Population Explosion

I was astounded by the Column One article (March 8) that spent more than 3,000 words about famine in Africa without once mentioning the population explosion.

In the few years from 1950 to 1987, African population zoomed from 224 million to 601 million people.

These stark figures translated into human reality produce the piteous figures on TV screens of starving infants, the victims of bigots whose warped ideas about reproduction have prevented the spread of family planning and contraceptive methods.

WENDELL W. NORRIS, Del Mar