Many African women give birth in very trying circumstances, to put the matter mildly. Some of the worst maternal and child mortality rates are found in Africa. And even for those mothers and children who survive birth, life for many is sometimes a constant struggle. Now, there are many reasons given for why so many still struggle so much in Africa today. However, in this short piece, my main argument is that one of the main causes for such constant struggle is that so many mothers give birth to so many children. In short, there are too many people in Africa. The population is over one billion now! One of the ways, and by no means the only way, for us to begin to address our current situation is to cut the birth rate. This will not only make it possible for us to have few mouths to feed but it will also limit the waste on the bodies of our mothers. Now, that will be a great gift for Mother's Day!
Whenever the issue of reducing the birth rate in Africa is brought up African traditionalists, Christians, and Muslims all rise up in arms. These are very strange bed fellows but one thing that brings them together when we talk about this matter is the view that children are a gift from God or a blessing. Since children are a gift from God, it is better to keep on having them. After all, why reject a gift from God? Talk of birth control are therefore often seen as nefarious. And so men keep forcing women to have many, many children these men cannot support. Because of their inability to support their own kids, they start relying on aid from others, be it their family members or foreign aid organizations. Thus, in addition to wearing out the bodies of our women, we hand our kids over to the mercy of foreign donors, subjecting ourselves to the humiliation of perpetual dependence.
Do not misunderstand me - kids are a good thing. They are, in fact, a gift from God. But we should have just the number of children we can support. There is no good reason having five children if you are not able to support them all equally. Even more, the rate at which some of our children die at birth suggests that we are wasting children. And if we believe that children are a gift from God, then we are wasting God's gift to us. To have so many kids we cannot take care of wastes the bodies of mothers and the talents of kids. In fact, in many cases, one can make the case that it is better not to have come into being than to have done so, as one insightful South African scholar has argued in a book which I would recommend for careful reflection. It is a challenging book which, I think, would make a good contribution to the population debate in Africa. Let's cut the birth rate for the sake of our mothers and the future of our continent. Happy Mother's Day!
Whenever the issue of reducing the birth rate in Africa is brought up African traditionalists, Christians, and Muslims all rise up in arms. These are very strange bed fellows but one thing that brings them together when we talk about this matter is the view that children are a gift from God or a blessing. Since children are a gift from God, it is better to keep on having them. After all, why reject a gift from God? Talk of birth control are therefore often seen as nefarious. And so men keep forcing women to have many, many children these men cannot support. Because of their inability to support their own kids, they start relying on aid from others, be it their family members or foreign aid organizations. Thus, in addition to wearing out the bodies of our women, we hand our kids over to the mercy of foreign donors, subjecting ourselves to the humiliation of perpetual dependence.
Do not misunderstand me - kids are a good thing. They are, in fact, a gift from God. But we should have just the number of children we can support. There is no good reason having five children if you are not able to support them all equally. Even more, the rate at which some of our children die at birth suggests that we are wasting children. And if we believe that children are a gift from God, then we are wasting God's gift to us. To have so many kids we cannot take care of wastes the bodies of mothers and the talents of kids. In fact, in many cases, one can make the case that it is better not to have come into being than to have done so, as one insightful South African scholar has argued in a book which I would recommend for careful reflection. It is a challenging book which, I think, would make a good contribution to the population debate in Africa. Let's cut the birth rate for the sake of our mothers and the future of our continent. Happy Mother's Day!
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