Economic development key to population control

Jul 22, 2009

BY LIZ KOBUSINGYE<br><br>Recently, Uganda joined the rest of the world to commemorate the World Population Day under the theme “Empowering communities to overcome challenges of poverty”. <br>The World Bank data indicates that Uganda has the highest

BY LIZ KOBUSINGYE

Recently, Uganda joined the rest of the world to commemorate the World Population Day under the theme “Empowering communities to overcome challenges of poverty”.
The World Bank data indicates that Uganda has the highest fertility rate in Africa and third-highest in the world. The Population Secretariat indicates that the population currently stands at 31 million and is predicted to reach 130 million by 2050.
Contributors to high fertility include, Uganda’s dependency on agriculture which demands dependency on family labour, uncertainty about child survival and lack of social security for old age.
One may think Government is taking too long to decree a limit on childbirth as a population control measure. But many of our cultural, political and religious leaders are ardent advocates for reproduction without any limit. Uganda, therefore, does not seem to be anywhere near the imposition of a childbirth limit.
Population growth has merits despite its disadvantages. Advantages include being an important resource for development, without which the country’s natural resources would remain latent and unexplored. A large population provides necessary economies of scale in transport, communication, social services, production and a sufficient supply of labour, leading to economic development.
However, it is also true that problems commonly attributed to population growth arise for reasons which have nothing to do with population growth. In underdeveloped counties, the cause of the problems is not entirely high population, but contributors include missallocation of resources, exploitation of the masses and disparities in ownership of resources. Re-organisation of the economic structures can greatly contribute to the reduction of the negative effects of population growth.
Uganda’s population growth rate is not sustainable because it is not yielding a quality population. Expenditure on health care from the public and private sectors is less than the minimum level necessary for proper care. Several reports indicate that households can no longer afford three meals a day. The impact of underfeeding is heavier on children and pregnant women, whose immunity is easily compromised, contributing to child and maternal mortality.
The many years of mass education on the use of contraceptives have not yielded the desirable results. But before we declare failure, hindrances to access and utilisation of quality contraceptive information and services should be addressed with new strategies.
Analysts say population growth rate slows with the rise in living standards because over time, children become more expensive and there are fewer benefits to the family.
Better literacy rates, hygiene and sanitation, improved agriculture, transport, trade and improved health services are among the contributors to improved standards of living and as such, indicators of economic development.
Apparently, Uganda has policies that try to address equitable resource allocation such as the National Development Plan (replacing PEAP) and land policy reform. Such policies target bridging the gap between the ‘have’ and ‘have-not’ and probably are an impetus for people to work towards changing their poor socio-economic situations.
It is thought that like it was in the West, influences and forces of modernisation and economic development cause fertility to begin declining. The rural populations need to be specially targeted to benefit from development programmes because statistics show higher fertility rates and lower standards of living in the rural compared to the urban areas.
More attention should be on the implementation of development policies to ensure that the beneficiaries are reached. This should be in addition to strengthening contraceptive access and use, especially in rural areas.

The writer is the programme
officer Food and Nutrition
SAO-Uganda

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