4. Malthus and Boserup Flashcards
What was Thomas Malthus’s belief about the rate of population growth?
Malthus was a pessimist - he believed that rates of population growth exceeded the ability to produce sufficient food and resources, leading to “overpopulation checks” such as famine or conflict.
Summarise the key ideas of Thomas Malthus’s viewpoint:
If unchecked, the population will always outstrip the food supply
Population will be checked by famine, disease and wars over limited resources.
Once these checks occurred, the population would crash and the population-resource balance would re-establish itself.
Give some examples of events where Thomas Malthus’s predictions were relevant:
- Desertification in Southern Sahel led to famine and high death rates
- China felt the need to implement a very extreme population policy due to fears of experiencing symptoms such as unemployment, inflation and food shortage.
What are the flaws in Malthus’s prediction?
- Malthus did not account for the rate at which food production would increase - technology has currently kept food production greater than population increase.
- The population is currently over 8 billion people, without any major population checks.
What was Ester Boserup’s belief about the rate of population growth?
Boserup was an optimist - she believed that carrying capacity is dynamic and imbalance between population and resources can be overcome.
Summarise the key ideas of Ester Boserup’s viewpoint:
- Food supply stays in line with population growth.
- Increased food supply encourages population growth.
- Decreased food supply encourages innovation - new technology.
- Human technology allows us to adapt and overcome.
Give some examples of events where Ester Boserup’s predictions were relevant:
Green Revolution in India pulled many familied out of starvation and poverty through irrigation, more modern farming practices and high-yield varieties of crops.
Global deaths from famine in 2020 are lower than those in 1850, despite having a population of 8bn today.
What are the flaws in Ester Boserup’s prediction?
- Food is not shared equally - 800 million people currently go hungry.
- Intensive farming can destroy soil, reducing output.
- Increase in quality of life not accounted for - increasing demand on the planet.
- Climate change may cause food production to decline.
What is the definition of underpopulation?
Underpopulation is a situation where the population is insufficient in size to exploit its resources effectively, support ageing populations and provide growth.
What is the definition of optimum population?
Optimum population is a situation where the population produces the highest standard of living by maximising the benefits from the resources available
What is the definition of overpopulation?
Overpopulation is a situation where the population is larger than the carrying capacity of the environment.
What is the definition of carrying capacity?
Carrying capacity is the maximum number of people an environment can sustainably support at a given level of technology.
What are hydroponics?
Hydroponics are a system of agriculture involving growing plants in solution instead of soil.
What are the benefits of hydroponics?
Artificial light increases growing hours and number of harvests.
Allows crops to be grown in places of poor soil quality, unsuitable climate or dense populations.
Uses 60-90% less water than traditional methods.
What are the drawbacks of hydroponics?
Higher energy consumption.
Higher economic investment required.
High running costs.
