Fertility differentials of the rural and urban Wa-Sukuma in Mwanza region-Tanzania

Abstract

This study is based on the 1980 Mwanza Pregnancy History Survey data which was collected by Dr. C.L.Kamuzora of Department of Statistics, University of Dar-es-Salaam. The study had three objectives. The first, to examine whether the fertility of the Wa-Sukuma differs according to their demographic and socio-economic backgrounds. The second, to examine the differentials in abstinence and breastfeeding. The third, to identify the relative importance of variables related to fertility and breastfeeding. The analysis is confined to 1505 and 1123 ever married women aged 15+ in urban and rural areas respectively. The index of fertility used here is the mean number of children ever born to ever married women. Fertility differentials were examined in terms of selected demographic and socio-economic characteristics of ever married women in both rural and urban areas. The study also has built up fertility and breastfeeding "Multiple Classification Analysis (MCA)" models separately for rural and urban areas. The descriptive analysis revealed that the fertility differentials among the Wa-Sukuma in various socio-economic and demographic variables existed in both rural and urban areas; also the mean number of children ever born (fertility) of rural women is higher than their urban counterparts but this difference disappeared when women's age was controlled. The MCA showed that the marriage duration is the most important factor affecting fertility in both rural and urban areas. Within data limitations, this study shows that the practice of abstinence and breastfeeding are also important factors for some socio-economic groups.