Jill Conway is a feminist historian, writer, teacher, and now-emerita 1st woman president of Smith College. She claims that women today still suffer from a great deal of oppression. Women around the world are currently in a disadvantage position. In 7 countries women do not have the right to vote. In the US less that .5% of top executives are women. The wage gap in the US between 1939 and 1989 has only shrunk $.10, from $.58-$.68. Conway points out that we are all constrained by our social mores, generational attitudes, political events, and economic circumstances. Few people are able to overcome these things in the way that they live their lives. Conway questions the validity of history written from a male dominated point of view. Around the world the value of women's work is almost always lower than that of men. India is just 1 example, there 75% of women are illiterate and 1/2 the population lives in poverty based on a caste system. Female literacy tripled in the 1st 30 years of independence and by 1981 it had reached 25%. The literacy gap is actually growing in India Today with 44% of girls aged 6 to 11, who are eligible to attend school, not doing so. Rural poverty keeps them at home because their domestic work is more valuable than their education. Other cultural tradition compound the problem: arranged marriages often result in motherhood for 14 year old girls. This is done for many reasons, 1 of which is crop failure insurance. When 2 families are combined through marriage, their total land share grows and they are thus more likely to have enough to eat. Education is just 1 necessary step. Developed nations must realize the realities that exist in the countries they provide aid for. In Africa for example, 70% of continent's food is produced by women. Yet the aid programs of the past have only been designed to offer assistant to men and create jobs for men.
Although migrant pressure on metropolitan areas has begun easing in Colombia, migrants from the departments of Boyaca and Cundinamarca continue to stream into the capital city of Bogota, where they face severe hardships. In Colombia, the social conditions for rural inhabitants have been improving. Per capita income has increased, family size has decreased, and women have begun to find greater opportunities. The rate of vaccination and contraceptive prevalence are now almost the same for urban and rural populations. These changes have lessened the incentive to migrate to the city. But in Boyaca and Cundinamarca, where over-intensive farming has aggravated poverty, people continue to leave Bogota. Many of the new arrivals already have relatives or friends who help them get established. But for those who don't, life is difficult. The article tells the story of Hermencia, who left Boyaca at age 12. Now 59, Hermencia has worked as a maid most of her life, changing from job to job. She has had 6 children from 3 different fathers. Luckily for Hermencia, her patrons helped her find a permanent home, and her family has maintained a network. And none of her children ended up in the street, as did Frankie, an 18 year-old from Cundinamarca. Frankie arrived in Bogota with his father, who became the bodyguard of a drug trafficker and was subsequently killed. Frankie has lived 6 years in the streets. Frankie is known to the police for mugging and drug abuse. He has a 16 year-old girlfriend who is pregnant. This is not uncommon. Women living in immigrant barrios average 4-5 children, compared to 2-3 in other low-income areas in Bogota.
Research on the impact of human population growth on the use of wildlife in 9 countries Borneo Brazil Greenland India Nigeria Yemen and Zambia among others was reported at the 1990 Perth conference of the IUCN (World Conservation Union). While indigenous cultures exhibit specific preferences for use of particular wildlife species for decoration and clothing the impact of the affluent is greater on survival and sustainability of species. Wildlife habitat has been lost in 68% of Southeast Asia 65% of sub-Saharan Africa 1% of Greenland and 80% of India. Human population growth is more adverse to wild species and habitat in areas of low economic development especially in Zambia and India. In India productivity is low soil erosion and deforestation are serious problems. There threatened species include 29 mammals 5 birds 12 reptiles and 2 butterflies. Zambia had lost 29% of its original wildlife habitat by 1986 but had set aside 6.4 million ha of its 7407000 sq km as protected areas. Because of poor economic conditions people are using the forests for income increasing deforestation soil erosion and the effects of droughts.
Available arable land in Latin America is actually less than figures indicate, and it is being degraded at a rapid pace. Six Latin American countries are unable to meet their demand for fuelwood, and 10 more are depleting their forests at annual rates of up to 3.8% per year. Land extensification is a national policy in several countries as an alternative to land reform, or subdivision of large land holdings. Guatemala is a case in point. 48% of Guatemala's land is classified as arable, and 80% of this land was already enclosed as farms in the last agricultural census, in 1979. 60% of this land was actually being farmed. 60% of all farms encompass 3.7% of all the farm land, small holdings called minifundia. Between 1964 and 1979 farm numbers increased 45%, total area being farmed rose 13.5%, with an annual increase of 1.2%. Most new farms were settled in the northwestern highlands called the altiplano, where numbers of farms doubled and average size of smallholdings shrank from 0.7-0.45 ha between 1964-1979. The northern lowland tropical forest region, the Peten, is being cut for farmland at one of the fastest rates in the world. Flooding and erosion, as well as urbanization, are also causing irreplaceable loss of farmland. While environmental decline is being recognized in many Latin American countries, the causative role of population growth has not been mentioned in environmental declarations and action plans.
Natural resources experts, ecologists and agricultural specialists from temperate zones have a peculiar bias when addressing the problems of the drought-prone Sahel region of Africa. These limited viewpoints are evident in use of the term "decertification," rather than climate-related vulnerability; the project-related approach of mere technological challenge; the notion that water can be found for temporary relief. Even the Brundtland Commission on Environment and Development of 1987 limited its discussion of the problem to food distribution rather than increasing food production. A World Bank proposal suggested food rationing and pricing schemes. It is vital to realize that the problem is that of a climate with an immense evaporative demand and a wide annual variability in rainfall. Therefore intermittent droughts and famines are a constant feature. Provision of dry technologies such as light tractors and fertilizer will not produce sustainable increases in crop yields. Population growth, lifestyle and land use in the aggregate will determine whether development of the area is sustainable. Rather than the current approach of increased use of natural resources and non-sustainable technology, sustainable use of available natural resources, development of human resources, and reduction of waste are essential.
