Fertility Transition in Selected Sub-Saharan African Countries: The Role Family Planning Programs

Bob-Vincent Otieno, African Institute for Development Policy (AFIDEP)
Alfred Titus Agwanda Otieno, University of Nairobi
Anne Khasakhala, University of Nairobi

Among the neo-Malthusian adherents, it is believed that rapid population growth strain countries’ capacity and performance. Fertility have however decelerated in most of the countries in the recent past. As scholars sought for answers, others opine that studies of trends and differentials have been discussed extensively. However, others believe that considerably less attention has been paid to the fertility preference- a pathway through which various variables act on fertility. The Sub-Saharan African countries’ disparities is a cause of concern to demographers. Using Bongaarts reformulation of Easterlin and Crimmins (1985) conceptual scheme, the understanding of the current transition based on the fertility preference in general would help to provide explanations to the observed contemporary dynamics underway. This study therefore is an attempt to explain the current fertility transition through women’s fertility preference.