The growing burden of overpopulation
Thursday, 25 June 2009
Amirul Islam
AWARENESS about population control guided the policies in Bangladesh since the time of Pakistan in the sixties. The successes from population control activities were then remarkable and the same trend continued for sometime in the post-Independence period. The population growth rate declined from above 3.0 per cent in the seventies to below 2.0 per cent now, it is officially stated.
But whether or not the policy planners can now remain complacent with this limited success in population control is already a big question. With its population density highest in the world, Bangladesh is a study in contrasts with its small territory having to support a disproportionately big population.
The projections of Bangladesh's population growth, released on the occasion of the last World Population Day, are indeed worrisome. The population would double to 280 million at the current rate of growth by 2080 and reach 180 million as early as 2020. So, the challenge for this country in this area is obvious. But population control has unfortunately featured not in a befitting manner in the list of priorities of the new government. The population problem is bound to cause great harm in the longer term. Prudence requires taking of effective steps in this area, and immediately, to check growth. Otherwise, an enormous challenge would offset the gains of economic development in decades.
Some people try to downplay the magnitude of the problem of overpopulation facing Bangladesh. They do it pointing at the growing agricultural productivity, particularly of the cereals that, so long, maintained a balance of sorts between population growth and food supply. But there are limits to productivity rises. The economic laws cannot ignore the reality of saturation points in productivity. Bangladesh's growing land scarcity caused by conflicting demands of housing and industrialisation can make the problem acute with agriculture getting less and less land. There is hardly a sector that is not being strained by the burden of overpopulation. The pressure on the economy would only multiply if the population is allowed to grow unchecked at the current rate of 1.48 per cent a year. The population would then reach 180 million in only ten years.
The fast growing population is pulling its pressure on natural resources including food, the forests and the environment. The standard of life in the country is bound to deteriorate due to population pressure. Unless checked, the pressure would cause social tension and a steady slide in the standard of living. The signs, showing up in Bangladesh, are worrying enough, making the case stronger for going for the deterrent so that such problems with their ugly faces aggregate further.
It is fanciful to say that a big population, which continues to grow, can be turned into human resources. But the realities of illiteracy, hunger and deprivation make the population large measures remain more a liability than assets. And unchecked population growth will only add to the burden.
The official population control programme needs complete revamping. The new government should pay focused attention to the population control activities.
AWARENESS about population control guided the policies in Bangladesh since the time of Pakistan in the sixties. The successes from population control activities were then remarkable and the same trend continued for sometime in the post-Independence period. The population growth rate declined from above 3.0 per cent in the seventies to below 2.0 per cent now, it is officially stated.
But whether or not the policy planners can now remain complacent with this limited success in population control is already a big question. With its population density highest in the world, Bangladesh is a study in contrasts with its small territory having to support a disproportionately big population.
The projections of Bangladesh's population growth, released on the occasion of the last World Population Day, are indeed worrisome. The population would double to 280 million at the current rate of growth by 2080 and reach 180 million as early as 2020. So, the challenge for this country in this area is obvious. But population control has unfortunately featured not in a befitting manner in the list of priorities of the new government. The population problem is bound to cause great harm in the longer term. Prudence requires taking of effective steps in this area, and immediately, to check growth. Otherwise, an enormous challenge would offset the gains of economic development in decades.
Some people try to downplay the magnitude of the problem of overpopulation facing Bangladesh. They do it pointing at the growing agricultural productivity, particularly of the cereals that, so long, maintained a balance of sorts between population growth and food supply. But there are limits to productivity rises. The economic laws cannot ignore the reality of saturation points in productivity. Bangladesh's growing land scarcity caused by conflicting demands of housing and industrialisation can make the problem acute with agriculture getting less and less land. There is hardly a sector that is not being strained by the burden of overpopulation. The pressure on the economy would only multiply if the population is allowed to grow unchecked at the current rate of 1.48 per cent a year. The population would then reach 180 million in only ten years.
The fast growing population is pulling its pressure on natural resources including food, the forests and the environment. The standard of life in the country is bound to deteriorate due to population pressure. Unless checked, the pressure would cause social tension and a steady slide in the standard of living. The signs, showing up in Bangladesh, are worrying enough, making the case stronger for going for the deterrent so that such problems with their ugly faces aggregate further.
It is fanciful to say that a big population, which continues to grow, can be turned into human resources. But the realities of illiteracy, hunger and deprivation make the population large measures remain more a liability than assets. And unchecked population growth will only add to the burden.
The official population control programme needs complete revamping. The new government should pay focused attention to the population control activities.