From: wsargeant@igc.apc.org (Winslow L. Sargeant)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.african
Subject: IPS:Malawi, large families still fashio
Date: 25 Jul 92 17:07:04 GMT

/* Written 12:03 am  Jul 24, 1992 by newsdesk in cdp:ips.englibrary */
/* ---------- "MALAWI: LARGE FAMILIES STILL FASHIO" ---------- */
Copyright Inter Press Service 1992, all rights reserved.  Permission to re-
print within 7 days of original date only with permission from 'newsdesk'.

Area: Africa, west
Reference: Africa, east
Title: MALAWI: LARGE FAMILIES STILL FASHIONABLE


an inter press service feature

by godfrey karoro

blantyre, jul 21 (ips) -- traditional and religious attitudes
are working against malawi's efforts to reduce the country's
galloping population growth rate.

with an average increase of 3.6 percent per annum, the
southern african nation has one of the fastest growing
populations in sub-saharan africa, surpassed only by kenya,
uganda, tanzania and zambia.

in a speech to mark world population day in the capital city,
lilongwe, the secretary to the president and cabinet revealed
that the government is aware of the population growth rate and
that it is drafting a comprehensive population policy.

''we are very much aware that the present rate of population
growth is, in the long run, not sustainable and that the problem
is compounded by the presence of almost a million refugees'',
macdonald banda said.

''the government is presently drafting a comprehensive
population policy which will contain a wide range of innovative
and practical policies to ensure greather awareness among people
and provide services on population matters'', he added.

the cornerstones of the policy will be the provision of
greater awareness through education and distribution of birth
control services such as condoms and pills.

this, banda said, will guarantee that malawians will make
rational decisions in their own interest but that the ultimate
decision on family size remains with the individual couple.

but although many donors, including the u.n. population fund
(unfpa), the u.s. agency for international development (usaid)
and the overseas development administration (oda) are funding
and providing population-related activities, only seven per cent
of malawians use family planning methods and the fertility rate
per woman is a high 7.6.

a social worker here told ips that many malawians still want
large families.

''reasons vary from traditional attitudes where parents
believe many children will help in the field or as guarantee
that some will survive to religious ones where family size is
determined by the teachings of the church'', the social worker,
who refused to be identified, told ips. (more/ips)


malawi: large families (2)

''many people still live in rural areas where health
facilities are not upto standard and many people die of
preventable diseases. it is difficult to change their
attitudes'', he said.

according to unfpa, malawi has the highest death and infant
mortality rate of 19 and 138 per 1,000 respectively.

''the government, with the assistance of donors, distributes
condoms and pills to remote parts of the country, but usage is
still very low'', the social worker added.

a civil servant working for the department of tourism here,
wondered why malawi's population of 8.8 million is considered
high.

''if you travel from here to lilongwe (about 300 kms north of
blantyre), you will see vast stretches of uninhabited land'', he
said. ''malawi can easily support double its present
population''.

the 35-year-old bureaucrat with three children, believes that
the only limiting factor to the number of children should be
whether one can afford to support them.

limited mpassi, a street vendor, boasted that to qualify to
be called a man, one should have at least six children.

''how can you call youself a man when you have only two or
three children'', mpassi argued.

the catholic archbishop of malawi told ips that
industrialised countries urge africans to reduce their
populations so that they can continue to have the lion's share
of the resources.

''they want us to limit the number of births but each one of
them has a car and other facilities. even if every malawian has
five children, they would be fed if the distribution of wealth
is fair'', archbishop j. chione said.

''it is selfishness to say that families are too big when in
europe schools are lying empty. the developed countries use our
resources to enrich themselves'', the bishop added.

''what should be contested is the distribution of wealth and
not population'', chione, who leads more than two million
catholics, argued. (end/ips/gk/apc/92)