Fertility In sub-Saharan Africa Research Articles

Socioeconomic and residence-based inequalities in adolescent fertility in 39 African countries

IntroductionDespite the advancement in sexual and reproductive healthcare services and several public health measures aimed at controlling fertility rates, countries in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) still experience higher adolescent fertility rates than other low-and middle-income countries. This study examined the disparities in adolescent fertility in 39 countries in SSA, focusing on socioeconomic and residence-based dimensions.MethodsThis study involved a secondary analysis of data obtained from 39 recent Demographic and Health Surveys conducted in SSA. The measures of difference (D), ratio (R), population attributable fraction (PAF), and population attributable risk (PAR) were estimated using the Health Equity Assessment Tool (HEAT) software version 3.1 developed by the World Health Organization. The measures: D, R, PAF, and PAR were used to examine the inequalities in adolescent fertility across the socioeconomic and residence-based dimensions.ResultsOut of the 39 countries included in the study, Guinea (D=27.70), Niger (D=27.50), Nigeria (D=23.90), and Côte d’Ivoire (D=23.60) exhibited the most significant residence-based inequalities in the rate of adolescent fertility, with the higher rate observed among adolescents in rural areas. Rwanda was the sole country that showed a slight inclination towards rural inequality in terms of the rate of adolescent fertility, with a value of D = -0.80. The burden of adolescent fertility was disproportionately higher among young women with low economic status across all the countries, exacerbating wealth-based inequities. The countries with the largest absolute discrepancies were Nigeria (D=44.70), Madagascar (D=41.10), Guinea (D=41.00), and Cameroon (D=40.20). We found significant disparities in educational attainment contributing to unequal inequalities in adolescent fertility, particularly among young women who lack access to formal education. Countries such as Madagascar (D=59.50), Chad (D=55.30), Cameroon (D=54.60), and Zimbabwe (D=50.30) had the most significant absolute disparities.ConclusionThis study revealed that young women residing in rural areas, those in households with low economic status and those with limited educational opportunities experience a disproportionately high burden of adolescent fertility across the 39 countries in SSA. The current findings offer valuable information to governmental entities at all levels regarding the need to ensure the provision of equitable, accessible, and dependable sexual and reproductive health services to the populace, particularly for young women. Therefore, the various stakeholders need to enhance the effectiveness of health policies and legislation pertaining to adolescent women living in rural areas, those from economically disadvantaged households, and those with limited or no access to formal education. Such interventions could potentially reduce adolescent fertility rates and mitigate the adverse maternal and child outcomes associated with high adolescent fertility in SSA.

"My Mother Persuaded Me to Have More Children", Understanding the Influence of Social Network on Fertility Behavior in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Introduction: Despite the adoption of an antenatal demographic transition model in sub-Saharan Africa, population growth continues to soar in the region. The reasons for population growth are nebulous and should be approached from different perspectives. Inadequate attention has been paid to how social pressures shape reproductive behavior. Thus, this study examines the association between social networks and fertility behavior in sub-Saharan Africa. Methods: This study used a cross-sectional design that employed a qualitative method to conduct 28 in-depth interviews among married women. Data was collected in 2023. Thematic analyses were utilized to interpret the results. Results: Parental pressure, the desire for more children, the desire for male children, values placed on children, norms, and pronatalist culture were associated with high fertility in sub-Saharan Africa. Conclusions: Thus, there is a need for more awareness of family planning and contraceptive use in order to reduce fertility in sub-Saharan Africa.

In pursuit of the demographic dividend: the return of economic justifications for family planning in Africa

This article examines the resurgence of economic justifications for investment in family planning in Africa. In the Cold War period, population control programmes were at the forefront of the Northern development agenda for the Global South; rapid population growth was cast as the enemy of national economic advancement and modernisation. At the United Nations Conference on Population and Development in 1994, global leaders signed on to a Platform of Action that sidelined economic and environmental concerns with population growth in favour of a human rights approach to family planning. Over the past decade, key sectors of the development community have regained their enthusiasm about the economic and social benefits of reducing fertility in sub-Saharan Africa. A wide variety of multilateral organisations have joined forces with African governments in a common pursuit: lower fertility to achieve demographic transition and harness the demographic dividend. The article contends that efforts to catalyse the demographic dividend are problematic because pursuing dramatic reductions in fertility (rather than reproductive and contraceptive autonomy) violates human rights approaches to sexual and reproductive health.

Nitrogen budgets and nitrogen use efficiency as agricultural performance indicators in Lake Victoria basin

Too little nitrogen (N) is a threat to crop productivity and soil fertility in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Nitrogen budgets (NB) and nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) are critical tools for assessing N dynamics in agriculture and have received little or no attention in the region. Data were collected from smallholder farmers clustered into two categories, farmers applying and farmers not applying N fertilizers. NB were calculated using the Coupled Human and Natural Systems (CHANS) model approach for field and farm spatial scales. The results showed spatial variabilities in NB and NUE at the field level (maize and rice) across all the catchments. At the field level, N balances were negative for the two crops in all the catchments. Similarly, at the farm gate, a deficit of −78.37 kg N ha−1was observed, an indicator of soil N mining. NUE values at the field scale varied across the catchments for both crops, with values for maize grown without N ranging from 25.76 to 140.18%. Even with the application of mineral N at higher levels in rice fields compared to maize fields, NUE values ranged between 81.92 and 224.6%. Our study revealed that the Lake Victoria region suffers from inefficient N cycling due to depleted soil N pools and low synchrony between N input and N removal. Therefore, a challenge lies in exploiting more sustainable N sources for farmers in the region for sustainable farming systems. The NB and NUE provide critical information to agriculture stakeholders to develop environmental, agronomic, and economically viable N management solutions.

Economic evaluation and socioeconomic drivers influencing farmers’ perceptions on benefits of using organic inputs technologies in Upper Eastern Kenya

Declining soil fertility in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is a significant constraint towards increasing agricultural productivity. Soil fertility decline coupled with rapid population growth and low use of organic soil fertility technologies has threatened the population's economic status that lives in the rural area and relies on rain-fed agriculture. We conducted a cross-sectional household survey in the Central Highlands of Kenya (Gatanga and Meru South sub-counties) to determine farmers’ perception of the benefits of using organic resources technologies, socioeconomic drivers influencing their perceptions, and financial returns from the technologies. The selected technologies were; sole animal manure and a combination of animal manure with inorganic fertilizer. We based the benefits of using the selected soil fertility management technologies on four variables; potential to improve soil fertility, crop yields, profitability, and labor requirement. The majority of the farmers strongly agreed that using the selected technologies improved soil fertility, crop yields and were profitable. On the contrary, they agreed it was labor-intensive. Gender of the household head, household size, Tropical Livestock Unit (TLU), access to external labor, access to credit, total land cultivated, age, and years of farming experience were the socioeconomic drivers that significantly influenced farmers’ perception of the use of sole animal manure and animal manure combined with inorganic fertilizer. Results showed that animal manure had the highest financial returns of US$ 440.74 in Gatanga, while in Meru South, animal manure combined with inorganic fertilizer had the highest returns of US$ 456.25. The study highlights that the use of sole animal manure and animal manure combined with inorganic fertilizer is perceived positively by the smallholder farmers and has better financial returns than sole inorganic fertilizer. Thus, the use of selected organic resource technologies should be encouraged by creating more awareness through farmers’ training programs.

Predictors of underachieved and overachieved fertility among women with completed fertility in Ghana.

BackgroundA woman’s ability to achieve her preferred family size is critical in addressing issues of high fertility in sub-Saharan Africa. The socio-cultural context in sub-Saharan Africa presents some difficulty for the attainment of preferred fertility for many women. Few studies in sub-Saharan Africa have examined the extent to which women are unable to achieve their preferred family sizes. This study, therefore, examines the factors that are associated with the non-attainment of women’s preferred fertility by the end of their reproductive years.Data and methodsThe study analyzed pooled cross-sectional data with a sub-sample of 1,888 currently married women aged 45–49 years from five rounds of the Ghana Demographic and Health Survey, 1993 to 2014. Test of associations and multinomial logistic regression analysis were used to examine the predictors of underachieved and overachieved fertility relative to achieved fertility.ResultsThe results indicate that 44 per cent of the women recorded overachieved fertility while about 36 per cent underachieved their fertility. Partner wants more, experiencing child loss and married more than once were significantly associated with overachieved fertility. Nonetheless, increased years of a woman’s education and delaying her at first birth were negatively associated with overachieved fertility. On the other hand, underachieved fertility was significantly associated with having a partner with fewer fertility preference, being of the Islamic faith and ever use of modern contraception.ConclusionPartner’s fertility preference, child loss experience, marrying more than once and ever use of modern contraception were important predictors of a woman’s inability to achieve her fertility preference. Policies to regulate men’s fertility behaviour, delaying age at first birth, use of modern contraception, encouraging longer years of education, and reducing infant and child mortality are important strategies to achieve fertility preference in Ghana.

Smallholder Farmers’ Practices and African Indigenous Vegetables Affect Soil Microbial Biodiversity and Enzyme Activities in Lake Naivasha Basin, Kenya

Simple SummarySmallholder farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are food insecure. Underexploited African indigenous vegetables (AIVs) are consumed locally without being considered a primary source of food and income. However, AIVs hold great potential for the future challenges of food security and climate change. We investigated the effects of different cropping systems and inclusion of AIVs in farming on the soil biodiversity and fertility status of smallholder farmers in Naivasha, Kenya. Compared to mainstream farming approaches, soil microorganisms under AIV cultivations differed significantly. Tillage, fertilization, soil amendments, and traditional homemade plant protection were singled out as the most important factors. The soil alteration index based on enzyme activity offered a reliable way to determine the alteration status for the first time in SSA. These findings could be useful for farmers to integrate AIVs with correct sustainable practices for a sustainable future and may contribute to the mitigation of food insecurity.Loss of soil biodiversity and fertility in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) may put the food security of smallholder farmers in peril. Food systems in SSA are seeing the rise of African indigenous vegetables (AIVs) that are underexploited but locally consumed without being considered a primary source of food and income. Here we present a field study, a first of its kind, in which we investigated the effects of different cropping systems and inclusion of AIVs in the farming approach on bacterial and fungal biodiversity and community structures, enzymatic activity, and the alteration status of soils of the smallholder farmers in Kenya. When compared to mainstream farming approaches, the composition and biodiversity of bacteria and fungi under AIV cultivations was significantly different. Tillage had a significant impact only on the fungal communities. Fertilization and soil amendments caused shifts in microbial communities towards specialized degraders and revealed the introduction of specific microorganisms from amendments. Traditional homemade plant protection products did not cause any disturbance to either of soil bacteria or fungi. The soil alteration index based on enzyme activity successfully differentiated the alteration status for the first time in SSA. These findings could be useful for farmers to integrate AIVs with correct sustainable practices for a sustainable future.

Exposure to Armed Conflict and Fertility in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Changes in fertility patterns are hypothesized to be among the many second-order consequences of armed conflict, but expectations about the direction of such effects are theoretically ambiguous. Prior research, from a range of contexts, has also yielded inconsistent results. We contribute to this debate by using harmonized data and methods to examine the effects of exposure to conflict on preferred and observed fertility outcomes across a spatially and temporally extensive population. We use high-resolution georeferenced data from 25 sub-Saharan African countries, combining records of violent events from the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED) with data on fertility goals and outcomes from the Demographic and Health Surveys (n = 368,765 women aged 15-49 years). We estimate a series of linear and logistic regression models to assess the effects of exposure to conflict events on ideal family size and the probability of childbearing within the 12 months prior to the interview. We find that, on average, exposure to armed conflict leads to modest reductions in both respondents' preferred family size and their probability of recent childbearing. Many of these effects are heterogeneous between demographic groups and across contexts, which suggests systematic differences in women's vulnerability or preferred responses to armed conflict. Additional analyses suggest that conflict-related fertility declines may be driven by delays or reductions in marriage. These results contribute new evidence about the demographic effects of conflict and their underlying mechanisms, and broadly underline the importance of studying the second-order effects of organized violence on vulnerable populations.

HIV and Unintended Fertility in Sub-Saharan Africa: Multilevel Predictors of Mistimed and Unwanted Fertility Among HIV-Positive Women

Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has a disproportionate burden of both unintended fertility and HIV infection, but the relationship between these two reproductive health risks is not well understood. This paper investigates the association between HIV status and unintended (mistimed and unwanted) fertility and examines multilevel predictors and national variations of unintended fertility among HIV-positive women across countries in SSA. Multilevel multinomial logistic regression models are applied to Demographic and Health Surveys data collected during 2006–2014 from 25 countries of SSA. Overall findings reveal that across countries of SSA, pregnancies of HIV-positive women are, on average, less likely to be mistimed (RR = 0.90, p < 0.05) but more likely to be unwanted (RR = 1.18, p < 0.05), rather than wanted, compared to pregnancies among HIV-negative counterparts with similar characteristics. Besides, knowledge of HIV status is associated with lower unintended fertility among HIV-negative, but not HIV-positive women. At country level, higher HIV prevalence and testing coverage are associated with higher mistimed and unwanted, rather than wanted fertility. Interaction effects suggest different effect sizes between HIV-positive and HIV-negative women: pregnancies among HIV-positive women are more likely than those among HIV-negative women to be unwanted rather than wanted among those who know their HIV status, are of older age, are married, have higher parity or reside in rural areas. The results further reveal notable country effects on unintended fertility, depicting regional variations that mirror HIV prevalence—being highest in Southern Africa and lowest in Western/Central Africa.

Trends in fertility and fertility preferences in sub-Saharan Africa: the roles of education and family planning programs

A common explanation for the high fertility prevailing in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is a widespread desire for large families. This situation poses a challenge to population policy-makers in the continent. If the desired family size is high, then presumably family planning programs can only have a limited effect on fertility because these programs aim to assist women in achieving their reproductive goals. But this conclusion is based on the assumption that family planning programs do not affect the desired family size, which is questionable and is investigated here. This study examines the determinants of trends wanted and unwanted fertility in SSA using fixed-effects regressions of country-level data. The dependent variables include the total fertility rate, and its wanted and unwanted components. Explanatory variables include a family planning program score and four socioeconomic variables (women’s educational attainment, child mortality, GNI per capita, and percent urban). Data come from 103 DHS surveys in 25 countries in SSA with at least two DHS surveys between 1989 and 2019. Women’s education and family planning programs are found to be the dominant determinants of fertility decline and their effects operate by reducing both wanted and unwanted fertility. The effects of education are not surprising but the finding that family planning programs can reduce wanted fertility implies that their impact can be larger than conventional wisdom suggests. Indeed, in a few poor countries, the implementation of high-quality programs has been associated with substantial declines in wanted fertility (e.g., Ethiopia, Malawi, Rwanda). The mechanism through which this effect operates is unclear but likely involves media programs that diffuse knowledge about the benefits of smaller families.

High fertility level in Sub-Saharan Africa: implication for reaping and optimizing demographic dividend

Africa region remains the continent with the highest total fertility rate among other major regions of the world such as Europe, North America, Asia and Latin America and Oceania. This paper examines the determinants of high fertility in sub-Saharan Africa; it also determines the policy implication for reaping and optimizing demographic dividend. Secondary data sources were employed in achieving the set objectives. This paper submitted that determinants such as age at first marriage; high child mortality; low female education; gender preference; and limited birth spacing were the determinants of high fertility in Africa. For Africa to harness the demographic dividend, certain policy implications such as investment in child survival and health programmes; investment in quantity and quality of education; multi-sectoral approaches and meeting infrastructural development; enhance job market and enact and enforce laws to prevent early marriage among other policy programmes must be embraced. The paper concludes that there is high fertility in sub-Saharan Africa because of the in-built population momentum of the populace. Also, fertility must be reduced significantly if sub-Saharan Africa must reap and optimize the promising dividend. This paper, therefore, recommends that all government in Africa continent should come up with and implement effective population policy that will help to reduce high fertility level.

Ethnicity, sex composition of living children, and unrealized fertility in Nigeria

While studies in high-income countries have shown that failure to achieve fertility desires is significantly associated with unfavourable personal circumstances, there is barely any empirical evidence on the factors that influence the pattern of unrealized fertility in sub-Saharan Africa. Using data from the 2018 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey, this paper investigates the roles of ethnicity and the sex composition of living children on unrealized fertility in Nigeria. The results show that the odds of having unrealized fertility were higher among Hausa–Fulani women compared with women of other ethnic groups in Nigeria. Also, having daughters only (no sons) was associated with higher odds of unrealized fertility, after controlling for other important covariates. The findings suggest that cultural norms and pronatalism significantly influence the fertility desires of women in Nigeria, even at the end of their reproductive lifespan.

Fertility preferences among couples in Nigeria: a cross sectional study

BackgroundThe persistently high and stalled total fertility in Sub-Saharan Africa, including in Nigeria, calls for new efforts towards fertility reduction. Most efforts on fertility desire in sub-Saharan Africa have focused either on individual men or women with little focus on couples as a unit of analysis. Moreover, the influences of different types of marriages in which couples reproduce have not been adequately explored. Therefore, this study examined fertility desires among couples in Nigeria.MethodsThis paper used data from the Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) of 2018 to assess fertility desire by marriage type among couples in Nigeria. In addition, the association between fertility desire and disparity in couples’ educational attainment, place of residence, region, religion, occupation, wealth status, children ever born and contraceptive use were considered. The participants consisted of 6813 couples aged between 15–49 years. Couples’ characteristics were reported using frequency and percentage distribution tables. Descriptive and logistic regression analyses were conducted.ResultsOverall, the study revealed that 73.8% of couples were in monogamous relationships while 26.2% were in polygynous relationships. The mean ideal number of children for men and women were 7.2 and 6.1, respectively. Also, 49.3% of the couples reported husbands desired more children, 43.9% claimed wives desired more children, while 6.8% indicated equal number of desired children among wives and husbands. The results of binary logistic regression showed that couples in polygynous relationships were 4.3 times as likely to desire more children, compared to couples in monogamous relationships (OR = 4.3; 95% CI: 3.5, 5.3). Couples in polygynous relationships wanted as many as four times the number of children desired by couples in monogamous relationships. Fertility desire was significantly higher among couples who indicated the following: either was using contraceptives (OR = 2.3; 95% CI: 1.6–3.4), both were not using contraceptives (OR = 2.8; 95% CI: 1.9, 4.1), lived in North East (OR = 2.0; 95% CI: 1.5, 2.6) and North West (OR = 1.7; 95% CI: 1.3, 2.3), both were not working (OR = 1.33, 95% CI; 1.1, 1.6) and were adherents of Islam (OR = 1.8; 95% CI; 1.5, 2.4).ConclusionThese findings reflect the role of region, use of contraceptives, work status and religion in the fertility desire of couples. Implementing programmes and policies on sexual education and reproductive rights of couples and individuals may reduce high fertility desire and its adverse consequences, such as child and maternal morbidity and mortality in Nigeria.

Education elasticities of young women fertility in sub-Saharan Africa: Insights from Ethiopia, Rwanda, and Zimbabwe

ABSTRACT Although the relationship between education and fertility is well established, an understanding of young women’s fertility responses to education over time is needed to enhance a critical appraisal of education elasticities of fertility. This study thus comparatively investigates education effects on fertility in Ethiopia, Rwanda and Zimbabwe. Multivariate fixed effects logistic regression and direct decomposition methods were applied to Demographic and Health Survey data between 1999 and 2011. Results showed that declines in youth fertility in Ethiopia and Rwanda were driven by decrease in fertility rates of those with primary education but in the Zimbabwe youth fertility changes were driven by those with secondary or higher educational attainment. We conclude that education elasticities of fertility are not constant but vary by country and stage of fertility transition. Countries that are more advanced in fertility transition therefore need to place focus on enhancing post-secondary education to sustain fertility transition.

Social dimensions of fertility behavior and consumption patterns in the Anthropocene

We consider two aspects of the human enterprise that profoundly affect the global environment: population and consumption. We show that fertility and consumption behavior harbor a class of externalities that have not been much noted in the literature. Both are driven in part by attitudes and preferences that are not egoistic but socially embedded; that is, each household’s decisions are influenced by the decisions made by others. In a famous paper, Garrett Hardin [G. Hardin, Science 162, 1243–1248 (1968)] drew attention to overpopulation and concluded that the solution lay in people “abandoning the freedom to breed.” That human attitudes and practices are socially embedded suggests that it is possible for people to reduce their fertility rates and consumption demands without experiencing a loss in wellbeing. We focus on fertility in sub-Saharan Africa and consumption in the rich world and argue that bottom-up social mechanisms rather than top-down government interventions are better placed to bring about those ecologically desirable changes.

Inter-relationships among key reproductive health indicators in sub-Saharan Africa focusing on the central role of maternal literacy.

BackgroundIndicators of reproductive health (RH) are expected to be both inter-related and associated with key social determinants. As the provision of RH services is usually integrated, the effort to improve one RH component should influence the other components. However, there is a lack of evidence-based models demonstrating the inter-relationships. The purpose of this study was to examine the inter-relationships among key RH indicators and their relationship with women’s literacy in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).MethodsData were sourced from the most recent demographic and health survey conducted between 2010 and 2016 in 391 provinces of 29 SSA countries. We examined seven RH indicators along with women’s literacy. The unit of analysis was at the provincial level. Structural equation modelling was used to examine the strength of relationships among these indicators and with women’s literacy, using the total standardized effect sizes. Significance tests and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for these effects were calculated using a bias-corrected bootstrap method.ResultsRH indicators are strongly interrelated and are associated with women’s literacy. The strongest relationship is observed between women’s literacy rate and the contraception prevalence rate, with a total standardized effect size of 0.79 (95% CI 0.74–0.83). The model of inter-relationships developed in this study may guide the design, implementation and evaluation of RH policies and programmes.ConclusionsThe key challenge in reducing fertility in SSA is to reduce people fertility desire. This could mainly be addressed by enhancing integrated approaches especially between the education and health sectors.

The Effect of Antimalarial Campaigns on Child Mortality and Fertility in Sub-Saharan Africa

We examine the extent to which recent declines in child mortality and fertility in Sub-Saharan Africa can be attributed to insecticide-treated bed nets (ITNs). Exploiting the rapid increase in ITNs since the mid-2000s, we employ a difference-in-differences estimation strategy to identify the causal effect of ITNs on mortality and fertility. We show that the ITN distribution campaigns reduced all-cause child mortality, but surprisingly increased total fertility rates in the short run in spite of reduced desire for children and increased contraceptive use. We explain this paradox in two ways. First, we show evidence for an unexpected increase in fecundity and sexual activity due to the better health environment after the ITN distribution. Second, we show evidence that the effect on fertility is positive only temporarily – lasting only 1-3 years after the beginning of the ITN distribution programs – and then becomes negative. Taken together, these results suggest the ITN distribution campaigns may have caused fertility to increase unexpectedly and temporarily, or that these increases may just be a tempo effect -- changes in fertility timing which do not lead to increased completed fertility.

Factors Affecting Children Ever Born Among Reproductive Aged Women in Ethiopia; Data from Edhs 2016

There is a great concern about the levels, patterns and trends on fertility in sub-Saharan Africa. This pattern can be affected by fertility, mortality and migration. Fertility is the key determinants of population dynamics in once country. The main objective was to identify factors affecting children ever born in Ethiopia, from EDHS 2016 data. Secondary data was used from Ethiopian Demographic Health Survey (EDHS) which was collected from January 18, 2016 to June 27, 2016. The study population was women aged 15-49 years who were living in 2007 PHC selected enumeration areas in Ethiopia. Multilevel mixed effect negative binomial regression model was applied. Completing the primary level education (IRR=0.73, 95%CI=0.71-0.75), completed secondary level education (IRR=2.79 95%CI=1.69-4.60), place of residence (IRR=5.41, 95%CI=3.24-9.03), wealth index [poorer (IRR=0.71, 95%CI=0.52-0.98) and being richest (IRR=0.23, 95%CI=0.14-0.36)], gaining family planning information, using family planning service and occupation had effect on the number of children ever born. Religious types and women occupation category were also found to be significantly associated factor with the number of children ever born. Factors such as age, place of residence, religion, wealth index and educational level had significant effect on the number of children ever born in Ethiopia. The recommendation forwards the government to strengthened health service focusing on family planning service in Ethiopia. Family planning information communication and advocacy strengthened by the government. Improved family planning service awareness creation conducted on the religion aspects. The community participate in family planning health service, increase participation in education and listened information about family planning from different source. For the researcher, to do further researches to answered why these significant factor affect number of children ever born in Ethiopia.

Approaches to improve soil fertility in sub-Saharan Africa.

Soil fertility provides the foundation for nutritious food production and resilient and sustainable livelihoods. A comprehensive survey and summit meeting were conducted with the aims of understanding barriers to enhancing soil fertility in sub-Saharan Africa and providing evidence-based recommendations. The focus regions were West Africa, East Africa, the Great Lakes region, and Ethiopia. Overall recommendations were developed with four emerging themes: (1) strengthening inorganic fertilizer-based systems, (2) access to and use of quality organic inputs, (3) capacity building along the entire knowledge-transfer value chain, and (4) strengthening farming systems research and development across biophysical and socio-economic factors. The evidence-based process and methodology for prioritizing these recommendations makes these findings useful for setting out action plans for future investments and strategies. Access to inorganic fertilizer, its use, and related implementation issues were prominent considerations; nevertheless, biophysical and socio-economic barriers and solutions were identified as equally important to building soil fertility and natural resources. Soil management initiatives should focus on providing holistic solutions covering both biophysical and socio-economic aspects along the entire value chain of actors and creating an enabling environment for adoption. A broader view of soil fertility improvement using all available options including both inorganic and organic sources of nutrients and farming system approaches are highly recommended.

Farmyard manure improves phosphorus use efficiency in weathered P deficient soil

Crop production is limited by low soil fertility in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), particularly by P deficiency due to strong fixation by Fe and Al oxyhydroxides. Organic amendments are known to increase P availability in fertilizer and in such soils by different mechanisms. This study investigated the effect of adding farmyard manure (FYM) versus mineral triple super phosphate (TSP) fertilizer on P availability in different cropping systems. Field experiments were conducted in three succeeding summer seasons to compare two different upland cropping systems: a Bambara (Vigna subterranea)–rice rotation and a rice–rice system on a highly P deficient Ferralsol. Nine treatments including sole TSP at 0, 10, 20, 30 kg P ha−1 year−1, and sole FYM at 0, 10, 20, 30 kg P ha−1 year−1 (i.e. 100% FYM substitution), and combined FYM and TSP (FYM + TSP) at 20, 30 kg P ha−1 year−1 (i.e. 50% and 67% FYM substitution, respectively) were applied. Results showed that FYM treatments increased Bambara and rice grain yields compared to TSP treatment alone particularly in year three. Phosphorus uptake efficiency was higher in FYM treatments combined or not with TSP in year three of the experiment. The notable response to FYM was associated with increased agronomic efficiency resulting from additional C originating from the FYM with a low initial soil C content, (around 2%), and the effect of liming that reduced soil P sorption thereby improving P availability from FYM. Partial (67%) substitution of TSP by FYM increased grain yields of Bambara by 1.67 Mg ha−1 and of rice by 1.01 Mg ha−1 compared to TSP alone in year three at the highest P rate (30 kg P ha−1). The effect of FYM could be linked to inputs of C and nutrients from added FYM and to the indirect effect on soil physico–chemical properties including soil pH, soil moisture, soil biological activity, low P capacity sorption. This study confirms that application of FYM can help minimize rates of TSP applied in smallholder farms in SSA.