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The Challenges of Accelerating the Fertility Transition in Western Africa

John May, George Mason University
Aristide Romaric ARB Bado, Institut de Recherche en Sciences de la Santé (IRSS)/Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique et Technologique (CNRST)
Jean-Pierre Guengant, Institute of Research for Development

Although the fertility transition has started in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), its pace, particularly in Western Africa, remains very slow. The demand for large families remains high and levels of contraceptive use are increasing very slowly. Accelerating the fertility decrease appears to be crucial to enable countries to capture a demographic dividend and reach the status of emerging market economies. African policymakers do not agree on the strategies needed to trigger a faster fertility decline. Three school of thoughts have emerged: promoting socioeconomic development; advocating for universal education, especially for girls; and strengthening family planning programs. None of these approaches alone would achieve the acceleration of the fertility decline. A blend of these approaches will be necessary, along with better integrated policies. The various policy levers will need to be redesigned and refined. In particular, family planning programs will not only need to focus on birth spacing but also on managing family size. The paper is based on an extensive analysis of Western African survey data and policy documents, in particular those of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger. It offers also a long-term historical perspective as well as comparisons with the other less developed regions of the world.

Keywords: Fertility and childbirth, Family planning and contraception, Policy, Politics and demography

See extended abstract.

  Presented in Session 114. Population Policies and the Demographic Transition