Malakoff 2011, Are More People Necessarily a Problem

• Machakos   * A symbol that rapid population growth is not a recipe for disaster and can even bring benefits
• Emphasizes the importance of culture, socioeconomics, and biology

Doomsters and boomsters

• Boomsters: believe that there are potential benefits of reproduction
• Impact of population growth in the world’s drylands   * World’s drylands: Africa, Asia, Latin America     * Many see a crisis looming     * Others see some hope for a transition to more sustainable livelihoods
• Boserupian hypothesis   * According to Boserup, underpopulation is a barrier to development   * Population growth could trigger intensification, which is the use of new technologies and more labor to get bigger harvests from less land   * She argues that dry areas might not have a fixed carrying capacity because, with more labor, these dry areas could be able to sustain more people over time   * Dryland farmers could be counted on to invest in and take care of their land as a solution to natural resource damage

Malthus controverted?

• The study about Machakos controverted Malthus and its pessimistic views about population growth   * Machakos didn’t go into feed deficit   * Machakos’ population didn’t stop growing dramatically
• The study about Machakos supported Boserup by concluding that increasing population density has had positive effects
• However, Machakos still doesn’t grow enough food to feed its population. Some poorer families have not benefited from Machakos’ economic growth
• Intensification can worsen problems such as biodiversity and water pollution
• There is some concern as to whether Machakos is an exception   * There are countless instances where fast-growing farming communities have not been innovative enough and are suffering as a result
• The conclusion is that there is no single recipe for success!   * We have to take into account different factors to know if populations are successful in coping with their population growth
• Examples:   * China     * Intensification has supported extensive population growth + urbanization     * This has led to the abandonment and revegetation of less fertile lands     * The problem with the one-child policy   * Africa     * Sahel: extra greenery       * Boosted by policy changes: giving farmers ownership of trees that grow on their land + some technical assistance       * The extra greenery is helping poor farmer communities to be more resilient to droughts and economic setbacks
• Forests of South and Central America support both these Malthusian and Boserupian views in the deforestation problem   * Depends on local circumstances

\