COURSE TITLE:

DEVELOPING COUNTRIES AND THE ENVIRONMENT

MODULE TITLE:
THE PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT, POPULATION AND
ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

1
Introducing the course
The relationship between the environment and development has become
central in development policy. Environmental issues virtually cuts across all
areas of development policy, particularly in relation to economic growth,
industrialisation, trade, agricultural development, food production, natural
resources utilisation and poverty.

In other words, our development goals and objectives are dependent on the
environment and its resources as inputs and outputs of our production
system. We need environmental resources for our infrastructure, technology,
industry, agriculture, commerce, trade, land use practices, for our survival
and/or to improve the quality of our lives in different areas. Most
importantly, the environment plays a very vital role in supporting all forms
of life. If we are not careful in the way we interact with the environment, we
can even end up altering our own existence.

This course explores the intricacies of the link between the environment and
development and their policy implications on developing countries. The
course brings out problems that are created when the ecological side of
development is neglected in pursuing economic objectives. We need to
acquire knowledge and skills on how we can effectively integrate
environmental concerns in development policy and practice at various levels
(local to global).

By the end of the course students are expected to be able to:

i. Critically analyse the impact of the environment on different segments
of society;

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 ii. Prescribe remedial measures to the negative impact of the environment
on different segments of society;
iii. Carryout an environmental impact assessment (EIA).

This course is organised in three modules and each has three study

Units.

Contents

Module 1
The Physical Environment, Population and Environmental Problems in
Developing Countries
Module 2
Property Rights Regimes and Natural Resources Management Strategies

Module 3
Development Projects, Structural Adjustment, Environmental Impact
Assessment, Environmental Policy, Institutional and Legal Frameworks

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MODULE 1 THE PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT, POPULATION
AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS IDEVELOPING
COUNTRIES

Table of Contents

Unit 1 The concept of ‘Environment’, Environmental functions and

Climatic conditions
Unit 2 Population and the Environment

Unit 3 Nature of Environmental Problems in Developing Countries

Introduction to Module 1
Welcome to module 1. This module introduces you to the concepts of
environment and the role the environment plays in supporting life. The
module is divided into three study units. The first unit the concept of
“environment” and the influences of the different agro-ecological zones on
the weather patterns in developing countries. Unit two discusses the
influence of population on the environment, while unit three discusses the
nature of the environmental problems in developing countries.

Objectives of Module 1
After studying Module 1, you will be able to:

 Understand the significance of the physical environment to

development and appreciate the functions of the different elements of
the environment.

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  Understand the influences of different agro-ecological zones on
environmental management.
 Evaluate the differential impacts of population on the environmental
resources.

Time required to cover the Module

You will need to spend at least 21 hours reading and attending to tasks given
in the module.

Help
For any help please contact the Directorate of Distance Education (IDE) on
the following e-mail address.......

Study Skills
You will need to have studied some foundation courses offered in the School
of Humanities and Social Sciences.

Assessments
Assessment in this module will comprise one (1) essay carrying 10%.

Required resources
Harrison, P. (1987) The Greening of Africa, IIED, London.

Timberlake, L. (1988) Africa in Crisis: the Causes, Cures of Environmental

Bankruptcy, Earthscan, London.

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UNIT 1: The concept of ‘Environment’, Environmental functions
and Climatic conditions

Introduction
Welcome to Unit 1- The concepts of ‘Environment’, Environmental
functions and Climatic conditions. In this Unit, you will be introduced to the
concept of environment and its constituent components. You will learn about
the functions of the environmental system and the different agro-ecological
regions of the African continent.

Aim
The aim of Unit 1 is for you to develop an understanding of the different
components of the natural/physical environment and the functions of the
environmental systems.

Objectives of Unit 1
At the end of the Unit, you will be able to:

 Understand the significance of the physical environment to

development and appreciate the functions of the different elements of
the environment.
 Understand the influences of different agro-ecological zones on
environmental management.

Supplementary readings:

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Pearson, C, & Pryor, A. (1978) Environment: North and South – An
economic Interpretation, John Wily, New York.

The World Bank (1996) Development in Practice – Towards

Environmentally sustainable Development in Sub-Saharan Africa – a World
Bank Agenda, The World bank, Washington.

Time required to cover the Unit

You will need to spend seven (7) hours on this Unit.

The concept of Environment

What is the Environment? The environment includes all set of things,
forces, or conditions in relation to which something exists or takes place.
The physical natural environment includes all aspects of the surroundings
of man (including man). From an ecological1 point of view, the
environment is the sum of all external conditions and influences affecting
the life and development of organisms.

The physical natural environment is classified into different domains or

spheres as follows:

1
Ecology is the study of the relationship of plants and animals to their physical and biological
environment.

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  Atmosphere: covers air (gases) surrounding the earth;

 Lithosphere: covers outer parts of the earth consisting of soils,

minerals, and landscape;

 Hydrosphere: covers all water bodies (in rivers, streams, oceans,

lakes, rivers, seas, vapour, and ground water);

 Biosphere: covers plant, animals and other living organisms.

These elements of the physical natural environment play different roles in

supporting living organisms (plants and animals, including human beings).

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Different roles of natural environmental elements in supporting life

Life is organised into ecological2 systems (ecosystems). Ecosystems

consist of different forms of life that live in relation to one another in a
particular physical environment. Within these ecosystems, various
populations of life occupy functional positions known as niches3, which
describe how populations affect or are affected by other participants in the
system including the system itself as a whole.

For instance, plants use water, carbon dioxide, and sunlight to convert raw
materials into carbohydrates through photosynthesis; in the process they give
off oxygen. When plants die and decay, they provide nutrients for other
living things. Animal life, in turn, is dependent on plants, in a sequence of
interconnected relationships known as the food web. Such functional role of
plants and animals are relatively slow to change since they are mostly
genetically determined. Human niches, by contrast are complex, because
human populations affect the ecological system in so many different and
interdependent ways. This takes us back to the introductory lecture where I
talked about our development goals and objectives being dependent on the
environment and its resources as inputs and outputs of the production
system. I will not go into details at this stage, since the whole course is
meant to address man’s relationship with the environment. Let us try to
explore environmental concerns within our own local contexts as developing
countries.

2
Ecology is the study of the relationship of plants and animals to their physical and biological
environment.
3
A niche is the functional role of a species in a community - that is, its occupation, or how it “earns its
living.”

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 Climatic conditions and agro-ecological regions of the African
Continent

The earth can generally be divided into temperate and tropical regions. This
division is mainly based on weather4 patterns. Temperature, humidity,
sunshine, wind, cloud cover, and precipitation are among the conditions
taken into account when talking about the weather patterns. The climate of
any place is described most easily in terms of average conditions; frequently
quoted are temperature and rainfall. However, there are also subdivisions
based on vegetation (type of plant life in a given area) and latitudes (the
distance an area is from the equator).

Temperate regions experience temperatures below freezing point most of the

time. Tropical regions experience temperatures above freezing point year
round. The bulky of Developing countries are located in tropical regions as
such they are sometimes referred to as Tropical regions. On the other hand,
the bulky of Developed countries are found in temperate climates, as such
they are also sometimes referred to as Temperate regions. However, there
are exceptional cases in both situations. There are countries that are which
are poor in temperate regions as well as those that are rich within tropical
regions. Further, there are also some climatic differences within both
tropical and temperate regions, such that it becomes awkward to make
sweeping statements about them.

4
The weather refers to conditions in the atmosphere, especially in the layer near the ground, at any one
place or time.

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Let us now turn specifically to Africa and look at its climatic conditions in
relation to agriculture. Why agriculture, because it is the major economic
activity with about 80 percent people earning a livelihood through it.

Africa’s Agro-ecological zones

According to Harrison (1987) in his book The Greening of Africa, Africa is
said to be the harshest region in the world. Africa is different from most
regions: her climate, her soils, her geology (rock types), and her pattern of
disease all pose severity that most other developing countries in Asia and
Latin America do not have to face.

The equator bisects the continent which is squarely exposed to glaring sun.
The sun rays operate at full power in the tropics. The year round, high
temperature and high humidity in rain seasons provide ideal conditions for
pests and diseases of human, of crops, and livestock (affecting quality of life
as well as depressing the productivity of labour, land and animals).

Rainfall in Africa varies significantly. Most rainfall is concentrated along the

equator and mountainous areas, while low lands receive the least. Further,
rains in tropical areas do not fall gently and evenly. It comes in convective
storms, clouds form rapidly, shading their loads and disperse. The rain that
falls in torrents is less useful and more destructive than gentle rains of the
temperate regions.

In the tropics, more water is lost in run-off and less filters through the
ground. And when you go further north and south (away from the equator)
you suddenly find clear blue skies and wilting, withering sun. Most moisture

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is lost through evaporation and transpiration of plants. The largest expanse,
almost half the continent is arid and desert. Here the rains are too short even
to support crops life. Only a seasonal flush of grass on desert margins to
allow pastoralists to eke a nomadic subsistence.

The dry season that follows the rain season is heavy stress to plant life.
Seeds fail to germinate till rain comes again. The first down pour hammer
down on bare and usually compacted soils, unprotected vegetation. Some
run-off and erosion are greater. With sudden explosion of life, weeds rocket
up, organic matter preserved over dry months begins to break down and
there is a brief flush of nitrogen. People need to plough and plant on time;
failure to which weeds get head start on crops and out-compete crops and
free nitrogen will be used up. There is need to do everything at one time and
if you do not have draught power, labour or if you have any problem, those
would lead into lower yields. The most decisive factor is the unpredictability
of rains. Rainfall patterns for any given month may vary entirely different.

Even within the same locality, one part of the village may be drenched,
while another remains bone dry. Dry episodes can come along any time in a
farming season. It may coincide with the crucial times when seedlings are
establishing themselves or grains maturing, ruining the crop.

Soils are no less problematic than her climate. Soils have some inherent
fertility limitations. High temperatures break organic matter more rapidly
and inhibit work of the nitrogen fixing bacteria from the air. Africa’s soils
are among the least fertile – predominantly coarse particles, lack organic
matter which contribute to poor holding capacity of water and nutrients.

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Most soil is easily eroded by the power of the wind and rain, by less
vegetation cover to protect the soil and by the slope and soil structure. In
humid and sub humid areas, heavy rainfall leads to leaching of the top soil.
Soil is also more acidic and insoluble compounds such as aluminium oxide,
remain close to the surface. The soil also suffers from water logging in wet
seasons, when dry season comes, the residual moisture used to grow crops
harden and become unworkable with traditional technologies. These are
some of the natural peculiarities of the African climate that we need to take
on board when looking at environmental issues.

Summary

In this Unit, you have been introduced to the concept of environment and its
constituent components. You now have an understanding of the different
components of the natural/physical environment and the functions of the
environmental systems and how the different agro-ecological regions of the
African continent influence the nature of environmental degradation.

Self Exercise

1. Identify and critically discuss the different functions of the natural

environment. Are fears about environmental degradation well
founded? Elaborate your answer.

2. Is the tropical African environment inherently fragile? If so, what are

the features that render the African environment susceptible to land
degradation?

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UNIT 2 Population and the Environment

Introduction
The connections between population, resources, and the environment are
complex. Some scholars and commentators see a positive link between
population growth and the environment while others look at rapid
population growth as a threat to the environment. In this Unit, we shall
focus on three theoretical explanations: The Malthusian, The Limits to
growth (Meadows Report) and Esther Boserup’s analysis.

Aim
The aim of Unit 2 is to create an understanding of how population relates to
the environment by looking at the different theoretical frameworks.

Objectives of Unit 2
At the end of the Unit, you will be able to:

 Understand the explanatory value of the different theoretical

frameworks on the nature of interaction between population and the
environment.

 Understand the different effects of population on the environment

between the developed countries and developing countries.

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Supplementary readings

Global Coalition for Africa (1995) ‘Africa’s Future and the World’
Amsterdam: Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Population Pressure,

John Rowley, Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia 2000.

M. Tiffen (1995) ‘Population density, Economic Growth and Societies in

Transition: Boserup Reconsidered in a Kenyan case-study. Development and
Change. Vol.26. No.1. January 1995

Esther Boserup (1965) The Conditions of Agricultural Growth: Economics

of Agrarian Change under Population pressure

Time required to cover the Unit

You will need to spend at least seven (7) hours on this Unit.

Population trends in Developing Countries

At the beginning of the 21st Century, the global population had just exceeded
6 billion; and it just took 12 years for the population to increase from 5
billion to 6 billion. Developing countries, currently account for 80 % of the
world’s population, with Asia alone accounting for 60 % (driven by
population giants; China and India).

The global annual rate of population increase stood at 2.04 % per year in the
late 1960s, and had declined by 1.33 % per year by 1999. Developing
countries’ population is currently growing at a rate of 1.59 % per year (about
0.26 % higher than the global average) where as the growth rate of Africa is

15
about 2.3 % per year. This is the highest growth rate of any region in the
world. Africa’s population is estimated to double the number of its
inhabitants in less than 30 years. By 2025, it is estimated that Africa as a
whole will have 1.6 billion people, and account for 19 % of global
population. As developing countries with rapidly increasing populations
follow the Western path of development, they are likely to add greatly to the
problem. Rapidly industrializing China, for example, with its population of
1.2 billion, is projected to increase by a further 500 million, and is expected
to become the leading source of global-warming gas emissions by 2050.

The Malthusian Theory of Population

Malthus, Thomas Robert (1766-1834), published in An Essay on the

Principle of Population in 1798. In his work he proposed a pessimistic
theory of economics, focusing on the shortage of resources and the growth
of population.

He based his theory on the classical economic theory of the principle of

diminishing returns; a principle in the production system where outputs
begin to fall with increase in input.

1. Malthus saw food as necessary for human survival. But according to

him, population and demand for food increase at a parallel rate.

Malthus believed that human population if unchecked grows

exponentially (1, 2, 4, 8 . . .) but resources, particularly agricultural
resources, grow only arithmetically (1, 2, 3, 4 . . .) so that eventually
food shortages must reduce the majority of people to starvation.

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 2. Increased demand for food can be only met by:

 Extensive cultivation – increased fertile land being brought

under use. But land is scarce and variable. But increased
population on fixed land cannot provide a lasting solution to
demands for food.

 Intensive cultivation – increased output per unit (head). But

food production by intensive means fails due to Marginal
Productivity of Labour (MPL); Due to diminishing returns,
food production would always fall behind population growth.

From the above notion, Malthus concluded that the power of population
was indefinitely going to be greater than the power of the earth to produce
subsistence for man. He argued that any relative gain in food production
stimulate a higher rate of population increase.

Malthus identified a solution to food problems through checking

population expansion. He claimed that man had two options in containing
population growth:

1. Voluntary / Preventive / Virtuous checks: This is moral restraint and

Malthus specifically suggested celibacy, people marry late and
having small families. Using such a solution you avoid the problem
before it actually happens.

2. Compulsive / Positive checks: These are factors that bring a

decrease in already existing populations. Malthus here

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 acknowledged the role plagues, wars, and epidemics play in
containing overpopulation.

3. The Malthusian theory won considerable support and was often used
as an argument against efforts to better the condition of the poor.

Critique of the Malthusian Theory

Malthusians theory has been discredited in that it contains fundamental
weaknesses as regards the modern world.

The Malthusian reasoning failed to foresee the unfolding technological

revolution. Malthus overlooked the potential for extensive increases in food
production made possible by technological improvements in agriculture. E.g.
the green revolution through high yield varieties of cereals.

Further, marginal lands that Malthus insisted would yield less produce as
compared to fertile land already under cultivation can actually be improved
in terms of fertility through agricultural technology. At least the now
industrialized countries are able to do this.

Malthus also failed to foresee the transport and communications revolutions

that would increase both the amount of land available for cultivation
(through migration), and the ease with which food can be traded from
surplus to food deficit countries.

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The Limits to Growth5
Limits to growth is one of the neo-Multhusian theories and is contained in a
publication of 1972 entitled ‘The Limits to Growth’ but also usually referred
to as the Meadows Report. This study grouped the determinants of the limit
to growth of the earth into two categories.

The first category was what it termed as the ultimate determinants limits to
growth: these are the physical necessities that support all physiological and
industrial activity in form of food, raw materials, fossils and nuclear fuel,
and ecological systems of the planet which absorb wastes and recycle basic
chemical substances.

The stocks of these physical resources include arable land, fresh water,
metals, forests and oceans. In this category the theory specifically analyses
five (5) factors that determine and therefore ultimately limit growth on
planet earth. These factors include the following:
a) Population
b) Agricultural production
c) Natural resources
d) Industrial production
e) Industrial pollution

The second category is what was referred to as the necessary ingredients for
growth. This category consists of social necessities. The argument presented
here was that even if the earth’s physical system is capable of supporting a

5
D.H. Meadow et al (1972) The Limits to Growth: A Report for the Club of Rome’s Project on the
Predicament of Mankind. London and Sydney: Pan Books.

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much larger, more economically developed population, actual growth of the
economy and population is dependent on such factors as peace and social
stability, education, employment, and steady technological progress. These
factors are said to be much more difficult to assess or predict. As such food,
resources and a healthy environment are said to be necessary but not
sufficient conditions for growth. Even if they are abundant, they may be
stopped by social problems.

The Limits to growth takes the Malthusian approach in exploring issues.

Essentially the theory goes beyond food and population to include other
factors with effects of exponential growth in a world of finite resources. This
thesis observes that the current economic trend is to produce more and more.
Therefore, it calls for the need to check and minimise production of the
economy.

It further contends that exponential growth of the population leads to

excessive supply of people who will eventually exceed the earth’s physical
carrying capacity. Exponential growth of the population leads to excessive
growth in industrial production, leading to more pollution, more demand for
food, and more demand for raw materials.

The theory concludes that if these growth trends continue being unchecked,
the limit of the carrying capacity of the earth will drive the system to a point
where there would be no further possibility for expansion. This will
eventually cause a total collapse of the world’s ecological system.

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The limit to growth thesis found it desirable to put an end to exponential
growth of population and growth. It advocates for pursuing population
control policies as well as calling for improvements in farming techniques,
reduced rates of energy use, modified food consumption habits, and
profound policies - in both developed and developing countries – to reduce
growing inequalities within and between countries. Major changes are also
called for in the use of raw materials and energy to reduce the impacts of w

The Boserup Model

Esther Boserup took an opposite view to the Malthusian theory. Her model
presents a more optimistic and positive view about the relationship between
the environment and population. In her book entitled ‘The Conditions of
Agricultural Growth: Economics of Agrarian Change under Population
pressure (1965), she hypothesised that increasing population density was a
stimulus to technical innovation and that this technical innovation led to
improvements in agricultural productivity.

Contrary to Malthus’s view that population pressure necessarily lead to

exploitation of land and a vicious downward spiral of natural resources
degradation, she maintained that population, resources and technology are
linked in a beneficial upward spiral. She contended that population pressure
in fact is a general precondition for technical progress leading to the
preservation and improvements of land resources.

In her study, Boserup saw the evolution of agricultural systems as closely

linked to changes in population density. She argued that greater density in
population induces various changes in society, particularly in the area of

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specialisation. As it is commonly believed, greater specialisation leads to
greater efficiency and increased productivity. Within agriculture, she
observed that as population increase, there is a progressive movement
towards intensive cultivation and adoption of improved farming techniques.

However, Boserup was aware of the Malthusian concern on the diminishing

rates of return for land, but she perceived it as just being one side effect of
population growth. She argued that population pressure has a positive effect
in agricultural production since it acts as an impetus to the adoption of
improved agricultural production technologies and investments in
agricultural infrastructure. She saw diminishing returns as a very good
reason as to why people take investments in land improvements. Boserup
conducted a number of studies in many countries on this aspect.

Having looked at the theoretical side of it; we now move on to look at the
practical side of it by linking specific environmental concerns to population
pressure.

Environmental and population links in practice

Some studies of population growth confirm widespread concern over

increased poverty and environmental degradation as a result of population
pressure. Population increase is said to lead into multiplication of the use
of resources and of space as well as the output of waste, etc. However, let
me point out that there are also instances where population does not appear
to be a significant factor in the increase of environmental problems.

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Further, there are also studies that show a positive link between population
and the environment.

Population threatening the environment

Arguments that support population as a threat to the environment are many
and varied. Rapid increase in population entail a rapid increases in the
consumption of natural resources and great pressure on limited arable as
well as in waste management. If anything, the threat of climate change and
global warming has been heavily influenced by population growth.

According to one estimate, over a third of the doubling of fossil fuel

emissions in developed countries between 1960 and 1988 was due to
increased population, and nearly a half of the tripling of CO 2 emissions in
developing countries was due to the same cause. Looking at Africa, you find
that most African countries depend on land for their livelihood (about 80 %
Zambians), but the land’s capacity to produce has been eroded by high
population densities. Soil degradation and erosion, and increased
desertification are common features throughout Africa, while unique plant
and animal species are threatened.

Rapid population growth has also added pressure on urban growth rates. Due
to limited infrastructure and available services, people end up living in
illegal and unplanned settlements such as slums and squatters (the so called
shanty compounds). In Egypt, for example, expanding cities have used more
than 10 per cent of the most productive farmland in a country where only 4
per cent of the land is arable. Urban dwelling places are characterised by

23
congestion and suffer from severe public health constrains in terms of water
supply, sanitation and poor health care delivery systems. You also find
problems of solid waste management. Waste disposal systems end up being
overloaded. Up to half of solid wastes in the cities of developing countries
remain uncollected according to Habitat. In areas with poor sanitation
outbreaks of diseases such as Cholera and Dysentery are common.
According to the UN Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat)

‘at least 600 million people in the cities of the developing world are
living under life- or health-threatening conditions in slums and
squatter settlements and they will be joined by 700 million additional
people in this decade’.

Other cases where population appears to be a dominant factor include

deforestation; the loss of wetlands and species; the increased use of
livestock leading to soil erosion, forest loss, and increased emissions of
methane gas; and the spread of irrigation which has led to salinization and
water logging. Forest in developing countries is cleared for human
settlements, roads, and other non-agricultural developments, almost all
these are entirely related to population growth.

One consequence in tropical forests, in particular, is the destruction of

wildlife and the threat to the biodiversity of life on Earth. The current
extinction rate has been variously estimated at between 50 and 100 species
a day, with millions of species facing extinction in the present decade.
Much of this must be attributed to population growth.

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Other consequences include the shortage of fuel wood. Food and
Agricultural Organisation (FAO) has estimated that some 3 billion people
will be unable to meet their firewood needs by the end of the century. Most
experts are agreed that population pressure contributes directly to the
continuing loss of forest cover. FAO estimated that a further 20 per cent of
forest cover may have been lost because of clearance for farmland driven
by population pressure.

Apart from the question of numbers, the impacts of population size can be
viewed in terms of density and of the speed of change. A dispersed
population may do without modern sewage systems without damaging the
environment, but a dense population discharging all its waste into a river or
lake can easily pollute it. Such ecosystems can survive until they suddenly
pass a threshold of sustainability and collapse.

Dense population is a fate that threatens many inland seas and lakes, such
as Lake Victoria in Africa. They are threatened by a combination of
population growth, over fishing, industrial pollution, and poor
management. With some 60 per cent of the world’s population living along
the coastal fringes, many coastal wetlands, mangrove swamps, and coral
reefs are also under intense pressure. This highlights the major problem of
overcrowding and uncontrolled urbanization. Density and speed of growth
are also factors affecting cities, which in the developing world are typically
growing at four times the speed of the rural population. In practice this

25
means that the urban population is growing by some 170,000 people every
day, compared to 60,000 per day in the countryside. By the end of this
century roughly half the world’s people will be urban dwellers.

Sometimes populations might be small but the technology people employ

can be more or less disruptive in producing the goods that people consume.
For instance in affluent societies, such as those in North America,
consumption levels are too high and people are sometimes using wasteful
technologies. For instance, the Worldwatch Institute, observed that in the
United States the average person accounts for the use of some 540 tonnes
of construction materials, 18 tonnes of paper, 24 tonnes of wood, 16 tonnes
of metals, and 32 tonnes of chemicals in the course of a lifetime. Yet,
according to recent projections of the UN, the United States is expected to
increase its 1994 population of 261 million to 349 million by the year
2050. From this perspective, some commentators have projected that the
additional 88 million Americans will have a much greater impact on
resources and create much more pollution than the larger projected
population increase of a country such as Bangladesh, which is expected to
more than double its 1994 population of 118 million over the same period -
but where each additional person consumes relatively little and wastes less.

According to one estimate, a newborn American child will have 30 times

more impact on the Earth’s environment in his or her lifetime than a child
born in India. Taken together, although the developed nations make up less
than a quarter of the Earth’s population, they consume three quarters of

26
raw materials and energy and create a similar proportion of the solid
wastes.

Though population growth rates are generally low, with many countries in
Europe at or below replacement levels of fertility, the developed countries
of the world are expected to add some 60 million people to the global
population between 1994 and 2015, with only a slight decline by 2050.
However, there are also some isolated studies which have established a
positive link between population and environment.

For instance, recent changes in land use patterns and resource production
tend to support Boserup’s hypothesis. Tiffen (1995) in a study between 1930
and 1990 found out a positive relationship in population change, income
growth and environmental improvements among the Akamba people of
Machakos District of Eastern Kenya. The population under this study is
reported to have increased fivefold between 1932 and 1989.6 In this regard,
the assumption that population growth necessarily contributes to natural
resources degradation is being question.

Summary

The above theories show diversity in approaches to population and its link to
the environment. Therefore it would be safer to argue that under certain
conditions it is true that population growth contribute to environmental

6
M. Tiffen (1995) ‘Population density, Economic Growth and Societies in Transition: Boserup
Reconsidered in a Kenyan case-study. Development and Change. Vol.26. No.1. January 1995.

27
degradation but given certain conditions, population growth may act as an
impetus to increase production and innovation. What we need to know is
that population is only one of the variables to be considered, and other
factors may be more important causes of environmental damage than sheer
numbers. The rapid increase in the use of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), for
example, had much more to do with changes in technology than increases in
population since it was first put to commercial use in the 1930s. The
subsequent damage to the ozone layer from the use of CFCs cannot therefore
be blamed to any significant extent on population growth.

Self Exercise

1. How far is population growth part of the problem, part of the solution
or irrelevant to environmental degradation? Explain using the theories
you have read.

2. How far do you ascribe the problem of natural resources breakdown

to poverty in developing countries and affluence in developed
countries? Is population a factor in both instances?

3. Identify and critically discuss five factors that determine and

ultimately limit growth on planet earth.

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UNIT 3 Nature of Environmental Problems in Developing Countries

Introduction
Welcome to Unit 3 - Nature of Environmental Problems in Developing
Countries. In this Unit you will be introduced to the various types of
environmental degradation affecting developing countries. The Unit covers
among other things, the causes of this environmental degradation and
suggests some remedies to the problems discussed.

Aim
The aim of Unit 3 is to enable you understand the nature, causes and
remedies to environmental problems affecting developing countries.

Objectives of Unit 3
At the end of the Unit, you will be able to:
…………………….

Supplementary readings
Pearce, D, et al (eds.) (1991) Blueprint 2: Greening the World Economy,
Earthscan, London. Chapter 6 .

Brown, L.R. et al (1989) State of the World 1989, W.W. Norton & company,
inc., New York. Chapter 2 .

Grainger, A. (1982) Desertification: how people make deserts, how people

can stop and why they don’t, Earthscan, London

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WRI (1992) World Resources 1992-93, Oxford University press, Oxford.
Chapter 8

Blaike, P. & Brookfield, H. (1987) Land degradation and Society

Time required to cover the Unit

You will need to spend at least seven (7) hours on this Unit.

Environmental degradation
From the onset, we need to know that environmental degradation is a highly
contested concept, which has no universal definition. What one culture may
term as degradation in another culture could be interpreted differently; it
may even be a source of livelihood. However, in a general sense,
environmental degradation entails deterioration in the ambient or
surrounding conditions. When a resource is degraded, it usually gets in a
condition where it becomes difficult to get it back to its original (usable)
state. In other words, environmental degradation implies a reduction in the
potential of the resource when put to use. Degradation for some natural
resources may be irreversible.

Secondly, in most literature, environmental degradation is usually narrowly

confined to land degradation and desertification, when in actual sense it goes
beyond these two to include other problems associated with deteriorating
environmental conditions. Even land degradation itself cannot be pinned
down to one thing; it takes different forms. For example, if a piece of land is
said to be degraded, it may mean among other things the disappearance of
vegetation, destruction of the soil structure, loss of soil fertility, etc.

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Forces behind Environmental Degradation

The Earth has changed slowly over time. Many forces can be attributed to
this. Among the forces responsible are human beings, who in the history of
the earth appeared late; whether you look at humans from the creation or
evolution point of view. Because of their unique mental and physical
capabilities, human beings were able to escape the environmental
constraints that limited other species to change the environment to meet
their own needs. However, early human beings undoubtedly lived in some
harmony with the environment, as did other animals. Problems began with
their retreat from the wilderness, began with the first, prehistoric
agricultural revolution.

Man’s ability to use fire allowed him/her to modify or eliminate natural

vegetation, and the domestication and herding of certain animals
eventually resulted in overgrazing and soil erosion. The domestication of
plants also led to the destruction of natural vegetation to make room for
crops and the demand for wood for fuel denuded mountains and depleted
forests. Wild animals were slaughtered for food and destroyed as pests and
predators. While populations were relatively small and technology was still
modest, human impact on the environment was localized. But as
populations increased and technology improved and expanded, more
significant and widespread problems arose. Rapid technological advances
after the middle ages culminated in the Industrial Revolution, which
involved the discovery, use, and exploitation of fossil fuels, as well as the
extensive exploitation of the Earth’s mineral resources. With the Industrial

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Revolution, humans began in earnest to change the face of the Earth, the
nature of its atmosphere, and the quality of its water.

Today, unprecedented demands on the environment from a rapidly

expanding human population and from advancing technology are causing a
continuing and accelerating decline in the quality of the environment and
its ability to sustain life.

‘Man is endowed with reason and creative powers to increase and

multiply his inheritance; yet up to now, [s]/he has created nothing,
only destroyed. The forests grow ever fewer; the rivers parch; wildlife
is gone; the climate is ruined; and with every passing day, the earth
becomes uglier and poorer’ (Anthon Chekhov 1896)

While all environmental problems need to be seriously dealt with, this

course pays particular attention to the peculiar nature of environmental
problems that constrain and shape the terms in which social life is lived in
developing countries.

Environmental problems that affect developing countries are many. These

problems can be broadly classified into either natural or manmade. Natural
environmental problems occur naturally and usually man has a limited
control over such occurrences. Examples of such include problems created
through earthquakes, volcanoes, hurricanes, etc. Manmade are those
environmental problems that are associated with human activities in their
process to better their living. Among the problems we will try to explore
include: deforestation, desertification, pollution, solid waste, loss of

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biodiversity. In this Unit you will also cover the consequences and remedies
to these environmental problems.

1. Deforestation

Deforestation is the large-scale removal of forest, prior to its replacement

by other land uses. Deforestation processes are, in general, more
destructive in the tropics. This is because most forest soils in the tropics
are far less fertile than temperate soils, and are erodible. This is because
high rainfall leaches out nutrients from the soil, preventing them from
building up. Between 1980 and 1990, annual deforestation rates were 1.2
per cent in Asia and the Pacific, 0.8 per cent in Latin America, and 0.7 per
cent in Africa (Harrison 1987). In Zambia, close to 80, 000 hectors of land
gets cleared for various reasons.

Reasons for deforestation:

1. Clearing land for agricultural purposes: Agriculture requires forest

removal and fertile. Slash-and-burn cultivation by small-scale farmers
accounted for 45 per cent of tropical deforestation in Africa and
south-eastern Asia in 1980. After a few years' cultivation, soils lose
fertility farmers move to other forests (Chitemene system in Zambia).
Land is also cleared for settled agriculture especially for cash crop
among commercial farmers.

2. Land clearance for human settlement, mining, and oil exploitation

purposes.

3. Clearance for forest plantations (especially in south-eastern Asia and

South America). Foresters remove natural forests to pave way for

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 plantations that are higher-yielding in timber production. Forest
plantations, since they often contain single species of tree all of the
same age, do not reproduce the ecosystem of the original forest, which
is generally characterized by a wide variety of flora and fauna at all
stages of development.

4. Clearance for grazing was a major cause of deforestation in the 1970s

and 1980s in Brazilian and Central American forests, with
government-sponsored schemes to create large ranches. Regular
woodland burning to maintain pasture is common in dryland Africa.

5. Meeting fuel needs: Clearance for fuelwood is a problem in the drier

areas of Africa, the Himalaya, and the Andes. 80 per cent of
population in SADC countries depend on fuel wood for their domestic
use and also for agro-processing industries (SADC 1997). Even for
Zambia, about 80 per cent of Zambians use wood fuel while only 20
per cent use electricity.

6. Timber is harvested as raw material: this rated as a significant cause

of deforestation in south-eastern Asia, Central Africa, and until about
1990 in West Africa. Logging frequently damages more trees than is
required.

7. Land may also be cleared in order to create space for putting up

infrastructure. For instance Clearance for roads and dams has directly
resulted in deforestation.

Very often, several deforestation agents work sequentially. Road

development encourages timber exploitation, which opens the forest for

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agricultural settlement and fuel wood salvaging. About half of all logged
tropical forests are eventually used for farming.

Consequences of deforestation:

 The most obvious is soil erosion. This is washing away of top soil
and other nutrients due to the removal of vegetative cover.

 Loss of vegetation cover also destabilizes watersheds, resulting in

flooding or drought.

 Deforestation leads to biodiversity loss (the range of habitat, species,

and genetic types), particularly significant in tropical forests which
are home to much of the world's biodiversity.

 It also affects the livelihoods of between 200 and 500 million people
who depend on forests for their food, shelter, and fuel.

 It can contribute to regional and global climate imbalances. Forests

play a major role in carbon storage; with their removal, excessive
carbon dioxide in the atmosphere may lead to global warming, with
many problematic side-effects.

Root causes of Deforestation

Deforestation and forest degradation basically occur in response to policy,

market, and institutional “signals”. These tend to either “push” people into
the forest, through difficult economic or social conditions outside it; or to
“pull” people into the forest, through the attraction of profits (from logging
or forest clearance).

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Many policies tend to undervalue forests. For instance governments would
charge low fees for logging, or they overvalue the benefits of removing
forest for other uses. Governments also do not provide long-term
incentives to look after forests. There is also lack of security of forest
ownership and forest-use rights: this encourages exploitative behaviour
among people. Some policies even require deforestation in order to show
the owner has “improved” the land.

Debt that many developing nations owe to industrialized countries, forces

developing countries into deforestation to generate foreign exchange.

Besides these causes, there is also the problem of increasing population,

increasing demands for forest products, and inappropriate technology.

Efforts to control deforestation

Traditional approaches to forest problems have emphasized laws and

regulations. But these are often weakly enforced, and stronger groups are
able to evade them.

In poor countries, focus has been on aid-funded programmes. These have

proved insufficient to reduce deforestation. They have not tackled the root
causes. There is now general agreement that, as deforestation is the result
of many direct actions triggered by various root causes; as such action on
only one front rarely solves the problem.

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Many efforts are required to encourage sustainable forest management,
balancing environmental, social, and economic objectives. Market-based,
voluntary approaches are also now appearing - such as forest certification
and timber labeling - to favour the products of sustainable forest
management. It suffices here to say that since deforestation can produce
both benefits and costs, it is important to estimate the gains and losses for
each possible forest removal.

2. Desertification

The term applies to land degradation in drylands resulting mainly from

adverse human impact. “Land” in these terms includes soil and local water
resources, the land surface and vegetation or crops.

The term describes the gradual clearance of forests in humid areas on the
edge of the desert until the trees disappear and the area becomes more
desert-like. Desertification has subsequently been recognized as one of a
series of processes that affect drylands all over the world. However, what
we need to realize as well is that loss of vegetation cover and soils is at
least partly due to natural climatic factors.

Desertification was arguably the first environmental issue to be recognized

as taking place on a global scale, a recognition that was formalized at the
United Nations (UN) Conference on Desertification, held in Nairobi in
1977. Since then, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) has been
charged with coordinating a global attempt to combat the problem.

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According to UNEP estimates made in 1992, some 3,590 million hectares
(8,870 million acres) are affected world-wide, most of this being in the
form of degraded vegetation on land used for grazing.

Modes of Desertification

Among causes of desertification are overgrazing, overcultivation,

deforestation, overgrazing and unskilled irrigation practices.

Overgrazing result from having too much livestock being kept on a given
area of pasture resulting in the loss of edible species and the consequent
encouragement of inedible species. If excessive grazing pressure continues,
the loss of vegetation cover can result in soil erosion.

Overcultivation is the excessive tilling of land leading to exhaustion of soil

nutrients and soil erosion. Overcultivation occurs due to the shortening of
periods when the land is left free from cultivation (“fallow”), or from the
use of mechanical techniques which cause widespread loss of soil.

Unskilled irrigation practices often result in water-logging and salinization

(excessive concentrations of salts) in irrigated soils. It is one of the clearest
examples of human-induced desertification, affecting one-third of soils in
countries such as Egypt, Pakistan, and Syria. This adversely affects crop
yields and can ultimately kill plants.

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Remedies for desertification

Controversy surrounds some of the attempts that have been made to

combat desertification. A common misconception of the phenomenon as an
advancing front of sand dunes has spawned “green belt” projects in which
lines of trees are planted to halt the desert's advance. Proposals have been
made for such green belts to be planted around the entire Sahara Desert, for
example. Changes in the academic and institutional approaches to solving
desertification problems have occurred in recent years.

One area in which previously conventional thinking has been reassessed is

overgrazing. Ideas of “carrying capacity” developed in less variable
environments may not be applicable to the highly dynamic dryland scene
since natural changes mean that the amount of grazing available is in a
constant state of flux. Further, social mechanisms developed by pastoral
peoples who have kept dryland herds for many generations usually prevent
overgrazing before degradation occurs.

Generally, there has been too great a reliance on technical solutions to

desertification problems, a realization that has generated some new
approaches to solving the problems of dryland degradation in recent years.

3. Pollution
Pollution is contamination of the environment by man-made substances or
energy that has adverse effects on living or non-living matter. The
substance interferes with human and animal health, the quality of life, or

39
the natural functioning of ecosystems. In simple terms, pollution can be
seen as the wrong substance in the wrong place in the wrong quantities at
the wrong time. This implies that harm is caused to the environment, and if
the same substance is present at levels too low to cause harm, then it can be
considered as contamination. Many substances that can be pollutants also
occur naturally, in which case they are not classified as pollution.
However, other pollutants result entirely from human activity, such as
most toxic organic compounds and artificial forms of radioactivity,
particularly from nuclear waste.

Types of Pollution

Pollution can be categorized according to the medium in which it occurs:

atmospheric pollution (air pollution), freshwater and sea pollution (water
Pollution), or land pollution (solid waste disposal). However, transfers can
occur in both directions between the atmosphere, water, and the land, with
consequences for both the spread of pollution and its effects. For example,
the emission of Sulphur dioxide—caused by the combustion of fossil fuels
such as gas, petroleum, and coal—into the air can result in the acidification
of soils and lakes when it reaches the Earth’s surface (acid Rain).

Pollution can also be classified on the basis of the type of pollutant, such as
pesticides (pest control) and other persistent toxic organic compounds,
heavy metals, radioactivity, human and animal effluent, and toxic gases.

The most familiar forms of pollution result from the chemical properties of
the substances concerned, but the physical properties may also be

40
important, for example ionizing radiation, noise pollution, and excessive
heat.

Water pollution: arises from the discharge of industrial, agricultural, and

human wastes into freshwaters, estuaries, and seas. This may result in the
poisoning of aquatic organisms or the depletion of oxygen owing to
excessive growth of micro-organisms, which makes less of the water
habitable for fish. Metal pollution and toxic organic compounds are of
concern for human and environmental health as a result of discharges to
water, air, and the terrestrial environment.

Air pollution: can result in adverse effects on health, crops, natural

ecosystems, materials, and visibility. The major concerns: over air
pollution are acidification of soils and waters with its detrimental affects
on animal and plant life, and the impact of traffic-derived pollutants on
health in cities (traffic pollution).

On a global scale air pollution probably represents the greatest problem of

all, with greenhouse gases (such as carbon dioxide) resulting in global
warming and synthetic chlorine compounds (chlorofluorocarbons) are
depleting the stratospheric ozone layer. Nuclear waste is a further modern
environmental concern, which poses a problem not just for the present
generation, but for future generations as the waste remains radioactive for
thousands of years.

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Trends in Pollution

It is difficult to determine accurately trends in pollution, particularly on a

world scale. The best-documented trend is the global increase in carbon
dioxide at a rate of about 0.5 per cent per year. Overall, there is a trend for
decreasing levels of pollutants in the developed world, but the opposite in
many developing countries as they rapidly industrialize. For example, it
has been predicted that sulphur dioxide emissions will fall by 63 per cent
in Europe from 1990 to 2010, while they will rise in China by 118 per cent.

The reductions in the developed world result largely from environmental

legislation, which has led to the introduction of control measures and
cleaner technology. Examples are the introduction of more advanced
waste-water treatment processes, shifts to cleaner fuels, and the recycling
of potential contaminants.

4. Solid Waste

There has been an increasing quantity of waste being generated due to

industrialization and population growth especially in urban cities of
developing countries in the last few decades. According to the
Environmental Council of Zambia (ECZ) (2000), the annual average rate
of increase in Lusaka alone is increasing and expected to grow from 220
000 tons (1996) to 530 000 tons in 2011, an increase of about 141 percent.

Solid wastes typically may be classified as follows:

 Garbage: decomposable wastes from food

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  Rubbish: non-decomposable wastes, either combustible (such as
paper, wood, and cloth) or noncombustible (such as metal, glass, and
ceramics)

 Ashes: residues of the combustion of solid fuels

 Large wastes: demolition and construction debris and trees

 Sewage-treatment solids: material retained on sewage-treatment

screens, settled solids, and biomass sludge

 Industrial wastes: such materials as chemicals, paints, and sand

 Mining wastes: slag heaps and coal refuse piles

 Agricultural wastes: farm animal manure and crop residues.

5. Loss of Biodiversity

The loss of biological diversity is currently one of the major problems

facing the world. It was recognized as a problem in the publication of the
World Conservation Strategy in 1980 by the International Union for the
Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

The range of biological diversity varies in different parts of the world

according to climatic conditions. However, given that most plants need a
combination of warmth and moisture for growth and it is plants that serve
as food to maintain animal life, the greatest diversity or variety is found
within the humid and wet tropical regions.

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Increasing numbers of human beings are encroaching on remaining wild
lands—even in those areas once considered relatively safe from
exploitation, degradation, and pollution. Tropical forests, especially in
south-eastern Asia and the Amazon River Basin, are being destroyed at an
alarming rate for timber, conversion to crop and grazing lands, pine
plantations, and settlements. It was estimated at one point in the 1980s that
such forest lands were being cleared or converted at the rate of 20 hectares
a minute; another estimate put the rate at more than 200,000 sq km a year.

In 1993 satellite data provided a rate of about 15,000 sq km a year in the

Amazon Basin area alone. This tropical deforestation has already resulted
in the extinction of as many as 750,000 species, and is likely to eliminate
millions if allowed to continue unchecked.

This would mean the loss of a multiplicity of products: food, fibres,

medical drugs, dyes, gums, and resins. In addition, the expansion of
croplands and grazing areas for domestic livestock in Africa, and illegal
trade in endangered species and wildlife products, could mean the end of
Africa’s large mammals. We will deal with this in detail when addressing
Community Based Natural Resources Management (CBNRM).

Underlying Causes of Environmental Degradation

All these environmental problems are in one way or another often

attributed to some underlying causes. Among factors that often lie at the
heart of the growing environmental problems faced by developing
countries include: population pressure; poverty; unsecured land tenure;
unequal gender relations and; government policy.

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Summary

To reduce environmental degradation and for humanity to save its habitat,

societies must recognize that the environment is finite. Environmentalists
believe that, as populations and their demands increase, the idea of
continuous growth must give way to a more rational use, sustainable
exploitation of the environment, but that this can be accomplished only by
a dramatic change in the attitude of the human species. What we need to
bear in mind is that whatever society’s attitude may be towards continuous
growth, humanity should recognize that carelessness threatens the survival
of humanity too.

Self Exercise

1. What do you understand by the term ‘environmental degradation’? Do

the types of environmental degradation in developing countries suffer
differ from those of developed countries? If so, how?
2. Is pollution a problem in developing countries? Identify and describe
the types of pollution common to developing.
3. What do you understand by the term ‘desertification’? What are the
principle causes of desertification? What are the underlying causes?
4. To what extent is desertification man-made or a natural outcome?

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