Fertility beyond the frontier: indigenous women, fertility, and reproductive practices in the Ecuadorian Amazon

Abstract

Recent research suggests that after decades of population decline, indigenous populations of the lowland tropics of Latin America are now experiencing rapid growth. At the same time, conservationists have pronounced indigenous lands as a key to the future of Amazon forests. As such, conservationists should have a good understanding of indigenous demography and impacts on conservation and development. Yet, there is little depth to understanding of these demographic changes and a dearth of quantitative research on the reproductive practices of indigenous populations. This study addresses these gaps through analyses of a household survey of 648 women of reproductive age from five distinct ethnic populations in the Ecuadorian Amazon. We estimate fertility, analyze reproductive intentions and contraceptive use, and determine the unmet need for reproductive health services. The analyses confirm high fertility rates and high levels of unmet need for contraception. With regard to program and policy implications, we conclude by arguing that isolation and cultural barriers present unique challenges to meet the reproductive health needs of these populations. Innovative approaches, such as those merging population-health-environment topics, may be most relevant for meeting these challenges.

Forests, women and health: opportunities and challenges for conservation

“…Howard et al (2008) describe the positive attitudes of Senegalese refugees toward family planning in their camp in Guinea. Bremner et al (2009), Carr et al (2006 and Goicolea (2001), separately, document the unfulfilled interest of forest women in determining the number of their children in Ecuador. In developing countries, around 215 million women who want to avoid a pregnancy are still not using an effective method of contraception (Singh et al 2009).…”

Population, poverty, environment, and climate dynamics in the developing world

“…Relatively little is known about indigenous resource management institutions and their resilience in the face of population growth and poverty (Bremner and Lu, 2006). Future research may fruitfully explore relationships between land use and other natural resources among these important and rapidly changing populations (Bremner et al, 2009;Gray et al, 2008). At the household level positive correlations between high fertility, poverty, and deforestation are often assumed, but the relationships have not been so clear-cut (de Sherbinin et al, 2007).…”

Delayed Fertility Transition Among Indigenous Women In the Ecuadorian Amazon

“…10 Within the Northeastern Ecuadorian Amazon, the area for this study, the TFR for all indigenous populations combined was 7.9 in 2001, although it varied by ethnic group. 11,12 According to a study that used a series of statistical methods to detect intraethnic fertility differences among the Tsimane indigenous to Bolivia, levels of acculturation (as proxied by distance to urban areas) were tied to lower ideal family sizes. 13 …”