Online Reporter
The Herald, 12 May 1986
THE Speaker of the House of Assembly, Cde Didymus Mutasa, yesterday urged Africa to speed up solving its population and development problems.
Speaking at a reception he hosted for All-Africa Conference on Population and Development participants, Cde Mutasa said Africa, although small, had diverse cultural backgrounds and countries with different stages of development and varying population densities.
“I do believe that in our efforts to find practical solutions for African population and development problems we will not gloss over these differences nor should we allow ourselves to be bogged down unnecessarily by these diversities,” said Cde Mutasa.
Africa wanted solutions to its “pressing” problems of population and development urgently. Cde Mutasa said: “Africa wants solutions to its pressing problems urgently. We can’t afford any procrastination.
“We may find the five days during which we will be engaged in discussions too short a time in which to formulate concrete and forward-looking population and development policies for Africa,”
He said the importance and necessity of such a conference which brought together parliamentarians and experts was shown by the harsh drought conditions many parts of the continent had or were still experiencing.
“The suffering undergone by thousands, indeed millions, of our people in this region and the Horn of Africa is still very fresh in our minds and it high- lights the need for African countries to have sound population and viable programmes for development in all sectors of the economy, particularly the area of food production.”
He added: “These are the issues the conference will focus on; they are issues for which concrete solutions may soon be overdue.” The conference’s secretary- general, Mr Kimani wa Nyoike, assured the Speaker that participants would go about their business professionally and diligently.
Lessons for today
- Population issues cannot be treated in isolation from economic and social development. Cde Mutasa stressed that population growth affects food production, drought resilience, and overall development. Up to today, this lesson holds true. Sustainable development must deliberately integrate population planning, food security, and economic growth strategies.
- Africa’s diversity requires tailored solutions; one-size-fits-all solutions do not work for Africa. The passage recognises Africa’s cultural diversity, different stages of development and varying population densities. Policies must be locally grounded, but still guided by shared continental goals.
- Africa’s population has changed dramatically since the mid 1980s when the 1986 passage was written, in both size and structure. What leaders were warning about then has largely come to pass.
- Africa’s population has nearly tripled. What this means is that the urgency expressed in 1986 was justified, population growth has been faster than the expansion of jobs, infrastructure, food production, and social services in many countries.
- According to research Africa is now the fastest growing population globally, Africa’s average annual population growth rate has remained above 2% for most of the last three decades, higher than any other continent. While population growth has slowed or reversed in Europe and East Asia, Africa accounts for nearly half of global population growth today.
