ECON 40163

Economic Development

Name: Abejuela, Marlou H. Date: October 9, 2019

Course/Year/Section: BSMA 2-8

List and briefly describe the principal causes of high population growth in
developing countries and major consequences.
High population growth is defined as an increase in the number of people that reside in a
country, state, county, or city. The following are causes of high population growth in developing
countries: Progress in Food Production – Scientific research and technological improvements saw
more efficient agricultural production; Immigration, Migration and urban concentration – Due
to the ideology of having better opportunities in Urban area and unchecked immigration into
countries and attempting to escape overpopulation in their own countries (migration), only to
contribute to the same issues in the countries they move to; Improvement in public health (water
and sanitation) – People have concerns about surviving daily living, such as meeting basic needs:
(1) access to safe drinking water was related to the incidence of epidemic diseases such as cholera
and child survival; and (2)the pressure to provide adequate housing increases as the population
grows; Poverty – Poverty is believed to be the leading cause of overpopulation. A lack of
educational resources, coupled with high death rates leading to higher birth rates, result in
impoverished areas seeing large booms in population; Poor Contraceptive Use – Though the
availability of contraceptives is widespread in developed countries, poor planning on both
partners’ parts can lead to unexpected pregnancies; Reduced Mortality Rates – Improvement in
medical technology has led to lower mortality rates for many serious diseases.
From the identified causes, these resulted to, Exhaustion of natural resources - the
consumption of resources at a faster rate than the planet is able to generate them; Environmental
degradation - deforestation and desertification, extinction of animal and plant species and large
quantities of greenhouse gases leading to global warming; Rising unemployment - a high number
of workers exist for a limited number of vacancies and lead to high rates of joblessness; Rising
living costs - Fewer resources, less water, the packing of many people into confined spaces and a
lack of money are provoking an increase in the cost of living; Lower Life Expectancy - While higher
life expectancy is leading to increases in population in developed countries, lower life expectancy
may be caused by the booms in population that less developed nations are experiencing;
Extinction - As demand for land grows, so too does the destruction of natural habitats, such as
forests. Exhaustion of natural resources - the consumption of resources at a faster rate than the
planet is able to generate them; Environmental degradation - deforestation and desertification,
extinction of animal and plant species and changes in the water cycle and large quantities of
greenhouse gases leading to global warming; Rising unemployment - a high number of workers
exist for a limited number of vacancies and lead to high rates of joblessness; Rising living costs -
Fewer resources, less water, the packing of many people into confined spaces and a lack of money
are provoking an increase in the cost of living; Lower Life Expectancy - While higher life
expectancy is leading to increases in population in developed countries, lower life expectancy may
be caused by the booms in population that less developed nations are experiencing; Extinction -
As demand for land grows, so too does the destruction of natural habitats, such as forests.
 ECON 40163
Economic Development

Name: Abejuela, Marlou H. Date: October 9, 2019

Course/Year/Section: BSMA 2-8

What types of environmental problems do the rural and urban poor share?
What are some differences in the conditions they face?
Before the rise of technological and industrial revolution, people experience fine weather,
fresh air, and bountiful harvest from our environment. But, as the years passed and as
advancements boomed to cope in our growing needs, we often forget to take our responsiblities
in the environment, we sacrifice its importance and ignore the fact that in some ways it will
compensate our doings in the future. And that is what is being flashed in the news, experienced
and everyday scenario of the 21st century in both rural and urban areas.
According to ConserveEnergyFuture.com, there are environmental problems that we are
now experiencing, and to start with is the most obvious problem, which is the Pollution. Pollution
of air, water, and soil and land is caused by mostly the activities we do everyday such as engine
vechicle that pollutes the air as it release toxins as it turns gas, plastic that poisons the water, and
mining, littering and the likes affects the soil. Another, is Global Warming and Climate Change,
has different destructive impacts which includes, but not limited to melting of polar ice, sudden
change in seasons, and new sicknesses. Deforestation is caused by the population growth which
demands for more space and resources, and becoming a huge problem and continue to get worse.
Inluded in the environment concerns nowadays are Public Health Isssues and Overpopulation
which is considered to be the most important concerns to resolve in order to minimize the other
environmental problems it contributes. Biodiversity is yet another casualty due to the impact of
human beings on the environment. Natural habitat is lost because of deforestation,
overpopulation, pollution and global warming. Increased Carbon Footprint and Ozone Layer
Depletion are among the problems that were resulted from the activities and other environmental
problems such as overpopulation and pollution. Other concerns to include are Household,
Industrial and Medical Wastes. And this are usually visible in both the rural and urban areas.
On the other hand, there are conditions faced separately by rural and urban areas. In rural
areas, mining results in extraction of minerals from earth’s core bring out harmful chemicals from
deep inside the earth to the earth’s surface. Effect on Marine Life, the amount of carbon in the
water and the atmosphere is continuing to be a problem in the world around us brought by
pollution and human activities. Agricultural Pollution from the modification of agricultural
practices in order to support the high demand such as use of chemical products (pesticides and
fertilizers) and the contaminated waters because of the wastes. When it comes in the urban, they
experience Ubran sprawl is a condition of relocating the populance from high thickness urban to
low density rural zones which bring about spreading of city over more rustic area. It also includes
the noise pollution causes temporary disruption when there is excessive amount of unpleasant
noise. Lastly, is the Genetic modification utilizing biotechnology is called genetic engineering
which brings about expanded poisons and sicknesses as qualities from a hypersensitive plant can
exchange to target plant.
 ECON 40163
Economic Development

Name: Abejuela, Marlou H. Date: October 9, 2019

Course/Year/Section: BSMA 2-8

Economic growth is said to be a necessary but not sufficient condition to

eradicate absolute poverty and reduce inequality. What is the reasoning behind
this argument?
Economic growth is the most powerful instrument for reducing poverty and inequality of
life in developing countries, both cross-country and country case studies provide overwhelming
evidence to prove it. However, it is not enough and a lazy thinking according to many because it
distracts us in the real question to ask, “What is the main source of this unending poverty?” –
which can be answered by the same reason of resolving it, because of this rapid and sustained
economic growth we always want to achieve.
Economic growth simply means total economic output. It indicates more overall goods
being produced, bought and sold. This is measured in terms of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), in
that case, there is less deprivation.
In this world, it is always true that nothing is created equally, all our needs, all our
requirements, our capacity, our mental and physical well-being is always different and not equal
to others. So, it is essential to understand the root causes and to analyze the extent of effects that
are felt by people in order to address this problem. It is needful to take deliberate efforts to ensure
that problem will be resolved without any gap. In terms of poverty, a situation of being unable to
meet the minimum levels essentials of life (e.g. food, shelther, clothing, etc.) is caused by lack of
adequate income and poor opportunities to empowerment. This lead to policies which mostly
strain the lower social classes, and to give solution of this problem, it is important to come up with
economic strategies, which will help to remove these obstacles and create a chance to these people
to empower themselves. On the face of inequality that is caused by the existence of discriminative
structure in the society, the enforcement of policies that is favorable to one group rather than
equally beneficial to all, thus, increasing the poor-rich gap. In order to solve this problem, the
government and other parties should minimize or totally eradicate the corruption, racism and
other things that propagates inequality through rules and regulations that do not just benefit the
priviliged ones but also the unfortunate, for all of us have the right to the means of life.
Being an insufficient condition must not be the end product of the efforts in eradicating
poverty and reducing inequality with economic growth because even in such baby steps, we are
making a difference. To help us achieve it, understanding the universal need for good-will towards
all others is a must. Developing the desire to share the benefits of life is necessary. Developing the
means for individual and social responsibility is required, to fulfill what we want to achieve. And
to end this, we must learn and understand the words of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, “The fundamentals of the
whole economic condition are divine in nature and are associated with the world of the heart
and spirit.... Hearts must be so cemented together, love must become so dominant that the rich
shall most willingly extend assistance to the poor and take steps to establish these economic
adjustments permanently.”
References:
Economic Growth
https://www.oecd.org/derec/unitedkingdom/40700982.pdf
https://www.quora.com/Economic-growth-is-said-to-be-a-necessary-but-not-sufficient-
condition-for-eradicating-absolute-poverty-and-reducing-inequality-What-is-the-reasoning-
behind-this-argument
https://www.academia.edu/22505195/ECN302_Final_Exam_by_Mr._Vin_Pheakdey
Population Growth
http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/population-
growth.htmlhttp://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/population-growth.html
https://www.renewableresourcescoalition.org/overpopulation-causes-effects-solutions/
http://teachersinstitute.yale.edu/curriculum/units/1998/7/98.07.02.x.html
https://www.activesustainability.com/sustainable-development/causes-consequences-
overpopulation/
Environmental Problems
https://www.conserve-energy-future.com/top-25-environmental-concerns.php#abh_posts