A Counter Claim to the Malthusian Theory on Food Production - Research Paper Example

of of Your A Counter Claim to the Malthusian Theory on Food Production: An Emphasis on Today's Developing Countries In 1798, Reverend Thomas Malthus asserted that “food production is exponential in nature and population growth is geometric” (Malthus 3). In line with this, Malthus warned that if the trend remained the same, the world was in danger of becoming extinct of human beings and numerous negative practices like starvation and cannibalism would be the order of the day and the world will be a very negative place to live in. Malthus argues that the society needs to act to prevent such a thing from happening to the human race. He therefore states that people should be encouraged to come up with systems and practices that will ensure that population growth is checked (Malthus 72). He proposes 'positive' population growth checks like increase in death rate and preventive checks like low birth rate (Malthus 72). Although his argument might have been relevant in his time and might still be relevant in this generation, there are many flaws in his argument that are going be explored in this paper. This is in line with the connection of Malthus' ideas with modern day societies, particularly the societies most at risk of the claims he made – the developing world. This paper argues that Malthus' theory is NOT relevant to today's society because there are many ways that the problem of he raises can be dealt with in our modern era. The paper makes a claim that developing countries are NOT at risk of extinction or harmful practices because of population growth. Rather, developing countries today can maintain a steady population growth with corresponding improvements in technology, national structures and global interdependency. With these arguments, the paper seeks to prove that the threats of population growth are not applicable to today's society. Critique of Malthus' Position In the book, An Essay on the Principle of Population Malthus drew the attention of Britain and Europe to the dangers of population growth. It was in line with what became known as the Malthus Iron Laws which suggests that when population increases, there will be a large supply of labor and employers will exploit workers by offering lower wages, thereby increasing poverty. To an extent, I agree with this in the present world, because in a nation like China, wages are extremely low because there is a high population and there are no wage regulation laws (Cooke 152). However, this claim puts the independence of Malthus into question. Right after the claim of the Iron Wage Laws come into prominence, Malthus comes up with this theory that population grows geometrically and food production grows exponentially? Was he writing this essay on the basis of empirical facts, or was he just being pessimistic to put fear into the people of Britain so that they controlled the population. Before Malthus wrote this book, there was no official census in Britain. It was this book that Malthus wrote which made Britain begin to count its people in 1800, two years after Malthus wrote this book (Davey XX). This suggests that Malthus only penned down this model on the basis of his personal sentiment without checking the population of any group of people. This is because Britain was one of the most advanced nations in the world. So if there was no system of taking populations on a regular and accurate basis, where did Malthus draw the conclusion that populations increase geometrically? And which farms did he study to identify that food production is exponential. This therefore suggests that the conclusions of Malthus were based on personal sentiments and had little facts to back them. Another issue is about the way agriculture was carried out in the time of Malthus. Most people were involved in subsistence farming. Walters state that in the 1700s, 95% of people in England fed themselves through subsistence farming (36). This, again suggests that the proposition put forward by Malthus was based on a world where there was nothing, but subsistence farming which involved farmers producing for themselves and their families only. There were no large scale commercial farming systems, no irrigation, no researchers, no banks to support large scale farmers and the idea of food production was limited to a small scope of subsistence farming based on small families tilling limited pieces of land to provide for themselves. Based on these inherent limitations, it appears that the problems of unchecked population growth and its relation to food production and consumption put forward by Malthus is not applicable in our own time. Perhaps, the idea of dangers in population growth might be applicable to different parts of our lives today but definitely not to agriculture. It might be applicable to non-renewable energy like petrol which is limited and thus over-consumption by a larger population might be disastrous. Again, it might be applicable to environmental concerns like global warming which accelerates with population growth. To this end, it can be said that the whole idea of population growth and its negative consequences to our population relates to resources that are depletable or limited in quantity. This is because agriculture in Malthus' time was heavily limited because everyone thought that the whole world will remain on a subsistence production capacity for eternity. However, in our own time, it is clear and apparent that agriculture can be flexed in so many ways to ensure that food production remains at a high rate. Thus, this research will examine various units of the developing world which are most at risk for what Malthus proposes in his essay. This is because there are high levels of subsistence in poor countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, India, South America and Southeast Asia which are somewhat similar to the circumstances that existed in England at the time Malthus was writing his treatise. Population Growth & Agriculture Today Population growth might have had a direct correlation on the lives of people in Malthus' time. This is because in a world where people depended on the vagaries of the weather and crude agricultural practices, small changes in the expected output of agriculture had significant effects on the lives of people. However, in our modern world, many options exist for humanity in terms of food production. The ability of people to learn and apply different tools and techniques to boost food production and reduce reliance on the weather and harvests in a given geographical area has put humanity in a position where food production has a limited relationship with population growth. “Populations levels determine agricultural methods, rather than agricultural methods determining population” (Boserup 3). Boserup's stand is directly opposite to the position taken by Malthus. Malthus' argument can be construed to bean that agricultural methods strongly affect the population. This provides a bleak picture of a world where there is overpopulation. However, Boserup, a more modern writer who wrote over 150 years after Malthus stated that population growth rather acts as a catalyst for agricultural growth. Thus, if the population grows at a high rate and there are more mouths to feed, there is a motivation and a strong challenge to the society to develop better and more sophisticated ways of farming. This leads to an improved agricultural system which ensures that all the demands for food are met and people get to acquire good foods. For instance India had a population of just about 80 million when the British began ruling the subcontinent in the 1800s (India Census Commission 2). However, India's population is currently as high as 1 billion. Over ten times what it was. Although some people in India live under dire conditions, there are no cases of cannibalism, wars and starvation as Malthus presented it in his document. This shows that agriculture has evolved to take care of all the needs of the different people at different points in time. It can therefore be argued that if certain important things are taken care of, agriculture can evolve to ensure that people in the developing world, most at risk at what Malthus presented can survive even in this era where there is a limited production of food. The main areas of safeguarding the populations are in the areas of Technology, National Policies & Structures AND Global Interdependency Systems. Technology “Food Technology is the use of science to improve the growing, harvesting, processing, packaging, distribution, cooking and storage of food” (Graham 7). In other words, food technology encompasses the systems of production, distribution, storage and consumption of food to ensure that optimum results are attained. There are numerous options available to ensure that there is sufficient food for people in the developing world through technology. In the developing world, technology can be invoked to ensure that there is food around the clock and all the threats that Malthus predicted cannot cause significant problems and disruptions to the lives of people. The following options are available. Continuous Research: There is the option of people undertaking continuous research about food production in the developing world. This will provide the best options and tools necessary for the production of food in large quantities. This continuous research must aim at studying facts relating to existing systems and conclude on better ways of instituting food technology. This will ensure that the best technologies evolve and are instituted throughout the developing world. Better Agricultural Practices: Food technology must ensure that better ways of planting for larger quantities of products are instituted. This includes the promotion of better techniques of tilling the land and improved systems and structures for choosing which products to plant. This will ultimately ensure that the most effective and efficient systems of planting and harvesting products are put in place. The institution of good agricultural systems will ultimately ensure that old and archaic farming techniques will phase out and be replaced with more productive ones so that yield is increased to meet the demand of a growing population. Better Equipment: Since subsistence farming is common in developing countries, the introduction of more advanced systems like commercial farming and the mechanization of farms will ensure that developing countries can get the highest possible yields from their farms. This will ensure that the farmers will get more outputs from their inputs and there will be less reliance on outmoded tools which demand too much effort from farmers. Better Storage & Preservation Systems: Another option for developing countries is to institute better storage and preservation systems to store the excess foods that will result from improved systems. This will see to it that there will be enough food stored up for harsh times where the conditions are not so good. Better preservation techniques can ensure that there is food security and starvation will be a thing of the past. Genetically Modified Foods: Although genetically modified foods are criticized for being unhealthy in most developed countries, when things get to the worst, countries in the developing world can be allowed to grow such crops to fill in emergency gaps. This will involve the planting of such crops when there is the need for quick yields or there is the need for a set of improved genetic species of plants for a given region. This can save lives and prevent the chaos that Malthus predicts in his essays. National Structures National policies in agriculture and legal matters can help to boost food production and promote the welfare of people in nations (Westhoff 181). There are numerous options that are available to developing countries to ensure food security. Financial Allocation of Resources for Agriculture: Developing nations can set up budgets aimed at providing enough funds to sponsor research, irrigation, food processing and other agricultural training systems that will ensure that there is a high level of food production. This will ensure that food is produced and made available at appropriate times to citizens of the nation. Agricultural Policies: There should be conscious policies that will ensure that farmers can expand their operations and other intermediaries like engineers, banks and other institutions can provide the best of support to these farmers in these nations. This will ensure the survival of the population since there will be an assurance of food production. Environmental Policies: The nation should also come up with policies that are meant to preserve the national environment. This will cause the nation to have a sustainable system whereby the land and other related natural resources can remain productive not only for the current generation but also, future generations. With this in place, the society can be sure that they can produce food from very good and positive sources of the natural environment. Legal Matters: Laws must be made to protect farmers and other farming stakeholder groups. This will ensure that the best interests of these farmers and their stakeholders are protected in the larger society and there is an assurance of continuous food production. Democracy: More importantly, when there is democracy, agriculture will thrive. This is because democracy enhances dialogue between different interest groups in the nation. Thus, when democracy is instituted in these nations, farmers and other food technology groups can seek their best interest in a free nation to avoid calamities and problems. Malthus argues that food shortages will lead to wars and other social conflicts like cannibalism. When there is democracy, all interest groups are given a peaceful means to present their cases. People will not have to fight over fertile lands. So democracy in a developing country is a very important tool to ensure that there is food security and all the predicted negativity of Malthus can hardly occur in such an environment. Global Interdependency As the world merges into a single entity, many international humanitarian organizations and policies have evolved to ensure that human rights and interests are protected in a safe environment (Sterns 4). This therefore means that the developing world and their interest is part of the larger vision. Thus, there are several possibilities that exist which could be fallen on as last resort when food security problems become acute. The Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations has a responsibility of ensuring that there is food in different parts of the world. This implies that the FAO will always be available to provide aid to nations that are in serious shortage of food. In recent time, it can be recalled that the FAO has coordinated aid to places where there was extreme famine like Somalia and parts of Kenya. The FAO also mobilizes aid to places where there are natural disasters like flooding and earthquakes to provide sufficient food for these people. This means that the threats that Malthus outlined two hundred years ago when the world was based on imperialism and nations sought to exploit others are not valid anymore. This is because the world is now defined by interdependence rather than exploitation. Another option available to people in the developing world is the option of migration. In nations where populations exceed food production, the citizens are allowed, under humanitarian convention like the United Nations High Commission for Refugees to migrate to other nations without limitations. Somalians are given refugee status around the world because of the wars and famine in their nation. Zimbabweans are also allowed to live in South Africa due to food security crises. Haitians in America were granted refugee status because of the earthquake that hit the country in 2010. Therefore, before people will descend to cannibalism and other negative trends as Malthus suggested, they could explore the option of moving to another country where their food security would be enhanced. Also, the United Nations and Regional bodies have developmental policies and projects that aim at providing food security and infrastructure to poor nations that are at risk of starvation. These projects have targeted poor nations like Sierra Leone and Congo in Africa to help ensure that all these people get the best of food resources and remain productive. Conclusion Malthus argued for humanity to check population growth. This resulted in the proper checking of populations in many nations around the world and this has proven positive in enhancing the quality of life in these countries. However, the predictions he made about the threats of population growth are not relevant to the 21st century. Even the communities that are most at risk – the developing world are not really threatened by this predictions because humanity and science have control over the expansion of agriculture to meet the population at any point in time. The main limitation of Malthus' argument lies in the fact that he saw agriculture as a fixed or slowly expanding venture. However, history has shown that agriculture can be expanded at a much faster rate with science. Nations that are most at risk of facing the threats of food shortages raised by Malthus have several options. They include reliance on improved technology, building of positive national structures and reliance on the international community. The argument of Malthus might not be applicable to the relationship between population growth and food production in our era. However, it can be applied to fixed ventures like energy production (like petroleum) and environmental preservation. Works Cited Boserup Ester. The Conditions of Agricultural Growth: The Economics of Agrarian Change Under Population Pressure. Chicago: Adele Publishers. 1965. Print. Cooke Fang Lee. HRM, Work & Employment in China. London: Taylor Routledge Publishing. 2005. Print. Davey George Smith. Poverty, Inequality and Health in Britain: 1800 – 2000 A Reader. Oxford: The Policy Press. 2001. Print. Graham Ian. Food Technology. London: Evans Brothers. 2008. Print. India Census Commission. Census of India 1901. Bombay: Colonial Office. 1902. Journal. Malthus Thomas. An Essay on the Principle of Population. London: J. Johnson Publishing. 1798. Print. Sterns William. The FAO and the International Community. Geneva: OECD Publishing. 2005. Print. Walters Tony. The Persistence of Subsistence Agriculture. New York: Lexington Books. 2007. Print. Westhoff Patrick Charles. The Economics of Food: How Feeding & Fueling the Planet Affects Food Prices. London: FT Press. 2010. Print. Read More