DEVELOPMENT-KENYA: Rapid Population Growth Threatens Development

By Susan Anyangu-Amu
NAIROBI, Mar 15 (IPS) Margaret Atieno, a 38-year-old mother of six, says
she wanted to avoid her last pregnancy. But consistent stock-outs of
contraceptive devices at her health care centre in rural Siaya, western
Kenya, gave her no choice but to fall pregnant once again, albeit the fact
that she did not want another child.

"My husband, who is polygamous and has two other wives, does not want
any of his spouses using contraceptives. So a community health worker told
me that if I had the intra-uterine contraceptive device (IUCD) inserted,
my husband would never suspect anything. But when I visited the health
centre on three occasions, I was told IUCDs were out of stock," said
Atieno.

On her fourth visit, IUCDs were finally in stock, there were no gloves
– as a result, health workers could not insert the device. Atieno
conceived before her next visit to the health centre.

Atieno says she did not want more children because her husband, who is a
cobbler, already struggles to provide for the 13 children he has with his
three wives. Living in a traditional, rural community, she is not privy to
how much money her husband earns, and although they hardly manage to make
ends meet, Atieno and the other wives are not allowed to work to
contribute to the household income.

"My two eldest children, who are aged 17 and 15 years, would have
been in secondary school, but they had to drop out due to lack of funds.
It is a daily struggle finding money to feed and clothe my children, let
alone send them to school," she complained.

Social experts have recognized that lack of family planning is one of the
key reasons for an increase in poverty throughout Kenya. A November 2009
report by United States Agency International Development (USAID) warns
that Kenya will not be able to foster national development at the current
rate of population growth.

If the country wants to achieve universal primary education, food
security, primary healthcare for all and reduction in maternal and infant
deaths, couples have to have smaller families, USAID researchers noted.

The country’s government has also taken notice of the tight link
between poverty and population growth. Dr Boniface K’Oyugi, chief
executive officer of the National Coordinating Agency for Population and
Development (NCAPD), cautioned that Kenya’s rapid population growth
of three percent per year, needed to be reduced by at least a third.

"In developed countries, people are having one or two children, but
here, one woman is having five children and more. If we want to be as
developed as other countries, we urgently need to reduce our population
growth," K’Oyugi said at a meeting at Nairobi’s Hilton
hotel in February.

He called for improved health care provision that includes family planning
services, to help couples to better manage their reproductive health and
pregnancies.

"The decision of the number of children is a personal one. But
smaller families will lead to benefits at the individual, household and
national levels," he explained.

K’Oyugi believes the Kenyan government can learn from Asian
countries, such as Thailand, Malaysia, South Korea, Taiwan and Singapore,
which managed to strengthen their economies by actively reducing
population growth rates.

It is, however, important to note that population growth is only one of
numerous factors hampering Kenya’s development. Through the national
poverty reduction strategy 2003-2007, government made clear that good
governance, primary education, gender equality and HIV prevention, as well
as high levels of corruption are other major stumbling blocks to economic
growth.

Still, the size of a country’s population dictates how much budget
is available for services per capita.

According to the Central Bureau of Statistics, Kenya had 38 million people
in 2008 – an increase of a third since 1999. USAID projections warn
that if this growth rate persists, the number of Kenyans will increase to
82 million by 2040.

"More people means more pressure on the environment, as demands for
food, land, clean water and energy resources escalate. With reduced
resources, there is a real danger of civil strife arising as people
squabble for the scarce resources," K’Oyugi warned.

An increase in the number of people will also boost rural-urban migration,
according to USAID. This will increase the pressure on urban facilities,
in turn creating slums and poverty. Already, Kenya’s informal
settlements are characterized by over-crowding, inadequate shelter, lack
of clean drinking water and adequate sanitation, insecurity, exploitation
and abuse.

The NCAPD is now pushing for family planning to take a central role in the
government’s policy agenda to reduce poverty and transform the
country into a middle-level income country with a high quality of life and
secure environment, as the country’s Vision 2030 policy envisions.

"The aim is to rejuvenate the family planning campaign to the level
where it was in the 1980s, during which time the fertility rate dropped
from 6.7 children per woman in 1989 to 5.4 in 1993 and 4.7 in 1998,"
said NCAPD media liaison officer David Kinyua.

He promised that, in the next financial year starting in June, increased
budgets will be allocated for family planning, but was unable to explain
how much additional money will be spent and where.