Short comings of the theory to LDCS

  • The theory may not be relevant to LDCs because of the' technological advancement in food production e.g. irrigation system which increases' food' supply i.e. food shortage may' never be' experienced because technology is-never constant.
  • Food' supply' can easily be increased through international trade and foreign aid.
  • The economies of LDCs are open yet the theory assumes a closed economy where is it not possible to get any supply from other countries.
  • The amount of land available in most LDCs is not a very big problem i.e. there is plenty of idle land in LDCs.
  • In LDCs there is increasing use of scientific means of birth control which are not natural methods.
  • Population can reduce in an economy by encouraging emigration of people to other areas i.e. population pressure can be reduced by increasing the labour mobility.
  • The economies of most LDCs are no longer subsistence any more i.e. there is market production where food requirements can always be obtained through monetary transactions.
  • In LDCs, it is difficult to establish a mathematical relationship between the growth in food and population.
  • The theory of focused on the preventive checks which only controls birth 'rates. However, the population explosion in LDCs is a result of the decline in the death rate.
  • The size of the population in most LDCs does not depend so much on the amount of food supply as suggested by Malthus but rather on the other factors like cultural values where children are taken as source of wealth and prestige.
  • Malthus did not specify the time when the trap would be reached yet the signs of negative checks he prescribed are already in existence in LDCs.
  • He did not put into consideration effects of modern education system. On one side, it delays women at school reducing the number of children each woman can bear. On the other side, educated people prefer smaller families.
  • He did foresee improvement in infrastructure which has facilitated transportation of food from areas of plenty and cheap to areas of scarcity.
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