Overpopulation should be top of the world’s ‘must-do’ environmental list. Nearly everything stems from this. Higher birth-rates put greater pressure on existing structures, thus necessitating further development. This is a driver in climate change, the loss of biodiversity and is a fundamental problem undermining the notion of sustainability – a concept that becomes more elusive every day.
Like a bus that gradually fills up, I appreciate that population increase isn’t always a bad thing. More passengers can be an asset if there is space. This youth bulge is a positive where education, social services and economic activity exists to build a workforce.
The central problem arises from the rate of growth and its location. This is where Africa arrives on the scene, its bus burdened by too many people, its driver all too willing to accept more fares. Nigeria has one of the highest birth rates in the world, not surprising when 92% of married women don’t use contraceptives and 55% say they never intend to. The fertility rate is 5.7 children per woman, and the women think 7 children is the ideal number. The population projection for Uganda also makes for interesting reading. It shows a country heading to a population of 96 million in 2050 from 31 million today. In a previous entry, I wrote about Niger, a country of 15.3 million people, on the verge of mass starvation this summer. Foreign aid covered 80% of Niger’s needs and narrowly averted famine. However, with a population growth of 3.6% and a projection of 50 million inhabitants by 2050, the future looks bleak.
What prospects do children enjoy when their country can’t build schools fast enough, train teachers fast enough and improve health care fast enough to harness the potential of its youth?
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