Population growth rate raises alarm

Dar es Salaam. The United Nations Population Funds (UNFPA) has sounded the alarm over Tanzania’s population growth, saying it is not proportional with the country’s economic growth rate.

This comes at a time when official figures show that the economy has been growing at an average of seven per cent during the past two decades or so.

Yet, basic needs poverty declined by 6.2 per cent between the 2007 and 2011/12, suggesting that if the 2.7 per cent population growth rate is factored in, the number of poor Tanzanians could actually be rising.

Releasing the World Population Report 2017 in Dar es Salaam yesterday, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) executive director, Dr Natalia Kanem (pictured) said high population levels deter the government from delivering reproductive health services,  especially to poor women, thus weakening the economy.

This impedes progress towards the goal of eliminating poverty as outlined in the UN’s sustainable development goals.

“Countries that want to tackle economic inequality can start by tackling other inequalities such as reproductive health and right to enable women realise their full potential,” she said.

With a 2.7 per cent annual growth, Tanzania’s population, which reached 45 million during the 2012 national census, is now estimated at 52 million.

It is predicted that if the current population growth rate is not controlled, by 2050, Tanzania will be home to over 100 million people.

The birth rate in Tanzania is high with each woman estimated to an average of five children. Besides, 50 per cent of the women in Tanzania are at the reproductive age.

High advocacy of reproductive health and family planning can help reduce teenage pregnancy.

Moreover, educating women and men on contraceptives can help control the rapid growth of population considering the slow growth of the economy, according the commissioner for development human resource and planning from the Zanzibar Planning Commission, Ms Salama Makeme.