Kekovole John - Continuity and change in Sub-Saharan African demography

This book offers an in-depth African perspective to the major issues in demographic discourse in sub-Saharan Africa. It provides comprehensive analysis of sub-Saharan African censuses, profiling demographic changes, trends, patterns and consequences in the region. Interdisciplinary, comprehensive, accessible, simple and topical, this volume is perfectly suited to researchers, students and lecturers who are interested in understanding sub-Saharan African population dynamics and issues.

Clifford O. Odimegwu is the head of Demography and Population Studies Programme at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.

John Kekovole is currently an Executive Manager in charge of Census Inputs and Outputs at Statistics South Africa.

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Continuity and Change in Sub-Saharan African Demography

Edited by Clifford O. Odimegwu and John Kekovole

First published 2014
by Routledge
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and by Routledge
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Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

2014 Taylor & Francis

The right of Clifford O. Odimegwu and John Kekovole to be identified as the authors of the editorial material, and of the authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Continuity and change in Sub-Saharan African demography / edited by Clifford O. Odimegwu and John Kekovole. 1st Edition.

pages cm. (Routledge african studies ; 17)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

1. Africa, Sub-SaharanPopulation. 2. DemographyAfrica, Sub-Saharan. I. Odimegwu, C. O., editor of compilation. II. Kekovole, John, editor of compilation. III. Series: Routledge African studies ; 17.

HB3661.A3C686 2014
304.60967dc23
2013051006

ISBN13: 978-0-415-71194-4 (hbk)
ISBN13: 978-1-315-87944-4 (ebk)

Typeset in Sabon
by IBT Global.

This book is dedicated to scholarship in African demography, which has come of age by the production of this work.

CLIFFORD O. ODIMEGWU AND JOHN KEKOVOLE

CHUKS J. MBA

LAWRENCE KAZEMBE AND N.B. KANDALA

YOHANNES KINFU, COLLINS OPIYO, AND MARILYN WAMUKOYA

STEPHEN AYO ADEBOWALE AND SUNDAY ADEPOJU ADEDINI

SUNDAY ADEPOJU ADEDINI

GIDEON RUTAREMWA

AKANNI AKINYEMI AND SUNDAY OMOYENI

CLIFFORD O. ODIMEGWU

LATIFAT D.G. IBISOMI AND NICOLE DE WET

ONIPEDE WUSU AND EMMANUEL OLAGUNJU AMOO

BRUNO MASQUELIER AND ABDRAMANE B. SOURA

HENRY VICTOR DOCTOR

SERAI DANIEL RAKGOASI

ESTHER W. DUNGUMARO

CARLOS ARNALDO

JOHN KEKOVOLE AND CLIFFORD O. ODIMEGWU

The origin of this ongoing work dates back to 1998 when Statistics South Africa convened a meeting to strategize on how to enhance the in-depth analysis and utilization of data collected in African censuses under the auspices of the African Census Analysis Project (ACAP) situated at the University of Pennsylvania. The meeting noted the paucity of archiving data collected in various countries as well as inadequate analysis of the data. The project succeeded in getting African governments to provide the requisite data and published two volumes: A General Demography of South Africa in 2005 and African HouseholdsCensuses and Surveys in 2006.

Most countries in the subregion have participated in all the four United Nations rounds of census, from 1980 to 2010 Round of Population and Housing Censuses. Once these exercises were completed, aggregate results were released. In almost all the countries, the story ends here. No further attempt was made to critically interrogate the huge data sets with a view to understanding demographic processes in the subregion. One consequence of this inability is that what we know of sub-Saharan African demography is mostly based on surveys that are undertaken internationally for comparability purposes mainly by outside agencies. We, stakeholders in the national statistical systems, watch as our demographic stories are told by outsiders who in most cases do not understand sub-Saharan Africans sociocultural milieu. It is therefore of paramount importance that data collected in our censuses be availed to African scholars to enable them to undertake in-depth analysis to provide the requisite insights into what is happening in the continent. Africa can no longer continue to be a generator of data while foreign scholars become the users and disseminators of such data.

This book, Continuity and Change in Sub-Saharan African Demography, presents a unique opportunity for African scholars to dig deep into African census datasets that are in the public domain with a view to telling the demographic story of the subregion. The book tries to capture the dynamics of sub-Saharan African demography with a view to identifying any patterns of change and continuity in demographic dynamics of the region. Understanding the subregions past, present, and future demographic dynamics is central to the fulfillment of development objectives of poverty eradication, achievement of equality, and sustainable development. It is also central to deepening democratic reforms in the subregion.