Birth control is the answer (From South Wales Argus)

...or maybe arms control. So many of the countries blighted have a wealth of natural resources, but spend much of their wealth not on the people, but by factions on weapons in a bid for power. What we spend on aid pales compared to the revenue we gain through bankers and the military arms trade behind the scenes dictating the direction, and ensuring the longevity, of conflicts.

Putting that to one side... alas, I agree that the solution we currently offer - in terms of aid,medicine, better sanitation etc - is actually a cause of the problem. It is sad to think about it, but many cultures in blighted areas have the number of children they do precisely because, historically, many die at a young age. Where once one or two of 10 children survivied into adulthood, we are giving them the means to ensure that five or six children survive.

We have an innate urge to continue our bloodline, and it goes against so many things I stand for (as regards telling other people/countries how I think they should live), but maybe birth control education going hand-in-hand with medical aid is something that the big aid foundations/charitie
s could consider.

Make it mandatory, reduce the birth rate or no funds. It is what Cameron is doing here to our people so why not abroad ?

You're so right Gareth. The UK has the fourth biggest military budget in the world and it is to the UK's and the US advantage to keep these endless wars going.
It's far easier to wage war on poor countries (which are rich in natural resources that we want!), than it is to treat these countries fairly.
It is a well-known fact that once women are educated and liberated they tend to have smaller families. It has happened in the UK since the start of the 20th century. As long as people can support their children, there is no reason to them not to have three or four youngsters. It's a personal choice. But the point is rightly made that people in developing nations have large families, so that some of them will make it to adulthood.
China's "one-child" policy hasn't halted its huge rise in population, simply because the population is huge already.
India (a democracy!) had forced sterilisation (not sure if it still does) and has a similar massive population.
If we treat these countries as serious trading nations; grown-up nations and opened a dialogue instead of selling them arms, then we might see some progress.