James Odongo
11 November 2009
analysis
Kampala — AT 36, he appears worn out and twice his age. Sunrise comes when he has already made several turns in the garden yet the labour force from his 18 children is not enough to produce enough food for his expanding family.
It is pathetic but Barnabas Okipi, a peasant in Soroti, symbolises the fertility rates now raising eyebrows.
Providing for his many children weighs hard on him and yet he is not willing to stop producing children. At his age, he is capable of doubling the number of children he already has.
Ugandan's current population is 31.2 million and the fertility rate s 6.7 children per woman. The population is expected to have doubled by 2037 to 88.8million.
Comparative fertility rates show that Uganda has the highest population growth rate compared to Kenya-(4.7), Tanzania-(5.7), Malawi-(6.0) and Rwanda-(6.1). Presenting the findings on international population and development-plan of action at Soroti Hotel, Seth Wabende, the administrator of the National Planning Authority, said: "The population will grow rapidly due to high fertility. However, it will grow slowly if fertility declines in the coming decades."
According to a report from the Population secretariat, rapid population growth in rural areas hinders modernisation and has led to deforestation and land fragmentation.
Wabede said there was need to ensure all couples who want to space or limit their births have access to reproductive health services and contraceptives.
Grace Ikirimat, the programme officer for the secretariat, said weak leadership on issues of population and development had affected the level of resources and political accountability for implementation of the International Conference on population and development plan of action.
Read comments. Write your own.
Copyright © 2009 New Vision. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
Large families were once the norm in the USA and Europe.
DailyKenn.com