Reducing Population Growth Many experts believe population growth needs to be controlled. Some say the best way to do this is to make sure the world's poor people can feed and care for themselves. They say better family planning will help couples to have fewer children. To produce more food, they say these countries should replace cash crops with food crops. Cash crops, such as tobacco, tea, and coffee, do not feed the local people.
Farmers grow cash crops to sell to developed countries.
Most poor people live in rural areas. As population grows, people clear more of the land for their own use. As land is cleared, wildlife disappears. Population growth also causes the loss of farmland. Return to top of page .