– Determinants of Fertility Rate among Women and the Implications for Population Growth –
ABSTRACT
The paper examines the determinants of fertility in Nigeria and Ghana using the Ordinary Least square econometric model. The determinants of fertility that are subjected to empirical scrutiny include income of household, rural-urban concentration of population, age composition of women in the total population, education or literacy rate among women, and prevalence use of contraceptives among women in childbearing age.
The result shows that the use of contraceptives, income, education attainment among Ghana women and rate of urbanization are significant determinants of fertility in Ghana; while age composition, income, education attainment and rate of urbanization are determinants of fertility in Nigeria.
The paper also revealed that age composition and use of contraceptives are not associated with fertility in Ghana and Nigeria, respectively. Generally, the determinants of fertility in both countries are mixed. In Ghana, high fertility is associated with high income, while education attainment and composition of female population is associated with high fertility in Nigeria.
On the other hand, education attainment, prevalence use of contraceptives, and rate of urbanization are responsible for decline in fertility in Ghana; while rate of urbanization and income are responsible for decline in fertility in Nigeria.
Furthermore, the poor in Nigeria are more likely to have more children unlike in Ghana where affluence is associated with high fertility. On the strength of the findings, the study recommended that there is the need to increase the momentum in the sensitization of women on the use of family planning as means controlling fertility in Nigeria.
INTRODUCTION
There are more than 7 billion people on the planet earth, at the same time there is increasing decline in welfare and access to basic food. Report by Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in 2012 shows that of the 7 billion people on mother earth, about 870 million of them lacks access to food. In spite of the fact that the annual population growth rate has declined to
percent per year, world population grows at a worrisome level of by about 83 million annually. While the world population continues to grow, poverty has emerged as a serious global issue, particularly because the most rapid population growth is occurring in the world’s poorest countries and, within many countries, in the poorest states and
The role of fertility as a factor in population growth is widely recognized and over the last decade or two, world-wide fertility surveys have confirmed substantial decline of births since the demographic transition in the western world and, in recent years, many developing countries of Asia and Latin America.
At the global level, the worlds’ fertility rate stands at 2.5 percent and 4.7 percent for Africa, while Nigeria 5.7 percent (World Development Indicator, 2011). Although levels of fertility in most sub-Saharan Africa have not shown significant trends in the past few decades, substantial fertility differentials exist between countries and between regions and socioeconomic groups within countries.
This paper examines the proximate determinants of fertility that are responsible for these variations in fertility. Particular attention is given to the biological and behavioral factors, such as postpartum abstinence, prolonged breastfeeding, and pathological sterility, which are crucial determinants of fertility in sub-Saharan Africa.
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