Of the Relationship between Population and Development: Need to Stop Vilifying the People

Abstract

The world population recently touched seven billion and as expected, there was an outpouring of concern over how burgeoning population was the biggest stumbling block for our development. There is a well-entrenched notion in the popular perception of the laity and the policy establishment that it is burgeoning population that is the biggest hindrance in the development of the country. This perception has often led to vilification of the people who are the biggest victims of the lack of development. Consequently, there has been an imposition of a population policy that concentrates only on population stabilization through family planning measures. The article builds its argument by tracing the history and ideological roots of the conventional thinking on population policy. It further relies on data regarding historical trends in population growth to establish the close relationship between development phases in human civilization and its population dynamics. Data on the relationship between population growth and availability of resources are also examined. Population policies around much of the world have privileged fertility control measures over the overall socio-economic development. The frustration engendered by such an approach has led to greater adoption of overt and covert coercion to limit population sizes. The article emphasizes the need for a more nuanced population policy. There is a need to broaden the concept of unmet need from that of a narrow techno-centric approach to include the developmental needs of the people.