Location:
Figure 1 :
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:India_population_density_map_en.svg
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Though India
gained independence and earned the rights to self-govern since 1947, the future
has not looked very bright. Despite the fact that India has the
potential and power to become one of the strongest military,
economic and labor forces of the world, the prospects of the future seem unpromising as the
majority of the population suffers from hunger, malnutrition and various kinds
of pollution and agricultural hardships due to overpopulation. As of
now, India is "where the dynamics of overpopulation and overconsumption
are most acute, where the lifelines between water, food, fuel, and 1.17 billion
people—17 percent of humanity subsisting on less than 2.5 percent of the
globe's land—are already stretched dangerously thin." (Whitty, 1).
As the second
most populated country in the world, India's population has already reached 1.3
billion as of July 2014. A more pressing problem is that India's population is
expected to surpass China's population by 2025. Due to migration, India
experienced a population boom, which causes staggering problems in the economy
and space utilization to support all these people. Policies were in pressing
need for reform, and everything was lacking-- water, food, space. Policies just
could not hold this population together. People started to live and sleep out in the streets as living space keeps getting smaller and infant mortality rate
keeps spiking up. It is impossible to enforce many rules, as they are frequently broken
for the sake of survival. The environment is often the last thing on these people's minds. Slash
agriculture persists to meet the demands of the hungry people, but causes
serious ecological changes. Moreover, access to clean water is jeopardized. It
is estimated by the CIA that 37% of people have no access to safe
water. All these factors combine to make Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai three of the world's ten most polluted cities.
Another huge
problem is that India is running out of topsoil, due to over exploitation and
erosion.
The
desertification impacts crop yield, which is also known as agricultural input.
This is due to the rise in temperature, which impacts photosynthesis. An
example of such a case would be heat waves. Crops like rice and wheat are also
known to be exceptionally sensitive, adding to this problem. "A 20%
to 30% decline in crop yields in the next 80 years was predicted by a study
published in the peer-reviewed journal Science which examined a combination of
peak oil, peak topsoil, and global warming." (Whitty, 2). Overpopulation
spurs this hunger strike. According to the CIA, as of 2010, 29.8% of
population currently lives under the poverty line. 53% of children under
five are severely malnourished.
It also
doesn't help that India faces serious societal and cultural problems regarding
gender discrimination. It seems that India still prefers male to female
children, and such preferences reflect serious injustices in Indian culture.
Some alarming
figures are that of the 48% of the illiterate adult population, 62% are women.
Women are still seen as laborers and mere child bearers. Reform is needed for
the betterment of welfare and status of women. Having more women in the academic
field means that the age of marriage can be delayed. This could bring about
positive changes such as having fewer children. Moreover, educating women of
contraceptive methods and ensuring them of the freedom to make their own family
plans could greatly help the population control problem in India. As of now,
close to two hundred million women have no access to contraception, resulting
in one out of four unplanned births, 50 million abortions each year, which
results in 68,000 maternal death. (Facts from Mother Jones). If only women are
empowered to make their own decisions regarding raising their children, then
there will exist a “form of population control that's peaceful, voluntary, and
efficient” (Whitty, 3).
Larger Consequences of the Problem:
Hunger induced by overpopulation is an issue in many more places than just India in the world today. Overpopulation poses a threat to many developing countries as well as the world on an even larger scale as Earth reaches its carrying capacity for humans. Because poverty is one of the primary causes of hunger, countries with higher poverty tend to experience more hunger and overpopulation. Although the world as a whole produces enough food to feed every human, there is significant difference in food availability and security between the most developed regions and rural areas in developing countries. Some of the areas suffering the most from hunger and undernourishment are Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, India, and many parts of Asia. About 13.5 percent of people (or one in eight) in the developing world remain chronically undernourished, which indicates the large scale and significance of this problem.
Figure 3: https://40.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_llqh491CfM1qkxa4ao1_500.jpg
There are several potentially devastating global consequences to overpopulation and the hunger that it causes. Hunger is only one of the effects of overpopulation among many others, like resource depletion, war and social conflict, overcrowding, air pollution, global warming, and other environmental problems. Hunger serves as an indication of environmental injustice due to
poverty and unequal access between countries to natural resources.
Overpopulation even perpetuates hunger because it brings about increased poverty,
as more humans must live with dwindling resources in the world. Around the
world, about 25,000 people die each day due to malnutrition and other
hunger-related diseases, 18,000 of which are children under five years old.
Similar to India, several countries in Africa also experience severe hunger
problems. One major problem related to hunger in these regions is stunting,
which affects children who do not consistently get enough to eat. In Tanzania,
for example, over 40 percent of all kids are stunted, which shows that hunger
problems exist in significant ways outside of just India. Overpopulation has been linked to other global problems as well, such as the collapse in biodiversity in several regions, like China, Mexico, and Brazil. Across the entire planet, overpopulation remains the leading driver of hunger, desertification, species depletion, and other environmental and social maladies. Overpopulation and poverty,
which are interrelated occurrences, lead to hunger in places all around the
world, causing potential for wide-scale environmental and social consequences
as the negative side effects proliferate.
Solutions:
Figure 4:
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:India_-_Kolkata_street_beggar_-_3246.jpg
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In addition
though, Right to Education legislation in India has been passed to keep women
in school. With 43-60% of women getting married before they are 18, the chance
of obtaining birth control and continuing their education is minimal. By
prolonging their child bearing years, the woman’s health can be maintained, as
well as the number of children she has. Also, with more education, the women
can obtain a better livelihood for themselves, avoiding detrimental poverty
conditions in overcrowded cities.
With
this overpopulation and lack of resources, India has become the home to about
one third of all the malnourished children in the world. Targeted Public
Distribution System (TPDS) & Public Distribution System (PDS) is the
largest food distribution network in India. This program focuses on the rural
poor. Each family below the poverty line that gets a card is guaranteed 20 kgs
of food per month at lower prices. But some families can still not afford the
entirety of the cost at once, putting their shipment at risk. Also the
distribution process often runs into loss of food; households that may be
eligible for the program are disregarded. If the program is initiated as local
level, it would be more effective. Food for work was brought back in 2001 due
to the drought that India encountered. Work for the government can provide up
to 5 kg of food per day. But the government also could not subsidize all the
food so they substituted rice for ‘paddy.’ ICDS (Integrated Child Development
Scheme), which started in 1975, targets helping young children under 6 and
expectant and nursing mothers. It helps supplement food, immunizations, and
some education for its recipients. They are also trying to provide a variation
of Nutrition Education, which can help prevent families from reaching
malnutrition. There is also a Mid Day Meal Plan program has tried to be
circulated to school children, but falls short due to poor administration and
corruption among distributors.
Figure 5:
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Village_Nagasandra_(3378841842).jpg
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Conclusion:
Though there are
many different approaches to the difficulties in India, no program has yet to
identify the most efficient and effective way to help the populations of people
suffering. With the issue of overpopulation gaining more attention and support,
more groups are brainstorming methods to help the problem, and stop further
repercussions from occurring. But without immediate reversal, the numbers will
continue to rise and the problems will kick-start more dilemmas regarding the
supply of food, water, and space.
This issue
brings to the attention the importance of government intervention that the
people of a region rely on the government to maintain their wellbeing. Also,
this addresses human’s impact on the communities, and how rapid growth and
expansion can quickly exhaust resources and weaken the environment as well as
their own safety.
Figure 6: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7669152.stm |
Sources:
http://www.worldhunger.org/articles/Learn/world%20hunger%20facts%202002.htm
http://www.howmany.org/environmental_and_social_ills.php
http://www.gatesnotes.com/Development/Why-Does-Hunger-Still-Exist-Africas-Table-Day-One
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alon-tal/overpopulation-is-still-t_b_3990646.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alon-tal/overpopulation-is-still-t_b_3990646.html
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/indiahome/indianews/article-2517637/India-stretched-limit- overpopulation.html
http://www.overpopulation.org/India.html
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/globalhealth-july-dec11-population_10-19/
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-19190437
http://green.tmcnet.com/topics/green/articles/2012/09/17/307965-ibm-analyzes-chatter-social-channels-prioritize-action-plans.htm