Population Growth and Development Prospects for Pakistan
Since its founding Pakistan has exhibited a continuously high rate of population growth. When measured by population size it has moved from the thirteenth largest country in 1950 to the seventh largest country in 1996 (Table 1). Today Pakikan exhibits the highest rate of growth among the world's largest countries, and according to some projections will become the third most populated country in the world by the year 2050 [United Nations (1998)]. Given the country's present resources, this magnitude of population growth has serious implications for the social and economic well-being of the people of Pakistan. A staggering statistic shows that the area now constituting Pakistan which had only 16.6 million people at the turn of the century, will surpass the 150 million mark by the new millennium (less than a year away).
Proximate determinants of fertility in Pakistan.

 The total fertility rate (TFR) in Pakistan ranged between 6.0 to 5.4 and the crude birth rate between 42 to 34 in the early 1970s. An attempt was made to decompose the TFRs using the Bongaarts model and data obtained in the Pakistan Fertility Survey/PFS (1974-75), the Pakistan Contraceptive Prevalence Survey/PCPS (1984-85), the Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey/PDHS (1990-91), and the Population and Family Planning Indicators Survey/PFPI (1993). There was a decline of 4% in the crude birth rate between the PFS and the PCPS and 2.6% between PCPS and PFPI. The age specific fertility rates produced TFRs of 6.3, 6.0, 5.4, and 5.38 births per woman in the respective surveys. The PFS indicated that 98% of women were married by the time they reached the age of 35-39. The age at first marriage also showed a rising trend during this period of 19 years. Women with no education married 4 years earlier than women with secondary or higher education according to a 1984 study. Contraceptive prevalence also increased considerably during this period. 20.7% of currently married nonpregnant women used modern methods and 4.7% used traditional methods in 1993. Contraceptive prevalence increased from 5.2% according to the PFS to 25.4% according to the PFPI. Pakistani mothers breastfed their children for 16.5 months, 18.5 months, and 19.5 months according to the PFS, PCPS, and PDHS. Utilizing a model developed by Bongaarts the effects of 4 most significant proximate determinants of fertility were assessed for the period of 1974-93. These were marriage, contraceptive use, abortion, and postpartum infecundability. The fertility-inhibiting effect of lactational infecundability was the most significant in all 4 surveys, followed by the effect of proportion of women married, while contraception was the least significant determinant of TFR. Lactational infecundability reduced fertility to about 32-37%. The fertility-inhibiting effect of age at first marriage increased from 22% to 33% during this period of 19 years.

LAND DEGRADATION IN THE DEVELOPING WORLD: ISSUES AND POLICY OPTIONS FOR 2020
Land degradation takes a number of forms, including depletion of soil nutrients, salinization, agrochemical pollution, soil erosion, vegetative degradation as a result of overgrazing, and the cutting of forests for farmland. All of these types of degradation cause a decline in the productive capacity of the land, reducing potential yields. Farmers may need to use more inputs such as fertilizer or manure in order to maintain yields, or they may temporarily or permanently abandon some plots. Degradation may also induce farmers to convert land to lower-value uses. For example, farmers may plant cassava, which demands few nutrients, instead of maize, or convert cropland to grazing land.