Sunday, June 28, 2015

Tanzania is a stage 2 country


Tanzania is a stage 2 country. Tanzania has a very high crude birth rate (41 births per people) and a fairly high crude death rate (11 deaths per 1,000 people). The national increase rate of Tanzania is very high at 30 people per 1,000. The population growth rate is high at 2.8%. Tanzania is also a farming country. Tanzanian families also depend a lot on children. A lot of children work in the fields growing food, raising livestock, killing livestock, hunting, and fishing for their family
These are characteristics of stage 2 countries as it is shown in illustration below:

The Demographic Transition:


The concept of demographic transition (population dynamics) got its origin from the essay paper of Malthus on the Principle of Population. Thomas Malthus, the English clergyman, believed that human population is growing geometrically; whereas, the production (food production) is increasing arithmetically. Thus the population growth will always surpass the food production. And when the population surpasses production, the checks (intervening forces) will operate to bring the population balance with the production (food).

Demographic transition is governed by two natural factors – fertility and mortality; however, if the advancement of technology (technology revolution) is put in consideration, than the real wage (income level) is also play an important role. Smith added another factor of division of labor as the factor operating together with the real wage at an equilibrium state, when the population increases with the increase of wage. The fertility and mortality factors of demographic transition are the results of positive and preventive checks respectively. The checks which work to maintain the equilibrium state between population and production.

Monday, June 22, 2015

Environmental disasters are threats to development and environmental sustainability

MEANING OF ENVIRONMENT
The word environment is derived from the French word “environ”, which its meaning relates to the words “encompass” or “encircle” or “surround”. There are a lot of definitions for the word environment in the literal and scientific contexts, but one of the most acceptable definitions is given below;

Environment; are all the conditions, circumstances and influences surrounding and affecting the development of an organism or group of organism.
 It also means that the complex of physical, chemical and biotic factors that act upon an organism or ecological community and ultimately determine its form and survival (Pavithran 2008)
Biotic such as flora (plants/ natural vegetation), fauna (animals) and microbes (or micro organisms).

A biotic components, Non – living things  include
 The atmosphere (air),
 Hydrosphere or water bodies,
 weather and climate,
soils, rocks and landforms like mountain, hills, valleys, ridges, escarpments and plains

 is the ability to meet the current human need for natural resources without compromising the ability of future generation to meet their needs (Peter R 2007:10)
Disaster; Is a calamity which have adverse impact within our environment. It is called a disaster if it has negative impact in various  aspect such as political, social , economic and environmentally.


Environmental disaster; is the serious disruption of the function of a community or a society causing widespread human, material, economic or environmental looses which exceed the ability of the affected community or society to cope using its own resources.