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- Thomas Malthus elaborated on a concept in his book – “An Essay on the Principle of Population”, which quite famously inspired Charles Darwin.
More about the Malthusian trap
- About:
- The Malthusian trap or Malthusian check refers to the theory that as the human population grows there is increasing pressure on earth’s resources, which in turn acts as a check on the further rise in population.
- It is named after English economist Thomas Malthus.
- The Malthusian trap or Malthusian check refers to the theory that as the human population grows there is increasing pressure on earth’s resources, which in turn acts as a check on the further rise in population.
- How?
- Malthus argued that while a rise in food production in a country can lead to improved living standards for the general population, the benefit is likely to be temporary.
- This is because, increase in availability of food would encourage people to have more kids since they could afford to feed them now, thus leading to a rise in the total population and a drop in per capita income levels.
- Growth may also be stopped or reversed by disease, famine, war, or calamity.
- [Increased food production > Improved living standards > Rise in population > drop in per capita income levels]
- Growth may also be stopped or reversed by disease, famine, war, or calamity.
- Inverse relationship:
- Malthus, in other words, believed that there was an inverse relationship between human population and living standards with rising population leading to lower living standards.
- Way out of the trap:
- Malthus also offered a way out of this trap.
- Population control:
- For his own time, he advocated population control through an inculcation of good, virtuous, Christian behavior.
- Inclusive production:
- He coupled this by pushing for workhouses to make sure the poor and unemployed could contribute to production while receiving welfare.
- Population control:
- In this way, population growth may be slowed even as the means for its subsistence is increased.
- Malthus also offered a way out of this trap.
- Criticisms:
- No strict correlation:
- According to critics, there may be no strict inverse correlation between population growth and the living standards of people.
- As long as human beings can find ways to use earth’s resources more efficiently, their population can grow without compromising their living standards even in the long-term.
- Innovations:
- In fact, some argue that as the human population rises, the chances of breakthrough innovations happening rise manifold as there would be more human minds working on solving humanity’s problems.
- Examples from around the world:
- India:
- In India, which boasts the world’s second-biggest population, the Green Revolution in the state of Punjab helped feed its growing population.
- Germany:
- In western economies like Germany, which was battered during World War II, population increases did not hamper development.
- India:
- No strict correlation:
Relevance of the theory:
- According to a theory, By 2045,
- There could be 49 million more malnourished people living on this planet, and
- 40 percent of the world’s population could be suffering from water shortages.
- The vast majority of these people will be, as they are now, in the poorer countries of the world.
- The trends are clear for all to see.
- As populations expand and people continue to degrade the environment, agricultural yields will shrink while demand increases.
- A lack of access to food, water, or basic services, together with an increasing concentration of population, will create major humanitarian and security concerns as we push to the half-way point of the 21st century.
- Two very important factors will exacerbate these problems that affect some of the world’s poorest nations.
- The first is urbanization:
- Already, more than half the population of the planet lives in a city, with that proportion expected to increase to 70 percent by 2045.
- This influx will intensify existing problems present in these cities.
- Without substantial and effective investment in infrastructure, these cities can neither employ those who come seeking work, nor adequately house them.
- Already, more than half the population of the planet lives in a city, with that proportion expected to increase to 70 percent by 2045.
- The second factor is climate change:
- Coastal population:
- Asia-Pacific contains many of the countries, like Bangladesh, that risk being submerged by rising sea levels, the vast majority of its population live in low-lying coastal areas.
- Food security:
- Not only do their homes risk being made uninhabitable, but climate change’s effects on agriculture threaten their food supplies.
- Human activity has already degraded 25 percent of available land for farming globally, while pollution and overfishing are severely damaging marine ecosystems.
- Coastal population:
Way ahead
- Amid the COVID pandemic & Ukraine War, supply chain issues and soaring inflation, global food prices have been on the rise since mid-2020 and are now at an all-time high.
- What is of the utmost importance is this: that governments realize the security challenges these Malthusian concerns do and will continue to pose.
World Population Prospects, 2022
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Source: TH
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