In Brief: Why Population Reporting Matters

IN REPORTING on population, so many issues are inter-twined. The reporter has to contend with a  complex web of human-related issues such as the well-being of families, a clean environment, agitations for current needs as well as sustaining a resource base for future generations among others.

Other focus of relevance is the aspect of presenting the subject matters to policymakers, local communities as well as being saddled with the responsibilities of interpreting the economic development, equity, human health, environmental sustainability, poverty reduction and many more to the general populace. 

The matter does not end there. The Population Reporter still has to feature other associated topics such as the rates at which families have children, movement of people from one place to another; challenges of daily survival amidst inhumane government policies, cultural

norms, social anomalies and several others.

World Growth to Require More Food Need

THE UNITED NATIONS has estimated that the world is heading towards a population of nearly 9.8billion by 2050. According to the organ, the projections would be 30 percent higher than it is today. 

The world body also noted that there are already more than 7,500,000,000 people on planet Earth, noting that it actually took until the early 1800s for the world population to reach one billion. 

But suddenly, the world is fast heading towards a billion every 12-15 years, the UN noted, while also projecting that a possible population of 11billion by then; adding that, given this rate, 'our numbers could reach 16bn by 2100'. 

Given this reality, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), noted that the world will need 70 percent more food by 2050. This more food need, the FAO stressed would be informed by salient indices such as: 

• The changing socio-economic environment 
• The natural resource base to 2050 –will there be enough land, water and genetic diversity to meet demands? 
• The potential for food security 

Explaining further, the FAO, its the executive summary of its survey report, indicated that by 2050, the world’s population will reach 9.1 billion representing 34 percent higher than today. 

It however stressed that nearly all of this population increase will occur in developing countries where urbanization will continue at an accelerated pace since about 70 percent of the world’s population will be urban when compared to the world's current 49 percent and then, "Income levels will be many multiples of what they are now."

It is the need to feed this larger, more urban and richer population, that food production, i.e. 'net of food used for biofuels', must increase by 70 percent. 

In the same vein, annual cereal production will need to rise to about 3 billion tonnes from its current 2.1 billion and annual meat production will need to rise by over 200 million tonnes to reach 470 million tonnes.

FAO report also argues that the required increase in food production can be largely achieved if the necessary streams of investments are undertaken and policies conducive to agricultural production are put in place. 

Yet, increasing production is not sufficient to achieve food security if not strongly complemented by policies to enhance access by fighting poverty, especially in rural areas, as well as effective safety net programmes, among others.

August 2nd was Earth Overshoot Day

Credit: Global Population Speak Out

DO YOU know that August 2nd marked Earth Overshoot Day?

That was the day, according to reports, on which humanity used more natural resources than the planet can renew in a whole year. 

This date, it has also been revealed, continues to move forward every year, making the 2nd of August the earliest Earth Overshoot Day yet. 


Earth Overshoot Day, is hosted and calculated by Global Footprint Network, an international think-tank that coordinates research, develops methodologies and provides decision-makers with tools and information to help the human economy operate within Earth’s ecological limits, as the public face and campaigning focus of GFN highly technical work. 


The GFN show that human beings are demanding 1.7 times more renewable resources -such as fresh water, wood from natural forests and healthy soil -from the natural world than it can provide. Each year, a symbolic date is passed on which all resources are ‘used up’ and human beings ‘overshoot’ what Earth can provide.

POPULATION growth has been recognised as one of current greatest threats to humanity. This was the outcome of a survey conducted by 50 Nobel Laureates.

The Nobel Laureates jointly responded to the question: “What is the biggest threat to humankind, in your view? And is there anything science can do to mitigate it?” during a  

survey jointly conducted by Times Higher Education and Lindau Nobel Laureate.

They were drawn from the field of Chemistry, Physics, Physiology, Medicine and Economics. 

IMAGE CREDIT: Times Higher Education, 2017

 Describing population growth as one of the threats facing humanity, they noted that combined with environmental degradation, population growth still makes the highest-ranking threat in comparison to others.

Speaking, one of the Laureates noted that climate change in addition to providing sufficient food and fresh water for the growing global population, are serious problems facing humankind. He added: “Science is needed to address these problems and also to educate the public to create the political will to solve these problems.”

Other Laureates also cited environmental issues concerns over feeding and supplying water, as well as opposition to genetically-modified products given their potential to boost agricultural output.

Other threats mentioned as ranking lower compared to population growth included nuclear war, infectious disease breakouts, ignorant leaders including artificial intelligence.

Given these realities, some of the quick actions needed to be taken according to Editor, Times Higher Education, John Gill, involves a consensus that heading off these dangers requires political will and action, as well as the prioritisation of education on a global scale. Important of which, above all is for leaders to avoid the risk of inaction through complacency.”

Correction: World Population 7.5 billion. Data Sheet: Special Focus on Youth

Every year, Population Reference Bureau (PRB) provides the latest demographic data for the world, global regions, and more than 200 countries and territories. This year we focus on the state of the world's youth—the 16 percent of the global population between 15 and 24 years old. Explore data and graphical features that illustrate the extent to which youth are poised to become productive adults.

http://www.worldpopdata.org/?utm_source=Main+Insights+List&utm_campaign=7565ff713b-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_Insights_09_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_933889c3da-7565ff713b-60883391





Credit: PRB WorldData

Human Population Growth Slowly Advances

World population, 1750-2015 and projections until 2100

AS FAR BACK as 2013, the United Nations had projected that the world population was aiming at 9.6 billion people by 2050.

The Agency also suggested that the world would be 10.9 billion by 2100 upping from 7.2 billion people alive then, raising median estimates for population growth in 2050 and 2100.

As it was reported, the agency's prior best guess had humanity growth figured at 9.3 billion in 2050 and 10.1 billion in 2100.

The scary aspect was that these projections were reflecting adjustments to how high-fertility countries are behaving in less-developed nations with lower-income nations, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa.

Much of the uncertainty, the UN report says, has to do with births and whether citizens of lower-income nations will start to change their ways and have fewer children if and when the standard of living in those countries improves.

A picture of world population in the very long-run, experts suggest, fits the pattern of exponential growth.

Explaining what that means, they noted that when a population grows exponentially, it means the population increase is proportional to the size of the population.

Looking at key changes in population growth, a study opined that it was salient to observe how the world population changes over time saying it was useful to focus on the rate of change, rather than just levels.

To buttress the above, an annual population growth rate was projected and superimposed on the total world population for the period 1750-2010 in addition to projections up to 2100.

It was said that was the period in history when population growth changed most drastically.

Dating back:

·        Before 1800 the world population growth rate was always well below 1percent

·        In the course of the first fifty years of the 20th century annual growth increase to up to 2.1percent

·        Highest annual growth rate in history was recorded in 1962.

·        This means that while the world population quadrupled in the 20th century it may not double in the 21st century.

However, here's the big picture.

Watchers of population matters noted that:

·                    108 billion people have lived on our planet

·                    Meaning about 6.5percent of all people ever born are still alive

·                    Visualization plots estimates of the world population from 10,000 BCE

·                    It can be appreciated before 1,000 CE that population slowly can steadily increase from about 2.4 million in 10,000 BCE to 295 million in 1,000 CE

·                    By 1850, the world population had exceeded 1 billion people

On the final analysis, the UN -Medium Variant- projections show population increase until the end of the 21st century. This is where it concerns us, this is talking about our present times. That’s the point of relevance.

John Wilmoth, Director, Population Division, DESA, explained that these revisions reflect that developing regions are home to about 5.9 billion but expected to soar to 8.2 billion in 2050.

This means, population in developed nations will stay at about 1.3 billion incessantly.

Joke Kujenya (Ms.)

Editor, Population Journalism

Investigative Journalist, Social Media Enthusiast, Mentor, Trainer & Blogger

Media Mentors News AgencyPower Reporter of The Year, 2013

Staff of The Month, August 2013, The Nation

<journalistjoke@gmail.com>

Media Role in Reporting Population Issues

IN ALL my about 31-years of active journalism, I have always been passionate about population issues and reportage. But I have never had my personal newsroom until now, with this blog. 

An average journalist, a core professional that is, understands that media play a central role in informing the public about what happens in the world we live in. It is salient because we also, are affected in one way or the other.

Being the watchdog of the society, the media has a duty to report unregistered births, to start with, especially the births that take place in rural areas with no documentation of records to rely on, just as much as the numbers of daily deaths.

The media's role is more crucial because we are the conduit, the pipeline, the funnel regulating the flow of communication between the policymakers, the policy itself, others in the political system and the governed so we can all understand clearly what the policies are regarding issues of population and what factors determine what happens. 

One of the very important ways we could help stem population rising trend is to, from time-to-time, carry out research on population agencies whether they are living up to expectation in registering births in the country. 

We should shoot beyond our professional mantra of informing, educating and entertaining to letting the world know that our planet earth and its resources are finite. As such, these resources cannot support an infinite population of humans, let alone animals.

Reports say daily, over 225,000 or more people hungry for dinner each night.

As media professionals, especially as journalists, we need to hammer hard on key populations issues in order to help decrease population by providing adequate education in areas of human health, rights, environment and economic issues. 

An average human being needs to know how he or she contributes directly or indirectly to the problems at hand. This explains why population reporting demands technical delivery not an adhoc approach. It requires specialization. 

Journalism plays a pivotal role in keeping us informed and critically aware of important happenings around our daily lives. And given the importance of journalism and the current fluidity of the industry’s commercial circumstances, it is needful to have an up-to-date insight into what journalists themselves have to say about some of these matters on human existence. 

The United Nations Population Division (UNPD) estimates world population grows by nearly 80 million people a year or 1 million people roughly every 4.5 days. 

• But what does that mean for people’s lives? 

In the view of Ala Weisman, Journalist, Author, Produce and Professor, "Finding the people behind the numbers is critical".

Weisman, who focused his investigation on places that exemplified numerous dimensions of population dynamics, profiled: 

• Niger, the fastest growing country in the world where women have an average of seven children 
• Japan, where low fertility has led to population decline 
• Pakistan, whose persistently high population growth rate means it is poised to become one of the world’s largest countries in coming decades 
• Uganda and the Philippines, where innovative programmes linking conservation and family planning are part of strategies to preserve biodiversity while meeting a community’s health needs...

Looking at the picture painted by Weisman, "telling these human stories can help convey the complexity behind population-environment connections without losing our audience," said, Steve Sapienza, Senior Producer, Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting.

So as a Journalist, I got stories to investigate and report. 

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By the way, my name is

Joke Kujenya (Ms.)

Editor, Population Journalism

Investigative Journalist, Social Media Enthusiast, Mentor, Trainer & Blogger

Media Mentors News AgencyPower Reporter of The Year, 2013

Staff of The Month, August 2013, The Nation

<journalistjoke@gmail.com>

Figures: Nigeria Population 1960-2016

Today's a Sunday. So, I simply decided to look at, and bring to your attention, what other organizations have done about Nigeria's population matters. 

According to the  <tradingeconomics> data on Nigeria 1960-2017, the nation's total population was estimated at 186.0 million people in 2016, based on the immediate past census figures. Their posture was informed by reflecting on the period of 1960 when Nigeria had a population of 45.1 million people. 

Tradingeconomics posited that the population of Nigeria represents 2.35 percent of the world´s total population which arguably means that one person in every 43 people on the planet is a resident of Nigeria. 

Thus, the agency provided the latest reported value for Nigeria's population looking at previous releases, historical high and low, short-term forecast and long-term prediction, economic calendar, survey consensus and news, plus -actual data, historical chart and calendar of releases all updated on August of 2017. 

The summary of the above data is also indicated below: 

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By the way, my name is
Joke Kujenya (Ms.)
Editor, Population Journalism
Investigative Journalist, Social Media Enthusiast, Mentor, Trainer & Blogger
Media Mentors News AgencyPower Reporter of The Year, 2013
Staff of The Month, August 2013, The Nation

<journalistjoke@gmail.com>

Complex Web of Population Reporting

World population heading towards 9.8 billion by 2050

Photo credit: Associated Press, United Nations

FOR  a number of years, I have been curious to know why there were no desks or beats, as they are tagged in journalism, I still doubt if there are in current times, created solely for population reporting. 

An ardent reader of newspaper in Nigeria will be conversant with the fact that population stories are reported as one-off news information. Similarly, if the general populace were to report on population issues; it will be presented from diverse view points. 

A major reason adduced to this by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is that: economic development, equity, human health, environmental stability and issues of poverty reduction are things that journalists want to report on, but often, population subjects are linked together in a complex web, making it a difficult task.

Hence, media managers too, are left in the lurch when it comes to carving out a unit for population reportage.

In the forecasts by the Department of Economic and Social Affairs’ Population Division, the current world population of nearly 7.6 billion will increase to 8.6 billion by 2030, 9.8 billion in 2050 and 11.2 billion in 2100. Additionally, public policies, technological applications and cultural norms would contribute to compounding the confusion. 

Salient issues important to all countries of the world are: pollution, human health, economic development, loss of natural resources, food production, risks to vulnerable groups -the poor, indigenous and women and several others. 

Journalists need to understand the basics of successfully reporting on population, health and environment as well as the linkages between the demographic implications, consequences of health and environmental impacts for the overall good of humanity. 

The complexity thus calls for journalists to specialise in population reporting so that they can untangle the complex web to enable them present captivating reports to their readers and audience as the case applies. 

Salient issues important to all countries of the world, according to the USAID, are:

·         Pollution, human health

·         Economic development

·         Loss of natural resources

·         Food production

·         Risks to vulnerable groups -the poor, indigenous and women and several others.

Journalists need to understand the basics of successfully reporting on population, health and environment as well as the linkages between the demographic implications, consequences of health and environmental impacts for the overall good of humanity.

There is a call to action. All hands need to be on deck. Population matters isn't hard for the layman to understand. It is not hard for me, as a journalist to understand either. Here I am, responding to the call and I am taking action.  

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By the way, my name is
Joke Kujenya (Ms.)
Editor, Population Journalism
Investigative Journalist, Social Media Enthusiast, Mentor, Trainer & Blogger
Media Mentors News AgencyPower Reporter of The Year, 2013
Staff of The Month, August 2013, The Nation

<journalistjoke@gmail.com>

Consequences of an Over-crowded World

WHAT a caption? Can this world ever be over crowded? Crowded, yes. But overcrowded? That is unthinkable right. However, it can and could happen. Experts say the world is heading that way. But how, you may ask. 

Quoting from several sources, "some 6.7 billion people currently live on planet Earth today. Close to 3 billion more may be in the mix by 2050. Given those staggering numbers, it’s easy to assume surging human population is the real root of the world’s evils, from global warming to poverty, starvation to habitat loss. Experts on the subject still paint a far more complex portrait of the world’s population and what it portends. It’s by turns dire and hopeful, they predict. 

To drive home the picture succinctly, a 2008 report by a Magazine quoted some experts' photographic impression of the subject in view. I consider it wise we read together each of their postulations. 

In Paul Ehrlich's perspective: "I think it gives the wrong impression. Overpopulation is a huge problem. But most people think of it as just being too many people. It’s when you add up the numbers of people, how much they consume, and what kind of technologies they use, that it’s an accurate statement".

Also, Robert Engelman, noted that: “Overpopulation is not a term I like using very much because it implies that somebody who is here, shouldn’t be here. The idea that population itself is a great crisis is something of a misinterpretation of history when you realize that population has been growing for much of the history of the species, and certainly for most of the last 10,000 years".

Matthew Connelly, in his submission said: "Reducing the size of a population can mean that you increase the number of households because people are living by ones and twos and threes. When people live in smaller households, they tend to consume more of everything. That’s why it’s terribly deceptive to think that we can address the environmental problems of over-consumption just by getting people to have fewer kids. It’s more complicated than that".

It is thus without saying, with the impending population surge, there is a problem looming large on the horizon. Given these facts on various levels, population savvy  personnel suggest that "ongoing increase of human presence on the planet does have effects, but it didn’t just start having them last week or last year. So, it’s not a crisis the way that energy prices might be a crisis. But, there’s something real to the idea that suddenly, population is an issue in a way that it wasn’t a generation or a century ago..."

So then, what can you and I do about it? 

Ehrlich answers: "Population control doesn’t mean somebody saying: 'You personally have to do this.' 

"What population control consists of is for governments to have policies that encourage proper birth rates and proper death rates —trying to keep children alive once they’re born so we can have a tab on the real problems to tackle. "

By the way, my name is
Joke Kujenya (Ms.)
Editor, Population Journalism
Investigative Journalist, Social Media Enthusiast, Mentor, Trainer & Blogger
Media Mentors News AgencyPower Reporter of The Year, 2013
Staff of The Month, August 2013, The Nation

<journalistjoke@gmail.com>