This week the ecotrain asked for our views concerning population. Whether or not we think the world is overpopulated. And if it is, how do we tackle it?
The topic of population is a really interesting one, and different people have different ideas which have been formed as a result of various factors. I happen to come from Nigeria, and depending on what part you're in, you may have different thoughts on whether it is overpopulated or not.
Is the world overpopulated?
Now the total land mass which is just about 30% of the earth is approximately 57.3 million sq miles, 33% of it is the desert, and 24% of it is the mountains which normally are not conducive for us. So that's a whole 57% of the land that we can't live in. The remaining 43% which is habitable is approximately 24.6 million sq miles. Now the total population of the earth is approximately 7.9 billion. If we divide the land by the number of people we get 0.0031 sqr miles which is approximately 2 acres (bigger than a football field) per person. This is not entirely accurate as I can't take buildings and other structures into account, but still the amount of land is enough to contain all of us.
It is quite clear there's enough land so perhaps it is food that is scarce. Nope. We produce more than enough food to feed everyone in the world.
So why does it feel like we are becoming overpopulated? Even though we clearly aren't based on the statistics. The major problem is lack of proper management.
Now food is not being distributed properly, some have more than enough, while some barely have anything. And those who have more than enough tend to waste it. 30-40% of our food is wasted annually. Some restaurants in developed countries were found to throw away food rather than donate it, in order to save transportation costs. Some of the foods get spoiled because they are not preserved.
Now food is not the only thing that's being mismanaged. There's also mismanagement of space. Everyone is squeezing themselves into a very small space. When some of the land that's still habitable is yet to be reclaimed. In the end it gets too cramped up and there's a struggle for social amenities.
Lack of family planning (very prevalent here in Nigeria) is another factor. You see a man that can barely take care of himself and his wife deciding to have 6 kids. In the end he's unable to take care of them and they suffer and struggle a lot to get the basic needs of every child. This may seem small scale at first, but when a thousand incompetent parents give birth to six children each that's six thousand people struggling to find food and and shelter. In the end some of them would die, some would become a nuisance to society, and only a few will actually have a successful life.
Now these are global stats and views. If you were to ask me personally before I did some research, I'd say the world was definitely suffering from overpopulation, especially here in Lagos. There's always traffic, the buildings are small, and there's always heat even when it's cold. As far as resources, I can't really tell whether they're harder to get as there's really nothing I can measure it with. And Family planning is totally dependent on who you're asking. Some agree with it and some don't. All that being said, it's all poor management.
What are my solutions?
My major solutions to these problems is proper planning. Like I said earlier, The world is nowhere near overpopulation (on a global scale) . It's only a matter of how our resources are being managed. There's more than enough resources to go round we just need to actually move it around.
My first advice would be for land reclamation to be done to create more space. If we spread out a bit into the available land they'll be less congested.
Food wastage should be a punishable offense, and food distribution should be encouraged. If food wasters are punished and or fined, they'll be less wastage of food. And those who distribute food could get little rewards to encourage their efforts.
Also, family planning should be taught to all couples and they must make sure they're able to support their children before bringing them into this world. They could even do regular checks and if a child is not provided with the basic needs they are taken into care homes where they'll be taken care of properly.
I think if these little ideas I have were implemented properly the world would be a better place. Thank you for reading.
This is my entry to the ecotrain prompt. If you're interested in participating click here