ADDRESSING POVERTY

AND POPULATIONS

WHICH STAGE?
Might you see improved medical care and
improved diet and fewer children needed?
Late transition - birth rates begin to fall and population
growth begins to decline

Might you see the impact of good health care,

stable food supply improved status of women who
have full access to work outside the home and
people marrying later?
Declining birth rates are below death rates, womens
lives are not as determined by their reproductive capacity
and people can stave off death longer

WHICH STAGE?
Might you see large numbers of children needed for
the family economy (especially farming) but where
large numbers of children die at an early age?
Epidemics of disease and malnutrition may be
common.
Pre-transition - birth rates and death rates fluctuate and
population growth is low

Might you see a stable or slow increase of population

in combination with a low birth rate?
Post-transition birth rates are below death rates, womens
lives are not as determined by their reproductive capacity and
people can stave off death longer

Late
Transition
Or Stable to
declining

WHICH STAGE?

PreTransition
Early
expanding

WHICH STAGE?
Posttransition

Declining
Population

DO THE ENDS JUSTIFY THE MEANS OF

RESPONDING TO POPULATION SIZE
What are your thoughts on the efforts to stop
overpopulation in China and India?
Keep in mind that China has recently relaxed the
one child policy
Blaming the victims:
Does climate change require women in poor
countries to stop "popping them out"?
http://
www.newstatesman.com/environment/2009/12/climate-populatio
n-women

POPULATION GROWTH
Exponential growth of human population is based
on the premise that each generation could double
in size
Usually expressed in the length of time it would take to
double the population
The rule of 70 is used to find the doubling time
70 (Birth rate death rate)

MALTHUSIAN IDEAS

THINKING ABOUT GLOBAL

DEVELOPMENT

WHAT IS THE NEGATIVE IMPACT OF

POPULATION GROWTH ON STANDARDS OF
LIVING IN THE DEVELOPING WORLD?
Rapid growth in the exploitation of natural resources water, foods and minerals crowded housing
the speed of growth of cities is too fast for fledgling governments to manage effectively poor quality
housing cost of land is prohibitively high; many migrants have to become squatters food availability
is poor quality of food/agricultural production is marginal high population density presents enormous
challenges to governments cost of infrastructure is extreme and countries do not have the financial
capacity to deal with rapid growth services in poorer areas of cities are not available people are
marginalized extreme poverty disease spreads quickly due to lack of proper sanitation degradation
of water quality education becomes less obtainable basic health care becomes less obtainable no
birth control or education about it environmental degradation occurs poor and powerless
communities are often displaced to make way for new roads for further development and buildings for
wealthier communities employment, traffic and transportation problems abound communications,
crime, energy, waste disposal, atmospheric pollution and financial issues pollution controls are often
absent or loosely enforced in order to seek fuller employment crime is often uncontrollable many
children live alone or on the streets once parents die turn to prostitution lives of crime begging,
peddling, stealing

Lets sort it out

1. Its negative
2. Its overwhelming
3. Its a loaded question

FOREIGN AID

SOLUTIONS TO POVERTY
Since WWII the developed world has been providing
aid to the nations of South America, Africa, and Asia.
Foreign aid programs were chosen as the way to foster
development in these countries, while at the same time
countering the growing influence of the communist bloc.

Developing nations receive foreign aid from various

sources:
International bodies like the UN
national government agencies such as the Canadian
International Development Agency CIDA)
non-governmental organizations (NGOs) representing religious
groups or other non-profit organizations, such as Oxfam.

 Multilateral aid is funded by a number of

governments, and usually involves large-scale
programs like dam building.
Often, bilateral aid is tied aid, given with
conditions attached.
More than 30% of Canadian bilateral and multilateral aid
is tied to Canadian purchases.

CIDA
Its objective is to work with people in developing
countries and to develop the tools for them to
meet their own needs eventually.
CIDA no longer exists as the Canadian
government did away with the name and
bureaucracy though Canada still contributes
foreign aid

NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS
NGO aid projects often provide direct assistance to
people. Initiatives range from well-known, large
organizations such as the Red Cross and Doctors
without Borders to smaller groups dealing with
local projects.
In recent years, governments have followed the lead of
NGOs in promoting small-scale, sustainable projects that
are appropriate to the local environment and that can be
maintained locally.
Wells with simple pumps replace irrigation projects, tools
are made from local or recycled materials, and local people
are given the means to sustain their own development
initiatives.

REMEMBER, DENSITY MATTERS

Population density is the measure of the number
of people in a given area
Nutritional density of land is the measure of how
much nutrition in calories can be produced from
the land

Ask yourself: How does nutritional density help us

understand pressures facing populations better
than population density?

CANADIAN ENVIRONMENTAL
CHALLENGES
Four corners activity
Those on the left will go to your area of expertise while those on the
right will go to your area of challenge

Water
Climate change impact and contributions
Political (in)action eg. Kyoto protocol,
Ozone depletion

Your task is to assess the environmental challenges

Canadians face from each of these areas of vulnerability

What are the dangers?

How do they have impacts?
Where can change come from?
Why are these challenges difficult to solve?

 Explain the challenges facing Canadians as they

attempt to reduce the impacts of global warming.
Explain the impact that overpopulation has on
standards of living in the developing world

MAKE A MANIFESTO
Which is to say, create a written statement declaring publicly your
intentions, motives, or views.
Provide a preamble
This is your rationale which explains the issues you are confronting, their
history/development and justification for why they matter

Draft a call to action

Read the Leap Manifesto

You will be writing a one page manifesto
This is a list of resolutions or changes that you believe are necessary
This should also include an outline of the steps necessary for achieving your aims
You will also include consideration of the impediments and how you will
overcome them
Use the four areas of concern outlined in class (water, government
actions, climate change and ozone depletion)