Economic Development in Africa

A. Case Study # 1 (9 points)

Read and summarize “The Consequences of High Fertility: Some Conflicting Perspectives”, and discuss the conceptual merits and limitations of this hypothesis for African countries (Chapter 6).

This case discusses how we must recognize that population growth is not the only primary source of low levels of living or decreasing self esteem, and limited freedom in the developing nations. Also, that it would be naïve to think that rapid population growth in the countries and regions is not a serious intensifier and multiplier of integral components of underdevelopment. There are many arguments for and against the idea that the consequence of rapid population growth lead to serious development problems.

The arguments on the part of those who believe that population growth is not a cause for concern are that the problem is not population growth but other issues. Many argue that underdevelopment may be the issue that if we focus on this problem that it will lead to higher levels of living, greater self-esteem, and then the population issue will take care of itself. If people in developing countries remain impoverished, uneducated, and weak the large family will give people a source of social security which is the only thing they may have. Another issue is resource depletions and environmental destruction in that population growth can lead to economic problems in relations to the availability and utilizations of scarce natural and material resources. It has been noted that population growth is a natural outcome of a women’s lack of economic opportunity.

Denying the significance of population growths as a major development problem is closely related to the neocolonial dependence theory of underdevelopment. The rich nations with the population growth of the poor nations is only an attempt by the former nations to hold down the development of the later in order to maintain and better their own self interest. They want to make sure...