Introduction

The population has been increasing exponentially with the world population hitting the 7 billion mark in 2012. Least Developed Countries (LDCs) accounted for 97% of this growth (United Nations, 2015). There are currently 48 LDCs, all of which are suffering from extreme poverty and high fertility rates. As poverty increased, so did birth rates (Central Intelligence Agency, 2016), reflecting poverty as a major cause for overpopulation. This leads to issues regarding resource scarcity like overcrowding, water scarcity, and food scarcity.

Body

Poverty leads to overpopulation as residents in these areas see their children as an investment. In 1953, a study was done by researchers who decided to hold a family planning program in Manupur. Initially, there were 40 births per 1000 persons annually. Six years later, it became 37.7 babies per 1000 persons per year; the birth rate had decreased throughout the entire nation (Meadows, D., 1986). In 2015, 50 years later, the average fertility rate in LDCs was 4.7 children per women as compared to the average fertility rate of 2 children per women in developed countries (World Bank, 2015). Currently, 67.5% of children, between the ages of 5 and 17, work in agricultural sectors and are unpaid family members (International Labour