Written By: Abdulrazaq Taiwo
For Centuries, Africa has been posed with varying social, political and economic challenges which range from abject poverty, violence, social infrastructure, poor health facilities and many others which are linked to high levels of illiteracy, corrupt government et al.
As the least continent of the world, despite covering up to 20% of the earth surface area and possession of numerous natural resources, Africa population growth continue to increase at a very alarming rate. A population of over 1.3 billion people equivalent to 16.72% of the world’s population & it threatens to double over by 2050 if this pace of growth is kept;
This means by 2050, we would be more than a quarter of the world’s population. WOW!
This among others is a threat to our extremely crawling chance at development which is resulting in uneven distribution of resources among nations. This growth rate isn’t showing any sign of dwindling as far as research goes despite the low standard of living and poverty level especially in the sub- Saharan.
What then is the driving force behind the population growth in Africa.?
Studies have shown that the major key driver of population growth in Africa is High Fertility rate which is influenced by multiple factors such as cultural belief of large family size, low level of contraceptive usage and adolescent child bearing.
HIGH FERTILITY RATE: A THORN IN THE FLESH.
Fertility rate refers to the average number of children a woman gives birth to in her child bearing years. African countries have the highest birth rates in the world with approximately 7 children per woman. Although Kenya, Ethiopia, Ivory Coast, Ghana and some other 7 African countries are having success in gradually bringing down their high fertility rate, it is still at disadvantaged ratio to the rest of the 43 countries on the continent.
There are factors that contribute to the fertility rate in Africa. One of which is adolescent child bearing: This has it direct implications on the population but are mostly ignored. One of the reasons women in Africa still have so many children is that the average age they become mothers is more than four years earlier compare to the global average age of 26.
Women who are introduced to child bearing at a tender age usually ( if not always) have no power to negotiate their reproductive outcomes. Aside the aforementioned effect, early child birth leads to shorter inter-generational gaps. This means the age difference between mothers and daughters is a little above a single decade.
Low Level of Contraceptive usage is another force that drives fertility rate. One out of every four sexually active women on the continent want to stop or delay child bearing for a minimum of two years but are not using or have no access to any modern means of birth control.
Lastly, several cultural and religious oppositions contribute to the high unmet need for contraception by African women.
BIRTH CONTROL: A SILVER LINING
Birth control, also known as Contraceptive and Fertility control, is a method used to prevent pregnancy. The range of contraceptive to choose from is wide. Some methods are reversible such as IUDs, implants and vaginal rings while some are temporal like condom, diaphragm, oral pills and spermicides.
Factors such as perceived negative health reaction, fear of unknown effect, cost, spouse’s disapproval, religious and cultural beliefs have affected and continue to slow down the prevalence of birth control in this part of the world.
Some argue not having sex is also a form of birth control, but abstinence-only sex education may increase teenage pregnancies if offered without birth control education, due to non-compliance.
After the delivery of a child, a woman who is not exclusively breastfeeding may become pregnant again after as few as four to six weeks, a suitable methods of birth control can be started immediately following the birth. while others require a delay of up to six months. By lengthening the time between pregnancies, birth control can improve adult women’s delivery outcomes and the survival of their children.
In addition, Birth control increases economic growth because of fewer dependent children, more women participating in the workforce and less use of scarce resources.
As much as people want to justify these perceived health reactions and fear of unknown effects, birth control measure, if widely accepted and accessible, would serve as a long lasting solution to the problem of overpopulation in Africa.
WAYS TO ENCOURAGE FAMILY PLANNING IN AFRICA
Having explained the cause and effect of the rapid increase in population of the continent despite it’s lingering endemic challenges and, identifying a way to curb it, there is need to list our possible ways to drive the practice among the people.
- LEGISLATIVE ACTION
Not much can be achieved if family planning remain optional instead of mandatory. Strict legal steps should be put in place for child marriage and child labor.
This properly enforced will ensure that parents do not sell their children or practice child labor thus forcing them to raise lesser number of children.
- SENSITIZATION
More awareness should be created to help people know the consequences of having too many children. Government and non government institutions should carry out campaigns educating people on how population growth is one of the reasons for illiteracy, disease and malnutrition, providing information on Its negative effects to expand people’s reasoning and understanding.
- ADDRESS RELIGIOUS LEADERS:
Some communities with leading faiths care perceived to be resistant to family planning yet many religious leaders are providing increasingly open to the arguments that sexual and reproductive health for women is essential for community welfare.
However, gender discrimination is also supported (directly or indirectly) by these same set of people and is among the reasons for population growth.
People keep giving birth to kids in order to have more sons than daughters. Therefore, religious leaders should be worked with to fight against this and ensure a healthy and aware society.
- WOMEN EMPOWERMENT
While there is no doubt that birth control has sometimes been coercive as in the case of China’s one child policy and India’s force birth control programs, modern discussion has focused on the women right to choose when, whether and how many children to have as a opposed to the case in some African culture where a woman marital obligation is simply child bearing.
Women should be empowered and educated to fight against early marriage and stand for proper children spacing as well as owning their body and reproductive health.
