The Environmental Implication of Population Dynamics in Ethiopia: Review

Select Volume / Issue:

• Volume 2 Issue 2, March, 2015

Year:

2015

Type of Publication:

Article

Keywords:

Population, Environmental Degradation, Land Cover, Land Use

Authors:

Amare, Abayineh; Belay, Simane

Journal:

IJRAS

Volume:

2

Number:

2

Pages:

87-94

Month:

March

Note:

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Creative Commons License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/

Abstract:

This paper analyzes the nexus between population dynamics and environmental degradation in Ethiopia. The paper focuses on spatial and temporal changes in forest from 1990-2005 and cropland in Ethiopia. The trend in population growth and land use land cover change over those periods reveals that decline of forest and wetland cover, while substantial increase in cropland with increase of population. This indicates the prevalence of converting forest and wetland in to cropland and the weak technological improvement for a large number of farmers, as forestland and wetlands areas were cleared to increase crop production rather than improving current farming techniques. This has given rise to high rates of environmental degradation, and increasing damage to ecosystems that cannot sustain crop cultivation. The policy implication is that encouraging policies enhancing sustainable intensification of land resources that would lessen the need for agricultural extensification that could latter reduce pressure on environmental resources. In the short-run, family planning policy that enables couples to avoid unwanted pregnancy would reduce fertility and population growth that will result reducing pressure on environmental resources is recommended. However, this paper failed to see the complex interaction of non-demographic factors that will determine population’s environmental influence.

Full text: IJRAS_231_Final.pdf [Bibtex]