Video: Address basic needs, reduce population
A revealing mini-lecture on population points to the role fighting poverty plays in the world’s future.
July 22nd, 2010 | by Chris HufstaderOnce again I am grateful for Duncan Green’s excellent blog “From Poverty to Power” for raising the issue of global population growth, which generated a lively debate when I blogged about it earlier this year. This time Green references a fascinating lecture by Hans Rosling. You can watch the video below, in which Rosling uses plastic storage boxes from Ikea (Rosling is Swedish so I suppose this makes sense) and an animated PowerPoint presentation to show how helping with basic needs reduces child mortality and encourages people to have fewer children. His basic message: If you want to address population growth, work on eradicating poverty. It’s a clear-eyed analysis of the population issue and basic development, all in about 10 minutes:
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Chris Hufstader
Chris Hufstader has been working for Oxfam America since 1998. He writes about Oxfam America’s programs in West Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Find him on Twitter at @chufstader.
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