Trusted since 2008
LoginRegister
Study resources on Kenyaplex

Get ready-made curriculum aligned revision materials

Exam papers, notes, holiday assignments and topical questions – all aligned to the Kenyan curriculum.

Browse exam papers
Or go directly to:
Class notes Holiday assignments Topical questions Other resources

Critically explain Malthusian theory of population

Critically explain Malthusian theory of population.

Answers

Abdullahi
This theory was developed by a British economist called Thomas Malthus. In his theory of population, Thomas Malthus was concerned with the rate and effect of population growth. He based his judgement on population characteristics of Britain. He had the following arguments;
i. People will always have passion for sex hence children will be born and the process will be continuous.
ii. Population will be increasing at a geometric rate i.e. 2 4 8 16 32…while food production will increase at an arithmetic manner that is, 1 2 3 4 5…
iii. Population increase will outstrip food supply since that land is a fixed factor of production would experience diminishing returns to scale.
iv. As population increases, there will be greater use of land hence maximum productivity of land will be reached hindering any further production.
Thomas Malthus therefore suggested solutions to these problems to check on the population growth rate. He classified these checks into;
1. Positive checks.
These checks include; famine, wars, disease epidemics, floods among others.
2. Preventive checks.
Include; late marriages, abortion, use of contraceptives, moral restrains among others.
Critics of Malthusian Theory of Population.
i. His arguments based on Britain were illogical because by then British was well developed.
ii. He assumed that people were only consumers and not producers and consumers as it is in real life situation.
iii. He also assumed that the world is static rather than dynamic. This is as a result of changes in the level of technology which is improving seed yield e.g. use of chemicals and fertilizers and power technology.
iv. Land is not a fixed of production as assumed by Thomas Malthus since its implementation can lead to greater productivity.
v. He ignored the possibility of trade which facilitates the exchange of goods and services hence his argument of charging peoples’ welfare of supply was illogical since there are other factors which can determine the populations’ welfare.
Application of the Malthusian theory of population in the 3rd world countries.
i. Population in developing countries is still growing despite a decrease in food supply.
ii. All developing countries are experiencing a very rapid population growth rate outstripping the rate of food supply.
iii. Some developing countries are experiencing famine, misery and disease because the government plans cannot cope with the population growth rate e.g. Indonesia, Sudan and Kenya.
iv. The rapid increase in the number of people has increased the need for more land.
v. The rapid increase in population has led to strip competition among the producers and also the consumers thus make people to strive hard to accumulate wealth which eventually leads to greed for money need to get rich quickly hence grabbing land, corruption is to increase. This has led to subsequent land dispute, domestic wars an d politically insinuated civil wars.
Dullayo answered the question on April 16, 2018 at 07:17

Answer Attachments

Next: Kamau advertised the sale of his farm. He was approached by Keter who wanted to buy the farm. In the course of negotiating the price....

Previous: What are the examples of computer crimes?

View more Economics Questions and Answers  |  Return to Questions Index

Exams With Marking Schemes

Related Questions