The Fertility of Agricultural and Non-Agricultural Traditional Societies

Abstract

A comparison of demographic data from a sample of traditional, natural-fertility societies demonstrates that the mean total fertility of populations which practise intensive agriculture is significantly higher than that of foragers and horticulturalists. These findings support the association that demographers and economists have long maintained between the intensification of subsistence technology and increases in human fertility. This higher fertility probably results from changes in nutritional status, marriage patterns, and breastfeeding practices that frequently accompany subsistence intensification. A fuller explanation of these fertility differentials, however, will require the collection of further high-quality microdemographic data from a variety of traditional societies.