POPULATION AND SUSTAINABILITY

By Kawsu Ceesay

As at today, the global population stands at about 6.8 billion inhabitants. China and India together account for over a third of the current total. All around the globe, the various economies are facing difficulties related to population growth and sustainability. For example there is less water for every cattle herder in the horn of Africa, less land for farmers tilling the slopes and scarcer and higher priced energy and food. The global economy is down with massive job losses particularly in the Global North.

As we debate our way out of the current economic downturn and environmental crisis, we have to ask ouselves if downshift in human numbers will put the environment on a mvore sustainable path.My own guess is a BIG YES. However, it is not just a downshift in human numbers that will bring about sustainability but also the way we continue to behave. According to Robert Engelman, vice president for programmes at the Worldwatch Insttitute, the behaviour of a dozen people in one place sometimes has more environmental impact than that of a few hundred somewhere else.

Falling human numbers will immensely benefit environmental sustainability. And the way to achieve this is as follows:

1. to make sure that every woman bears a child in good health when she wants a child

2. all women and girls should have unlimited access to good quality education

The above suggestion may be part of the recipe to achive a drop in population growth globally as research has indicated that women with at least secondary school education tend to have fewer children than those with no secondary school education or with no education at all.

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