Last Updated on March 24, 2006 by Paulette Brown-Hinds
By Braden Ruddy
Mar. 20 (GIN) – A massive population increase looms in the near future if changes are not implemented to slow the growth rate, Dr Emmanuel Tawiah of the Population Impact Project (PIP) at the University of Ghana has warned.
Ghanas current population of 19 million people would double in the next 26 years since the annual population growth rate is around 3.0 percent, total fertility rate at 5.5 percent and infant mortality rate at 66 deaths per 1,000 live births, he said.
“With all these figures, we are unable to cope with the present situation and yet people are just adding on, and to prevent any serious problem in future, we should be prepared with resources to back the problems that would come up,” he emphasized.
With the countrys continued population growth, Ghana would not be able to cope with current population issues with its limited resources, Dr. Tawiah said on Saturday.
Dr Tawiah said infrastructure-related problems such as lack of access to education, quality health care and human resources would be seriously affected if the population rate were not controlled.
He also said that urbanization, uneven population distribution – including age, internal migration and ethnic conflict over land would contribute to some of Ghanas major population challenges in the near future.