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Population

POPULATION

“Population and levels of economic activity have increased more rapidly in the last four decades than at any time in human history. Since
1950, world population has grown from 2.5 billion to 6 billion. Most of that growth has taken place in LDCs, where 77% of the world’s
people now live. (Human Development Report 1992: p13)”

Facts
There are huge regional variations in population growth rates:
Between 1975 and 1997 the UK had an average annual population growth rate 0.2% and it’s projected to be less than 0.1% for
the 1997-2015 period.
In some countries population growth rates are ZERO or even NEGATIVE, which means the number of people are staying the
same or decreasing. E.g. Latvia registered an average annual population decline of 0.4% for 1993-2000.
In the LDCs occurs the fastest population growth. They suffer from over-population, too many people for the resources
available.
Africa has the fastest growing-population of any region. Its average fertility rate –no. of children born per woman- is more than
five. At the beginning of the 20th century Africa’s population was 118 million or 7.4% of the world population. By 1997 it was
approx. 778.5 million, more than 13% of the world’s population. By 2025 its population is estimated to be 1,453 million people,
18%.
Asia is the world’s most populous region with more than half the world’s population: 3,6 billion people. Bangladesh has the
highest population density in the world with 803 people per square kilometre.
The prediction of world’s population in 2050 is 8.9 billion. This calculation includes the impact of HIV/AIDS which, in countries
like Botswana and Zimbabwe has cut life expectancy by only 20 years.
In Europe and North America, sperm counts have fallen by over 50% since the 1930s, due possibly to unknown toxins in the
environment!!! If this continues, the problem in these areas won’t be over-population but under-population –too few people for
the resources available.

Family Planning
Population growth can be reduced by widespread voluntary use of family planning. Although there is much resistance to it –
religious, cultural, financial, educational and logistical- without family planning women have little or no control over the number
of children they have or when they have them. Family planning facilities give women the opportunity both to limit the number of
children they have and to decide when to have them.
The costs of providing contraceptives are very small compared to the costs of providing food, education and healthcare for
thousands of children from unplanned births. At the UN’s Conference on Population and Development in 1994, governments
agreed to make family planning universally available by 2015. Over $17 billion dollars is needed for this but so far they have
only provided $9 billion. More political will is needed to make it become reality.
Source: Peace Child International, Sustainable Human Development (London: Evans, 2002)

Case Studies
THE MACHAKOS MIRACLE
Place: Kenya; capital: Nairobi
Area: 580,367 sq km
Population: 33,842,000
Most people believe that rapid population growth results in soil degradation, forest clearance and ultimate desertification of a
dryland region. The Machakos District in Kenya tells a very different story. Between 1932-1990 the population grew from 240,000
to 1,400,000. In 1930 soil degradation was a big worry. However, as the population grew, more people were available to construct
terraces to conserve soil. By the 1980s over 8,500 km of terraces were being constructed each year –a process described as the
Machakos Miracle. In addition, land values rose with the population, encouraging investment in high-yielding crops, integrating
arable and livestock farming, and improving market infrastructure. This raised more money which enabled investment in schools
and healthcare services, plus more indigenous and external advice on soil conservation. Between 1930 and 1987 arable land
productivity rose six-fold; horticulture production rose fourteen-fold. Machakos demonstrates that a large population can be
sustained through a combination of technological change, forward-thinking policies, and lots of local initiative and commitment.
(HDR 1998: p74)

POPULATION CONTROL IN CHINA

Place: China; capital: Beijing
Area: 9,572,678 sq km
Population: 1,276,953,000
China has a population of 1.2 billion according to the national census conducted in 2000. Population growth in rural areas has been
higher than in urban areas so that now the rural population makes up 73.6% of the country’s total.
In the 1970s family planning was introduced and the government encouraged each couple to have only one child. In urban areas
couples, especially those who are well educated, usually follow the rules and have only one baby. This is also due to pressure from
couples, especially those who are well educated, usually follow the rules and have only one baby. This is also due to pressure from
work. Some women working for foreign enterprises do not dare to become pregnant, especially when they have been promoted to a
higher position, in case they lose their jobs.
In rural areas, where there is much poverty, couples have many babies. If you ask why they dare to violate the family planning
policy they may say they need a son but their wife always gives birth to daughters. If the government wants to give them a fine
they say they have no money.
One of the problems with China’s family planning policy is that now the number of boys exceeds that of girls. Traditional Chinese
culture says that the man is the master of the family so couples often want to give birth to a boy instead of a girl. In the past, when
a pregnant woman found she had conceived a girl, sometimes her family persuades her to have an abortion. To overcome this, in
1999 the Chinese government set out a rule that no hospital should tell a pregnant woman the sex of her conceived baby.
Zhao Yongli, 25, China

USEFUL WEB SITES

POPULATION
www.undp.org/un/habitat (http://www.undp.org/un/habitat)
www.populationconcern.org.uk (http://www.populationconcern.org.uk/) Working for the Right to Reproductive Health Worldwide