(Headings added by candobetter.net editor.)
1994 Cairo Conference failed Egypt
Ironically one of the countries which has suffered most from the failure of the Cairo Conference was Egypt itself. In 1948 Egypt’s population was less than 20 million. It added a further 20 million by 1975, and another 20 million by 1994, the time of the Conference, and another 20 million to reach 80 million by 2011. The UN says that continuing high fertility rates would see Egypt reach 100 million by 2025 and 140 million by 2050.
Egypt's birth rate reality exceeds UN projections
In fact Egypt’s birth rate for the last three years exceeds the UN’s “high” projections. The number of births in the 1990s was 1.6 million on average. This increased to around 1.8 million births in the first decade of this century. There were 2.4 million births in 2011 and 2.6 million in 2012, according to the Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics. Back in 1950 Egypt had the same number of births as Italy. By 1977 it had the same number as Italy and France combined. By 2000 it matched the combined total of Italy, France and Spain, and by 2012 the combined total of Italy, France, Spain and the United Kingdom.
Hypocrisy of religious and other leaders on population matters
The consequences of this rapid population growth are plain for all to see – violent, debilitating conflict over access to scarce resources. The world’s leaders need to tell Egypt’s leaders that they need to stop focussing on today’s battles for just long enough to draw attention to the underlying problem, and the need to reduce their birth rate to more traditional levels. If they do not, it is entirely predictable that there will be more conflict and misery in future, not less. It is entirely predictable that many people will seek to escape the conflict and misery, ending up in boats headed for islands in the Mediterranean and other destinations. It is also predictable that religious leaders will urge the world to be compassionate and welcoming – religious leaders from the same religious organisations that worked hard at the Cairo Conference in 1994 to scuttle and undermine attempts to stop rapid population growth.
Post comment to candobetter here and or to Kelvin Thomson MP for Wills, Victoria, himself here: Kelvin Thomson's blog
Comments
Anonymous (not verified)
Thu, 2014-01-16 04:55
Permalink
"Food security" a euphemism for human ecological overshoot
A report by UN World Food Programme and CAPMAS (Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics) found that an estimated 13.7 million Egyptians (or 17 percent of the population) suffered from food insecurity in 2011, compared to 14 percent in 2009. Data also suggests that rates of malnutrition, most notably stunting among children aged 6-59 months, are also on the rise.
Back in July last year, Egypt had less than two months' supply of imported wheat left in its stocks, ousted President Mohamed Mursi's minister of supplies said, revealing a shortage more acute than previously disclosed. Although it also grows its own wheat, Egypt needs huge quantities of foreign wheat with higher gluten content to make flour suitable for bread.
Coastal regions face severe degradation from overdevelopment, industrial waste, and unsustainable fishing practices. The Egyptian tortoise is nearing extinction as a result of poaching and being sold in local pet stores or smuggled to the international market and sold for thousands of pounds each.
With only 3% of Egypt’s total area suitable for vegetation and increasing human needs, preventing the loss of any arable land to desertification should be a national priority.
Incredibly, the journalists, NGOs and experts continue to see the symptoms of human overpopulation, and the allied problems of environmental degradation, species extinctions, and food security - but rarely acknowledge the source of the problem of human overpopulation! The looming global issue of "food security" is a polite and political-correct euphemism (usually) for human ecological overshoot!
Add comment