In many countries today, there is so little farmland that every person's nutritional needs could be met only through importing food or practicing highly intensive agriculture. Moreover, this method is often prohibitively expensive. The trend toward smaller families and slower population growth helps alleviate these crop constraints. A stabilized population in the 21st century, not much larger than today's 6 billion, could survive on Earth's farmable land, allowing sufficient food and fresh water for all. There are 85 million fewer girls than boys enrolled in school.
Families often give a higher priority to their sons' education.
But research shows that education makes a significant difference in a girl's life, and later, in the lives of her own children. Girls with at least 6 or 7 years of schooling are far less likely to become teen mothers. And girls who have some formal education are more likely to be healthy themselves. In India, a baby born to a woman who has a primary-school education has double the survival chances of one born to a woman with no education. Even in countries where forest cover has increased, the amount per person has decreased due to population growth.