Malumfashi Endemic Diseases Research Project, XIX

Abstract

Population studies were undertaken as part of the Endemic Diseases Research Project at Malumfashi, northern Nigeria, 1974–1978. This paper is concerned with population composition and estimates of fertility. Results are based on retrospective enumeration data on 42 493 people and on prospective registration data on a subset of 26 100 people. The age-sex structure fits the model for developing countries: 45% under 15 years of age and just 3% aged 65 years and over. The scene for high fertility is set by an early mean age of first marriage for women of 15 years. The crude birth rate was 55%‰ and the general fertility rate 221%‰, (enumeration data). Detailed fertility analyses based on enumeration data suggest consistency, particularly when the relationship between the pattern and the level of fertility is examined. The number of live births a woman could expect if she survived to the end of her reproductive period is, on average, 6·8. More births were found to occur in the wet season than the dry season. The twinning rate was one in 69.