Forty years of fertility changes in the Sahel

Abstract

BACKGROUND Despite much discussion on the fertility changes in sub-Saharan Africa, the countries of the Sahel have received only limited attention. Their comparatively high and stable fertility levels contributed them being labeled as an exception in sub-Saharan Africa. OBJECTIVE This study investigates whether countries of the Sahel are an exception in the crosscontinental trend of increasing birth intervals since the 1970s in sub-Saharan Africa. METHODS Using birth history data, the levels and trends in parity progression ratios and birth intervals are reconstructed for four decades in four countries of the Sahel (Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, and Niger). RESULTS In all four countries, parity progression ratios have changed little, but births have been occurring later and the age at which an average woman is bearing her seventh child has increased. CONCLUSIONS While the lengthening of birth intervals has been associated with lower fertility in many analyses, this study shows that a similar process is found in countries with high and stable total fertility rates. CONTRIBUTION This study contributes to revise some commonly accepted views on the fertility dynamics in the Sahel.

The Untold Story of 50 Years of Adolescent Fertility in West Africa: A Cohort Perspective on the Quantum, Timing, and Spacing of Adolescent Childbearing

“…Finally, in contrast to prior research on lengthening birth intervals in sub‐Saharan Africa (Casterline and Odden 2016; Spoorenberg 2019; Towriss and Timæus 2018), our findings indicate that among women who start childbearing in adolescence, many have additional births before turning 20 and experience exceptionally short intervals between births. Progression to higher adolescent parities is nearly universal for those who start childbearing at 14 years and younger and common among those who start between the ages of 15 and 17 years.…”

“…1992; Casterline and Agyei‐Mensah 2017; Timæus and Moultrie 2008). Paradoxically, birth intervals in West Africa are long when compared to those in Asia and Latin America at similar stages of fertility decline, and the intervals have even lengthened over time (Casterline and Odden 2016; Spoorenberg 2019; Towriss and Timæus 2018). Indeed, modernization's influence on traditions of lengthy postpartum abstinence have not translated into shorter birth intervals (Benefo 1995; Derose 2002).…”

The emergence of birth limitation as a new stage in the fertility transition in sub-Saharan Africa

“…Longer births intervals also contribute to reducing the incidence of birth complications at lower parities, as well as to reducing secondary sterility, sub-fecundity, or miscarriage at older ages. These factors contribute to increase progression to higher parities (Spoorenberg 2019).…”

“…In this paper we compute the synthetic parity progression ratios (SPPRs) to the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth birth based on parity-and durationspecific fertility rates (Hinde 1998;Pullum 2004). SPPRs have been applied in various countries 4 to describe the changes in fertility and to assess the quality of survey data, but rarely in the case of sub-Saharan Africa (Spoorenberg and Issaka 2018;Spoorenberg 2019).…”

Heterogeneous effects of socio-economic and cultural factors on fertility differentials in Burundi and Morocco during their fertility transition periods: a retrospective, cross-sectional and comparative study

“…Fertility transition is characterized by enormous disparities between regions and within countries. While rapid fertility declines were observed in Asia, Latin America, Europe and Northern Africa, sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries are experiencing late and very slow fertility transitions [ 1 , 2 ]. Morocco is one of the North African countries where fertility decline is more remarkable in terms of speed and magnitude over the past 50 years [ 3 ].…”