Fertility and Development Issues in Africa: A Critical Review.

Abstract

This article is based on an extensive library research.It is a critical discourse on selected issues regarding effects of fertility on socio-economic development at the individual,household and societal levels.The central hypothesis is that,population well being pivots on fertility levels and management.This is supported by discussion on a wide reange of development issues namely:resource allocation and utilisation;fertility transition and gender relations;male and female infertility;fertility control and family planning services;fertility and women's participation in the labour market. It is evident that effects of fertility on sustainable development process vary on a spatio-temporal basis depending on societal culture.The major recommendation is that African governmentsneed to emphasize continuous fertility research in order to improve on accuracy and reliability of such data for policy formulation and identification of appropriate intervening strategies.