Richard
Fatorma Ngafuan
richardngafuan@yahoo.com
As
the population of Liberia reached the 3.5 million mark in 2008, several issues
have been highlighted by the final results of the 2008 National Population and
Housing Census. For persons with the political mindset, the results of the
population census of the various counties vis-à-vis the minimum population
benchmark set by the Liberian Constitution have elicited concern, skepticism
and perhaps cynicism. However the business of statecraft goes far beyond mere
delineation of political constituencies. It goes further into transforming the
lives of the pauperized masses of our country who have borne the brunt of the
carnage and brutality experienced during our period of national madness. Hence
the 2008 Census results as released by LISGIS cannot be treated as a mere
document used only for the intellectual edification of a select few; rather it
should be perceived as a baseline document in the formulation of future
developmental policies and the bedrock upon which these socio-economic policies
can be implemented. In short it is a guide in the process of socio-political
and economic engineering of society.
In
Liberia, all settlements with 2000 or more population is defined as urban. Nevertheless,
any other locality with less than 2000 people but being the capital city of a county
is also considered as an urban area (Liberia
National Population Council, 2005). Otherwise, all other localities
lacking these attributes mentioned can be termed as rural.
The
definition of an urban area stated above, which focuses on population and
political relevance, is limited in scope and focus. For instance, this
definition excludes economic activity and the availability of social services
and infrastructure. Critically speaking, if one could broaden the scope of the
national definition of an urban area in Liberia to inculcate economic activity,
availability of social services and infrastructure, many towns that are
referred to as urban in Liberia would be out of the national classification of
urban places.
Additionally
the National definition of a city excludes land area coverage in classifying an
urban location in Liberia. The lack of specification of the minimum land area
that an urban area should cover has further exaggerated the vagueness of the
Liberian definition of an urban area. Very small towns are categorized as
cities.
On
the whole, an awkward classification of urban and rural centers in Liberia tends
to pose some problems in the area of population analysis with respect to the
link between urbanization trends and patterns and other demographic variables.
For instance, fertility and mortality differentials relative to urban centers
have displayed some patterns similar to the anticipated rural patterns of
population dynamics. Urban areas lacking the basic socio-economic
characteristics of an urban center would obviously divert from normal patterns
of urban demographic characteristics.
Another
complication arising from this definition stems from the fact that a few number
of cities in Liberia were created out of the need to appease some tribal
elements or render favor to cronies of an incumbent regime who hail from a
particular town. As a result, some towns regarded as cities tend to be typical
metaphors of organized rural settlements.
Hence
unless a broader meaning is given to urban and rural locations in Liberia, to
include specifications of land mass and social amenities as well as economic
activities, the meaning of “urban” or “rural” in Liberia would vague, hence
blurring the socio-economic and demographic dichotomy between the two places.
Despite
these conceptual limitations, it is important to stress that attempts at
creating a harmonized definition of an urban area has proved futile overtime.
Each country has got its own definition of an urban area and as such there is
much relativity attached to the urban concept, hence rendering the standardization
and international comparison of urbanization statistics faulty.
One
major concern in terms of the spatial demography of Liberia is the increase in
the population of Monrovia relative to its land area and social and economic
infrastructure. According to LISGIS(2009), the
total population of Greater Monrovia was 970,824 in 2008. However when one
compares this population with the overall population of Montserrado County
(1,118,241), it was realized that out of every ten persons dwelling in
Montserrado, about nine resided in Greater Monrovia (87 percent). Also about 28
percent (close to one-third) of the country’s population lives in Monrovia,
this is about 59 percent of the total share of the urban population of the
country (47 percent of Liberia’s population lives in urban areas). Furthermore
Montserrado County, of which Monrovia comprised 87 percent of its population,
has the highest population growth rate of 3.5 percent as compared to other
counties and the national population growth rate of 2.1 percent. Despite the
drop in the average household size from 5.4 persons per household in 1984 to 4.7 in 2008, the total
population of the capital has increased (LISGIS,
2009). Past and present trends show that the population of people living
in urban areas in Liberia has been on the increase since 1974. Past census data
show that 29 percent of the population of Liberia was living in urban areas in
1974 and the level of urbanization increased to 39 percent in 1984 and 47
percent in 2008 (LISGIS, 2009; Liberia National
Population Council, 2005).
The
question then emanating is: what are the underlying factors propelling the
increasing pattern in the national rate of urban population from 1974 to 2008? One
simple reason has been the upsurge in rural to urban migration. Nevertheless
the increasing population of Monrovia relative to other urban centers could be
explained in terms of inter-urban migration, i.e. movements of people from
other urban centers to Monrovia. In other words the dominant stream of urban to
urban migration could be towards Monrovia. Despite these conjectures, it is
important to point out that deeper analysis into the final results of the 2008
Census will give a clearer picture of the spatial distribution of the
population of Liberia, and the migration and urbanization trends, levels and
patterns of the Liberian population and the prominent role of Monrovia in
Liberia’s population analyses. Albeit, it is worth mentioning that the extent
of Inter-censal natural increase (the surplus or deficit of births over deaths)
within Monrovia itself could also provide an explanation about the current
size, density and distribution of the population of Monrovia.
Given
the aforementioned, concerns have been raised in some quarters about the
present demographic situation of Monrovia. Nevertheless the issue of the high
population density of Monrovia compared to the very few job openings in the
city and the already destroyed physical infrastructure of the country is yet to
be a key policy focus for national development planners as well as
policy-makers.
Therefore
this article shall focus on the increase in the population size of Monrovia in
relation to its geographic area, available social services, and infrastructure
as well as income sources needed to sustain its growing number of people. As a
result, the term population density (population per unit of land area) shall
feature throughout this literature to draw attention to the increasing number
of people living within Monrovia.
The
present demographic situation of Monrovia, like most variables in causal
analyses, is determined by several factors. The extent to which these
determining factors have influenced the prevailing population density of
Monrovia cannot be directly measured as some have come through time, rendering
direct observation unworkable. Notwithstanding, these factors discussed below
have contributed to the demographic profile of Monrovia as we have it today.
The magnitude and significance of such a contribution is however open to empirical
statistical testing, which could be useful in adding to the wealth of
demographic knowledge within the country.
Liberia
founded in 1822 by free slaves, existed hitherto as a vast expanse of green
forest peopled by typically Mande, Kwa and Western Atlantic splinters of tribal
groups. The dense jungle of Liberia, infested by anopheles mosquitoes and
roamed by beasts of the jungle, made the expression the “white man’s grave” a
dangerous reality for not only white colonialists but also marauding bands of
African tribes from the Sahel regions of West Africa. Hence, when the Mali Empire held its reign on
the western Sudan, the forest regions were typically left under the control of
warrior chiefs. Even the Mandinka empire of Samori Touré could not establish a
firm dominance of the forested south despite its control of parts of present
day Guinea, Cote d’Ivoire, Mali and Guinea Bissau.
This
abhorrence of the coastal forests made the hinterlands of Liberia a terra incognita even after the coming of
the settlers. Until the expeditions of Benjamin J.K Anderson and the
intermittent forays into the hinterland by the Americo-Liberian pioneers, much
of Liberia was around the stretch of land along the coastal settlements covered
with mangrove swamps. These “Congo settlements”, as they were widely known later
in Liberia, became the centers of trade, commerce, education and politics in
Liberia and consequently the hubs of socio-economic activities. These
settlements offered both the settler community as well as the native population
a sense of livelihood.
But
population gravitation towards Monrovia had existed prior to the coming of the
settlers as Ducor or Dugbor (as the present day Monrovia was
called by various Liberian tribes) was the nexus of trade among tribal people
even before the Americo-Liberians arrived (The is evidenced by the fact that
all Liberian tribes have almost similar pronunciation of the Dey-Bassa name for
Monrovia.)Hence the pull factor on Monrovia became well established at the very
onset of the founding of the Liberian state.
As
the political and economic capital of Liberia, Monrovia is the center of trade
and commerce in the country. Urban bias or the preference of urban centers over
rural areas by policymakers in the dispensation of state resources and the
overconcentration of development priorities on Monrovia have led to a resurging
pull of population from the rest of the country towards Monrovia. Hence it is a
naked reality that the present economy of Liberia, as it were in the past, is Monrovio-centric. As a result the disparity between Monrovia
and other parts of the country, in terms of relative wealth is large. According
to LISGIS & Macro International (2008),
urban respondents and those in Monrovia are much more likely to fall in the
highest wealth quintile. For instance, 56.4 percent of Monrovians lie in the
highest wealth quintile and only 1 percent of the urban population lie in the
lowest wealth quintile, compared to 31 percent of the rural population. This
lack of decentralization of the economy and wealth has continued and will
continue to place a strain on the relatively better economy of Monrovia unless
this trend is reverse.
Urban
population growth can sometimes be beneficial especially if it is matched by a
concomitant increase in urban trade and industry and the provision of
employment. But the apparent slow pace in the growth of the economy of Monrovia
in comparison to its population has rendered the concept of an optimum
population within Monrovia an unworkable phenomenon for the short run. The
optimum population concept is one in which population tends to match available
economic resources. This state of the optimality of population, though ideal in
most cases, is necessary to be set as a target so as to give development and
economic planning increased focus.
Liberia
has a unitary form of government in which governance of the various counties is
directed and controlled from the capital, Monrovia. County superintendents are
appointed by the president and continue to serve under his/her will and
pleasure through the supervision of the Minister of Internal Affairs. This idea
of centrality of power has implicitly affected the running of the legislature
as most assemblymen continue to represent their people from their cozy offices
on Capitol Hill. Sometimes crucial issues affecting leeward counties are
handled from Monrovia, thus creating a lopsided approach to people’s
participation in decision-making. Some chiefs have to travel long distances to
meet their legislators in the national capital city instead of the opposite
being true. This apparent lack of bottom-up approach to socio-political
decision-making has created a dominant urban psyche and the preference of the
urban way of life among rural dwellers. Thus the urban mentality has increased
the yearning of rural dwellers to move towards Monrovia.
In
addition to its level of political sensitization, the population of Monrovia also
makes it to be a center of political bickering and might at times serve as the
powder keg of political tensions. A political demagogue whose intention is to
acquire power at all cost could pander to the frustrations of the urban masses
who are prone to disenchantments.
This could be detrimental to national cohesion and stability, even if an
incumbent government is endeavoring selflessly to ameliorate the conditions of
its people in the face impediments.
Presently
young people who wish to acquire either higher or better education will
eventually move to Monrovia since the capital has become the center of
education in the country. Apart from two, all universities are found in
Monrovia. Cuttington University located in Suakoko, Bong County mainly serves
the needs of youths from affluent urban families instead of catering to the
rural poor children who are in dire need of better education; and Tubman
College in Harper has just been revamped and is yet to serve as a viable
alternative for the rural poor from Southeastern Liberia. As a result, youths
in rural Liberia who seek better and higher education would eventually move to
Monrovia. This movement of young people from the largely agrarian rural Liberia
has caused the gradual implosion of the rural population and ,by extension, the
reduction in productive manpower for agricultural activities.
The
civil crisis fought intermittently from 1989 to 2003 led to major population
shifts within and out of the country. Since most people were forced to leave
Liberia for safety reasons, many were also uprooted from their places of
residence and moved to other parts of the country. During the first half of the
1990s when Monrovia was under the control of the ECOMOG peacekeepers and
governed by the various Interim Governments, many moved from rebel controlled
rural Liberia to Monrovia.
But
this trend increased during the last version of the war from 1999 to 2003. During
the final phase of the war, the western frontier seemed hostile as an escape
route for forced migrants from Lofa, Gbarpolu, Bomi and Grand Cape Mount
Counties who were always reminded about the reprisal attacks they faced in
Sierra Leone during the RUF Invasion of 1991.
With the LURD and MODEL controlling the Northwestern and Eastern routes
to Cote d’Ivoire and Guinea, most people fleeing from the war moved into
Monrovia and its environs for safety, harboring the hope that the war would
remain a jungle affair. Now that the war has ended, many of the internally
displaced persons or IDPs (especially youths and young adults) have remained in
Monrovia after getting used to the urban way of life or are compelled to stay
due to schooling, business or the pursuit of better standard of living. This
has also led to the increase in the population of Monrovia relative to its size
and available infrastructural and social services.
However
social networks through kinship and friendship ties, as well as marriages have
also been instrumental in contributing to migratory movements from the
hinterland to Monrovia. From the 1940s to the 1970s most people from Northwestern,
North and Central Liberia moved to the Firestone plantation as the location of
first destination. When life began to
turn better they subsequently moved into tribal slums in Monrovia. The Buzzi
Quarter and Camp Johnson Road developed as a slum for Lorma, Gbandi and some
Kpelleh migrants. Also people from the Vai, Grebo and Kru ethnic groups moved
into Clara and Vai Towns; and Jallah’s Town, Saye Town and Plunkor became
enclaves from people emanating from Northwestern and Central Liberia.
Furthermore
West Point and New Kru Town developed as the place of first destination for most
migrants from the South Eastern parts of Liberia. During the 1970s, these
practically illiterate and poor rural migrants lacked the ability to live in
relatively affluent places like Congo Town, Mamba Point and Sinkor. Thus when
standards of living improved, most of these people moved to the suburb of
Monrovia finding relatively cheaper land to establish their families.
Notwithstanding, their homes continued to serve as the places of first stop for
relatives from the hinterland. This network factor has also increased the
propensity of other subsequent and would-be migrants from rural areas to move
to Monrovia. Family members in Monrovia have reduced the risks and cost of
movements to Monrovia for rural migrants and migrants from other urban centers.
The
differential in income and standard of living between Monrovia and the rest of
the country is large. The propensity for individuals to migrate from the
country side to the capital has a direct link to the size of this differential.
The wider the gap in the standard of living, income and employment
opportunities between Monrovia and other parts of the country, the greater the
propensity for people to change permanent residence from rural Liberia to
Monrovia, and the greater will be the strain on the economy of the capital,
given that other factors are held constant. This proposition, however, is yet
to be tested through empirical studies.
The
issue of decentralization has long been harped in governmental circles; the
effect of this concept has stopped short of policy implementation. Also the
National Population Policy (2005) seemed to be oblivious of the problems
associated with the huge movement of people from other parts of the country to
Monrovia. In fact the issue of internal migration as it relates to rural-urban
migration was not dealt with in its policy goals, objectives and targets,
though it was mentioned in chapter four, which dealt with the general population profile of
the country.
This
suggests that the issue of rural-urban migration and its accompanying problems
has not fallen in the ray of policy focus, not to mention the increasing
population density of Monrovia relative to its overstressed social services and
infrastructure.
The Consequences of the “Overcrowding” of
Monrovia
There
are myriad consequences associated with the “overcrowding” of Monrovia. However
this article shall focus on some economic, socio-political, health and
environmental consequences of the expanding population of Monrovia relative to
its size and available economic resources and social infrastructure.
According
to Jhingan(2005), the main economic
problems of urbanization are the lack of basic services in cities. This is also
true for Monrovia where some of the economic consequences of its population are listed below:
(i)
Low per capita availability of
essential commodities
(ii)
Urban unemployment
(iii)
Increase in aggregate demand
(iv)
Low Agricultural Productivity
With
the high population density in Monrovia, the per capita net availability of
essential commodities such as rice will be low. Unless this is matched by the
increase in the importation of needed goods, for the short-run, the growing
shortages of essential goods due to high population density could result into
tensions. The ramifications can only be fathomed like in the case of the Riot
for Rice and Rights in 1979.
Figure
1: Population Density-Economic Growth Circle
As
earlier stated, the increase in the population of Monrovia comprising of mainly
young adults who lack professional skills has led also to the increase in the
unemployment rate of the formal sector. Many have taken recourse to business as
the government and the few private agencies or corporations cannot absorb them.
Urban unemployment has also served as a determining factor in the development
of the large informal sector in Monrovia.
High
population density in Monrovia also contributes to an increase in its aggregate
demand and consequently could promote economic growth in the long-run. This
tends to improve businesses both on the larger and smaller scales, and could
serve as a cushion for the burden of urban unemployment, when most young adults
who lack the education to acquire white-collar jobs could resort to small scale
businesses.
Migratory
movements of rural dwellers to Monrovia have reduced the level of manpower in
the agricultural sector since farming in Liberia is mainly labor intensive. In
the short term, this may cause scarcity and, thus, the increase in the prices
of agricultural products. But given the lack of good roads and transportation
facilities in most parts of rural Liberia, the resultant net return from high
prices of farming products have been reduced. The sad consequence then is that
farmers are forced to only produce what they can eat, hence are compelled reduce
their production.
Apart
from the economic effects of the high population density of Monrovia, there are
also socio-political impacts of this demographic phenomenon:
Political problems
All these interlocking problems stated
above are recipes for political tension in the Monrovia and by extension the
entire country. Restive youths who are frustrated about the entire economic
system would usually ventilate their frustration on the seating government
irrespective of the political party or the individual in power. Also since
Monrovia is the home of about one-third of the country’s population who are likely
to be unemployed, most of the heated political activities in the country would
emanate from there. Politicians who seek to win the general election must
endeavor to win the hearts and minds of the Monrovia voting populace. This
frequently seems to be an uphill task for an incumbent regime as it is usually
faced with an already infuriated voting populace, due to the conditions
highlighted above.
Burden on public utility
Rapid increase in the number of
persons dwelling in Monrovia has put pressure on social infrastructure such as schools,
housing, health care, water supply, sanitation, power as well as road and
transportation. For example, the problem of transportation has turned so
stressful to the extent that commuters usually wait hours on the roadside in
order to secure a vehicle to transport them to very short distances within
Monrovia. Hence traffic jam will continue to increase as the volume of cars
increases. Apart from traffic jam, the long queues on Johnson and McDonald
Streets as well as the large number of people who stand waiting for vehicles,
especially on the suburbs of the capital, will continue to increase as people
increase in their numbers.
Also the growing population of
Monrovia would affect the housing industry positively, but would have a
negative impact on the population in terms of the short-run high cost of
housing in Monrovia. There has been an increase in the demand for houses in
Monrovia due to increase in population and the destruction of infrastructure
during the course of the war; thereby increasing the price of housing in Liberia.
However it is expected that in the short-run there will be a boom in the
housing industry which will be followed by a long-run decrease in the demand
for houses. This fall in the demand for houses would eventuate due to large
scale construction of houses already obtaining in Monrovia. Since 51 percent of
the households in urban Montserrado are living in their own houses (LISGIS, 2009), it is expected that as the
country stabilizes, there will be an increase in this proportion of house
owners in urban Montserrado.
Apart from housing, the costs of health
care and education are likely to take an upward trend in Monrovia, especially
for children under the age of 15. Like Liberia, Monrovia has a youthful
population with about two in five (39 percent) persons under the age of 15 and
one in two (51 percent) under the age of 20.
Crime and Drug addiction
With the need for a smaller and
efficient public sector and the inadequacy of labor intensive industries to
absorb the huge semi-skilled, youthful manpower of the city, some youths have
resorted to petty thievery, armed robbery and drug addiction. Though there are other underlying reasons
behind the increasing rate of criminality in Monrovia: the extent of
joblessness fuel by the high population density, coupled with high levels of
trauma among youths from years of war experiences, and reinforced by the
upsurge of drug addiction have all contributed meaningfully to the high crime
rate.
Development of a large Suburbia
Associated with the increase in
the population of Monrovia is the development of an ever-expanding suburban
area. This has the tendency to transform the capital into a megalopolis. Like
Lagos, Ibadan and Nairobi, most large cities in Africa have developed out of an
originally smaller landmass that subsequently changed into an ever-elastic
urban sprawl.
An increase in the size of the
capital would have several impacts. It would tend to place into question the
definition of an urban area as accepted by the laws of Liberia. It would also
lead to the redefinition of the boundaries of Monrovia and consequently the
expansion of the authority of the Monrovia City Council. This would also mean
the expansion of its personnel and budget. Moreover, maintaining law and order
in Monrovia would mean increasing the number of manpower and logistics within
the police force. In short, there would be budgetary as well as human resource
implications when the capital city expands well beyond its present size.
Unavailability of Land and Land crisis
As the number people increase in
Monrovia and its environs, the more land would be scarce and costly. The price
of a plot of land will continue to increase as people increase in Monrovia, the
closer the plot of land to the city center the more expensive it will be and
vice versa. This would lead to the expansion of the capital. But one situation
that has propped up out of this rising cost of land is the increase in the sale
of land without proper title or the double selling of a single plot of land by
unscrupulous “landowners”. As a result, the number of land related cases have
increase at the civil courts, and unless speedy reforms are made in terms of
laws on the sale and ownership of land, more land crises would be witnessed in
the years to come.
The overcrowding of urban centers
is likely to cause the increase in the number of slums and shanty towns. One
overriding characteristic of these slums is the lack of proper sewage system.
The absence or inadequacy of toilet facilities and the overall lack of proper
hygienic conditions in these “urban jungles” lead to the increase in
communicable diseases such as cholera, which could result into the loss of
lives. The number of persons per toilet facility and the distance from a
dwelling unit to the nearest toilet facility serve as reasons for the
occurrence of health problems in the city. Also the volume of garbage produced
tends to increase with the increasing number of persons within an area. This
poses problems for municipal authorities to properly manage the garbage system.
The presence of garbage heaps in communities, in addition to an unclean
environment, provides good breeding grounds for mosquitoes and other parasites
that serve as threats to human existence.
Furthermore the increase in the number of
persons per square mile tends to cause degradation to the environment. For
instance the beaches of Monrovia are littered with human refuse and garbage
which affect the life of amphibious animals and plants that use the beaches as
their habitat. Also the level of pollution of the Stockton Creek and Mesurado
River has risen over the years due to the discarding of garbage and human
refuse into water. These waterways are used by most people who live along its
banks as toilet facilities. All these have adverse effects on plant and animal
life within the waters around the capital and people who consume them.
Direct
policies aimed at rendering shifts in the direction of population flow may not
be easily workable. Such policies like mass eviction and the erection of
physical barriers to people’s movement may boomerang into municipal upheavals.
A standing government, having its political agenda to fulfill may in fact be
reluctant to carry out draconian policies which would turn its people against
the status quo. Hence indirect policies that are aimed at effecting changes in
population variables through other factors may be expedient.
The population density-economic
growth circle (as illustrated in Figure 2) turns to gyrate continuously unless
there is a break in this chain. The question then is how this chain can be
broken, while maintaining sustained economic growth in Monrovia. Ordinarily
economic growth, the presence of social amenities, good infrastructure and schools
are all important condiments in increasing the pull factor on the city. Hence
the first step is to improve the lot of rural dwellers by increasing social
amenities in the form of recreational centers, communication, academic
institutions in rural areas.
In terms of education,
well-staffed tertiary institutions built in leeward places could assist in the
short term in preventing people from migrating to the capital. But in the long
run young graduates from the hinterland would eventually move to the capital to
seek well-paying jobs and the better way of life. Thus government and her
non-governmental partners could assist in creating sustainable employment in
rural towns for rural youths. Also higher incentives and salaries could be paid
to those who opt to work in areas outside of Monrovia. The more remote the
location, the higher should be the incentives and salaries paid.
Furthermore emphasis should be
placed on increasing agricultural productivity in rural areas through the use
of labor intensive methods. A two prong approach should be adopted where the
private sector should be encouraged to increase her role in the agrarian
sector. This could provide jobs for some poor rural dwellers. Government could
play a salient role in first training rural farmers about modern farming
techniques and also revamping the various district agricultural cooperatives.
However it is important to stress that these cooperatives must be
well-monitored through periodic audits so as to prevent the corruption that was
characteristic of most farming cooperatives in the 1980s. Additionally the
Liberian Produce Marketing Corporation (LPMC) should endeavor to regulate the
prices of agricultural commodities as well as provide needed farming implements
to farmers for affordable prices. But district authorities could work with
their people in producing crops that they have the comparative advantage to
produce. Since rice is a political commodity in Liberia, government could play
a more regulatory role in controlling the price of rice so as to maintain a
balance between meeting people’s demand as well as encouraging the various
commercial and subsistence rice farmers engaged in rice production within the
country.
Nevertheless agricultural
productivity would be stifled if good
farm-to-market roads are either absent or in want of repair. Therefore
government could increase its emphasis on constructing more farm-to-market
roads in the rural Liberia (thanks to the present increment in the budgetary
allocation of the Ministry of Public Works in the 2010/2011 budget). This would
assist in allowing farmers to have access to markets where they can sell their
product at better prices.
Furthermore conditions in other
urban centers should be improved. Effort should be placed on lifting other cities
in Liberia, such as Kakata, Buchanan, Gbarnga etc. to the standard of Monrovia.
Since it is assumed here that inter-urban movement has also contributed to the
overcrowding of Monrovia, it would be appropriate for governmental and
non-governmental partners to focus on other cities in their development
priorities.
In order to prevent day time
congestion, government agencies should be dispersed around Monrovia and its
suburb. Also effort should be made at relocating the Central Business District
(CBD) located on Cape Mesurado and its outlying vicinities. This could be done
by making it compulsory for certain type of commodities to be sold outside the
city center. If these are put into place the direction and flow of traffic
would reduce towards central Monrovia. Also roads should be expanded beyond
their present size within the capital so as to accommodate the growing volume
of cars.
Apart from those exogenous
factors mentioned above, population growth in urban areas should be controlled
and reduced. Among the urban poor, it would be realized that high fertility may
be prevalent. With the falling death rate in Monrovia due to better presence of
medical facilities, and a high birth rate, the resultant rate of natural
increase would be high, thus leading to a higher population growth rate within
the city. Therefore, a robust family planning program aimed at reducing the
present population growth rate within the capital should be undertaken.
Priority should be placed on areas and population subgroups displaying the
highest levels of fertility within Monrovia.
But changes in the size and
distribution of human populations cannot occur dramatically. In fact in the
face of these suggested reforms, the population of Monrovia would continue to
increase. But since about 53 percent of the country’s population still lives in
rural areas while about 19 percent lives in other urban areas, it is important
that population movements be restrained from taking the direction of Monrovia.
If this were to be achievable, other inherent factors increasing the population
density of Monrovia could be handled.
Bibliography
Jhingan, M. (2005). Demography,2nd
Edition. Delhi: Nisha Enterprises.
Liberia National
Population Council. (2005). Liberia National Population CoNational Policy on
Population for Social and Economic Development (Revised Edition). Monrovia.
LISGIS & Macro
International. (2008). 2007 Liberian Demographic and Health Survey.
Monrovia: Liberia Institute of Statistics and Geo-Information Services.
LISGIS. (2009). 2008 National Population and Housing Census Final
Results. Monrovia: LISGIS.
