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Shiren Nzegge-Ekane
Concordia University, MPH program
Population Controversy in the Developing and Developed Nations
12/04/14
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A population is the whole number of people or inhabitants in a country (MerriamWebster.com, 2014). The World’s population has been and still skyrocketing. According to the
Population Reference Bureau (PRB.org) (2014), Asia happens to be the most populated continent
in the world which will increase from 4.4 billion to 5.3 billion between now and 2050
respectively, and followed by Africa with 1.1 billion now and 2.5billion by 2050, respectively
(PRB.org, 2014). Meanwhile, the United States and other developed nations have just hundreds
of million people. This is about a quarter of what the developing nations have. Most developing
nations especially countries in Africa have been naturally blessed with resources that could
sustain their growing population but most developed nations lacking such abundant resources are
can sustain their population. The reason for such controversy will be discussed below. Also
strategies and programs that have worked hard to balance resource and population growth are
illuminated below.
Population growth as Malthus predicted is actually coming into effect. Although
Malthus’ theory was discredited due to the advent of advanced technology know-how in
agricultural and migration, some aspects of his theory still holds true (Schneider, 2014). There is
still scarcity of food, not enough clean water, lack of education or awareness of family planning
and technology in some parts of the world, as well as religious and cultural stigmatization, to
name a few. This has become a major challenge in public health. Food and water are essential
aspects for the growth and development of the human body. Without it, people can die of hunger
and starvation. Lack or dirty water can cause one to get sick of water borne illness (cholera and
diarrheal).
Most developing countries have enough natural resources that with the help of
technology can be able to sustain the population. But because of little or no technological
advancement, the resources are placed as a collateral security during demand for international aid
when there is a disease outbreak (Schneider, 2014). These resources are then converted to usable
products that are used in “fattening” the little population of the developed world while that of the
developing world suffer. A good example is the amount of food that Americans waste each year.
According to the Environmental Protection Agencies (EPA) (2014), “In 2012, Americans wasted
35 million tons of food (EPA.gov, 2014). Meanwhile, thousands of people in the developing
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world were dying of lack of food. Climatic change is another factor that has pulled the attention
of public health. Increase growth of population as well as human behavior has changed the
composition of Earth’s atmosphere by depleting the ozone layer known to protect us from
ultraviolet radiation. This can be seen through support made by Schneider (2014), stating that,
global warming resulted from change of the constituent molecules of the air, caused by the
famous “greenhouse effect” (production of health by absorption of sunlight by carbon dioxide)
(Schneider, 2014)
Due to lack of available resources, education, food, and more, crimes and violence have
skyrocketed. The number of homeless people have plummeted in the developing nation and
developed nation being the highest. Prostitution level is the same as homelessness. Such act can
lead to transmission of sexually transmitted diseases and Acquired Immune Deficiency
Syndrome (AIDS). More so, with increase population, human behavior can upset the carrying
capacity of the Earth (the population size that the earth can support without being degraded
(Schneider, 2014). As population goes up, the production of waste plummeted; making it
difficult for the government to treat waste properly and pollution is always the consequences.
However, there is still hope in alleviating the effects of the increasing global population.
There have been a large number of solutions to the population growth problem. Although
some have not been all that successful, others have shown promising efforts in alleviating the
effects or balancing the population with the available resources. Among them is the President’s
teen Pregnancy Prevention Initiative (TPPI) that targets teenagers, especially females, by
educating them on preventive measures about early pregnancy (CDC.gov, 2014). Also, the
Canadian International development Agency (CIDA), has increased food insecurity by
mobilizing sustainable agricultural development, food and nutrition, research on agricultural
method like irrigation , and available funds from the world bank (ACDI_CIDA.gc.ca, 2014).
This effort is targeted mostly to the rural regions of the developing nations since it has the most
number of the population. There is also the Rockefeller foundation, which has aided in
implementing better smallholder irrigation technology system and improving existing ones
which together will help in better agriculture techniques. Additionally, the Bill and Melinda
Gates foundation have funded awareness programs that will educate young women on family
planning, use of contraceptives and employment (gatesfoundation.org, 2014).
Education is always the key to everything because with African men and women getting
advanced education, they will prefer a family of not more than four just like the way the
American culture is structured (Schneider, 2014). Some governments in the developing nations
have strived to buy the new technology that will help provide enough clean fresh water system
despite the cost (Roudi-Fahimi et al., 2002). By providing enough jobs to the developing and
developed nations, many youths will be able to focus on building their career goal rather than
making babies (Delvin, 2003). These are just a piece of the iceberg of the efforts to stabilize
population growth.
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The population growth in the developing world, with little technology compared with the
abundant technology but little population of the developed world, have caught the attention of
public health. The reason is lack of technology to use in harnessing some of the products they
need from the available natural resources. Another reason is lack of education, job, and money.
The effects and consequences that come with it is the most troubling. There is the burst of crime
and violence, prostitution, disease, most of all deaths. Even though it may seems like all hope is
lost, organizations like the Bill and Melinda foundations, Rockefeller foundation, CIDA, CDC,
governments, to name the few, have tremendously alleviate most of the effect brought by
increase population growth. I think with these, population will drop in most developing
countries, that is if they practice what they are being taught in the family planning programs.
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Resources:
Merriam-Webster.com. 2014. Definition of Population. Retrieved at http://www.merriamwebster.com/dictionary/population
PRB.org. 2014. Population Data. Retrieved at http://www.prb.org/wpds/2014/
Schneider. 2014. Introduction to Public Health (Fourth Ed.)
EPA.gov. 2014. Ten Key facts about Wasted Food. Retrieved at http://www2.epa.gov/foodrecovery-week/10-key-facts-about-wasted-food
CDC.gov. 2014. Integrating Services, Programs, and Strategies Through Communitywide
Initiatives (CWI): The President’s Teen Pregnancy Prevention Initiative. Retrieved at
http://www.cdc.gov/teenpregnancy/PreventTeenPreg.htm
ACDI_CIDA.gc.ca. 2014. Increasing Food Insecurity. Retrieved at http://www.acdicida.gc.ca/inet/images.nsf/vluimages/youth-and-children/$file/food-security-strategye.pdf
Gatesfoundation.org. 2014. Family Planning Strategy Overview. Retrieved at
http://www.gatesfoundation.org/What-We-Do/Global-Development/Family-Planning
Roudi-Fahimi, Creel, and Souza. 2002. Finding the Balance: Population and Water Scarcity in
the Middle East and North Africa. Retrieved at
http://www.prb.org/Publications/Reports/2002/FindingtheBalancePopulationandWaterSc
arcityintheMiddleEastandNorthAfrica.aspx
Delvin. 2013. Reducing Youth Unemployment in Sub-Saharan Africa. Retrieved at
http://www.prb.org/Publications/Articles/2013/youth-unemployment-africa.aspx