>> This would suggest that in fact population growth is self
>> limiting as populations
>> evolve. I guess the question is will they limit at a low
>> enough level to be
>> sustainable.
>>
>><snip>
>Duncan East
>J. P. Earls, OSB wrote:
>
>Some suggest that population levels are already beyond sustainability as we
>deplete irreplaceable energy and soil resources--unless, of course, technology
>develops new sources of energy and food.
Overexploitation is relevent to 'energy hogs' like the US and Canada but not
other areas; for instance,
there are examples where the Malthusian model does not appear to hold,
especially in Africa. The Akamba of Nigeria have through technological
change reversed the trend that often occurs in countries with rapidly
increasing populations. Other examples in Africa also demonstrate that
increasing population results in expanding resources. What facilitated
change in the Machakos District was the independence of country from Britsh
rule, a change from patriarchal polygynous families, "in which wifes and
cattle were highly valued", to a smaller unit of one man and one woman where
the man was often away to earn a wage. This left the woman in charge of the
small farms. A fexible division of labour and longer work hours resulted in
intensive farming, families pooling their resources into collectives.
"Women's leadership and participation have been crucial to many of these
groups" called mwethyas.
The authors of this study on intensification of farming in Nigeria, Mortimer
and Tiffen (1994), do not call the Akamba experience a miracle. They show
that "although rapidly degrading farming systems under high densities are
rare, under Boserup's hypothesis, degradation is predictable where, at the
low and rising densities, the preconditions for intensification have not
been met....Commercialization adds to the stick of necessity carrot for
investment in new technologies. Normally however as population grows, so do
the opportunities for specialization and trade."
"Development planners in the past tired to transform farming systems that
were seen as inefficient and technically conservative.", Population Growth
and a Sustainable Environment, micheal mortimer and mary tiffen, Environment
36, (8):9, pp.10-32
John F
>
>J. P. Earls, OSB
>Department of English
>St. John's University
>Collegeville, MN 56321
>Ph. (320) 363-2705
>[log in to unmask]
>
>
>
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