Population Growth over the Next Century and Problems Which Malthus Predicted

MALTHUS’ THEORY
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Human population has been the center of focus for centuries. The rate at which the world population increases has remained a concern to leading scholars. One of these scholars is Thomas Robert Malthus. In his prediction, famously called the Malthusian dilemma, he postulated that the world’s population would be drastically high by midst 21st Century. This prediction was made in 1798. Furthermore, Malthus identified that living standards of human beings would be negatively affected due to increased population versus inadequate resources.
The primary concern of the predicted increment in the world’s population has been the resources necessary to support life. Malthus predicted that the newly increased population would be almost impossible to support with the limited resources. Exploitation of the resources would, therefore, be eminent. He further suggested that society will have to apply radical changes to counter the effects of the increased population. In this study, the analysis is done on whether or not Malthus was right in his postulations.
Human population is dynamic. The total world population changes over time. The human beings will always increase provided that resources are available that support life. This rate varies from one region to another. Research show that the world’s current population increases at a rate of 2.6 per year. Developing countries lead to the population growth. For instance, in Sub-Saharan Africa, the rate is 5.1 children per woman. Ironically, this region is the poorest in the world (Kenneth, 2002). The primary emphasis of the study is to explain how the population can be supported in these regions.
In his postulation, Thomas Malthus did not put into consideration some factors. First, Malthus had no idea on the technological invention in the agricultural sectors as is witnessed today. The agricultural facilities that help in the mining of food for human consumption have led to an increase in food supply. For instance, the invention of the Genetically Modified Organism (GMO) has resulted in the additional provision of the regular food (Galor & Weil, 2000). GMO foods ripe within a short period boosting food supply.
Secondly, Malthus did not get it right that the health sector would be improved with time. Some health practices have been incorporated to address the population concern. These practices include family planning techniques. Currently, the birth rate has been reduced to at most two children per family. The family planning mechanisms that are friendly and efficient has been employed by many people (Kareiva, Watts, McDonald & Boucher, 2007). This improvement, however, does not eliminate totally the idea that the world’s population will reach 9 billion in the midst 21st Century. The primary concern is to lower the population for comfortable sustainability.
In summary, Malthus did not put into consideration that as the population increases, human know-how will also increase. The increase in human knowledge is currently experienced worldwide (Galor & Weil, 1999). The impacts of the knowledge increment are felt a...