Burkina Faso Essay, Research Paper
Burkina Faso is a small country located in Western Africa, north of Ghana,
it’s total land area is 274,200 sq km. The terrain is mostly flat to
dissected, undulating plains; hills in west and southeast. Some of it’s
natural resources are manganese, limestone, marbleand small deposits of
gold. The irrigated land in Burkina Faso is only a mere 160 sq km. The
population is 10,422,828 (July 1995 est.) of which 50% is under the age of
15.
Burkina Faso is a country with a rapidly increasing population in relation
to the growth of food supply and other human necessities. The countries
population is growing rapidly and the country is not able to adequately
feed, shelter, and provide the basic human needs. The situation is not
improving, it is getting worse with each year. The very near future could
be disastrous for the people of Burkina Faso.
The possible solutions in overcoming this problem are not plentiful and
all have their drawbacks, and moral issues. One option would be to try to
increase the death rate, and at the same time lower the birth rate.
Another can be to try to raise the environmental limits so that food
supply would adequate. Or the other option can be that we do nothing and
wait. These are just some options that I think are the most applicable to
the case in which Burkina Faso is currently facing. Of all three the most
appealing solution to me is number one. That solution might be a little
slower then other options but I believe it is the best approach for the
country.
The first option, to increase death rates and lower the birth rates would
be the best choice. This option would be best because of the situation
that is in Burkina Faso. The spread of HIV/AIDS has become an important
issue in Burkina Faso, where the national statistics estimate that between
4 and 7 percent of the population is seropositive. While these rates are
low in comparison to countries of East Africa, they place Burkina Faso
second after Cote d’Ivoire among West African countries most affected by
the epidemic. Burkina Faso’s health problems include a high prevalence of
many endemic diseases, poor case management by the health system and a
weak infrastructure, with health centres that are geographically or
financially inaccessible to most of those they are meant to serve. As a
result, the country has high infant and under-five mortality rates and, at
810 per 100,000 births, a very high maternal mortality rate. AIDS is
adding to the problem, as elsewhere in West Africa, s!
pread by the increase in population migration, the high rate of
sexually-transmitted diseases and poverty. In some areas, as many as 15 to
27 per cent of pregnant women are HIV-positive.
The government is trying to prevent the spread of diseases. They are
planning on developing different possibilities to cure the population. One
of the proposed projects would contain institution building activities at
the national level for both population policy and HIV/AIDS surveillance
and monitoring, including blood screening. Total project costs are
estimated to be $25.1 million, including an IDA credit of about $21.1
million. Through this they are helping the population increase.
I believe that it is important to first control the population and only
then put in projects which would prevent the spread of diseases and other
epidemics. Once the population is controlled then you can establish better
health conditions for the people, because it will have it’s place in
society at that time. It is ironic because people are trying to lengthen a
persons life, but they do not look at the overall picture. Where that one
person contributes to the population growth and the starvation of the
whole country. It is like curing a person from a deadly disease and
letting him walk out of the hospital, and then we see that person die of
starvation, something is not quite right.
Therefore my solution is quite simple. Let the disease spread for some
time, so that the death rates would increase and the population would be
controlled. In Burkina Faso the estimated death rate is 18.22 deaths/1,000
population, the life expectancy is 46.6 years. Also a problem is that 47%
of the population is under the age of 15. If the death rate was increased
by letting the people die naturally and not providing health care for a
period of some time then the population would also drop.
The other part to the solution is to control birth rates. The birth rate
in Burkina Faso is 48.05 births/1,000 population and the total fertility
rate is 6.88 children born per woman. One option would be to put in
political laws that a family can have only 2 children, for each child
thereafter they would have to put certain fees. Since the people are poor
and they have very limited money resources they would probably follow the
rule so that no further expenses would have to be paid. Another would be
to educate the people on birth control. This would also prevent the births
in some way.
Solution number two has weak points in relation to Burkina Faso. The
solution says that we should increase the environmental limits. This is
very hard to do because the country is poor and funds are not enough to
run a project which would raise the environmental level. If it was to be
done, then it would only support the population for a limited time and
then later it would have to be raised again. It would not control the
population growth it would only help the growing population survive for
some time.
The last option would be to simply do nothing and wait for a natural
disaster. This might be the most moral of all the options but is simply
not too realizable. Waiting for a natural disaster such as an earthquake
or a hurricane very unlikely to happen. First of all Burkina Faso is
located in an area where there are not too many natural disasters. This
option would be a very lengthy process and never certain that it will
fulfill.
In conclusion I believe that the best option for Burkina Faso would be to
try to increase the death rate, and at the same time lower the birth rate.
This option is not very popular nor it will be because it faces many moral
issues. I think since the underdeveloped countries can not receive enough
support and proper help from the developed countries they sometimes must
go against morals in order to save the majority of their population.