Causes of High Population Growth
The population of Nepal is gradually increasing. Government has tried to control the population growth through different measures but due to various reasons, the population in Nepal is increasing. Some causes are given below which are responsible for rapid population growth.

1. High birth rate:
The birth rate is very high in Nepal. It is as high as 2.6 children per mother during the fertility period. This means that a mother begets almost three children during her fertility period. Such a high fertility rate increases population each and every year in the country.

2. Low death rate:
Improvement in public health facilities provided health care for the people. Thus, the death rate is falling. Falling death rate means a rising population.

3. High child mortality rate:
The child mortality rate is also high in Nepal. Therefore, it is not certain whether a child would die early. That is why the parent feels insecure and give birth to more children which lead to the high growth o population.

4. Poverty:
Most of the people are poor in Nepal. They considered the child as the source of income and want to have more children. As a result, the population of the country is increasing.

5. Religious belief:
In Nepal, there is a strong belief that each couple should have a son otherwise they would go to hell after their death. It is also believed that the birth of a son is essential to perform death rituals. To continue the clan (j+z) and for support in old age. Therefore, they go on begetting children till a son is born.

6. Lack of means of family planning:
The devices which are used to control birth rate are not available in sufficient quantity. They are not easily supplied to couples. They are not trained on how to use those devices to control the population. As a result, the population of the country is effectively increasing.

There are other causes of high population growth such as lack of education, polygamy, early marriage, migration.

Consequences of High Population Growth
The population of Nepal is rapidly increasing both in urban and rural areas. The government has invested a large amount of money to control population growth through different programs. But satisfactory achievements have not been achieved yet. The higher growth rate has created a lot different negative consequences in the economy which are as follows.

1. Shortage of food:
Agriculture is the main source of food production. It has to supply the food for the growing population in this sense; the food production should be increased along with the population growth. But agricultural production has not been increased along with the population growth. As a result, Nepal is facing food problems each and every year.

2. Unemployment:
Increase in population increases the problem of unemployment. Employment opportunities can’t be increased according to the increase in population. As a result, the unemployment rate goes on increasing day by day.

3. Decline in social facilities:
Since the population growth rate is high, social facilities like education health, drinking water, etc. can’t be increased according to the increase in population As a result, the level o availability of social facilities is being decreased and people have to face the problem of lack of such facilities.

4. Increase in deforestation:
Population growth has accelerated the process of deforestation in Nepal. More mouth means more consumption. Therefore, forests are destroyed for food, habitation, farming, etc. The process of mass destruction of the forest has resulted in a devastating landslide, flood, etc. in the country every year.

5. Growing mass poverty:
Rapid population growth has reduced the scope of employment opportunity. People are unable to make hand to mouth living from their income sources. Therefore, a large number of people are faced to survive in critical condition.

6. Fragmentation of land:
The more the population increases, the more people will start living separately. When people start living separately, the property of the family will be divided. The land is divided among the sons according to the present legal provision. Fragmentation of land will decrease the productivity of the land.

There are other consequences by high population growth like slow development, low saving and investment, problems of security and social evils, problems of sanitation and drinking water.

Remedial Measures of High Population Growth
The population growth in the country has not only become a national problem but also a family and individual problem. Though the population is a necessary factor of development uncontrolled population growth creates the problem in all sectors. Hence, it is essential to control the rapid population growth. Following measures should be adopted to check the rapid population growth:

1. Population education:
As most of the people are uneducated, they can’t learn about the importance of small family. Similarly, they don’t know about the negative effects of large family size. Population education will provide knowledge to the people about population growth and its effects in the future. As a result, population growth will be reduced.

2. Family planning:
It is an important technique to control high population growth. Various types of family planning devices should be distributed to the people and they should be motivated towards it. It would help to reduce the birth rate.

3. Social and religious reform:
Nepalese society is still guided by traditional values and religious beliefs. These factors traveled the people to accept more children in the family as a gift of God. Therefore, they need motivation through social and religious reform. The government should effort for such reforms to control the rapid population growth.

4. Increase in health facilities:
The population of a country can be controlled through an increase in health facilities. The increase in health facilities reduces the child mortality rate and maternal mortality rate. As a result, people don’t think of giving birth to more children. The expansion of health facilities reduces the birth rate automatically.

5. Late marriage:
It is also one important method which reduces the birth rate. If women have late marriage then their fertility period will be reduced so that, it helps to control the high population growth rate.

6. Control in immigration:
Most of the people emigrate in Nepal from India due to the open border which increases the population of Nepal. If we control this immigration, the population growth rate will be controlled.

There are other remedial measures such as poverty alleviation, advertisement, increase in women employment, effective population policy, etc.