Fertility decline in North-Central Namibia

This study examines fertility decline in North-Central Namibia in the period 1960-2000. A Scandinavian-type parish-register system, established in the beginning of 20th Century and still in use, provided register-based data for fertility analysis. Fertility decline began in 1980, was rapid in the 1980s, levelled off in the early 1990s, started again in 1994 and continued until the year 2000. Fertility declined in every age group, except among the 15-19 year olds, whose fertility increased. Cohort fertility started to decline among the 1940-44 birth cohort. During the 1980s, fertility decline was associated with increasing age at first marriage and declining marital fertility, connected to e.g. the War of Independence. During the 1990s, an increase in both the use of contraceptives and HIV-prevalence contributed to the fertility decline.AIDS/HIV, cohort fertility, contraception, fertility decline, Namibia, parish registers, period fertility, Sub-Saharan Africa

HIV/AIDS eteläisessä Afrikassa: katastrofi yhteiskuntien kaikilla tasoilla

Saharan eteläpuolinen Afrikka on näyttäytynyt viimeisten vuosikymmenten aikana monien vaarallisten tartuntatautien, kuten tappavaa verenvuotokuumetta aiheuttavan ebola-viruksen, synnyinsijana. Hiljattain edesmennyt trooppisten tautien professori Robert Desowitz luonnehti malarian, tuberkuloosin, keuhkonkuumeen, ripulin ja sukupuolitautien vaivaamaa Afrikkaa vielä ”suhteellisen” terveeksi maanosaksi ennen HI-viruksen räjähdysmäistä leviämistä. Desowitzin vertaus konkretisoi erinomaisesti HIV/AIDS:in vaikutuksen Afrikan jo muutenkin huonoon kansanterveydelliseen tilaan. Epidemia ei kosketa pelkästään terveysviranomaisia vaan koettelee yhteiskuntien kaikkia rakenteita

Kolonialistisen alkoholipolitiikan perintö Namibialle

Summary : The heritage of colonial alcohol policy in Namibia

The Causes of Changes in Fertility in Northern Namibia: Ovamboland,1927–2010, and Kavango Region,1935–1979

The main aim of this study was to analyse fertility change in Ovamboland (North-Central Namibia) (1927–2010) and the Kavango region (North-East Namibia) (1935–1979) in Northern Namibia. According to the results, the fertility change was quite similar in both areas: fertility declined during the 1950s compared to the preceding period, 1935–1949. We can assume that the main reason for this early fertility decline was changes in the number of migrant workers (out-migration), which caused changes in both the marriage age and birth intervals. In both Ovamboland and in the Kavango region, fertility increased from the late 1950s into the early 1960s and the fertility transition started at the end of the 1970s. In both areas, the increase in fertility during thelate 1950s and early 1960s was probably due to the improved health situation. Fertility transition started at the end of the 1970s, but mortality had already started to decline before that. The main causes of this declining fertility at the end of the 1970s and during the 1980s were improved access to modern methods of contraception and probably also the increased level of education. As a result of the HIV epidemic, mortality increased in Ovamboland at the end of the 1990s and early 2000s. The declining fertility in the same period was probably linked to this increased mortality due to AIDS, while the increased fertility after 2008 is, in turn, probably linked to management of the HIV epidemic

HIV and Fertility Decline in North-Central Namibia 1980-2004

The aim of this study was to estimate the development of fertility and the impact of HIV on this development in North-Central Namibia from 1980 to 2004. The main sources of data consisted of parish registers for eight Evangelical Lutheran congregations, the 1992 and 2000 Namibia Demographic and Health Surveys and the 1991 and 2001 population censuses. Developments in fertility were studied using the total fertility rate (TFR), age-speci? c fertility rates (ASFR), and standardized fertility distributions. The results show that fertility declined from 5.0 in 1980-89 to 4.1 in 1990-99 and to 3.5 in 2000-04. Among women in the 25-29 age group and older, fertility declined, while fertility among adolescents increased. Both age at ? rst marriage and premarital fertility increased during the study period. During the 1990s, HIV infection explained 25-29% of the decline in total fertility. If mortality continues to increase as a result of the HIV epidemic while fertility continues to decline, both because of HIV infection and for other societal reasons, the implications for future population growth rates and the countrys demographic structure are pronounced

1700-luvun orjakauppaa ja kulttuurien välistä vuorovaikutusta

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