Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow. It has been noted that Kenya is experiencing ‘phenomenal’ growth in population and that this will...

      

Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow.

It has been noted that Kenya is experiencing ‘phenomenal’ growth in population and that this will
put a strain on the economy. The general feeling amongst those who see a large population as a
problem is that we should put family planning issues back on the national agenda. But does Kenya
really have a population problem? I do not think so. There is nothing as good as a large population of
people within a nation that values human resources and is ready to put them to productive use.
Countries that are now registering tremendous economic growth, such as China, India and Brazil, are
characterized by, among other things, large populations. A country’s economic growth is determined
much more by the choices it makes in the utilization of its resources rather than by the rate of its population growth.

We can roughly classify countries into three broad categories on the basis of their development and
the utilization of their human resources. The first category is that of countries that value, develop and
utilize their human resources for economic growth. These countries include China and the countries
we now refer to as the Asian Tigers, such as Korea, Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore. These
countries have strategically utilized their immense human resources for exemplary economic growth.
Singapore, for example, is the second most densely populated country in the world after Monaco, yet
it has put all its people to work.

The second category is that of countries that suffer from lack of human resources because of a
dwindling population. These countries include Norway, Holland, Russia and Austria. They are
overburdened with an aging population and are unable to excite their people to multiply. Having
realized the negative impact of this low population on their economies, these countries are now
encouraging their people to get more children by giving lucrative incentives to couples. They have
also begun importing manpower.

The third category is that of countries that do not seem to have a progressive policy on the utilization
of their human resources. Instead, it appears as if they consider this particular resource an enemy.
They are afraid that a large population will impact negatively on their economies. They, therefore,
make programs to reduce population a priority. As a result, these countries operate on the fringes of
the world economy, unable to utilize the resources bequeathed to them by nature. Unfortunately,
many developing countries, including Kenya, fall into this category.

The land mass we call Kenya is capable of supporting well over 200 million people, compared to its
current population of about 40 million people. In size, it is 582,367 square kilometers, much bigger
many industrialized nations. It is, for example, far bigger than Israel, which is only 20,072 square
kilometers, yet it supports population of about 7 million people. By world standards, therefore,
Kenya is a sparsely populated country. We fight over land in an area hardly a third of the country,
where we practice subsistence agriculture and are always at the mercy of the vagaries of nature, yet our contribution to the world economy is marginal.

We have to confront the real problems we face as a country and not find a scapegoat in population
growth. Our inability to plan for our people and put resources to proper use in order to industrialize
is our biggest undoing. Much of Israel, for example, is actually a reclaimed desert. Kenya, with some
little creativity, can reclaim all the arid and semi-arid lands, and support a larger population. In short,
we need to rethink our strategies. Other resources that Kenya needs to harness are water and the
long hours of sunshine. Flood waters kill our people during rainy seasons as we helplessly watch,
instead of using technology to harvest the water and use it to irrigate the arid lands. The sun shines
on our heads every day, yet we cannot tap its rays to light up our homes at night or power our
vehicles.

The argument that that population growth is cancelling out economic growth is flawed. There is little
evidence to support the view that small families are the richest. Simply put, we cannot convince the
poor that the only way of getting out of poverty is through getting fewer babies. We should direct
our energies more at creating wealth rather than pushing the futile agenda of population control to the national limelight.

Questions
1.Give two examples of countries with large populations which are registering huge economic growth.
2. Make notes on the classification of countries based on their development and use of human resources.
3. What is the writer’s attitude towards his or her country? Explain your answer.
4. List resources Kenya should use properly in order to industrialize
5. Why do you think the writer compares Kenya to Israel?
6. Identify a figurative expression used in the second paragraph of the passage.
7.What is the tone of the writer with regard to the Asian Tigers?
8. What can cause a country to be overburdened by an ageing population?
9.Rewrite the following sentence, starting with ‘Instead of...’
We should direct our energies more at creating wealth rather than pushing the futile agenda of population control to the national limelight.
10.Explain the meaning of the following words as used in the passage.
i. Dwindling
ii. Bequeathed
iii. Harness
iv. Flawed

  

Answers


Kavungya
1. China, India, Brazili
2.The countries can be classified as follows;
a) Countries that value, develop and utilize their human resources.
b) Countries that lack human resources.
c) Countries that do not utilize their human resources.
3.He or she is patronizing because he/she thinks that the problem is that the country is unable to plan for its people and put resources to proper use in order to industrialize.
4.Human resources, water, land and sunshine.
5. The writer wants to show that Kenya can overcome its problems just as Israel, a smaller reclaimed desert, has done.
6.Metaphor – China and some other countries are referred to as Asian Tigers.
7.The writer is proud of the Asian Tigers. This is seen when the writer says that the countries have strategically used their human resources for economic growth.
8.A dwindling population or low birth rate can cause a country to be overburdened by an ageing population.
9.Instead of pushing the futile agenda of population control to the national limelight, we should direct our energies at creating wealth.
10.a) Becoming gradually less/ smaller.
b) Given
c)To make use of something in order to produce power.
d) Mistaken.
Kavungya answered the question on September 28, 2019 at 07:09


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