Biological and Behavioural Determinants of Fertility in Nigeria
Abstract
It is projected that the global population will grow from 7.7 billion in 2019 to 8.5 billion 2030, reaching 11 billion by the middle of the 21st century. This rise is a result of three processes, the key determinants of population growth: births (fertility), deaths (mortality), and movement (migration). Although women have had fewer kids in many parts of the world over the past few decades, amid numerous interventions, high fertility rates persist in sub-Saharan Africa. In these countries with lifetime fertility, up to half of the overall population growth worldwide is expected to remain well above two births per woman by 2050, although many countries will remain well above two births per woman. The primary fertility level measure is the total fertility rate (TFR), which shows the average number of children a woman can bear in her lifetime, based on current age-specific fertility rates. Data from the [1–4] were used for this study while a revised version of Bongaarts’ proximate determinants model to was used to assess the relationship between projected potential fertility (PF) and behavioural and biological factors. Findings from the study showed that postpartum infecundability remained the strongest influential factor in reducing fertility while sexual exposure and contraception have an inverse relationship with educational attainment levels in all years of the survey. However, if was found that contraception use had a more impact among women with higher education who lived in urban regions and belonged to the highest wealth quintile. The study, therefore suggested that the Government of Nigeria and developing partners need to design effective strategies to increase contraceptive use across the country,
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