Daily Times

From an early age, the issue of rapid growth in population has greatly intrigued me. Contrary to popular opinion, I do not think the planet is heading towards destruction because of over-population.

The fear related to over-population is nothing new, it dates back to the eighteenth century. In Robert Malthus’ essay The Principle of Population, he talks about how if the population continues to grow at the rate that it did in 1900, the world would be poverty stricken due to the outsourcing of food. Contrary to his predictions, living standards improved in the twentieth century.

Malthus’ prediction was based on the assumption that population multiplies geometrically, and food arithmetically. In arithmetic, the quantity increases with the specific and common difference in the condition, as opposed to the geometric term in which it soars exponentially. However, he did not witness the Industrial Revolution, which made agriculture work accessible and increased food resources.

In the eighteenth century, the population grew from 600 million to 1 billion. From 1900 to 2000 the population, almost tripled in number, increasing from 1.6 billion to 6 billion. According to recent reports, the present population is around 7.6 billion.

According to the UN, the world population will culminate at 11.3 billion by the year 2060. However, as Malthus’ predictions proved to be incorrect in the past, this does not have to be a catastrophic scenario.

Certainly, our planet is capable of accommodating and sustaining a large number of people. We live in a world where technology has worked miracles. Things which would have been beyond the wildest imagination of people from the past exist as the norm today. For example twenty years ago, who could have imagined how easy it would be to talk to people who lived on the other side of the world. Thus, one can hope technology can be used to sustain mass resources.

Contrary to popular opinion, I do not think the planet is heading towards destruction because of overpopulation. The fear related to overpopulation is nothing new it dates back to the 18th century

Food scarcity can be addressed through vertical farming and Genetically Modified Food Organisms (GMO). GMO is a process where genes from the DNA of one species is drawn out and artificially forced into the genes of an unrelated plant or creature. Production of food in vertically stacked layers is vertical farming which is also an effective method to increase food output. These methods can be used to sustain an exponential increase in population as well.

Furthermore, nuclear fusion and renewable energy resources can be used as substitutes for fuel or petroleum oil.

More population means more scientists, doctors, engineers, economists, and labourers. Humans are the most integral tool a country possesses. Humans run the economic cycle.

As is said in the Holy Quran, “And there is no creature on earth but that upon Allah is its provision, and He knows its place of dwelling and place of storage. All is in a clear register (11:6)”. In Islam consumption of contraceptives is prohibited, the Quran stipulates, “You shall not kill your children due to fear of poverty. We provide for them, as well as for you. Killing them is a gross offense (17:13).”

Failing governments view over population as disastrous, since they have been unable to equip the growing population with suitable skills. China an economic giant has the largest population in the world, if overpopulation was such a crisis then how did they achieve such success?

Yes, problems exist in this world however; these snags are not due to over population. Problems arise when governments fail to fulfill the requirements of the populations, and they can only be solved if they are tackled head on. The need of the hour is to be creative about how we use our resources. In my opinion, population control is not a viable solution.

The writer is a freelance columnist. He Tweets at @iamusmanghani

Published in Daily Times, August 30^th 2018.