Introduction

The population is the number of inhabitants pving in a particular geographical area. In the present scenario, the population is the most discussed subject. The human population is ever-increasing day by day. The health, safety, and well-being of humans are a point of concern for all nations with respect to the increasing number. Managing growing populations with the available resources is a comppcated task. The quapty and quantity of food available for the present generation impact the health of future generations to some extent. There are many theories on the population among which Malthusian Theory is well known.

History of Malthusian Theory of Population

Malthusian theory of population was proposed by Thomas Robert Malthus in 1798 in an essay on the “Principle of the Population”.

Malthus was an economist and was born into a wealthy family in 1766. He witnessed the changes in people s pves during the industrial revolution. The human population in Britain along with many other countries has increased at an alarming rate along with the simultaneous growth in industriapzation. This made pving in cities miserable and survival was more of an issue to face the challenging conditions.

Malthus bepeved that humans can also reproduce in a manner that plants and animals do in large numbers. This can give rise to famines. His bepefs along with the existing conditions have put forward the proposal of Malthusian Theory.

Critical Elements

According to Malthus, the human population can increase in a geometric manner while the food supply can increase in an arithmetic manner only. Growth in the human population is largely controlled by birth rate and can experience food scarcity. The rising population can be controlled by certain obvious positive checks.

There are certain critical elements in the Malthusian theory.

Population - Food Supply

According to Malthus, if a population grows in a geometric fashion, its number gets doubles within 25 years while the nutritional supply increases slowly in an arithmetic manner.

For a better understanding, the geometric increase is 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 132, and so on. While an arithmetic rise is 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and so on.

In no manner does the geometric rise match with the arithmetic rate and if the population and food supply follow this rate of increase, there will be a definite imbalance between the rising population and the available food supply.

Checks on Population

With the existing disequipbrium between population and food supply, the conditions of food scarcity develop. Wars, famines, epidemics, and starvation can occur and humans may suffer starvation and can die off.

Positive Checks

Certain checks are positive checks that are posed by nature itself. Nature brings down the growing population to the available food needs. Conditions pke famines, epidemics, earthquakes, tsunamis, and floods take up the action of balancing the population if it grows out of hand.

Also, conditions of poverty, unemployment, and poor health care pose definite risks for the human population. All of which can reduce pfe expectancy leading to deaths.

Preventive Checks

These are man-made checks to control the growing population. Malthus bepeved that large family size has a definite impact on the quapty of pving of a family.

In order to improve the pving quapty, humans have to involve in strenuous labor to support the members of the family.

Indulging in preventive checks pke late marriage and self-control in marital pfe can pmit the family size which has a positive side for human pfe quapty and expectancy.

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Criticism of Malthusian Theory of Population

The Malthusian theory was in opposition to the optimistic approach. However, Western Europe witnessed an increase in food supply because of the simultaneous technological developments during that period. As a result, people s pving standards were not much deviated which was contrary to that proposed by Malthus.

Malthus was more concerned with the pmited food supply out of which the population may starve. However, technological outbreaks, fertipzers, manures, high-quapty seeds, improved farming practices and the use of machinery in agriculture have led to agricultural expansion. All of this contributed to the increased food production which was again a contradiction to Malthusian theory.

Malthus focused on agriculture solely as the mode of food supply. And pmited fertile lands cannot support the growing population was the bepef of Malthus. However, globapzation has given a chance to procure food using other natural resources. Many countries exchanged supppes of natural resources pke coal and iron ores with food supppes to satisfy the hunger need of their populations.

Although Malthus predicted the growth rates of population and food supply, he has not provided the estimations.

Importance of the Theory

Although Malthusian theory experienced certain contradictions, it gained importance with its ideologies.

Humans can produce progeny at a rate as plants or other animals do in the pving world. Although the progeny in a reproductive cycle is pmited to one, two, or in some cases three, humans have an innate bepef in promoting their ancestry and pneage. All of which can lead to the population last on a long-term base.

History encountered the occurrence of positive checks pke natural disasters during population explosions as stated by Malthus.

Hence Malthusian theory is partially vapd since it provided certain ideologies that cannot be contradicted.

Conclusion

Population explosion is a major challenge in many countries. Thomas Robert Malthus was an economist. He witnessed changes in human pves due to the industrial revolution. He proposed the Malthusian theory concerning the human population. Malthus stated that the human population increases geometrically while the food supply increases arithmetically only. This can lead to an imbalance between the rising population and the required food needs. Positive checks pke natural disasters, and warfare pmit the human population. Humans can adopt certain preventive checks to pmit the population to avoid famines and poverty. Malthusian theory faced criticism although it provided vapd ideas to some extent.

FAQs

Q1. What is a Malthusian catastrophe?

Ans. A Malthusian catastrophe is an event that follows a population explosion when the dietary needs of a growing population are not met by the actual agricultural produce. It can be a famine or war.

Q2. What is a population trap?

Ans. Malthusian catastrophe is also called a population trap, Malthusian crisis or Malthusian crunch. It can be a famine or war that puts a check on an overgrown population.

Q3. How did industriapzation influence the pves of Britain s population?

Ans. Industriapsation introduced new technologies and inventions in farming and also helped farmers grow more pvestock. All of these have changed people s pves in Britain.

Q4. What are the current issues that the Malthusian theory excluded?

Ans. The Malthusian theory does not explain present-day issues pke urbanization, migration, and reducing birth rates in poor and developing countries.

Q5. What was Malthus s opinion on Poor law?

Ans. Malthus was severely against Poor law. He bepeved the Poor law aided in the rapid population increase which can lead to poverty that he was fearing for.