BY GETACHEW MINAS
As a country of a 100 million people and developing economy Ethiopia is bound to use its available natural resources in order to improve the quality of life of its people. Development policies are designed to promote sustainable relationship between population, resources and the environment.
The adoption of a National Population Policy that recognizes the linkages between population, environment and development, is a positive step towards sustainable development. Various environmental and developmental projects, programs and policies aim at environmental protection and improving the socio-economic and living conditions of the people.
Programs and projects are designed to stimulate changes in the environment and socio-economic conditions of the people. Most of them have had impacts beyond the environment and development spheres. They affect the lifestyle of the people and their demographic behavior as well.
Such tendencies have led to an increasing concern on the link between environmental factors and population. In this case, it is necessary to examine the complementary relationship between the human and natural resources. Discussion of resource management is incomplete if the demographic behaviors are “not” closely examined.
N. Madulu describes the linkages between population, environment and development. This focuses on the general relationships between impacts of population on environment, affluence and technology. According to E. Ehrlich population is analyzed in terms of its absolute size, growth rate, and distribution.
Its impact on affluence is usually measured as Gross National Product (GNP) per capita or person. Technological impact is analyzed in terms of pollution per unit of GNP. For the UN environmental impact is a “joint” element of population, affluence and technology.
The approach assumes that the people’s lifestyle, incomes and social organizations usually determine consumption patterns. For the UNFPA, the technologies in use determine the extent to which human activities “damage or sustain” the environment and the amount of waste associated with any level of consumption.
Population determines how many persons there are and it acts as a “multiplier” that fixes the total impact. The factors of population, technology and environment compound each other for high impacts. In other words, for any given change in technology and consumption patterns, the more people there are, the greater is the overall impact on the environment.
The function of population, environment and technology yields insights about the impacts that population growth and distribution can have on the quality and quantity of critical natural resources.
The greater the growth of population is the higher the exploitation of resources for human survival. The manner of exploitation could destroy available precious resources. Similarly, the distribution of population has an impact on the type of resource abuse.
People may waste resources leading to shortages of basic goods and services needed by the individuals. These individuals may not behave rationally regarding the use of rare resources. Their exploitation affects both the quality and quantity of resources.
There are strong “linkages” between population (P), development (D) and the environment (E). Any change in one of these factors may necessarily “influence” changes in the other two factors. This linkage should be taken into consideration when designing policies on demographic, developmental and environmental spheres.
It also gives a broad accounting framework that specifies the most important and immediate effects of one sector on the other. The linkage shows that population and development are entirely “embedded” within the environment.
In the study of this linkage, population is taken as the point of departure and considered to be the basic driving force. Together with the other factors of migration, density, distribution, and settlement, population influences development and environment.
Taking “reverse” migration as one factor, for example, it aims at transforming people’s lives, their socio-economic status, and the status of the environment. Madulu’s analysis of the environment aspect reflects all related impacts of reverse migration on the environment and development.
To begin with, the environment comprised of four elements and these are energy, land, water and air. Energy is analyzed by source and use; land is studied by soil components, topography, land cover and use; water is examined by rainfall, stream flow, ground water, lakes and seas, and manmade systems; air is considered in terms of composition, winds, humidity, and temperature.
Development generally comprises of the factors of production, consumption, trade, and government policy. These factors reflect the linkage between development and population. People have to consume what is needed for their survival.
The items of consumption have to be produced, using the factors of production. These factors are land, labor, capital and technology. Land is acquired through paying for its value in terms of rent. Marketable products have to be produce in order to cover the cost of land or rent. Wages have to be paid for labor that works on the land.
The productivity of labor determines the payment of wages. Capital is also needed for acquiring the means of production, including productive technologies. Technologies enhance the productivity of the means of production.
The Ethiopian herald December 27/2020
