A large human population, both globally and within individual countries, has been a concern since the time of Thomas Malthus. (a) Country X is 95% desert. The government of Country X is concerned about not having enough arable land (land capable of being used to grow crops) in the country to produce the food needed to feed its population without increasing food imports. One government official proposes a project to irrigate large areas of the desert to convert these areas of desert to agricultural fields.
(b) County X is experiencing rapid population growth.
(i) Propose one solution for slowing the population growth rate in Country X.
(ii) Explain how the solution in (1) would also address Country X's concern about having enough arable land to feed its population.
(c) The demographic data for country X for the year 2020 is provided in the table below. Crude birth rate 38 1,000 individuals Crude death rate 24 1,000 individuals Net migration rate 2 1,000 individuals
(i) Calculate the national population growth rate for country X. Show your work.
(ii) Using the rule of 70, calculate the doubling time for this population.