The Proximate Determinants of Fertility in Sub-Saharan Africa

Rapid population growth has played an important role in producing the poor economic conditions that exist today in sub - Saharan Africa. However, in the past, few governments have expressed concern about demographic developments such as this. This is now changing and effective policies are being sought to reduce excessive fertility in order to effect a decline in the rate of population growth. The policy design and implementation of such policies would benefit from an understanding of the socioeconomic, cultural, biological and environmental factors that determine fertility. This paper seeks to provide such an understanding by assessing the proximate determinants of fertility. It is concluded that a rapid decline in fertility is unlikely to occur in the near future, partly because desired family size is very high and partly because upward pressure on fertility levels will result from the erosion of traditional childspacing practices of postpartum abstinence and prolonged breastfeeding, or from decline in levels of pathological sterility in response to public health measures.