Incorporating population issues in agricultural extension

The rate of population growth in Malawi is very high and has become a cause of concern for development planners. The Child Spacing Programme is supposed to promote family planning with the ultimate goal of slowing down population growth. This article argues that the success of any family planning programme in Malawi hinges on the active involvement of males, who are the key decision‐makers in families as well as the larger community. One way of getting males to appreciate the necessity for small families is to demonstrate the real and potential danger that a large family poses to its livelihood, which depends on the availability of adequate fertile land and regular rainfall. This calls for the inclusion of population education in agricultural extension.

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Associate Professor of Rural Sociology, Chancellor College, University of Malawi.