ASIA – THE CORNUCOPIA OF HUMAN CHALLENGES

By Devanu Roy Choudhury

(20, Indian)

Every name and place in Asia evokes a cascade of images reflecting the
achievement and potential of the people of this great continent. It may be in the form
of spiritual attainments, accomplishments in all forms of art, music, sculpture and
architecture or be it in science and technology, industries and commerce, agriculture
and education. However, the biggest challenge facing Asia is its gargantuan
population statistics and its interplay with changing socio-economic patterns,
resource exhaustion, environmental degradation, healthcare and education. Asia
sustains more than half of the world’s total population living on less than one-third of
the planet’s cultivable land. Over the next 50 years, Asia’s population is projected to
grow by approximately 44%.The populations in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Cambodia,
Laos, Nepal, and Pakistan is expected to double in the coming years. Although
China (presently having the highest population in the world) has been very
successful in curbing its population growth rate, but in countries such as India
(presently second highest), Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, the
Philippines, and Vietnam growth rates are still particularly very high. India is
expected to outnumber China by 2050. Stanford University’s biologist Dr. Paul
Ehrlich writes in his famous book ‘The Population Bomb’ about his visit to Delhi in
1966, “People eating, people washing, people sleeping…people visiting, arguing and
sleeping…people clinging to buses…people, people, people”.

Population growth and its corresponding economic development encroach on

forests, wetlands and prime agricultural areas, threatening biodiversity and raising
serious concerns about air quality, food and water security. Most of the Asian
countries have already reached their peak or have limited capacity to handle stress
on land, water and other natural resources. Economically and industrially, Asia is the
fastest growing region in the world. This inevitably brings about striking changes in
consumption patterns throughout all classes of people living in this region. It can be
clearly seen in the marked changes in housing sector and the ever increasing land
rates. As living arrangements shift from large extended families to small nuclear
families and people migrate from rural habitation to urban habitation, the number of
households in Asia is increasing rapidly, further having implications on resource use
and pressure on the environment. There is widespread unplanned urbanization and
according to United Nations estimate more than half of Asia’s population will live in
cities by 2030. Urban population in Asia will be larger than the urban population of all
the other regions of the world combined. This rapid unplanned expansion of urban
areas has deprived many Asian countries of some of their most productive
agricultural land and has resulted in serious problems of air, soil, and water pollution.
Today, the total number of motor vehicles in Asia is doubling every seven years,
causing more fuel consumption, air pollution, traffic jams, and demands for road
construction, often at the expense of prime agricultural land. Over the next 20 years,
the number of motor vehicles is projected to increase at least five times in Asia’s two
most populous countries— India and China. This large scale industrialization and
urbanization have also resulted in rapid growth of energy consumption. The demand
for energy is growing more quickly in Asia than in any other region leading to
exhaustion of our natural resources. This has also lead to the issue of “Land
Grabbing” which has become an issue of concern across Asia. This process involves
governments and private investors from industrialised or emerging economies
securing large tracts of agricultural land in developing countries by means of long-
term lease or purchase agreements. It may be for the purpose of commercial
agriculture or industrial development. The Battle for Land, a resource that is
becoming scarce worldwide has become a topic for debate. Currently the Maoist
movement in India is a gleaming example being talked about all over the world.
Primitive Land Acts, poor governance and ace enterprises are causing farmers to
lose their cultivable land in the name of development. This has further increased soil
erosion, climate change, desertification and further raising the pressure on natural
resources.

It should be also noted that inspite of vigorous urbanization, tenacious poverty still
exists in Asia where the average per capita income is less than $1 a day. Poor slum
dwellers in cities, who lack the most basic sanitation facilities and farmers, do not
have the opulence of worrying about environmental degradation and proper
healthcare. They live in the most marginal, vulnerable and delicate environments
where they may be forced to sacrifice long term sustainability for short term goals.
The short term goals range from feeding their families and the young ones to finding
insecure daily wages jobs. Homeless people are often forced to beg for a living. The
ever increasing population growth rate has also increased the demand for food. But,
in Asia today there are only a few possibilities left for expansion. Almost all the
arable land is already under cultivation or has been degraded by commercial and
industrial usage. This has resulted in reinforcement of land use. Pastures are
overgrazed, rivers, lakes, and coastal areas are overfished, and more crops are
produced from the same fields, using more irrigation water and more chemical
fertilizers and pesticides. It is estimated that about one-third of all cropland has
already been damaged by agricultural practices that are not sustainable. And in the
coming decades, land suitable for agriculture is exponentially decreasing and Asian
Governments will be left with much more hungry mouths to feed. The region has
insufficient programmes addressing the urgent health care and educational needs of
children under 3. While enrolment rates in pre-primary education have increased,
many countries lag behind in providing access to vulnerable and disadvantaged
children.
In our multi-racial, multi-lingual, multi-religious society with wide disparities in
regional development, growth rates and personal income levels, there is bound to be
discontent and confrontation in various sectors and levels. The inter-tribal feuds,
linguistic and communal conflagrations have marred the peace and tranquillity of
many countries. Riots in the form of communal, agrarian, industrial labour unrest,
political (spurred by certain parties or student unions) or professional (motivated by
profit or professional gain have become the everyday ‘Breaking News’.) The recent
ethnic riots in southern Kyrgyzstan, disturbances in Tibet, Anti-Indian riots in
Myanmar, Anti-Chinese riots in Indonesia, race riots in Singapore are some but
gleaming examples.

Asia is home to diverse ecosystems that host many plant and animal species. Most
of the planet’s biological habitats are found in China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, and
the Philippines. Due to intense population pressure, forests and wetlands have been
cleared and drained, resulting in the loss of an estimated 70 to 90% of the region’s
original wildlife habitat. Habitat destruction and pollution also threaten fresh-water
and marine fish and coral reefs in the region. Trade in Animal Parts threatens wave
of extinction of wildlife in Asia. There are only 1411 tigers left in India which has
shocked Indians across all quarters. Pollution in the form of air, water and land
degradation is also eminent in Asia due to population pressure. Asian cities are
among the most polluted cities of the world. Harmful air pollutants like sulphur
dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide and suspended particulate levels are
alarmingly high in Delhi, Beijing, Karachi and Jakarta. Lead pollution is also a cause
for worry as it is harmful for the brain and the nervous system. Although the per
capita emission of the harmful greenhouse gases is lower in Asia than in the
developed countries of the world, Asia plays an important role in global warming due
to the region’s large population. Moreover the developing nations like India and
China use less efficient production technologies resulting in greater pollution and
lower yield. The rampant use of freshwater has made Asia to have the least
freshwater available per person than anywhere in the world. This coupled with water
pollution caused by the disposal of untreated sewage and industrial waste, nitrates
from animal waste and chemical fertilizers, and the intrusion of seawater has made
matters worse. Many Asians don’t have access to clean drinking water due to
increase in the levels of suspended solids in the rivers. Polluted water takes away
millions of lives every year.

Asia has surged forward in myriad ways: by thoughts of its saints and philosophers,
by the outlook of historical personages and by the process of cultural interaction with
the rest of the world. It is the land where transformational leaders like Lord Buddha,
Mahatma Gandhi, Mother Teresa, Ashoka, Jose Rizal, Aung San Suu Kyi and Lee
Kuan Yew belong to. To counter the aforesaid challenges is a humongous task but
one must take heart from these great leaders. The Economic and Social
Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) promotes economic and social
development through regional cooperation and integration and carries out studies,
research and other activities. The collective will of the people of this great continent
can achieve absolutely anything. My grandfather tells me stories of our (Indian)
independence struggle. It was the youth that headed the call of Mahatma Gandhi
and contributed vital force to the movement for national liberation. He boasts of the
electric atmosphere, the mass emotion and the physical and intellectual involvement
in the ideology and action for freedom which once seemed impossible.

Diplomatic needs of the less developed countries have to be recognised. The

common constraints that hinder their growth and development and make them
particularly vulnerable can be minimised by mutual sharing of views and collective
efforts. Countries need to have in place legal or procedural mechanisms to protect
local rights and take account of local interests, livelihoods and welfare. People
should be educated into a sense of responsibility and civic duties. The people at
large look forward to peace and stability, protection of life, liberty and property. This
is the sum and substance of all the works from Aristotle and Chanakya to the present
day. At the national level, political and economic priority setting will be essential.
Measures need to be taken to incorporate environmental concerns into agricultural
development, urban planning, technological innovation, industrial growth, and
resource management. There is a grave need for a regulatory framework in Foreign
Direct Investments (FDIs) and amendments in age old land acts. FDIs offer
opportunities and can improve the living conditions of people if handled responsible.
Otherwise they also have far reaching negative impacts. Technological innovation
and the transfer of new and efficient technological systems, technical and
management skills from the developed nations of the world to the developing nations
of Asia will play a major role in eradicating Asia’s environmental problems. More
number of education and health care programmes need to be carried out in the
region. The United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO) plans to implement ‘Education for All’ (EFA) by 2015. Few countries have
achieved or are close to achieving the four most quantifiable EFA goals and the
majority are in an intermediate position. UNESCO needs to continue with its EFA
programme, while reducing the number of out of school children, improving
education quality, expanding early childhood care and education (ECCE)
programmes and coverage, increasing participation in secondary education and
scaling up youth and adult programmes.

The age old idea that population control is the answer to all challenges has become
inconsequential now. It may help in controlling the population growth rates but will
not lessen the burden on our natural resources due to the already large population.
At the same time accepting the fact of our gargantuan population numbers and
collectively joining hands with each other will help us develop a human resource that
can take Asia to epic heights. Asia already is the highest exporter of labour force to
the world. Harnessing and educating them will not only elevate them but also
improve the economic and social stability of the Asian countries.
My vision of Asia in 2020 – fully integrated, progressive, full of vital force,
prosperous, carrying forward with pride the touch of freedom, socialism and
democracy. The world would witness the growth of heavy industries, development of
science and technology, of atomic energy, communications, agriculture and rural
development at its peak.

I would like to end by quoting a verse from our Hindu literature (Rig Veda) recorded
over six thousand years ago:

Assemble; speak among yourselves as one,

be united in your minds,
partake together of common benefits;
May your aim be one and true,
May your assembly be synthesized, harmonious,
A common purpose do I lay before you;
Address your endeavours unitedly,
Common be your aim, and your hearts united;
May you be of one mind that all,
may gain true happiness.

Name: Devanu Roy Choudhury

Nationality: Indian
Month and Year of birth: September, 1989
Word Count: 2,122
Page Count: 5