Women's Empowerment and Fertility Decline among the Pare of Kilimanjaro Region, Northern Tanzania

Ulla Larsen, Harvard University
Marida Hollos, Brown University

This research explores the connection between the empowerment of women and fertility outcomes, through an ethnographic study, a community-based survey and in-depth interviews. The study tests the relationship between a fertility decline and the status of women in a rural area of Kilimanjaro Region, Tanzania. Research was conducted in two villages - Masumbeni and Kisanjuni - located in the Ugweno Division of the Pare Mountains in the Eastern part of Kilimanjaro Region. Findings show that in this population age at first birth increased and the progression from having one birth to the next child declined. This pattern was evident during the 1980s, it is stronger in the 1990s. The factors associated with this phenomenon are those related to the status of women, particularly, free partner choice, women's education and wealth of the family.