African Population Studies (UAPS) / Etude de la Population Africaine (UEPA)
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Demographic dynamics and development in Nigeria
Get PDFNigeria is the most populous country in Africa and has a very high population momentum with an annual growth rate of 3.2 per cent per annum. This momentum can be a panacea for development and economic growth if well harnessed. The focus of the article is to provide an overview of population dynamics in Nigeria with a view to situating this within a broader context of contemporary population and development discourse. The article benefited immensely from secondary data sources and desk review of evidence
Using DHS to Identify Sites for HIV Prevention Trials
Get PDFRecruiting high-risk, HIV-negative participants is challenging for HIV prevention trials. This study aimed to 1) identify and characterize subsets of high-risk women based on responses to demographic and psychosocial questions from the AIDS Indicator Survey (AIS) and 2) develop a rapid, inexpensive tool for site identification. We developed a latent class model (LCM), hypothesizing that AIS respondents could be grouped by responses to psychosocial indicators, and that these latent classes would vary by HIV status, socio-demographic, and other indicators. We tested our model on women respondents from the Tanzania 2003 AIS Survey, and replicated it in several other populations. LCM produced four classes of women who significantly varied by psychosocial indicators and HIV status. Geographic differences in HIV prevalence and class composition were observed. Our approach has the potential to provide a more systematic, inexpensive and rapid strategy to identify HIV prevention trial sites
Islam, Polygyny and Modern Contraceptive Use in Francophone sub-Saharan Africa
Get PDFFrancophone sub-Saharan African countries have among the highest fertility rates and lowest modern contraceptive prevalence rates worldwide. This analysis is intended to identify the factors driving contraceptive prevalence in this population. In addition to testing the usual correlates, we have included three other variables potentially related to lower contraceptive use in the Francophone African context: being Muslim, being in a polygynous union, and participation in crucial decision-making processes. We obtained descriptive statistics for 11 Francophone African countries with DHS data collected since 2000 for relevant variables. As expected, education, place of residence, age and number of children were significant for most countries in predicting modern contraceptive use. The final three factors yielded inconclusive results. The conventional correlates were by far the most predictive of MCPR, although women’s participation deserves further analysis. These results dispel anecdotal evidence that being Muslim and in a polygynous union explain low CPR in this region
Age at First Marriage and First Birth Interval in Ethiopia: Analysis of the Roles of Social and Demographic Factors
Get PDFThe ages at which females establish marital union and give first birth depend on and result in varying demographic features. Utilizing the Ethiopian Demographic and Health Survey Data, this study examined determinants of first birth interval. The analysis was made using Cox proportional hazard model and Kaplan Meier plot based on data collected from 10,240 ever-married women in the age group 15 to 49. The result shows that first marriage at early age, lower level of education, older marriage cohort, and residence in Amhara region significantly elongated first birth interval. It reveals that timings of marriage and first birth are partly governed by social factors and marriage practices of the society although modernization factors have roles to play. The findings indicate the importance of considering the context within which marriage and first birth take place to address reproductive health problems of women and speed-up the achievement of the targets set in the National Population Policy of Ethiopia
Re-analysis of 2011 Liberia Malaria Indicator Survey data to provide projeclevel IPTp, ITN and malaria treatment estimates: Rebuilding Basic Health Services Project
Get PDFMalaria is one of many components addressed by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) funded Rebuilding Basic Health Services (RBHS) project. According to the 2011 Liberia Malaria Indicator Survey (MIS) report, 50% of pregnant women received the recommended two doses of intermittent preventive treatment (IPTp) for malaria during their last pregnancy, though project records were showing coverage of 80%.The discrepancy led USAID to question the project, which in turn led to a reanalysis of 2011 MIS data. Despite limitations in generalizing the findings, the exercise proved to be a beneficial and cost effective evaluation method, and the analysis was expanded to include prevalence, diagnosis and prompt treatment of children with fever and of mosquito net usage by children under 5 years of age and by pregnant women. This paper describes the methods, findings and the benefits and limitations in using secondary survey data to provide project-level coverage estimate
From Design to Practice: How can large-scale household surveys better represent the complexities of the social units under investigation?
Get PDFThe way in which ‘the household’ is defined and operationalised in surveys and census data collection has long been criticised as unable to adequately capture the complexities of the social units within which people live. In a South African national survey on household wealth (HWS) a definition of the household was used to rep-resent the ways in which South African households arrange themselves financially. Here we report on a qualitative study in which 36 households originally included in the HWS were re-interviewed to collect detailed data on household financial links and dependencies. Households with more complex structures, which represent the majority of household types in South Africa, were very poorly represented, and possible reasons for this are explored. We analyse and discuss the HWS research process in the light of the findings of this study, and propose ways to improve large-scale survey design and data collection, drawing on perspectives from multiple disciplines.
“Shaping the family”: Individual’s capabilities to exercise reproductive rights seen through a qualitative survey
Get PDFWe analyze here the outcome of focus group discussions and individual interviews conducted in Mali and Ghana. The aim is to identify collective images about family norms and emergence of alternative values, and to examine people’s degree of ambivalence towards norms and their ability to conceive and realize their own family plans. Discourses show that family life plans should not be seen as pre-established. Ability to shape the family appears conjectural both as regards current resources and the position in the family trajectory. In both countries, two types of resources play a key role: schooling and influence/support from the family and network. Results highlight that the least individual freedom is to be found at the start of family life and in gender power relationships; some freedom appears in the timing of fertility; while more room for individual agency characterizes youth and individuals with more personal resources and supportive surroundings
Rates and predictors of school pregnancy among black women in the North West province, South Africa
Get PDFLearner pregnancy is one of the challenges impeding the unlocking of the potentials of women in sub-Saharan Africa. This paper estimated the prevalence of learner pregnancy and identified its predictors in the North West province of South Africa. The paper used cross-sectional data on 582 black women and the nested logistic regression model to analyse the data. The study found that 38% of the women become pregnant at school. Learner pregnancy was significantly higher for women who had sexual debut at <18 years; were in grades 8 and 9 or higher at age 14; attained <grade 8; had previously dropout of school; had mothers who attained <grade 8; and lived in rural neighbourhoods. We conclude that the prevalence of learner pregnancy is high in the North West province of South Africa, and an integrated approach involving individual, school, family and neighbourhood level strategies are needed to address the problem.
Mother to daughter transmission of Female Genital Cutting in Egypt, Burkina Faso and Senegal
Get PDFThe aim of article is to assess the determinants of mothers to daughters transmission of female genital cutting (FGC) in Senegal, Burkina Faso and Egypt. Using the most recent DHS surveys the study confirms that the main dimension related to daughters’ circumcision is mother’s personal experience as circumcised mothers more likely to perpetrate the practice on daughters. Policies aim at changing this social norm could therefore generate a virtuous circle: for each child who is not circumcised, a risk-free third-generation is projected. Factors related to women’s empowerment as better education, higher autonomy and wealth of the family as well social environment against FGC also discourage the continuation of the practice and protect daughters from the risk to be circumcised in each country analyzed.
Functionings and Capabilities as Tools for Explaining Differences in Self- Assessed Health: The Case of Women’s Health in Accra, Ghana
Get PDFWe apply the Capability Approach on the data from a survey of women’s health in Accra to illustrate how such a framework can capture health differentials. We identified endowment groups by based on the wealth of the households and the socio-economic status of the neighbourhood of residence and analysed their association with the functionings, measured by summary indicators of physical and mental health. Regression analysis reveals that socio-cultural and household factors do not have a significant association with health status. In turn, education appears to have the predicted association with both physical and mental health. Unemployed women suffer poorer health even when compared with women in informal jobs. Being childless is associated with better health, remembering that this is now a low fertility population. The two dimensions of health measured here – physical and mental – do have different determinants. The socio-economic status of the neighbourhood affects physical health while family wealth affects mental health more strongly