Determinants of Higher Fertility Rates in Igunga District, Tanzania: Does Women Empowerment Matter?

This study was conducted to investigate the relationship between women's empowerment and fertility in rural Tanzania. Data were collected from randomly selected 120 women in 4 randomly selected villages from 2 wards in Igunga District using a structured and non-structured questionnaire. Descriptive and regression analyses using Statistical Package for Social Sciences were used to determine the factors for fertility. Women's empowerment was measured by five proxies: economic decision-making, mobility, coercive control, family planning and contraceptive use, as well as family size decision-making. Fertility status was measured by age-specific fertility rates and total fertility rates. The main argument adopted by this study was that higher fertility rates might be lowered through interventions that enhance women empowerment. The results clearly indicate that women in the study area are less empowered based on the adopted indicators and that such lower levels of empowerment together with demographic and cultural factors including men's dominance are responsible for higher fertility in the study area. This study recommends that interventions addressing cultural factors and enhancement of women empowerment may lower higher fertility rates from the study area. Moreover, although this study dealt with women as the unit of data collection and analysis, it is important that such interventions should involve both men and women. This, as seen from male dominance, is important because any change that is expected will come from decisions made by men to change the current situation