POPULATION GROWTH IN AFRICA

POPULATION GROWTH IN AFRICA

Problems of Population Growth.

The high population has several problems associated with it, especially in Africa. To begin with, the high population has been associated with increased conflict in different African regions due to conflicting claims on resource ownership. Usually, such resources that are inadequate tend to be fought for by different communities, and over time, such conflicts escalate to civil wars. The result is that the regions facing these kinds of conflict end up spending more resources on containing the civil wars rather than developing the nation (Hanushek, 2013).

Another major challenge associated with population growth is the resulting shortage of professionals in limited fields. In most parts of Africa, there is an acute shortage of specialized expertise in the field, such as medicine, engineering, teaching, and the judiciary. This shortage, therefore, implies that the few numbers of professionals are tasked with the responsibility of serving multitudes of people scattered along with vast geographical scopes (Coale and Hoover, 2015). Among other things, this workload implies that basic services such as healthcare and education will be provided, albeit in poor standards. As a result, the basic development agenda of such regions is delayed.

Finally, increased population growth also translates to an increase in land pressure exerted by humans. To satisfy their basic needs such as settlement and food production, more people will tend to clear environmentally crucial regions such as swamps and forests to create space for settlement and agriculture. This encroachment of environmentally crucial lands subsequently leaves the continent at a jeopardized state since it provides a backdrop on which climate change and global warming builds from. Increased population pressure also implies that there will be challenges in providing elementary services such as accommodation, proper drainage, as well as sufficient water supply to the masses living in crowded regions. With high populations, individuals tend to develop informal settlements. Such settlements are characterized by poor water supply and drainage, which then places the inhabitants at a high risk of contracting diseases such as cholera and typhoid as well as other malnutrition diseases(Popkin et al. 2012). Other effects of increased population include reduced employment opportunities, high crime rate, and prevalence of diseases such as HIV/AIDS, which cumulatively contribute to a general decline in the quality of life in such regions.

Potential Solutions.

African countries, through partnerships with local as well as international organizations, can create awareness programs that encourage individuals to use family planning techniques to minimize the rate of population growth. Such campaigns can focus on enlightening the citizens of such countries on the benefits of having small families and, subsequently, manageable populations (Coale and Hoover, 2015). In addition, proper education can be provided to citizens of such countries to debunk any myths that may be associated with family planning methods.

The local governments can also come up with incentive programs that encourage family planning. For instance, such governments may develop programs that ensure that individuals with a given number of children are able to receive subsidized costs in basic services such as education and healthcare. Such programs will encourage the citizens to consider having large families since the costs associated with healthcare providers will be high for large families (Rodgers et al. 2012). Finally, new employment opportunities can be created to absorb the already large population that exists in the African continent. Adequate training can be provided to young individuals in the continent to equip them with skills that will make them self sustainable and therefore deter them from getting involved in practices such as criminal activities. This will subsequently improve the quality of life in the continent (Rodgers et al. 2012).