The Overpopulation Project
TOP – Research and Outreach
Too many people consuming too much
Tag: Africa
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Population growth is still rapid. Has the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) forgotten family planning programs?
Projected population growth of about 2 billion in Africa and elsewhere contributes to poverty, impoverished reproductive health, and degradation of environment and climate. In a new publication in the journal Reproductive Health we argue that this unsustainable growth and the crucial role of family planning are neglected by among others the UN Population Fund. We…
6 comments on Population growth is still rapid. Has the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) forgotten family planning programs? -
Why is Africa’s extreme population growth ignored, despite very serious consequences? And how will Europe respond?
Continued rapid global population growth is unsustainable, but the media instead focus on low birth rates in developed countries. Most future growth will be in Africa, where young people want to emigrate to Europe or other developed regions. How will EU countries act in the face of Africa’s extreme population growth and increasing migration? By…
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Even starving children won’t break the population taboo
Since 2020, stunting in children is on the rise. For those in denial about the impacts of population growth in poor countries, the inevitable is presented as a mystery as ideology trumps honesty and compassion. by Jane O’Sullivan Heralding World Food Day on 16 October, an editorial in Nature focused on the disturbing rise in…
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Farewell to Jane Goodall — Population Activist
Jane Goodall was a champion for chimpanzees, conservation, and population activism. The latter aspect of her work has been conspicuously neglected in recent tributes to this scientific giant. by Leon Kolankiewicz Pioneering English primatologist Dr. Jane Goodall (1934-2025) passed away last week at the age of 91. In the days since, numerous, well-deserved and glowing…
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Which international aid to Africa do Swedish voters prefer? A new survey provides answers
The Swedish government wants to direct more aid to trade and business. But voters rate such orientation low and prefer developmental support and/or humanitarian aid. The results also show interesting support for assistance to family planning. (A slightly shorter version of this article was published in Swedish as an Op-Ed in Dagens Arena, an online…
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Realizing Quality Families
World Vasectomy Day is coming up in November. Retired obstetrician-gynecologist Richard Grossman explains how vasectomies should be used as a more common tool when couple’s plan their families. by Richard Grossman MD I was walking down the street in Mountain View, California when I noticed a man coming toward me wearing a white T-shirt with…
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Green parties lose big in EU parliamentary elections by ignoring the relationship between immigration and environmental damage
Green and left-wing parties lost ground in recent elections to the European Union Parliament, in part by neglecting and even denying the relationship between population growth by immigration and environmental stress. They could have used the topic to their advantage, but failed to do so. Instead it became the flagship issue of the right. By…
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Religion affects birth rates
The global human population will increase by 2.4 billion to 2088, according to the UN. Birth rates are high in some parts of the world, leading to continued population growth. In Africa and parts of Asia, and within Muslim countries and communities, religiosity promotes high birth rates. This role of religion could, however, potentially be…
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Meet the Nigerian Teacher Who Advocates for Family Planning
Coming from a family of seven children, Chidera Benoit knows better than anyone how challenging it is to grow up in a big family in Nigeria and achieve a good living standard. Convinced that Nigerian women and men should be free to decide their family size, this young and motivated teacher and Executive Director of…
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Demography and reproductive rights are environmental issues: Insights from sub-Saharan Africa
Rapid population growth impacts many social, economic, and environmental issues, and sub-Saharan Africa is the fastest growing region in the world. Céline Delacroix and Nkechi S. Owoo asked stakeholders in the region how important they think population growth is as a factor in meeting the region’s challenges. By Céline Delacroix Sub-Saharan Africa’s population is growing…
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Birth rates have been falling in Nigeria, though slowly. What factors cause declining fertility, according to educated people in Nigeria?
Since 1970, birth rates have been falling in most developing countries. An earlier study by TOP researchers found that Swedes generally think that improved living conditions, including economic and educational progress, are the cause for declining fertility. What do Nigerians, living in a developing country, think about declining fertility in their country? By Frank Götmark…
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Gattopardi and cheap labor
Reflections from Italy on the wicked problem of unregulated and unregulatable immigration into Western Europe. by Gaia Baracetti I could never understand what animal exactly the gattopardo was supposed to be. A leopard? A cheetah? A mythical beast? For sure, none of those roams my country. But I, like most Italians, always understood the meaning…
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Wildlife in decline: the impact of human population growth and consumption
In a short film about wildlife loss, Nastaran Rahnama takes a broad approach, investigating food sold in the UK, its production far away, and the links to population growth and declining large mammals. By Nastaran Rahnama In my lifetime including living in Iran, England, and traveling, I noticed that the natural world and the sound…
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Religion and religiosity pose challenges for fertility decline in Sub-Saharan Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is the only world region projected to continue population growth in the second half of this century, and even beyond 2100. In SSA, religion and religiosity are major factors contributing to the persistent high birth rates. A new publication by TOP co-workers is reviewing the relationship between human fertility and religions in…
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Religion, Fertility and Contraceptive Use in Sub-Saharan Africa, Part 6: Progressive Religious Organisations
While contraception in Sub-Saharan Africa is still considered taboo in many religious settings and children are viewed as a “gift from God”, some religious leaders are actively promoting the importance of family planning and considering its role in population growth. In this last part of our series on religion, fertility and contraceptive use in Sub-Saharan…
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Religion, Fertility and Contraception in Sub-Saharan Africa, Part 4: African research and policy in Nigeria
African researchers have done excellent work to clarify how religious affiliation influences the use of contraception. In Nigeria, with high fertility and a large and growing population, use of modern contraception is still low. The teaching of Islam in particular, contributes to this situation. Several researchers emphasize that men and religious leaders should be involved…
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Aid needs to go where it will help most
Development aid often fails to address the root causes of poverty in poorer nations. A recently proposed program to further sexual and reproductive health in Uganda provides a welcome example of a more focused and effective approach. by Kelvin Thomson When I began full time work 45 years ago, I started paying a monthly sponsorship…
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Why Europeans are worried about African babies
Any time a Westerner expresses preoccupation about very high birth rates in a poor country, the conversation immediately turns to racism. Let’s dig deeper. by Gaia Baracetti Let’s not start with Prince William for once. Let’s begin with the great Italian poet Giovanni Pascoli. He was one of those rare rural poets who actually knew…
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The “Silent Lie” in Coverage of Madagascar’s Famine
Graphic media coverage of the current hunger in southern Madagascar is not wasting the opportunity to advocate climate justice. But nobody mentions there are now seven Madagascan mouths to feed for each one present in 1950. This denialism is not in the interests of the hungry, nor Madagascar’s disappearing wildlife, argues Madeline Weld. By Madeline…
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Religion, Religiosity, Fertility and Contraception in Sub-Saharan Africa: Part 3, A Study of Christian Denominations in Mozambique
How does affiliation with different Christian denominations influence fertility? In a study1 from a Christian high-fertility area in Mozambique, Victor Agadjanian and Scott Yabiku examine fertility from two perspectives: dynamically, by looking at risks of births in any given year, and cumulatively, by the number of children ever born versus length of membership in a…
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Religion and Fertility in Sub-Saharan Africa – Part 2, Differences Among Denominations
Among the eight regional groups used for the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), only Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is projected to sustain a rapid population growth up to 2100, while the seven other regions either have started to decline, or are projected to stabilise, by 21001. In SSA, many countries have a young population; 40-50%…
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Religion, religiosity, fertility and contraception in Sub-Saharan Africa – Part 1, Introduction to studies of religion
How important is religion and belief in the supernatural for family life, contraceptive use, fertility, and family size? Presumably many of our readers have considered the role played in high-fertility societies by the belief that “children are God’s will”. In this blog series based on a literature review1, we focus on Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and…
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Humanity needs to halt both population growth and climate change
Many of today’s environmental problems are more due to population growth than climate change, and climate change is driven in part by continued global population growth. Development funding to make family planning and modern contraceptives universally available could make a big difference in solving these interlocking problems. By Malte Andersson, Frank Götmark, and Anders Wijkman…
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Population growth and climate change: environmental threat multipliers – a new publication from TOP
The Overpopulation Project is pleased to announce its most recent publication, “Population growth and climate change: Addressing the overlooked threat multiplier” published in Science of the Total Environment. Through a review of national and global studies, the paper describes the emission reduction and vulnerability reduction benefits of slowing population growth, and outlines policies that can…
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Green sex for climate’s sake
By Alisha Graves There’s no single solution for climate change, no magic bullet that can stabilize and eventually reduce the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. But separating sex from childbearing represents an underappreciated opportunity to forestall climate disaster. To be sure, addressing the climate challenge will require a wide range of approaches. Conservation…
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Including population growth in sustainability discussions, case study: Egypt
By Jenna Dodson Sustainable development has been defined as development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs1. Using this definition, the United Nations developed a sustainable development framework centered around three pillars: economic, environmental, and social. Population is included in the social pillar…
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Population and food security in Africa: a win-win opportunity
By Jenna Dodson Best estimates suggest nearly 300 million people in Africa are undernourished, and there is mounting evidence linking this food insecurity to rapid population growth 1–3. Recently, in “The impact of population growth and climate change on food security in Africa: looking ahead to 2050”, Hall et al. reaffirmed population growth to be…
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Recent blog posts
- Population growth is still rapid. Has the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) forgotten family planning programs?
- The Most Appropriate Response to Falling Birthrates? Embrace Them
- New paper defends a pragmatic definition of overpopulation
- Because everyone else is (not) doing it: How social pressures may be the key to understand family size preferences
- The Psychology of our Strange Overpopulation Taboo
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