Month: October 2012

Plans to Tame Kenya’s Exploding Population

Editors

The government has plans to reduce the total fertility rate from 4.6 to 2.6 children per woman.

EDITH FORTUNATE writes in AFRICA REVIEW:

Ann Wafula, 30, patiently waits to see the gynaecologist at Gilead Medical Centre, situated in the upmarket Upper Hill area of Nairobi.

The mother of a three-month-old baby boy, who is also her first born, is here to consult with the doctor on what contraceptives she should use, based on a hormonal test carried at the hospital.

In Hagadera, three hundred kilometres away to the east of Nairobi, 21-year-old Asha Abdalla is a proud mother of twin girls, delivered just a few days ago at a local dispensary. The twins are her second and third born, while her first born is aged barely two years. “I conceived when he was just nine months,” she explains.  READ MORE.

China Think Tank Calls for End to One-Child Policy

Editors

JOSH CHIN writes in THE WALL STREET JOURNAL:

With China preparing to usher in new leaders, the drumbeat of semi-official support for reform of the country’s controversial family planning policies continues to grow.

In the most recent development, a think tank affiliated with China’s State Council issued a report saying the country should start loosening one-child restrictions in areas where controls have been strictest as a prelude to eventually doing away with child limits altogether. READ MORE.

CNBC: Governments Organize Matchmaking as Asia’s Birth Rates Fall

Editors

Several Asian countries have come up with special programs and innovative ways of encouraging people to get married and have more kids.

RAJESHNI NAIDU-GHELANI writes at CNBC:

For Singapore citizen Kelly Ang, 25, who married a year ago, having a baby is not a top priority. The public relations professional, who works 11 hours a day, said she has no time to raise a family.

“At the moment I think it is difficult if I were to hold my current job and have a child too,” Ang said. “The work-life balance is something that would be a deterrent.”

Ang is one of many young people across Asia whose decision to put off having children is worrying their governments. From Taiwan to Singapore, authorities are stepping in to organize speed dating and other matchmaking events in a desperate attempt to stem falling birth rates. READ MORE.

Why Investors Are Into Africa

Editors

LAURA DU PREEZ writes in PERSONAL FINANCE:

The demographic trend in Africa’s favour is that much of its young and growing population will move to urban areas in the near future.

Increasingly, the case for investing in Africa is made on the basis that this “last frontier” is now in a strong position to develop, to urbanise its growing and relatively young population, and to foster a large middle class.

The opportunities for individual South Africans to access investments elsewhere in Africa remain fairly limited. Even retirement funds and unit trust funds with mandates that enable them to invest in Africa’s markets have been slow to venture into this new frontier. Recent poor performance from showcase African funds and indices has not helped the cause, but could this be all the more reason to invest now? READ MORE.

What’s Holding Back Affordable Housing in India?

Editors

The demand is huge but poor infrastructure, antiquated business models, government bureaucracy and lack of financing are all impediments.

From KNOWLEDGE@WHARTON:

When real estate developer Xrbia recently launched a 170-acre housing project in Hinjwadi, a suburb on the outskirts of Pune in Maharashtra, all the 3,400 apartment units were sold within a week. The biggest unit in this apartment complex was 550 square feet and the smallest was close to 250 square feet. The units were priced at Rs. 22 lakh (around US$40,000) and Rs. 9 lakh (US$ 16,000) respectively.

Pointing to the quick sale of these homes, Rajesh Krishnan, managing director and CEO of Brick Eagle, a Mumbai-based land banking firm that acquires land and promotes affordable housing in partnership with developers, says: “In a way, this shows the demand-supply gap [in the affordable housing segment in India]. People physically queue up under the sun to apply for allotment of these houses.” He considers affordable housing in India to be homes that cost less than US$40,000. READ MORE.

UN Warns of Looming Worldwide Food Crisis in 2013

Editors

JOHN VIDAL writes in the OBSERVER:

• Global grain reserves hit critically low levels
• Extreme weather means climate ‘is no longer reliable’
• Rising food prices threaten disaster and unrest

World grain reserves are so dangerously low that severe weather in the United States or other food-exporting countries could trigger a major hunger crisis next year, the United Nations has warned.

Failing harvests in the US, Ukraine and other countries this year have eroded reserves to their lowest level since 1974. The US, which has experienced record heatwaves and droughts in 2012, now holds in reserve a historically low 6.5% of the maize that it expects to consume in the next year, says the UN. READ MORE.

Belarus Population Declined by 6% in Two Decades 1989-2009

Editors

Emigration and aging of the population are main causes.

From BELARUS DIGEST:

Official population censuses in Belarus conducted in 1989, 1999 and 2009 reveal a number of interesting trends.

They show that the population declines, the proportion of those who identifies themselves as Belarusians increases and the role of Belarusian language weakens. The period of Lukashenka rule coincided with the sharpest decline of population since the collapse of the USSR.  READ MORE.

US Annual Deaths Surpass 2.5 Million for First Time

Editors

MIKE STOBBE writes for the ASSOCIATED PRESS (via ABC NEWS):

U.S. deaths surpassed 2.5 million for the first time last year, reflecting the nation’s growing and aging population.

The increase of about 45,000 more deaths than in 2010 was not surprising. The annual number of deaths has been generally rising for decades as the population has swelled.

“If you have an older population, of course you have more deaths,” said Qian Cai, a University of Virginia demographer who studies population trends. “That doesn’t mean the population is less healthy or less vital.”

Before last year, the largest number of deaths was 2.47 million in 2008. The number of deaths can jump up or down from year to year, depending on whether there was a bad flu season or other factors. READ MORE.

Bulgaria: Population Decline Continues

Editors

Bulgaria’s population has been in decline since 1988.  The country faces a demographic challenge resulting from a high rate of emigration towards other EU countries and from the aging of its remaining population.

From QUEST (BULGARIA):

The population of Bulgaria has been in decline since 1988 and has continued up  to the present day. The most recent census conducted in 2011 revealed that the  population of Bulgaria stood at 7.4 million people showing the lowest figures  since the 1988 peak when the country was home to 8.98 million. Women in Bulgaria  outnumber the men by 2.6%.

It is said that a staggering third of Bulgaria’s inhabitants live in the cities  of Sofia, Plovdiv and Varna which are the largest cities in the country.

There is much concern regarding the population of Bulgaria due to its rapid  rate of decrease and reports state that over half a million people left Bulgaria  over the last 10 years and over 1.5 million since 1988.This number is gathering  pace at an alarming rate.

In addition to the dwindling numbers there is an added problem which Bulgaria  is faced with, and that is it’s ageing residents, many located within the  countries 5302 villages. More and more villages are being left uninhabited as  the older generation pass away.

Read more: http://www.questbg.com/news-a-events/mish-mash/2084-the-population-of-bulgaria.html#ixzz28ofrPrGp

India: Three Million Girls are ‘Missing’

Editors

From BUSINESS STANDARD (INDIA):

In an alarming trend, the decline in girl child numbers in India has been sharper than the male children in the decade 2001-11, leading to a skewed child sex ratio.

While the decade saw an overall drop in share of children to total population, nearly three million girls, one million more than boys, are “missing” in 2011 compared to 2001 and there are now 48 fewer girls per 1,000 boys than there were in 1981, according to a a government study.

“During 2001-2011, the share of children to total population has declined and the decline was sharper for female children than male children in the age group 0-6 years,” said the study “Children in India 2012-A Statistical Appraisal” conducted by the Central Statistical Organisation.

According to the report, female child population in the age group of 0-6 year was 78.83 million in 2001 which declined to 75.84 million in 2011.

The population of girl child was 15.88 per cent of the total female population of 496.5 million in 2001, which declined to 12.9 per cent of total number of 586.47 million women in 2011.  READ MORE.