Fertility Decline in Africa: A New Type of Transition?

Abstract

Botswana Zimbabwe and Kenya appeared in 1990 to be experiencing fertility declines of 15-25% and there is some 1991 evidence that parts of Nigeria experienced fertility declines of over 10%. These trends are in contrast to the widely held belief that sub-Saharan Africa is the only region in the world not experiencing fertility transition. The nature of the African fertility transition is characterized and the reasons for resistance to fertility decline are summarized. The type of fertility transition specific to Africa is discussed and followed by a detailed account of the 1990 Ado-Ekiti Fertility Study in Ondo State in northeastern Nigeria. The study is presented in terms of the contraceptive providers the population surveyed social changes occurring in the region the use of contraception among unmarried women and the demand for fertility control. The Ado-Ekiti experience suggests that contraceptive use has increased due to a National Population Policy which has provided a plentiful supply of a variety of methods through family planning clinics and private distributors and has legitimized family planning for women as a moral right. Availability of family planning methods was not the only influence on fertility reduction. There had been unmet demand for 20 years and massive economic and social change. There arose a demand by young unmarried women for fertility control as age at marriage increased. Female education affected young unmarrieds and married women who substituted contraception for abstinence for birth spacing. Urbanization was another influence fed by economic growth. The Ado-Ekiti experience suggests that contraceptives should be readily available to all particularly young single teenage girls and women for child spacing; women must be recognized as leaders in urging and practing contraception even without their partners knowledge. Privacy in obtaining supplies must be provided. The rising demand is being fed by education and an increasingly modern economy. The unique feature of Africas transition is the uniformity among all ages; the patterns will not follow the Asian or European pattern.