Tag: international development

Many of the world's population live in developing countries already strained by food insecurity, inadequate sanitation, water supplies and housing, and an inability to meet the basic needs of the current population. A large proportion of these populations are supported through subsistence agriculture. As populations grow, competition for fertile land and the use of limited resources increase. So, people of developing countries puts strain on the local environment.

 A developed country  is a term used  to describe an industrialized country with a highly developed economy. Developed countries consume far more natural resources than people in developing or underdeveloped countries.

With the increase in population, also the demands increases. People have the basic requirement for food and shelter. So, the demands for resources like land and water also increases which in turn creates pressure on the availability of natural resources.

Only 2.5% of water is freshwater and less than 0.3% of all freshwater is in river, lakes, and the atmosphere, and an even smaller amount of the Earth's freshwater(0.003) is contained within biological bodies and manufactured products.

 In the last few decades, there has been a tremendous increase in the demand for fresh water.  Approximately 20% of the world population lacks safe drinking water and nearly half the world population lacks adequate sanitation, this problem is acute in many developing countries ,which discharge an estimated 95% of their untreated urban sewage directly into surface water.  The surface water bodies rivers, streams, ponds and lake, which are the most important sources of water for human activities are unfortunately under sever environmental stress.

Developed countries consumption patterns and resource use are more which puts strain on global resources.The relationship between population growth and environmental degradation may appear to be rather straightforward. More people demand more resources and generate more waste. Clearly one of the challenges of a growing population is the mere presence of so many people sharing a limited number of resources strains the environment.

Population explosion in urban centers around the world is expected to rise demand for food.  In order to meet an increased demand in growing cities, the system by which food is produced, processed and delivered needs to be changed and there should be an increase in the food supply.

By 2025, 2 billion people will be living in countries or regions with absolute water scarcity, and two-thirds of the world population could be under stress conditions. Water scarcity is both a natural and a man-made phenomenon. There is enough freshwater on the planet for seven billion people but it is distributed unevenly and too much of it is wasted, polluted and unsustainably managed.