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The increased levels of population place a greater strain on the carrying capacity of land; as a result placing strain on economies in the LDC’s [1] to achieve a higher rate of agricultural growth as well as obtain high standards of living (Pearce and Warford, 1993; World Bank, 1984). In a study conducted by Sachs et al. (1997, cited in Hakkert, 2007) it was revealed that in Asia, high levels of population growth is one of the factors that gives rise to increased levels of inequality and that the ability to escape poverty becomes increasingly difficult as the size of families increase.

Poverty and high population growth rates are not characteristics limited only to rural areas; there are a number of individuals in urban areas who are classified as living in poverty. However, the living circumstances as well as the impacts on sustainable development are significantly different in each area.

Poverty, population growth and sustainable development

The above discussion identified both poverty and population growth as interrelated therefore one cannot be improved without improvement in the other. When analysing these concept with respect to sustainable development, Panayotou (2000: 177) describes “population growth, poverty and environmental degradation [as being] entangled in a mutually reinforced vicious circle.” Therefore once again a circular relationship is established and sustainable development cannot be achieved without dealing with both poverty and overpopulation. Sustainable development can be defined as the ability to “[meet] the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs' (WCED, 1987). Globally, these inter-relationships have been widely accepted. The ICPD Programme of Action of 1994 recognised the relationship between poverty and population growth and note that demographic factors such as population growth, poverty, lack of access to resources, excessive consumption and wasteful production patterns initiate or exacerbate the problems of environmental degradation and resource depletion and therefore hamper sustainable development efforts (ECA Committee on Sustainable Development, 2001).

The impacts of population growth and poverty are often cited as related to environmental degradation (Panayotou, 2000; Daily and Ehrlich, 1992). Therefore it is important to highlight the link between environmental degradation and sustainable development. Environmental degradation can be described as “the reduction of the capacity of the environment to meet social and ecological objectives and needs” (United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction, 2004: 1). This includes the erosion of natural resources though depletion and the damage of ecosystems as well as plant and animal species. It can therefore, to some extent be viewed as the converse本论文由英语论文网提供整理，提供论文代写，英语论文代写，代写论文，代写英语论文，代写留学生论文，代写英文论文，留学生论文代写相关核心关键词搜索。