For more on population, read our special feature The population delusion
A UNIQUE approach to helping farmers and communities in poor countries adapt to the destructive effects of climate change seems to be paying off. By combining environmental farming methods with family planning, the (CIPHE) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, says farming productivity in the Wichi wetlands in the south-west of the country has increased – although how much of this is down to a reduction in family size is not yet clear.
“This is an approach that can balance population with the environment,” says Negash Teklu of CIPHE.
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Since its , some 14,000 inhabitants of Wichi have renourished soil with animal compost and planted vetiver grasses, which trap moisture. Families are also being offered access to contraception and advice. The idea is that enabling communities to choose their family size to match their resources is as important as making the farming practice in the region sustainable.
“The idea is to enable communities to choose their family size to match their resources”
CIPHE says that local people have “grasped the impact of rapid population growth” and “become cooperative to actions that harmonise the situation”, although there is no data available to show that family sizes have been moderated since the project – the first of its kind in Africa – began.
“The Wichi project shows that the environmental benefits of better land management can be sustained long term and not eroded by increasing population size,” says Leo Bryant of Marie Stopes International, a UK-based sexual and reproductive health organisation. Bryant has prepared an analysis of climate change and family planning strategies in developing countries which will appear in November in the WHO Bulletin.
Of 40 national strategies examined by Bryant, 37 countries acknowledge that rising population sizes will make feeding people harder, but only six, including Ethiopia, have plans to scale up access to family planning and contraception.
In a , Thomas Wire of the London School of Economics calculates that each $7 spent on family planning worldwide would reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 1 tonne between 2010 and 2050. These reductions would come mainly from the US, followed by China, Russia and India.
