Introduction
Thomas Malthus, a notable demographer and economist, proposed a population growth theory almost over 200 years ago which still attracts much attention. His prediction mainly comprised of a time where population would outrun the food supply resulting in a decline in food per person. The outcome of such a situation is mass starvation. This theory was based on the fact that population grows at a geometric rate, if unrestrained, whereas food at an arithmetic rate, causing a scare of possible mass starvation.
Mass starvation, simply put, is the shortage of food supply for the masses ultimately resulting in death. It often arises due to the inability to exchange their precious possession, usually money, for food. The term “mass starvation” can also sometimes be used interchangeably with famine.
Overpopulation, of humans as well as animals, is a condition that arises when the number of inhabitants of a region exceeds the capacity that can be supported by that region. It may be because of high birth rates, reduction in the number of deaths due to advancement in medical facilities, depletion of resources or increasing immigration.
Mass starvation due to overpopulation, I believe, is a real danger for humans and steps need to be taken to prevent such a catastrophe. Overpopulation of mainly humans and to some extent of animals, contributes the greatest to the issue of mass starvation as seen in the recent times, thus proving Malthus’s theory to be correct.
Mass starvation, as seen in the light of Mathus’s theory, poses to be a real danger for people the world over. It generally affects all classes of the country or region where the shortage of food supply has occurred. However, there may be some regions that may be more severely affected than others.
Hunger mortality statistics have shown that 1 person dies every one second due to starvation. 4000 persons die every one hour. 100000 people die every day. Almost 36 million people die every year (Ziegler 2001).
History
The world population in the past 200 years or so has seen to be grown exponentially. It has been predicted that by the year 2600 population would be heightened at such a level that people would be standing shoulder to shoulder (Hawking 2007). Population of animals, including humans, in general has arisen tremendously over the past few decades.
In the year 1958, population outran the food supply resulting in severe shortages of food. Laws of demand and supply for food worked in such a way so as to drive up the food costs immensely. Inflation heightened. From then onwards, the world saw mass starvation in a number of regions. In 1966, the world population grew by about 70 million in a single year. The food supply however remained the same compared to the preceding year.
Fasted growth rates in population were seen during the 1950s for a short period in time. In 1960s and 1970s these growth rates were observed for longer periods of time. It is during the agricultural and industrialization periods that life expectancy was increased. Growth was maximized when better medical and sanitation facilities were provided to the masses. The gap between the rate of deaths and births widened to a great extent during this time. 1985-1990 was a time when population grew the fastest annually.
Africa, Ethiopia and India have seen some of the worst starvation periods in history. Africa has just crossed the 1 billion mark in population recently and India stands at number 2 in the world’s most populated countries. Other countries suffer starvation as a result of overpopulation are China, Pakistan, and a few other Asian countries. China is the world’s most populated country and Pakistan is in one of the top ten.
Causes and Effects
In recent times, third world countries are seen to be facing scarcity of food supplies due to their increasing population. These countries have a wide gap between the rich and the poor and it seems to be on the constant increase. This proves to be detrimental as a considerably major chunk of their population is left to starve and die eventually.
There are a number of drawbacks that arise as a result. U.S. is pressurized into producing more food in order to save the dying masses. These third world countries are becoming increasingly dependant on food aids supplied by developed countries since their food supplies are insufficient to support their population.
Developing countries rely heavily on food imports from the U.S. U.S. may be able to adhere to their needs for a while. But there is only so much it can do and the food imports are nowhere enough to what is actually required. U.S. agricultural surpluses are gone and the idea of increasing production in its already highly efficient agricultural system would not seem to work.
Another problem that has arisen is that due to the increasing production to meet the food shortages, the quality of farmlands is being compromised. Certain pests have come into existences that are immune to pesticides causing destruction of farmlands. Harmful chemicals like DDT find their way into the food chain which is hazardous for the masses.
In order to prevent the masses from starvation and famine, developed countries are striving for efficient and effective mechanisms to produce food in order to save the dying people. Increased industrialization and deforestation have occurred which has given way to numerous environmental problems. “Greenhouse effect” is one of them. Greenhouse effect results in global warming. Infrared radiations are trapped by greenhouse gases resulting in an increase in the global temperature (Brown, Laws 2003). Ozone layer is being depleted increasing the risk of people contracting diseases such as cancer.
Mass starvation also leads to a sort of rebound where more births take place in the post-starvation period, which is why population growth does not decrease. A long term effect of mass starvation might be emigration where people move out of regions with food shortages into areas where there is availability of food putting a pressure of those areas.
Numerous food riots are taking place in several regions of the world in order to acquire food supplies forcefully. Organizations that provide food supplies to people work with limited resources in order to counter the rising levels of food insecurity among the masses and face a number of difficulties.
Overpopulation of animals seen in the recent years has given way to lesser food available to humans. Farms can be destroyed by animals and they may eat away the crops grown to serve the masses dying of starvation. This worsens the problem of starvation. Grazing of animals and collection of firewood becomes a problem when stray animals are around.
Extinction of some animal and plant species has occurred due to deforestation in order to make use of land. It is also because of pollution of the ecological environment caused by increased human activities. Countries face a lot of other problems due to mass starvation. These are frustration, criminal activities, illegal means of acquiring foods and murder.
Following are some other consequences that may arise when overpopulated regions face mass starvation:
- Poverty
- Decreased levels of literacy rate
- Unemployment problems that may give rise to other social problems
- Malnourishment
- Diseases
- GDP is low
- Unhygienic living conditions
- War
- Pollution
The notion that technology is the solution to many problems is not always correct. Technology has further fuelled the population growth as it has helped in curing diseases and saving lives and increased food production because of increased fertilizer and pesticide usage (Hanauer 1998). In some cases, where technology may help, poor countries cannot afford it.
The Earth has only limited resources to offer. With overpopulation, it is almost impossible to have enough land to feed billions of people. Millions are left to starve as a result. And with unchecked population growth, these millions of people are soon turned into billions with the land losing its strength in producing food.
What Needs To Be Done?
A lot of work needs to be done in order to avoid the mass starvation catastrophe. The key to putting an end to mass starvation is undoubtedly the control of population growth levels. It seems to be the root cause of the problem.
Population growth may be controlled in a number of ways. The first and foremost step to take is educating people on family planning. This needs to be encouraged in third world countries as literacy rates are observed to be lower there compared to developed countries. Adults have been brought up in big families and they believe bigger families are their road to happiness. Population growth has detrimental effects on society and this fact needs to be pointed out to people. Family planning may be done by the use of contraceptives. These may include the use of condom, birth control pills, vaginal ring, and IUD (The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists 2009). People require greater and easy access to these facilities. Legalization of abortion may also control the levels of population growth to some extent. However, safe and hygienic ways must be ensured.
Women need to be encouraged on gaining higher education and becoming more career oriented, which would delay their marriage and hence reduce their fertility period. This would give them a chance to think more about themselves than their domestic lives.
As pointed out earlier, overpopulation is an effect of granting the right to immigration to people. The U.S. has seen an increase in its population mainly due to this reason. Therefore, the immigration policies need to be altered in order to avoid future problems.
Certain governmental policies may also be incorporated into the system in order to free the stress of overpopulated nations. The one child policy in China seems to work well for them. Similar steps should be taken by other countries. Certain measures should also be taken place in order to correct the consequences of overpopulated nations.
Farmers need support in order to enhance their food production. This can be done by giving them subsidized fertilizers and seed or even free of cost if possible in areas where food insecurity persists. U.S. and Europe have known to be doing this.
Food aid should be provided by stable developed countries in order to ease the problem of starvation in developing nations. Some organizations have played a very vital role in helping countries relieve from starvation problems. Agencies that provide direct help to individuals in the developing nations have proven to be beneficial. Some political organizations have also put a pressure on government in order to come up with policies that will reduce the starvation levels.
Developing environmental friendly technologies that would aid in production of food, yet not causing harm to the environment. Rewards may also be given out to companies incorporating environmental practices in their operations.
Education on self control is also extremely important. Awareness programs dealing with these issues, where the benefits of a lesser population are highlighted, should be encouraged all around the world.
A check needs to be put on animal overpopulation which gives some contribution to mass starvation of humans. Continuous hunting of these animals in order to satisfy food requirements may ultimately result in extinction of the animals. Whales came to a near extinction a few years back due to this reason. Animal overpopulation may also cause inconvenience in other aspects such as stray and dangerous dogs let lose on the streets, ill treatment of animals arising as a result of overpopulation. Controlled breeding, sterilization and neutering are a few steps to ensure safety and protection of the environment.
Better and efficient utilization of resources should take place. The resources of the Earth are limited as it is. They should under no circumstances go to waste.
Conclusion
Low population, no doubt, proves to be beneficial to the health of the society. A highly populated society leads to a very dangerous issue, that is, the problem of mass starvation. It is extremely difficult to take initiatives towards curbing population. However, change has become a necessity or else everyone in the world would suffer the problems of starvation.
The positive effects of population control methods if incorporated today would actually be observed in the next hundred years or so. Therefore, the plans must be put into action now or the world will face terrible consequences of mass starvation due to unchecked population growth as suggested by Thomas Malthus.
References
Jean Ziegler (2001). The Right to Food: Report by the Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food. Commission on Human Rights Resolution. United Nations. Pg. 5.
Kerry P. Browne, Priscilla W. Laws (2003). Exploring the greenhouse effect though physics-oriented activities. IOP Electronic Journals. Physics Education.
Michael G. Hanauer (1998). Overpopulation and Overconsumption: Where Should We Focus?. NPG Forum Series. Pg. 3.
Stephen Hawking (2007). Too Close for Comfort: Overpopulation. Jane Genovese. Chapter 4 pg. 38.
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (2009). Contraception. Fact Sheet: Tool Kit for Teen Care. Second Edition, pg. 2.