Population growth is blamed for everything from poverty and climate change to crime and conflict. But does more people necessarily mean more problems? With the world's population set to reach 7 billion this year, will we see new conflicts as more people compete for the same limited resources (land, water, food and energy)? And how will the world's poorest countries be able to provide jobs and basic services for their growing populations?
We'll be discussing these issues in this month's Global development podcast. We'll discuss different ideas about the impact of population growth on development and the environment in the world's poorest countries. And we'll ask what aid donors and other development actors should – and shouldn't – do about population issues.
Among the guests joining us in the studio will be Claire Melamed, head of the growth and equity programme at the Overseas Development Institute, and former head of policy at ActionAid UK. We'll also have Roger Martin, chairman of the UK population charity Population Matters, formerly known as the Optimum Population Trust. And down the line from Nairobi, we will be joined by Eliya Zulu, executive director of the African Institute for Development Policy and president of the Union for African Population Studies.
In advance of the podcast, we want to get your thoughts. Is population growth the biggest challenge facing poor countries? Or are fears about a "population timebomb" unfounded? And how – if at all – should governments, aid donors and other development actors engage with population issues?
In a letter to the Guardian this month, Baroness Jenny Tonge and Richard Ottaway argued that responses to the recurrent food crises in the Horn of Africa must include funding for family planning and reproductive health programmes to "relieve the pressure of ever-growing populations". Last year, the UN's humanitarian chief, Baroness Valerie Amos, told the Guardian that population growth, if not addressed, might outstrip the ability of countries to feed themselves and lead to a semi-permanent humanitarian crisis.
Earlier this year, Lester Brown argued that family planning programmes can help push forward progress on both women's health and poverty reduction. Meanwhile, on World Population Day, Neil Datta, secretary of the European Parliamentary Forum on Population and Development, argued that no conversation about population dynamics can ignore the fact that choosing whether or not to reproduce is a fundamental human right.
Let us know what you think. What do you want the panel to focus on? And what would you like us to ask our panellists? Post your suggestions below. As always, we'll put a selection of your questions to the panel.
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