We pretend for many reasons. The nations of the poor South have trouble discussing the problem directly because they entangle it with their ethnic hostilities and their old resentments toward colonizers and oppressors, so as not to have to admit their own corruptions and inequities. The rich North entangles the problem with its unresolved attitudes about sex, religion, and abortion, and therefore fails to share fertility-control technology. The primary way to deal with the population problem is obvious. It's that short simple word that I used in the previous sentence - share .
Poverty is the cause of rapid population growth and many other evils.
It must be ended, once and for all. I don't know in detail. But I do know how to start. The way to start is to look the poor in the face and call them brothers and sisters. Work with them in partnership, not in condescension.