Population Dynamics
As of the year 2011, seven billion people now live on Earth. Much has to be done in order to reduce poverty, to provide universal access to health care and family planning, and to decrease our high consumption of resources. This is where DSW steps in with its development programmes and advocacy work.
Many women give birth to more children than they want due to a lack of contraceptives and effective family planning. With the implementation of our Youth-to-Youth Initiative, we are educating thousands of young people in Africa about their sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) and on how to create a healthy and independent future for themselves.
Furthermore, DSW's comprehensive advocacy work is done by talking to and engaging with national, local and international political authorities. In our dialogue we advocate for the necessity of voluntary family planning and reproductive health.
Population and Water
- Bild: Tillea, CreativeCommons-Lizenz by-sa-3.0-de
Water shortage is already one of the most serious global problems. In future, the number of countries in which fresh water is a scarce resource will increase. This means that also the risk of food crises will increase.
At present, approximately 884 million people live in countries were water is scarce or where there is a water shortage. Depending on how the population figures develop, it will be two thirds of humanity by 2025—with the majority living in Africa and Asia. Even where the precious commodity is available, poor water quality often causes life-threatening diseases. According to estimates of the World Health Organization (WHO), 1.1 billion people have no access to clean drinking water. In developing countries, approximately 2 million people die every day from waterborne diseases.
The Middle East and large parts of Africa are most affected by water shortage. The situation is likely to be aggravated in the future, because the population of these regions is expected to double or even triple during the next 50 years.
About 75 per cent of available fresh water is used in agriculture
Almost 20 per cent of globally available fresh water is used in industry. Most of the fresh water, approximately 75 per cent, is used in agriculture. However, more than half of it is lost due to inefficient irrigation.
While the world’s population has tripled during the past 70 years, water consumption has sextupled during the same period—mainly due to industrialization and increased use of irrigation techniques. However, without sufficient water for agriculture, in many places there is no security of food supply for the growing population. Over the next 30 years, global water consumption will again rise by about 50 per cent.
Water - a potential for conflict
Conflict over water utilization is predestined when water resources are short. There are approximately 260 cross-border river systems and 100 countries share 13 large rivers and lakes. Areas in which water conflicts are highly likely to occur include, for example, the Jordan Basin region, the Nile Basin and the Euphrates and Tigris Basin.
Definitions:
- Water scarcity: The total available renewable supply of fresh water per capita and year is between 1,001 and 1,666 m3.
- Water shortage: The total available renewable supply of fresh water per capita and year is equal to or less than 1,000 m3.
