SOAS Research Online

Abstract

This thesis seeks to determine the attention and importance given to population growth in the overall strategy of development planning. The first part of the thesis analyzes the population content of the national development plans of 60 developing countries. The findings indicate a surprising dearth of demographic data in development plans of the Third World. With a few exceptions, the data found in these plans are inadequate and are not presented in forms easily used by planners. The recognition of population problems is substantial: two-thirds of the countries studied mention a wide spectrum of population problems in their plans. Forty- three per cent of the countries studied propose some policy to reduce the rate of population growth. Still, the most important conclusion is that too few plans are preparing to accommodate for the inevitable growth of the population. The second part of the thesis is an investigation of population and development on a national level for the countries of Pakistan and Bangladesh. The analysis of Pakistan's and Bangladesh's development plans presents a picture of population planning in extremely adverse circumstances. Even though the plans did propose programmes to reduce population growth, implementation was difficult because of little demand for contraceptives, adminstrative and political obstacles and logistical complexities. Four conceptual frameworks incorporating theories of fertility decline, when analyzed for their relevance and utility in Pakistan and Bangladesh, all reveal theoretical or practical flaws. The family planning approach, the policy mainly relied on, has so far not been efficiently administered or demographically effective. A detailed analysis of a planning framework which incorporates population, income distribution and the evaluation of alternative development strategies illustrates the importance of the distributive aspect of development strategy, but reveals that the model lacks both the sophistication and the appropriate data to be analytically useful.