Malthus And Africa

Africa, cosmos a third initiation country with oft propagation economic oppression, is currently being debated in the General Assembly slightly whether or non it should have existence control. Many experts believe that, if non controlled, the rate of the increasing nation of Africa forget have disastrous effects. alone over two hundred years ago, a man by the work of Thomas Robert Malthus wrote an essay on the effects of creation and the nutriment tot up titled An Essay on the Principle of Population. This essay dealt with the change stateth of community and if not restrained, how it would destroy mans subsistence here on hide (Geyer 1).Much of what he wrote applies to not solo Africa, but in addition the constitutional world today. Currently, the universe of discourse growth in the Western Nations is approaching zero. This mode that each family is having 2. 1 children, enough to replace the current world. For North the States to double, it would take one hun dred years, for Europe, two hundred. But for Africa to double, it would take just twenty-four years. There argon many a(prenominal) factors as to why Africa, and many other third world countries, reproduces at such a rate.neediness of contraceptives, traditional values, high infant mortality, and poor education argon a few of these actors (Duffey 2). It is a lot easier for a country to deal with its problems if it has less(prenominal) pot, says Brian Hailwel, who studies Malthuss theories (Kolasky 1). Carl Haub who stated, It is almost impossible for a developing country to bunk from the Third World to the for the first time World when their universe is lift so rapidly defys Hailwels statement. Malthus believed that the evolution of mankind existed in speech rhythms.Good times occurred when there were high wages and good living conditions, which led to earlyish marriages and rapid population increase. Then come the bad times. Disease, low ages, and epidemics look at to po pulation decrease and a restored balance between population and resources. This cycle then repeats (Stundbia 4). He also felt that the Poor Laws, which attempted to reinforcing stimulus those whose incomes were too low to support themselves, were in the long run much harmful than helpful. This just leads to lower wages and families that can not support the children they already have bearing more.Many people seem to esteem that war, famine, and plague will help keep the worlds population restrained. These disasters be one of the two checks on the growth of population that Malthus identifies in An Essay on he Principle of Population. He called these two checks convinced(p) checks and preventative checks. Positive checks are famine, disease, and wars period preventive checks are celibacy, abortion, and slow marriages. Africa participates very little in the second check Malthus identifies due to antecedently stated reasons.When Malthus wrote his essay, he did not take into accou nt the impact engineering science would have on food production. Due to the Green Revolution which brought astir(predicate) the tractor, refrigeration, chemical fertilizers, and genetic engineering, there was a tremendous increase in food production. Until the mid-eighties, food production kept up with population growth. Since then, it has been steady declining. Grain production is declining due to soil erosion, water interpretlogging and salting of irrigated rural area, air pollution, water shortages, and overuse of land (Berntsen 3).Technological advances compensated for the loss of farmland. Even though less land can be used, more food is being produced. Unfortunately, there are many indications that the world is, at present, producing the level best come of food it is capable of. The combined effect of the loss of farmland and the peaking of consecrate er acre impose limitations. The same problem is in occurrence for the sum total production. Nearly all of the worlds r angelands are in use. Seventy-percent of the worlds annual meat is range fed while the other thirty-percent is grain fed.The only room for growth is in the grain fed, and that is estimated to only grow another forty-two percent (Berntsen 2). Fish are also on the decline as a reliable resource for food. The remnant of spawning grounds and the use of mile-long nylon nets has caused the overharvesting of the ocean. A five- percent increase is optimistic (Berntsen 3). The take of the present being the peak in food production while the population is still growing is frightening. If food were to be distributed equally, the food depict would be ten pounds per week.Currently, Americans eat seventeen pounds of food per week. When the world population reaches approximately eleven one thousand thousand in the year 2050, the food supply will be six to seven pounds per week, which is below the aim of food people eat who live in poverty today (Berntsen 1). Malthus believed that tether thing s cause the decline of living conditions the overpopulation of young the nability of resources to keep up with the rising gentle population and the irresponsibility of the lower class (Simison 2). Malthus suggested a ruler on the size of families of the lower class to fight this.Tunisia, which is located in Northern Africa, has introduced birth control with remarkable results. If overpopulation is not checked, it leads to the crowding of people and the fight for food and water. This, in turn, leads to genocide and other means that are normally considered inappropriate as acceptable (Geyer 2). Equilibrium is what Malthus ideal population should achieve. This is where the birth rate equals the death rate. When this is reached, wages will stay the same and any disturbances caused will have compensating changes (Stundbia 5).Malthus, who is credited for this idea, did not think the human population would ever achieve it. He figured that it would be exceeded, a positive check would res ult, and the cycle would start all over again. fetching Malthuss theories into account, the only thing that will help Africa economically is for the population to be repressed. In fact, for the next generation or two, the reproduction level should be below the replacement rate. This dramatically decreases the population, therefore increasing the chances it has to grow and develop.If Africas population is not repressed, there will not be enough food to feed the people living there. Even First World countries will be unable to help, because they will need all the food they can produce. A gruesome famine will occur, with thousands dead. Africa will experience a major setback and may possibly neer recover. I believe that much of Malthuss theory is correct. Much of the selective information he used in the seventeen hundreds was incorrect, but his ideas still apply. The cycles he explained have proven to occur. Almost all of the worlds land that can be used is being used to produce the maximum yield.Scientists have predicted the worlds growth to reach eleven billion by the year 2050 if left unchecked. Many have also concur that the maximum food supply is being produced. If countries such as Africa, whose population tripled from 1950 to today, do not curb their population growth, there will not be enough food to feed them, much less countries that are considerable better off economically. I also think that if Africa were to be educated and there was less oppression, the result would be lower population growth.The idea of allowing families to have only a certain amount of children is chastely wrong. Some people seem to think that Malthuss ideas are out(p) and do not apply to the world today. They consider him and what he thought to be dead. But, as Pablo Neruda once said, Everything that is buried is not dead (Geyer 1). He is still alive because his theories can still be applied to today. The consequences of not considering Malthuss theory as a real threat are too great. For life to exist as we know it, population must be repressed. If not, mans subsistence will be extinct.