Aims/objectives

By participating in the activities of this module, group members will be able to:

· Improve their knowledge of the relationships between population and production of food and other agricultural products.

· Describe the relationship between population growth and demand for agricultural products.

· Describe the effects of population variations on the availability and distribution of the resources needed for agricultural production: land, water, technology, money.

Basic concepts

· As population varies, the need for food and agricultural products also varies.

· If the quantity of productive agricultural land is limited, increased population can lead to over-use and exhaustion of the soil.

· Uncontrolled population increases may actually result in a decrease in agricultural production per person.

· Population growth creates and increases a need for the development of of jobs in the rural areas (nonagricultural as well as agricultural) to reduce rural-to-urban migration.

· Reduced land availability per person will require improved farming methods if demands are to be met.