The report indicated that Nigeria, Ethiopia, Egypt, Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, along with three Asian countries, recorded the largest proportion of the global increase..
This comes amid growing fears that climate change shifts and the accompanying floods and droughts will lead to significant food shortages in most countries of the African continent. Thus, increasing competition over scarce water resources and leaving more families to face hunger.
Serious repercussions
– In light of the difficulty of life in the countryside, African capitals are facing a significant increase in population, and this means that governments will be faced with the challenge of providing water, electricity, education and health services in a doubly.
– More than 15 million people live in the Nigerian city of Lagos, while the Congolese capital, Kinshasa, is crowded with about 12 million people, compared to 10 million in each of the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa and the Tanzanian Dar es Salaam..
– The current and projected population increase over the coming decades places additional pressure on already strained resources and difficult policies aimed at poverty reduction..
Population growth in African countries leads to an increase in greenhouse gas emissions, and therefore those countries are likely to suffer more from the effects of climate change..
Big challenges
According to the new census, the population of Nigeria located in West Africa has increased to 216 million and is expected to reach 375 million within the next three decades, which will make Nigeria the fourth most populous country in the world after China, India and the United States..
In Congo, many families struggle to find affordable housing and pay school fees.
The population increase also negatively affects Ethiopia, which suffers from food insecurity and is considered, along with Somalia and Kenya, home to about 70 percent of the most food-insecure people in the world..
population growth and climate
One of the biggest challenges facing the population increase; The risks of climate change and the expansion of the current drought in the countries of East Africa and the floods in Nigeria, whose direct effects are expected to affect millions of people in the region and lead to a significant shortage of food and drinking water.
It is certain that the population increase will negatively affect the climate, as the main reason for the current acceleration of the drought and climate changes is due to human factors resulting from irrational dealing with the environment and the increase in the accumulation of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, which raises the temperature and disturbs the natural balance between temperature Atmospheric pressure, water vapor condensation, and wind movement.
Excessive cutting of forests and overgrazing of pasture plants are among the main factors that have a negative impact on the climate..
What do the experts say
– Jiang Dalib, urban development and planning adviser to the Nigerian government, says his country will face great pressure in the sectors of housing, health, education, roads and daily services..
He points out that the high increase in population will leave more people with great difficulties and governments with the challenge of providing health services, jobs and classrooms; Food insecurity will become an even more pressing problem.
– Halima Sharif, Director of the Family Planning Organization in Tanzania, attributes the significant increase in population growth in many African countries to the cultural practices inherent in most parts of the continent that give social value to large families, in addition to the belief in the possibility of increasing resources as the number of family members increases..
Sherif tells Sky News Arabia that child marriage is a common phenomenon in a number of African countries, which also contributes to an increase in the population..
She points out the great difficulties faced by organizations working in the field of family planning, for social and logistical reasons that impede access to women and girls and educate them about aspects related to family planning and how to use contraceptives. “In Tanzania, the age group between 20 and 24 years old makes up more than a third of the country’s 61 million people, and most of them are not well versed in sexual and reproductive health issues,” she adds.“.
Sharif believes that the steady population increase in Africa has great economic and social repercussions on the countries concerned with this increase. “The population growth comes at a time when most African countries are struggling to cope with the high cost of living, health and education services for their people,” she explains.“.
Halima Sharif stresses the need to work hard to enhance family planning services, and to intensify awareness campaigns among young people. Building strategic alliances with development partners, and benefiting from the private sector to ensure a steady flow of investments to enhance social services and create job opportunities.
– Abd al-Rahman Abd al-Shakur, the Special Envoy for Drought Response, believes that droughts will pose a major challenge to the remarkably growing population of the African continent, as it will destroy the resources and sources of income of many pastoralists, farmers and local residents in many regions..
Abdel Shakur told Sky News Arabia that the current drought, coupled with the disruption of grain supplies, increases the risk of hunger in many African countries..
He refers to the catastrophic repercussions resulting from the widening of drought and water scarcity, whose features have emerged in the high rates of displacement and the increase in the number of those at risk of starvation, especially in rural and agricultural areas..
Abdel Shakour stresses that facing the effects of the current drought requires giving priority to providing life-saving food and medicines to mitigate the potential mass loss of life, which requires reaching regional and international partnerships in the field of short and long-term investments, especially in the field of food security, sustainable agriculture, technology, infrastructure and energy. green and water management.
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