| Abstract: | This article was written to refute some common misunderstandings regarding worldwide population levels and worldwide nutrition levels. The world food supply is able to keep pace with high population growth levels. Worl food production currently meets world need; the problem is a distribution system which allocates food only to those who can pay rather than to those who need it. In many developing countries, the best agricultural lands are reserved for commercial crops rather than for subsistence crops. The U.S. food aid program does not help the most needy nations generally. The rate of world population growth is already slowing down. The desire for large families in developing countries is very often a realistic reaction to the prevailing economic system. Family planning programs will succeed. They will succeed even better in countries where general development planning is undertaken concurrently with family planning. Environmental problems are attributable to the consumption explosion in the rich countries rather than to the population explosion in the poor countries. |
