Assess the success of different methods used to overcome the imbalance between population and food supply
Assess the success of different methods used to overcome the imbalance between population and food supply
The term imbalance refers to a difference between the population’s demands for food and the actual food supply. It is estimated that the current population of the earth is six billion people.
There are two main theories that relate to population growth and food supply, these being the “Malthusian theory” and the “Boserup theory”. Thomas Malthus was an English clergyman and economist who lived from 1766 to 1834; Malthus expressed a pessimistic view over the dangers of overpopulation. He believed that the food supply was the main limiting factor to population growth. He also believed that human population increases geometrically whereas food supplies can only grow arithmetically. A Danish economist put the optimistic theory together in 1965 her name was Esther Boserup. She believed that an increase in population would stimulate technologists to increase food production. The sentence “Necessity is the mother of invention” sums up the Boserup theory.