BANGLADESH INSTITUTE OF INTERNATIONAL AND STRATEGIC STUDIES

POPULATION CARRYING CAPACITY AND SUSTAIN· ABLE DEVELOPMENT IN BANGLADESH

Author: Farah Hasin

DOI Link: https://www.doi.org/10.56888/BIISSj2000v21n3a2

ABSTRACT

Rapid increase in population puts immense pressure on an economy and eats up a country's finite resources at a pace faster than they can be regenerated. Lack of balance between such high growth of population and limited resources tends to hinder the sustainable development efforts of a country. Considering the principal resource endowments, in this study an attempt has been made to estimate the population carrying capacity (maximum number of population that can be sustained from a given endowment of resources) of Bangladesh in order to assess the limits to population growth. Examining the case of major resources i.e. agricultural output, fishery, and fuelwood, the study revealed dominant constraints as the country already reached the carrying capacity level. Positive result has been obtained for water resources, meaning only this particular resource is not currently indicating any constraint. However, when a single constraint binds all other carrying capacity measures become insignificant. The study further advocates for an integrated and comprehensive approach for tackling the constraints; in question.