1.
Overpopulation and
Hunger in the
Developing World
Agron 342
World Food Issues
Ethan Morford

2.
Overpopulation
• 6.9 Billion People on Earth (US Census Bureau)
• The FAO approximates 1/6th of the world
population is malnourished every day.
• (952 Million People)

3.
What are our options?
• Give food to everyone in need…
• Force people to stop having children…
• Educate the uneducated…
What else can be done to help fix this problem
Have we reached our maximum
carrying capacity
Will overpopulation fix itself

4.
Give Food to Everyone in Need
• If this seems like the easy way out, then you are
probably right.
• “End Hunger groups” are in almost every country
• Almost all are funded from donations
• The problem with these groups
• How much food actually gets to the people in need
• Much of the “relief” never makes it to the people it was
intended to go to
• Charity will lead to even more problems

5.
Force People to Stop Having
Children
• This option has been tested in a
few places around the world
– China
• One Child Policy
• Birth rates have dropped, but still
have 1 million more births than
deaths every five weeks (China)
• Forced abortions are a problem
• Baby boys are valued
• Girls are shunned or given away

6.
Educate the Uneducated
• Some say that education is the best birth control
– Women will have more opportunities if they are
educated
• This leads to lower birth rates
• When lack of education is present
– Abortion rates are high due to lack of knowledge

7.
Can this problem fix itself?
• If developing countries become more
developed
• Mortality rates need to drop, then birth rates
will follow suit
• It has proven to work in multiple countries

8.
Ethical Issues
• Is it unethical for the government to limit
population growth?
– One child law,
• Is it ethical to have 7 billion people on one
planet?
– Resource depletion
– Poor quality of life for many people
• Utilitariansim
– Achieving the greatest happiness for the greatest number of
people
– The more people we have, the harder it for utilitarianism to
work

9.
Bibliography
1) China's One Child Policy. Malcolm Potts BMJ: British Medical
Journal , Vol. 333, No. 7564 (19 August 2006), pp. 361-362
http://www.jstor.org.proxy.lib.iastate.edu:2048/openurl?volume=
333&date=2006&spage=361&issn=09598138&issue=7564&Food
2) Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
http://www.fao.com
3) Human Sterilization. Clarence J. Gamble. The American Journal of
Nursing , Vol. 51, No. 10 (Oct., 1951), pp. 625-626
http://www.jstor.org.proxy.lib.iastate.edu:2048/stable/3468247?&
Search=yes&list=hide&searchUri=%2Fopenurl%3Fvolume%3D51%
26date%3D1951%26spage%3D625%26issn%3D0002936X%26issu
e%3D10&prevSearch=&item=1&ttl=2&returnArticleService=show
FullText
4) US Census Bureau
http://www.census.gov/main/www/popclock.html