For over 200 years, the ideas of population growth centered around a theory proposed by Thomas Malthus. He believed that populations would grow when there was an adequate food supply. This meant that population growth was arithmetical, directly influenced by the number of resources.
Ester Boserup was a Danish economist who studied agricultural and economic development, focusing on agrarian change. Her population growth theory is the complete opposite of the theory proposed by Mathus. Boserup proposed that populations would intensify their agricultural output in response to changes in population.
The primary point that she often made is quite simple: necessity is the mother of invention. It’s a proverb that dates back nearly 500 years and found a practical application in the Ester Boserup population growth theory.
Is the World Really Threatened by Population Change?
Many people follow the Malthusian approach to population change without realizing it. This causes them to believe that overpopulation is threatening the world. At some point, population size will strip the world of its agricultural resources and force population levels to decline. There will be a time when the food supply will be exhausted, which will cause people to die.
Boserup takes a different approach. Instead of continuing to develop new food resources, her population growth theory suggests that current food productivity simply needs to be enhanced. This could be accomplished in a number of ways.
- By finding ways for current croplands to produce higher yields.
- Through the elimination of food waste within current distribution systems.
- Using the creative energy of the human mind to harness new inventions to encourage additional food resources.
According to Oxfam Canada, the world is producing 17% more food per person today than it was 30 years ago. This means that although population levels on our planet are continuing to rise, we’re finding more ways to produce food. There is currently enough food being created right now to feed everyone.
But what about the future? Boserup says the future will be dictated by the response of humans in that future. If more food is needed, then populations will put more people into agricultural labor to enhance the food supply. Croplands will be cultivated with more intensity. People will find a way to solve the problem.
How the Boserup Population Growth Theory Works
According to Boserup, many of our food resources are currently under-developed. Through a process of intensification within the agricultural sector, it would become possible to sustain a growing population with ingenuity and hard work.
Imagine a farmer that owns three fields. He may only plant crops in two fields because of the amount of work it takes to create viable croplands. In the next 5 years, the farmer has three children added to his family. Suddenly there is pressure to cultivate the third field, despite how difficult it may be, so that his family has the resources they need to survive.
In other words, the farmer changes the approach to food production to make sure there is enough food. This, Boserup argues, would happen on a global scale.
Concerns with Boserup’s Population Growth Theory
Although Boserup offers a more hopeful glimpse into the future when compared to Malthus, there are some concerns with her population growth theory. For starters, on our planet today, the places of the world which see the greatest food shortages tend to have the lowest agricultural technology levels. The richest parts of the world tend to have the most food, the best living standards, and the highest agricultural technology levels.
If Boserup’s theory is true, then shouldn’t the reverse be observed?
It is being observed, depending on how an individual defines “hi-tech” or “low tech” agricultural technologies. Developing areas with high population areas and food insecurity of created ways to harvest water from the air, create indoor lighting by using recycled soda bottles, and the installation of new irrigation technologies.
Will Humanity Always Find a Way?
In the Ester Boserup population growth theory, we can see her believe that humanity would always find a way to survive. She refused to believe in the idea that people would need to die simply because we could not find a new way to produce food. Ingenuity, she would often say, can always outmatch that of demand. This is why she countered Malthusian theory.
It could be said that both population theories have some merit. What we must do is be responsible with our resources all along the food production chain so that if someone is hungry, they can have food to eat.