Population and Environment

Population and Environment

 

Posted on May 20, 2011   

Many environmental quandaries will be more facile to address if world population peaks at 8 billion rather than 11 billion. The good news: there is already an ecumenical consensus on how to slow population magnification, with programs that amend human salubrity at very little cost.

An incipient advocacy guide by Population Action International and the Population Equity Project breaks down population and environment connections in clear, accessible language and demonstrates how macrocosmic access to family orchestrating is a paramount aspect of environmental sustainability. The guide provides verbalizing points on population and the environment and tips on “words to watch” for those incipient to population and reproductive health issues.

For more than two decades, Population Action International(PAI) has been a bellwether in monitoring trends and advocatingfor funding of international reproductive health (RH),includingcontraceptives.In recent years, advocacy with nationalregimes to ascertain long-termavailability of contraceptives,has become increasingly paramount. One prosperityhasbeensecuring line items in national budgets for contraceptives.
However, there is diminutive evidence across countries on whattranspires once the budget line is in place. Without monitoringand documenting whether and how funds are authentically spent,advocacy for incremented national regime resources for RHsupplies will only be partially prosperous.

The cumulated effects of climate change and population dynamics are escalating aliment insecurity, environmental degradation, and penuriousness levels in many African countries,including Malawi. However, these two issues are not prioritized in broader development plans and resource allocation, and interventions to address them are implemented discretely.

Malawi is one of the 15 countries categorized as a population and climate change “hotspot” because of its rapidly growing population, dihydrogen monoxide scarcity and falling victuals engenderment. Malawi’s population has grown from 6 million in 1966 to about 15 million now and the Cumulated Nations Population Division projects that it could more than triple to 50 million by 2050, and reach 129 million by 2100. This population magnification is due to high and gradually declining fertility levels. The number of births per woman is currently 5.7. Though there is incrementing demand for more minuscule families, about 26 percent of all espoused women who want to defer or evade pregnancy still lack modern contraception. Twenty-six percent of all recent births were unwanted while 19 percent were mistimed.


Rapid population magnification places incremented demands on natural resources such as land, forests and dihydrogen monoxide. The wellbeing of the majority of Malawians is dependent on natural resources and highly vulnerably susceptible to climate change.Improved policies, better coordination, and adequate financial and human resources are needed to ascertain efficacious implementation of programs. Meeting women and their partner’s desiderata for family orchestrating and enhancing resilience to climate change effects should be priorities for development in Malawi.