Overpopulation In Sub Saharan Africa Essay

Africa is the second largest of the earth's seven continents, covering about twenty-two percent of the world's total land area. From its northern most point, to its southern most tip is the distance of nearly five thousand miles. Africa is both north and south of the equator. The Atlantic Ocean is located west of the continent, and the Indian Ocean is on the east. Width of the continent is also nearly five thousand miles. Although Africa is so large, much of it is inhabitable. Desert soils, which have little organic content, cover large areas. The Sahara Desert, in the northern part, covers more than one fourth of Africa, and the Kalahari Desert is in the southern part of the continent. These two deserts are a

On the vast continent of Africa, there are fifty-three countries; of these only six are not located below the Sahara Desert. This leaves the Sub-Saharan region of Africa to encompass a total of forty-seven countries. Many of these countries south of the Sahara have been in state failure, either partial or complete collapse of state authority. This has led to an inability to

Perhaps one of the most pressing issues faced by women in Many African countries today are the many barriers preventing them from having access to sexual health and family planning services. “The World Health Organization (WHO) defines family planning as “the ability of individuals and couples to anticipate and attain their desired number of children and the spacing and timing of their births. It is achieved through use of contraceptive methods and the treatment of involuntary infertility” (Tessema, Gizachew Assefa, 2). By examining the causes of what is preventing women in areas Africa from taking control of their sexual health, and the number of children they wish to have, possible solutions can be contrived. In Kenya for example, “20.9 percent

First of all, high poverty rates mean less education regarding family planning and less access to birth control methods. Secondly, high poverty rates might also encourage families to have more children that will eventually provide supplemental income or physical labor (Merrick). So population growth cannot be stabilized without addressing problems of poverty and addressing problems of poverty will mostly likely aid in population stabilization. Figure 1 and 2 in the Appendix show a visual representation of the poorest countries and the countries with the highest fertility rates. Focusing on the area of Africa, it is evident that the poorest countries also have the highest fertility rates.

Americans are educated on this issue, but do not feel the concern for overpopulation as the average number of kids that a US couple has is 2. This is the average that scientists say that we need to keep our population sustained. In other cultures that average is higher so therefore, the concern is greater about overpopulation. The African continent is currently where the growth population is most concerning because the average number of children a family has there is 4.

Beginning with demography, the population of sub-Saharan Africa is 973.4 million individuals. Sub-Saharan Africa averaged about 239 million people that were hungry or malnourished in 2010 (Africa Hunger and Poverty Facts). The largest proportion of its population is malnourished, meaning one out of three people are starving. In 2008, 47 percent of the population lived on $1.25 or less every day (Africa Hunger and Poverty Facts). The sub-Saharan has had the largest population growth rate and has grown from 221 million to 1 billion.

The fertility rate of a country measures the average number of children capable of being born per woman. The rate gives an idea of the future growing or declining population trend. For Liberia the number stands at 4.7 children born per woman. The number is an indication that the population is growing and increasingly becoming younger. As stated earlier, people under the age of 14 comprises over 40% of the total population, which coincides with the younger growing trend predicted by the fertility

Some of these groups are made up of just a few thousand people while others consist of millions of people. Arab (100 million), Bereber (65 million), Yoruba (30 million), and Igbo (30 million) are among the most popular ethnic groups in Africa(5). Each group usually has there own language, culture, and traditions. Many African countries also have numerous tribes within their borders. For example there are more than 370 tribes within Nigeria alone. (Population) Africa's general population is rapidly increasing due to vast improvement in medical care and resources for children and infants(5). The population has grown from 221 million in 1950 to 1 billion in 2009 and is estimated to reach 2 billion by 2045. (Languages) There are over a thousand different languages spoken the continent of Africa. Most Africa tribes or ethnic group have own languages or dialect. The languages spoken in Africa can be separated into six different categories. #1 Niger-Kordofanian, #2 Hilo-Saharan, #3 Khoisan, # 4 Afro-Asian, #5 Indo-European,# 6 Maya-Polynesian.

Having a high birth rate implies a perpetually developing populace, which will expand the necessities of more "accommodation, education, and health care" (Macleod, M.). When you neglect to control high birth rates, the expansion of the populace is inescapable. Expanding requirements of the extending populace can't be given effectively. Hence, it will bring about lack of healthy sustenance, wellbeing issues and disappointment among individuals. Furthermore, with a high birth rate in a quickly developing populace, social issues will prompt social emergencies and chaos. Consequently, high birth rate in a populace is a serious issue that should be tended to promptly to dodge emergencies.

In 1968, the world fertility rate was at 2.08 children per woman in her lifetime. This is how many children each woman is having on average per thousand women. By 2016, the world’s fertility rate dropped to only 1.11 children per woman.

Africa has a total fertility rate (TFR) of 5.2 children per woman, a problem that is

Overpopulation would take time to develop. It would also take the negligence of governments and citizens. There are several different routes that could be taken to prevent or alleviate the negative effects of overpopulation. Overpopulation is avoidable with governments' help and could be delayed or even avoided in multiple ways. Regrettably, governments are more tied up with economies, foreign affairs, and policy making to spare the man power to worry about issues that aren't pressing on their doorstep. Reducing the population is one path that could reduce strain on the environment. Policy could be implemented that limited the

Family size is also a huge contributor to the population catastrophe. Generally, a family in this region is consisted of around five to six children (Bridge). The reason for women to bare so many children is because of the high risk of infant mortality. Since children’s health has improved in the 1980’s, women continued to have the same number of kids. However, more lived, which then pushed fertility rates even higher (World Religions, Environment, Development 233). In order for Sub Saharan to stabilize their flourishing

Overpopulation, this is so with any society that largely depends on agriculture, African families are often very large. Most of the elderly rely on their children for support, and as much agriculture in Africa is labor-intensive, large numbers of children provide much needed labor for plowing, planting and harvesting. However, overpopulation is a serious problem in urban areas, which have grown enormously since the beginnings of African independence in the in the late 1950s and later. For example, in 1960, 14.5% of Nigeria's population lived in urban areas, that number had grown to 43% by 2000, and is growing at an estimated 5.5% per year, compared to a 2.9% national population growth rate. This is a trend that can be seen throughout the continent.

First and foremost, the high birth rate in India is the main root of the overpopulation. The high fertility rate is due to the impecunious of the country. To counter this, the nations give birth to more children, hoping that there will be more income resources. Besides, the people count upon that the survivability of their children is low and thus they keep producing more children. Moreover, most of