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If people are starving in africa why do they have more children?

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They tend to have many children because the infant mortality is so high. As so many of their children will die they have a lot. Children are also needed to help work on farms (for example). The lack of contreception is also a problem of course.

but the more children they have the harder it is going to be that any survive..if they are desperate for food etc. If they just had one or two then all the family resources could be focused on bringing these up.

Also it would be a lot easier for countries to help them if they had a lower population ..

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 21

Jordenfruitbat

Lack of contraception/rapes/hoping a child will live compared to the ones who have possibly died or are sick and want children to look after them as they grow old and uneducation about sex.

Reply 22

DayneD89

Original post by stayfitfreek

but the more children they have the harder it is going to be that any survive..if they are desperate for food etc

The parents will become (or are hoping to become) old. They will need some children to help them survive in old age, so making sure they have enough children for some to still be alive then is important. With a lack of state pensions/ social security, children are required to look after their parents in old age.

If you look at history all developing nations (including nations like the UK untill relatively recently) have a high birth rate. Now developed nations in Europe and North America have seen much reduced birth rates as infant mortality falls.

Children can be used to help get food. Children are valuable as farm workers, important when most people live on the land. This is one reason for deliberately having children, however the lack of sex education and contreception also makes unplanned pregnancy more common.

Finaly the high amount of rape in Africa is a cause for a high number of children.

A further answer is the lack of TV. Think about it.

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 23

Limitless

Original post by Waqar Y

I've always wondered this myself, hopefully someone can give a good response

In the hope that one of them will grow up and provide a source of income for the family, there is also a lot of diseases and death rates are high and the chance of surviving is low. Contraception is not relatively available. The parents also expect to be taken care of by their children in their old age.

Reply 24

popdrops

One reason would be because children can be 'producer goods'-- they can provide a return in economic terms, e.g. helping on a farm or something.

Reply 25

Prime Minister

a lot of the time its bacause they hope their children will be able to support them later on in life, they often see it as a possible way out of poverty

Reply 26

GabGirl

They need the children to support them . They need more children because of agriculture. They expect their children not to live very long due to high risk diseases. Did this remind anybody else of the Geography pre release booklet

Reply 27

elenii

There are various factors. Lack of contraception and poor sex ed is one of the major ones. Also, most of these people are poor farmers and they have many children in hopes that at least a few of them will live past the age of, say, 12 or 13 so that they can help by working on the land and producing food.

Reply 28

Koobideh

You have to keep in mind that this is a culture that arrests goats for armed robbery because they believe people can shapeshift into animals to escape. You will not be able to make sense of anything that goes on in Africa and this applies to them insisting on having 8 children when they know they cannot even feed themselves. It's just a different culture and from an educated persons perspective living in a developed part of the world it will be hard to understand the logic behind it all.

Reply 29

username677182

Rape is probably one main reason. I saw a programme about it once, without going into nasty detail, many young girls are prostituted out, as they need the money for their families, in turn they end up pregnant with more children.

Reply 30

Ebuwa

Original post by Koobideh

Yeah one person out of 250 million people. O please, so the continent of Africa has no educated people? Not all African people have 8 children.

Reply 31

Pride

Original post by stayfitfreek

Everyone knows that in some parts of africa people are starving and have no money. What I don't understand though is why then do african familes tend to have a lot of children.. I know that not all families will have birth control but why do families take the risk when even their own basic needs (food/water, shelter) are not being met?

Lack of contraception
Culture - it's often expected that women have many children for their husbands in African countries, and many keep trying for a boy you know to keep the family name.

That's what I notice from my own experience of some African countries

Reply 32

sls

because their isn't much chance of 1 child surviving but if they have quite a few then their will be more chance that at least one will survive.

Reply 33

im so academic

Original post by I<3LAMP

Try telling that to the horny men of Africa.

People have sex, and birth control isn't readily available. I do wonder about their take on sex education though.

Then don't have sex?

I'd rather they ****ed a tree or something.

Reply 34

RastaMannn

I suppose they can't help it with having sexual urges just like ourselves, and there is the issue with poverty so they cant afford condoms or birth control pills et cetera...

Reply 35

ShadowConspiracy

According to the leftists on this forum it benefits them?

Considering you can't feed one child yet produce 6, Hmm....... I see no beneficial factor what so ever.

Money should be spent on setting up abortion clinics and air dropping condoms with instructions in every African language plus pictures.

Reply 36

NyLonEd

So that in their old age they will have many children to work and provide the family with more money.

Reply 37

username298383

can people stop generalising africa! many north african countries are not starving, not in poverty and there are even pensions in place etc.

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 38

lubus

Original post by stefyx

Poverty

In the western world you don't have 10 children because you fear your life quality will go down, and won't be able to properly support the children (emotional and financial support).

But in Africa when you already live in terrible poverty and people die from diarrhea, and you don't even have condoms, and no education, and no hope for a better life in the close future, what's there to stop you? 1,2,10,50 children you will still live the same life you always did.

I dont see how living in poverty and having to feed 10 children is better than living in poverty.

Reply 39

tealandtaup

high infant mortality rate..
hence some families choose to have more just in case some of their children don't survive till an older age...

^ thats what my geo teacher told me only though
ofcourse the main reason is still lack of birth control