population of the least developed world is under age 20. Unemployment is widespread because economies are unable to provide jobs for the rapidly growing number of young people seeking to enter the labour force. Vigorous competition for limited numbers of jobs leads to low wages which in turn contributes to poverty. The presence of large numbers of unemployed and frustrated males likely contributes to socio-economic tensions, high crime rates and political instability.

Of course, population growth is not the only or even the main cause of poverty in the developing world. Nevertheless population growth has pervasive adverse effects on societies and hinders development efforts. Poor countries would be better off with lower population growth rates.

Economic DevelopmentEmployment

ProblemsEnvironment Food

Education

Health Services

Population growth has outstripped increases in foodproduction.The per capita food productionDROPPED because of high population growth rate.

It is estimated that at lea half of ourchildren are either MALNOURISHED or UNDERNOURISHED.

If we are to avoid having billions of people alive but INADEQUATELY FED, we will need to at least triple the present food supply.

This could be enhanced bybringing new land under cultivationmaking better use of land already cultivatedincreasing the food supply of food taken from water sources from producing non-agricultural foodimproving the processing and distribution of foodpersuading people to eat food

NOW COSIDERABLE INEDIBLE &WASTED

MORE schools, classrooms andother materials to be needed by thechildren.The quality of education isdifficult to measure.

Substantial portion of the effort and money devoted. to primary education is wasted.

Statements onrecord by the Secretary of Education Jesli Lapus lament a

Why rapid population growth is a problem?Population growth remains rapid in many poor countries. For example, the population of West Africa is expanding at an annual rate of 2.6 % and is expected to more than quadruple in size by the end of the century. The projected addition of one billion people to the regions current population of 320 million is an obstacle to development and makes it difficult to be optimistic about the future of this and other regions with similar demographic and socio-economic conditions. There are several reasons for concern:

-Environmental degradation: Global environmental problems (e.g. climate change, decreasing biodiversity) receive much media and scientific attention in the West, but are not a high priority for policy makers in poor countries, except where substantial populations live in low lying coastal areas (e.g. Bangladesh). Instead, most developing countries have critical local environmental problems that require urgent attention, including shortages of fresh water and arable land, and water, air and soil pollution. Environmental stresses have been building up over time and are likely to become much more severe as populations and economies expand further.

-Economic stagnation: In poor societies population sizes often double in two or three decades. As a result, industries, housing, schools, health clinics, and infrastructure must be built at least at the same rate in order for standards of living not to deteriorate. Many communities are unable to keep up, as is evident from high unemployment rates, explosive growth of slum populations, overcrowded schools and health facilities and dilapidated public infrastructure (i.e. roads, bridges, sewage systems, piped water, electric power, etc)

In addition, rapidly growing populations have young age structures. The resulting low ratio of workers to dependents depresses standards of living and makes it more difficult to invest in the physical and human capital needed for expanding economies. The size of the formal labour force is also limited by the need for women to remain at home to take care of large families.

-Maternal mortality: High birth rates imply frequent childbearing throughout the potential reproductive years. Each pregnancy is associated with a risk of death, and this risk rises with age of the mother and the order of the pregnancy. In the least developed countries the life-time risk of dying from pregnancy related causes is near 5% and many more women suffer related health problems or disabilities.

-Political unrest: Half the population of the least developed world is under age 20. Unemployment is widespread because economies are unable to provide jobs for the rapidly growing number of young people seeking to enter the labor force. Vigorous competition for limited numbers of jobs leads to low wages which in turn contributes to poverty. The presence of large numbers of unemployed and frustrated males likely contributes to socio-economic tensions, high crime rates and political instability.

Of course, population growth is not the only or even the main cause of poverty in the developing world. Nevertheless population growth has pervasive adverse effects on societies and hinders development efforts. Poor countries would be better off with lower population growth rates.

Population growth is a choice, not an inexorable force of nature.If we wish to, we can keep our population at sustainable levels. If we don't, the forces of biology, technology and economics will keep us growing. Our descendants will not see the stars at night, have the prosperous lifestyles we can aspire to today, know farms and forests, experience wilderness and the incredible other species on the planet.

The Facts:More than 7 billion people currently inhabit the planet, compared to only 3 billion in 1967. Every year about 135 million people are born and 55 million people die, adding 80 million to our global population. That's about one United States every 4 years, or 1 billion more every 12 years. Almost half of the global population is under the age of 25 and their decisions during their reproductive years will determine whether we have 6 billion or 14 billion people by 2100.Each person uses far more land than the few feet they actually occupy. We use cropland to grow food, grazing land for meat and dairy, oceans for fishing and oxygen generation, forests for lumber and carbon sequestration, and developed land for habitation, transportation and commerce. This is our Global Footprint. For an average European or American lifestyle, it is 10-20 acres per person.

Population growth is a root cause of manyenvironmental and social problems:These range from life-threatening to simply disruptive. They include:Over 1 billion people do not have enoughfoodandsafe drinking water.Global warmingis disrupting our ecosystems and threatening billions of people with dislocation.Energy sources, from wood to oil, are becoming scarcer and harder to reach or extract.Due to population pressures, people now live in areas that are basically unsafe. Hundred of thousands of people died in 2010-2011 because they lived on floodplains in Pakistan or by the tsunami-prone coast of Japan.These regions were sparsely populated 30 years ago.Population growth shares complex ties to poverty and inequality, exacerbating the gap between the wealthy and the poor, and complicating access to Earth's finite resources.In the U.S.alone, sprawl destroys 2.2 million acres of farmland, ranchland and forest every year.Americans spend an average of 55 workdays (2200 hours) per year stuck in traffic.

The solutions are things we should be doing anyway:As Martin Luther King Jr. said: "Unlike plagues of the dark ages or contemporary diseases we do not understand, the modern plague of overpopulation is soluble by means we have discovered and with resources we possess. What is lacking is not sufficient knowledge of the solution but universal consciousness of the gravity of the problem and education of the billions who are its victim."

Here are5 thingsthat will reverse population growth nationally and worldwide.Empower women and families to plan how many children they want. About 200 million women in the world would prefer to delay having children but do not have access to contraceptives and reproductive healthcare. With modern life-saving medicine has come modern contraception. We need to provide services and accurate information to the people who really want it, and elect politicians who promise to do so both in the United States and worldwide.

Education and job opportunities, especially for women. These are critical components for alleviating poverty, gender inequality and overpopulation. Studies have found that when women have moreeducationandjob opportunities, they choose to have smaller families, and are able to invest more in each child which helps break the cycle of poverty. Ask our politicians and international organizations to help provide education and jobs worldwide.

Awareness of environmental and social cost of overpopulation.Our population is already above a sustainable level, and in many regions well above a safe and prosperous level. As people became aware of this in the 60's and 70's many people chose to have smaller families. Kids are truly wonderful, and caring for them is a challenging and rewarding experience. But parents can keep in mind that every person must be cared for within the constraints of the local and global environment.

Social norms. Refrain from pressuring people to have children if they are not ready or prefer to remain childless. Some cultures value large families. This often suited a sparsely-populated farming or pastoral region, and sometimes remains as a holdover from those times. Measures can be taken to model and emphasize the benefits of smaller families. Let's not glorify teen pregnancy with TV shows and tabloid magazines. Additionally in affluent countries, we need to shift away from a culture of excess and unsustainable consumption.

Economic forces. Most people take their economic situation into consideration when planning their families. If they do not have housing and jobs they delay starting families. Birthrates rose during the housing bubble begining in 2002, but when the bubble burst and the 2008 recession began, birthrates dropped. Better economic policies in conjunction with slowing population growth worldwide, can help increase global prosperity. Our usual measure of economic progress, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has a built-in tie to population growth (i.e. more people means more economic transactions). This means GDP can rise with population while median household income (and well-being) actually declines! With the wrong measures we set the wrong goals.

Thank you For Watching BY: ROBEE