Is population increase the cause of our problems? — Another view
Dr Kwaku Yeboah Kesse, in expressing his opinion on the above question as the headline of an article he wrote in the August 17, 2016 issue of the Daily Graphic, raised an issue about the impact of population growth on the nation.
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He strenuously argued that upon all the noise people made about increase in population, the growth itself had a lot to offer after all.
No one would doubt the other positive aspect of population growth. However, the point Dr Kesse raised in support of his argument flies in the face of fact and reality upon careful examination.
Looking back 16 years ago, when I came out of university, gives me a clear picture of the extent to which our numbers keep increasing in the country.
All the children in JHS in Ghana, both in the public and private schools, including all others below their age, were not on earth by then. They run into millions of people now, stretching the frontiers of Ghana’s population. Is the adverse impact of this growth on our environment and the finite resources it contains not real?
If the argument is that the earth has the capacity to contain the situation, and also with advancement in science and technology, we can extract more resources to take care of any increase in our numbers irrespective of the size as he suggested with reference to Zimmermann, then Dr Kesse is overlooking all the evidence which point to the fact that upward increase of our numbers, if not controlled, has the tendency to pose a bigger threat to our environment and its resources, and our very survival on this planet.
The fact that nations are coming together to integrate under international co-operations does not imply that the intention is to increase human numbers within their respective countries or the world in general. The realisation of the adverse impact growth in population is having on our common good, and finding solutions to these challenges are what is bringing regional, continental and global integrations.
Even just making an attempt at checking population growth comes with a lot of benefits. And if Dr Kesse would care to know, that is what makes the difference between countries that are rich and those that are poor. One reason why poor countries tend to have big populations is that under harsh poverty, child survival is not assured. Diseases and malnutrition or violence may claim the lives of many children, leaving parents with no one to look after them in their old age. Having many children ensures survival of some of the children and also social security for the parents in future.
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An attempt to reduce the population would require ensuring food security and access to quality health care (ensuring a reduction in death rate) and education (ensuring a reduction in birth rate as it results in security, urbanisation and improvement in the status of women). Advanced countries have trod that path and have reaped the benefits, enjoying manageable populations within their respective countries.
Lastly, far from aiding wealth creation, population growth drags down per capita income, posing challenges to economic growth. In a situation where it creates larger markets, those who take advantage of the situation are always few. Where families are large and most of the adults have low life expectancy, the large numbers of children who are not very productive but are a sizable part of the population, slow down wealth accumulation on per capita basis.
To argue that states should countenance population increase within their boundaries may seem the cheapest and often politically acceptable course in the short run but in reality the most expensive in the long run.
Teshie Nungua, Accra
Lawmat2014@Gmail.Com
0241 995510