Egypt Pleads With Parents to Have Smaller Families

Last year, Egypt’s population topped 104 million, five times what it was in 1950, and it continues to grow at a steady clip, per the Washington Post. Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sissi sees a population crisis that threatens national security and economic development, and he has “repeatedly scolded families” about having more than two children. But government messaging hasn’t gotten through to most people, according to the Post’s reporting, which features one urban middle-class family—with five children and a sixth on the way—who think government pleas only apply to those who cannot afford to feed their children. Meanwhile, in rural areas, large families are the norm because hands are needed in the fields, and experts say it’s unrealistic to expect that to change soon.

Like many developing nations, Egypt has a lot of mouths to feed, but water—or lack thereof—is really the heart of the problem. UNICEF sees Egypt on the verge of “absolute water scarcity." The government now restricts cultivation of water-intensive crops and prohibits many farmers from drawing water directly from the Nile, forcing them to compete for sparse groundwater or use wastewater that harms yields. Per CNN, Sissi’s government also faces mounting criticism over its ambitious plan to build a New Administrative Capital in the middle of the desert. The city will be home to 6.5 million, and it will feature a “Green River” with lakes and canals supposedly fed by wastewater; however, it’s already flowing through the city-to-be thanks to water pumped from the dwindling Nile.

Population and water were key themes this week at the COP27 climate forum, which featured the launch of the Initiative on Climate Action and Nutrition (I-CAN), intended to promote a “shift towards sustainable, climate-resilient, healthy diets,” per Forbes. Tensions between rich and poor also featured prominently. As the Smithsonian reports, world population will pass 8 billion this week, but many human rights advocates and environmentalists agree overconsumption by the wealthy is more of an environmental threat than overpopulation. For perspective: if everyone consumed like the average American, we would need the resources of five Earths, according to the Global Footprint Network and the World Wildlife Fund, as cited by AFP. (More overpopulation stories.)