The Demographic Implications of West African Family Systems

Abstract

This study discusses family systems in Western Africa and the implications for mortality and fertility decline. Nigeria is used as the principal example. The author finds that the greatest changes occurring in Africa are those in the health field. Research confirms the greater extent of use of modern facilities and pharmaceuticals. Most West African women make decisions about the health of children unless expenses are involved. The shift in the recent past to user-pay systems and structural adjustment appears to have led to the decline in use of government services. It is argued that Nigerian infant mortality remained stable and child mortality increased during the 1980s due to the introduction of fees in 1984 devaluation of the currency and the high cost of imported drugs. The author emphasizes that the important issue is that health costs changed from a minor household expenditure to a major one involving family negotiations. West African lineage is a powerful force and distinctive in that its members never leave. Concepts of matrilineality and patrilineality differ in West Africa from East and Southern Africa. In West African societies there is double descent lineage. There is a strong belief that husbands have the final say in reproductive decisions. The survival of children is a fathers responsibility. Even matrilineal societies do not exclude a fathers right to family limitation. West African marriage is a contract between two lineages. Due to widespread polygamy a mother and her children comprise one economic unit. Fosterage is widespread. Shared decision making means shared blame when something goes wrong. West African fathers bear only part of the cost of raising children. It is argued that research gaps exist about how user-pay systems affect changes in health treatment how pressures on male budgets affect family limitation and how to trace divided budgets in lineages and marriages.