Forced Displacement, Migration, and Fertility in Burundi

Abstract

The civil war in Burundi (1993-2005) led to the forced displacement of a large part of the population. This study aims to explore how that displacement affected fertility behavior. Using a nationally representative, retrospective survey on birth and residential histories of 4,523 Burundian women, we examine the impact of conflictinduced displacement on fertility. These unique data enable us to distinguish between remaining-in-place, voluntary migration, and forced displacement, as well as to distinguish between periods spent "on the move" versus periods spent in residence in the new site. Adopting a semiparametric regression model, we analyze both the probability of the first pregnancy and the subsequent spacing of higher order pregnancies. We find that the risk of a first pregnancy was higher in the year in which a woman was forcibly displaced and lower in the year a woman migrated voluntarily. Residency in a new site increased the risk of pregnancy for both.

Rural–Urban Migration and Fertility Ideation in Senegal: Comparing Returned, Current, and Future Migrants to Dakar to Rural Nonmigrants

“…It has long been recognized that migration changes an individual's fertility behavior and preferences. Strong evidence has showcased how mobility is closely associated with an individual's total number of children (Kulu et al 2019;Verwimp, Osti, and Østby 2020), the use of contraception, and knowledge of contraceptive methods (Erman and Behrman 2021). Other research has also highlighted the impact of migration on behaviors and life events which may indirectly affect fertility levels such as family formation, spousal separation, and the timing or context of sexual debut (Bwambale et al 2021;Greif and Nii-Amoo Dodoo 2011;Lindstrom, Hernandez-Jabalera, and Saucedo 2021).…”

Forced Migration and the Childbearing of Women and Men: A Disruption of the Tempo and Quantum of Fertility?

“…Based on stud ies of conflict and fer til ity, it can be predicted that the tim ing of forced migra tion is more likely to have a short-term impact on (the tim ing of) births rather than a long-term impact on com pleted fer til ity (Hill 2004). However, despite a con sid er able lit er a ture on fertil ity in human i tar ian cri ses, relatively few stud ies on forced migra tion and fer til ity exist (Agadjanian 2018;Avogo and Agadjanian 2008;Lynch et al 2019;Randall 2005;Saarela and Skirbekk 2019;Verwimp et al 2020;Verwimp and Van Bavel 2005;Williams et al 2013), and none appear to have focused on the link between age at migra tion and fer til ity, or on the dif fer ences between short-and long-term effects.…”

“…Our study also has the advan tage of being able to make use of detailed microdata for an entire pop u la tion of more than a mil lion indi vid u als. By con trast, stud ies that have used sur vey data from more recent exam ples of forced migra tion are based on sev eral thou sand indi vid u als (Verwimp et al 2020;Verwimp and Van Bavel 2005). It seems rea son able to assume that the impact of forced migra tion on fer til ity will depend on the nature of the forced dis place ment (Hill 2004).…”

Determinants of fertility differentials in Burundi: evidence from the 2016-17 Burundi demographic and health survey

“…However, beside the influence of FP services, several studies indicate that women´s fertility are influenced by various socio-economic [ 2 , 16 ], demographic, cultural and biological factors [ 17 , 18 ]. Socio-political conflicts [ 19 , 20 ] and local environment factors [ 21 ] can also influence women´s fertility. Although fertility control remains a major priority for Burundi and most of its partners [ 10 , 22 , 23 ], few studies on fertility are available to guide interventions.…”