Population Growth and Environmental Degradation in Africa

Population growth and environmental degradation are becoming increasingly important, and intertwined, issues in Southern Africa. The authors of this book warn that unless population growth is forestalled, the number of people in the region is likely to double in less than thirty years—placing enormous pressures on available farmland, job creation, shelter, educational systems, public services, and the environment.

The authors document the varied facets of Southern Africa's population and environmental problems, using both structuralist and neo-Malthusian approaches. They focus on the implications of these problems for development policy, the economy, rural-urban migration, the stability of the region, and access to resources by traditionally marginalized groups, particularly women.