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The changing value of children among the Kikuyu of Central Province, Kenya

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 December 2011

Neil Price
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Extract

Within demography, high fertility in sub-Saharan Africa was considered until recently to reflect a demand for children firmly rooted in indigenous social institutions, which were resistant to external forces of change. On the basis of findings from recent Demographic and Health Surveys, Caldwell et al. (1992) suggest that many of the institutional supports for high fertility in sub-Saharan Africa—such as lineage-based descent systems, polygyny, bridewealth, extended kinship structures, child fostering, and communal land tenure—are being eroded. This article considers changes in the value of children among the Kikuyu of Central Province, Kenya, and the extent to which the social institutions which have traditionally supported high fertility have persisted. Fieldwork undertaken in two ethnically homogenous communities, one rural and one peri-urban, reveals significant variation in the fertility motives and value of children in the two communities. In the rural community many of the indigenous social supports for high fertility, although modified, cohere. In the context of economic insecurity and lack of access to land (especially for women without sons), manipulation of customary kinship and marriage practices (supported by the persistence of many indigenous religious beliefs and ideologies about fertility) has become strategically important for realising fertility desires. There is, however, unmet demand for modern contraception, due largely to lack of access to and the poor quality of family planning services. In contrast, in the peri-urban community, where access to family planning services is relatively good, there has been effective legitimation of fertility regulation and the use of modern contraception is widespread. There is markedly less economic insecurity: wage labour opportunities are available, and some women have successfully challenged male control over land. Consequently, there is reduced demand for children, although a number of the indigenous cultural supports for high : fertility retain residual importance.

Résumé

Dans la démographie, la fertilité élevée en Afrique sub-saharienne a été considérée jusqu'à récemment refléter une demande d'enfants solidement ancrée dans les institutions sociales indigènes qui étaient résistantes à des forces de changements extèrieures. Sur la base de conclusions obtenues à la suite d'enquêtes récentes sur la démographie et la santé, Caldwell et co. (1992) suggère que beaucoup de soutiens institutionnels pour la fertilité élevée en Afrique sub-saharienne—tels que les systèmes de descendance basés sur le lignage, la polygamie, la dot de la mariée, les structures étendues de parenté, l'adoption des enfants, et le bail des terres communales, sont en train d'être érodées. Cet article considère les changements quant à la valeur accordée aux enfants parmi les Kikuyu de la province centrale du Kenya et le degré jusqu'auquel les institutions sociales, qui ont traditionnellement supporté la fertilité elevée, ont persisté. Une enquête de terrain menée dans deux communautés ethniques homogènes, l'une rurale et l'autre à la périphérie d'une zone urbaine, révèle une variation significante dans les motifs liés à la fertilité et à la valeur attribuée aux enfants dans les deux communautés. Dans la communauté rurale une grande partie des soutiens pour la fertilité élevée sont cohérents bien qu'ils aient étés modifiés. Dans le contexte de l'insécurité économique et du manque d'accès aux terres (surtout pour les femmes sans fils), la manipulation des pratiques coutumières liées à la parenté et au mariage (supportée par la persistence de beaucoup de croyances religieuses indigenes et d'idéologies au sujet de la fertilité) est devenue stratégiquement importante pour réaliser les désirs de fertilité. Il y a cependant une demande pour la contraception moderne qui n'est pas réalisée dû en grande partie au manque d'accès et à la mauvaise qualité des services de planning familial. Par contraste, dans la communauté à la périphérie de la ville, où l'accès aux services de planning familiaux sont relativement bons, la réglementation de la fertilité est rentrée en vigueur légitimement et l'usage de la contraception moderne s'est développé. Il y a visiblement une insécurité économique moins grande: il y a des chances de travail rémunéré et certaines femmes ont remis en question avec succès le contrôle masculin de la terre. En conséquent, il y a une demande réduite d'enfants bien qu'un nombre de soutiens culturels pour la fertilité élevée retiennent l'importance qu'il leur ait resté.

Type
The family calculus
Information
Africa , Volume 66 , Issue 3 , July 1996 , pp. 411 - 436
Copyright
Copyright © International African Institute 1996

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