|
AT
CURRENT rates of food production, the increase in
population will outstrip hikes in food production by
2050, according to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).
“As the
population grows there is less and less food to go
around, and what do you think will happen?” said Suneeta
Mukherjee, country representative of UNFPA. “Demand for
food is rising rapidly and there will be a gap sooner
when food production can’t keep up with the fast growth
of population.”
Mukherjee said the Philippine population has now
ballooned close to 90 million and is set to hit 150
million by 2050, making the Philippines as the 10th
among the world’s largest countries.
The top
three are
India
with 1.747 billion, China with 1.437 billion, and the US
with 420 million. They are followed by
Indonesia,
Pakistan, Nigeria, Brazil, Bangladesh, Democratic
Republic of Congo, and the
Philippines
as indicated in the 2007 World Population reports of the
Population Reference Bureau (PRB).
“The link of food production and
availability to a growing population is already too
clear. Almost all of us already know that the present
formula of bad mathematics that has gripped the country
for so long, has to be reversed,” said Mukherjee, who
was in Baguio City Tuesday for the reproductive health
campaign together with the Philippine NGO Council on
Population, Health and Welfare Inc. (PNGOC), the
Alliance of Media Advocates and the Department of
Health.
Mukherjee explained that the population is growing at a
rate of 2.3 percent and the rice growth is much lower
than 2 percent. She added the Philippines produce around
9 million metric tons (MMT) of rice a year and our
consumption is 11 MMT.
“One
response to food crisis is to review the government’s
population policy to make it more effective and, at the
same time, increase the production of affordable food in
the country,” the UNFPA official said.
Population control and health programs are needed to
meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The
Philippines isn’t on track to meet the MDGs aimed at
reducing poverty and hunger, improving lives and
ensuring environmental sustainability, Mukherjee said.
“The
country is ‘off target’ particularly in achieving the
most crucial goals,” the UN official said. “Poverty and
hunger will worsen unless population and reproductive
health are properly addressed.”
She said
there should be stronger efforts to promote and invest
in reproductive health and family planning, especially
the MDG on improving maternal health which is “still a
far-fetched dream.”
With
three babies born a minute, 10 mothers giving birth are
dying each day with nearly 40 percent of live births
still unattended by skilled health personnel. When half
of the estimated 3.1 million pregnancies in the country
are unplanned and a third of that number end up in
abortions, access to information and choice of the right
contraceptive methods to use, all the more become
important and crucial, Mukherjee said.
At
present, Mountain Province and Ifugao in the Cordillera
region still have a very high maternal mortality of 245
and 260, respectively, higher than the national median
of 162.
“No
woman should die giving life. They can be saved through
a set of effective interventions like family planning,
training of skilled birth attendants, among others,” she
said. |
