Question

The text defines the Malthusian trap as: “A point at which the world is no longer able to meet the food requirements of the population, and starvation becomes the primary check to population growth.” In other words, population will outpace food production.

Discuss whether you believe this trap has been avoided for the next 100 years. Consider government policies (like China’s one-child policy), the use of genetically engineered crops, social patterns of family size, and environmental factors.

Please answer in 200 words or more. Use your own words - please do not copy and paste from a web site. Be sure to reference your sources.

Answer 1

No, there is no surety the trap has not been avoided for the next 100 years. This is because there are two sides to it. By following the policies such as the one child policy by China we can try to capture the demand side but on the supply side, the policies of genetically engineered crops may not be useful given the pace of deterioration of the resources. The land deterioration has become inevitable due to unsustainable use of land all around the globe. The environmental degradation has led to global warming that is causing various phenomenons such as El Nino that leads to adverse weather conditions, not conducive for the production of agricultural crops. The melting of glaciers due to global warming is leading to rise in sea level whereas the cutting down of trees for industrialization has led to increase in land sliding and rainfall misses in various parts of the world. The policies and steps taken doesn’t ensure that the Malthusian also because of the mismatch of production and consumption patterns around the world. Also, the population characterstics in terms of age is a matter of concern. With such policies that restrict the growth of population and the increasing life expectancy due to development of various medical global practices means the world will constitute an ageing population that is incapable of producing its own food.