Jeffrey Sachs advocates three-child policy to stem Nigeria's population growth
, the American economist famous for such books as The End of Poverty, currently serves as special adviser to United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon. this week, and . Nigeria鈥檚 population currently stands at around 160 million, and some estimates project that Nigeria could have over 700 million people by 2100, placing it third in population behind China and India. Sachs has a solution in mind:
鈥淚 am really scared about population explosion in Nigeria. It is not healthy. Nigeria should work towards attaining a maximum of three children per family,鈥� Sachs told AFP on the margins of a presidential interactive meeting with key members of the business community.
He told the meeting earlier that an increased annual economic growth rate from the current seven percent, encouragement of integrated development in economy, agriculture, urban and rural sectors, provision of a good health system, education, power, railway, could see the country become one of the most important economies in the 21st century.
The quotes a Nigerian family planning expert who suggests that the three child proposal is not feasible:
Isaac Ogo pointed to the tradition of polygamy and the belief that the children were seen as a 鈥済ift from God鈥� in a male-dominated society.
[...]
Mr Ogo, from the Planned Parenthood Federation of Nigeria, agrees with the goal but says it will be hard to change the views of many Nigerians.
He says Nigeria is a 鈥渉igh birth, high death鈥� society where many people think: 鈥淚 need to have as much children as I want, as I don鈥檛 know which will survive.鈥�
What do you think? Should the Nigerian government follow Sachs鈥� proposal? Would it work?
[Update]:
responds at her blog:
This is a classic case of looking at the symptom of the problem, not the problem itself. Why is fertility so high in Nigeria? Because there is no access to contraceptives, because women鈥檚 healthcare is practically non-existent, because women often have no choice about when and whether to have sex, and because child mortality is so high that it鈥檚 not uncommon for kids to die before they ever reach the age of five. Focus on the healthcare and the structural issues 鈥� and start providing a lot more free contraceptives and a lot of public health education 鈥� and the population issue just might resolve itself.
鈥� Alex Thurston is a PhD student studying Islam in Africa at Northwestern University and blogs at .
