Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-4rdpn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-09T14:10:19.176Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The changing value of children among the Kikuyu of Central Province, Kenya

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 December 2011

Neil Price
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Within demography, high fertility in sub-Saharan Africa was considered until recently to reflect a demand for children firmly rooted in indigenous social institutions, which were resistant to external forces of change. On the basis of findings from recent Demographic and Health Surveys, Caldwell et al. (1992) suggest that many of the institutional supports for high fertility in sub-Saharan Africa—such as lineage-based descent systems, polygyny, bridewealth, extended kinship structures, child fostering, and communal land tenure—are being eroded. This article considers changes in the value of children among the Kikuyu of Central Province, Kenya, and the extent to which the social institutions which have traditionally supported high fertility have persisted. Fieldwork undertaken in two ethnically homogenous communities, one rural and one peri-urban, reveals significant variation in the fertility motives and value of children in the two communities. In the rural community many of the indigenous social supports for high fertility, although modified, cohere. In the context of economic insecurity and lack of access to land (especially for women without sons), manipulation of customary kinship and marriage practices (supported by the persistence of many indigenous religious beliefs and ideologies about fertility) has become strategically important for realising fertility desires. There is, however, unmet demand for modern contraception, due largely to lack of access to and the poor quality of family planning services. In contrast, in the peri-urban community, where access to family planning services is relatively good, there has been effective legitimation of fertility regulation and the use of modern contraception is widespread. There is markedly less economic insecurity: wage labour opportunities are available, and some women have successfully challenged male control over land. Consequently, there is reduced demand for children, although a number of the indigenous cultural supports for high : fertility retain residual importance.

Résumé

Dans la démographie, la fertilité élevée en Afrique sub-saharienne a été considérée jusqu'à récemment refléter une demande d'enfants solidement ancrée dans les institutions sociales indigènes qui étaient résistantes à des forces de changements extèrieures. Sur la base de conclusions obtenues à la suite d'enquêtes récentes sur la démographie et la santé, Caldwell et co. (1992) suggère que beaucoup de soutiens institutionnels pour la fertilité élevée en Afrique sub-saharienne—tels que les systèmes de descendance basés sur le lignage, la polygamie, la dot de la mariée, les structures étendues de parenté, l'adoption des enfants, et le bail des terres communales, sont en train d'être érodées. Cet article considère les changements quant à la valeur accordée aux enfants parmi les Kikuyu de la province centrale du Kenya et le degré jusqu'auquel les institutions sociales, qui ont traditionnellement supporté la fertilité elevée, ont persisté. Une enquête de terrain menée dans deux communautés ethniques homogènes, l'une rurale et l'autre à la périphérie d'une zone urbaine, révèle une variation significante dans les motifs liés à la fertilité et à la valeur attribuée aux enfants dans les deux communautés. Dans la communauté rurale une grande partie des soutiens pour la fertilité élevée sont cohérents bien qu'ils aient étés modifiés. Dans le contexte de l'insécurité économique et du manque d'accès aux terres (surtout pour les femmes sans fils), la manipulation des pratiques coutumières liées à la parenté et au mariage (supportée par la persistence de beaucoup de croyances religieuses indigenes et d'idéologies au sujet de la fertilité) est devenue stratégiquement importante pour réaliser les désirs de fertilité. Il y a cependant une demande pour la contraception moderne qui n'est pas réalisée dû en grande partie au manque d'accès et à la mauvaise qualité des services de planning familial. Par contraste, dans la communauté à la périphérie de la ville, où l'accès aux services de planning familiaux sont relativement bons, la réglementation de la fertilité est rentrée en vigueur légitimement et l'usage de la contraception moderne s'est développé. Il y a visiblement une insécurité économique moins grande: il y a des chances de travail rémunéré et certaines femmes ont remis en question avec succès le contrôle masculin de la terre. En conséquent, il y a une demande réduite d'enfants bien qu'un nombre de soutiens culturels pour la fertilité élevée retiennent l'importance qu'il leur ait resté.

Type
The family calculus
Information
Africa , Volume 66 , Issue 3 , July 1996 , pp. 411 - 436
Copyright
Copyright © International African Institute 1996

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ahlberg, B. M. 1991. Women, Sexuality and the Changing Social Order: the impact of government policies on reproductive behaviour in Kenya. New York: Gordon & Breach.Google Scholar
Ahlberg, B. M. 1994. ‘Is there a distinct African sexuality? A critical response to Caldwell’, Africa 64 (2), 220–42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Arnold, F., and Blanc, A. K. 1990. Fertility Levels and Trends, DHS Comparative Studies 2, Calverton, Md.: IRD Macro International.Google Scholar
Ayiemba, E. H. D. 1988. ‘The Kenya family and attitudes towards family formation’, in Ominde, S. (ed.) Kenya Population and Development to the Year 2000. Nairobi: Heinemann.Google Scholar
Baumgartner, T., Burns, T. R., and Deville, P. 1986. The Shaping of Socio-economic Systems: the application of the theory of actor–system dynamics to conflict, social power, and institutional innovation in economic life. New York: Gordon & Breach.Google Scholar
Caldwell, J. C. and P., 1985. Cultural Forces tending to Sustain High Fertility in Tropical Africa. World Bank PHN Technical Note 85–16, Washington, DC.: World Bank.Google Scholar
Caldwell, J. C. and P., 1987. ‘The cultural context of high fertility in sub-Saharan Africa’, Population and Development Review 13 (3), 409–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Caldwell, J. C. and P., 1988. ‘Is the Asian family planning model suited to Africa?’ Studies in Family Planning 19 (1), 19–28.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Caldwell, J. C, Orubuloye, I. and Caldwell, P. 1992. ‘Fertility decline in Africa: a new type of transition?’, Population and Development Review 18 (2), 211–42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cochrane, S. H., and Farid, S. M. 1985. Fertility in sub-Saharan Africa: levels and their explanation. World Bank PHN Technical Note 85–13, Washington DC.: World Bank.Google Scholar
Comaroff, J. (ed.) 1980. The Meaning of Marriage Payments. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Cotran, B. 1968. Restatement of African Marriage and Divorce. London: Sweet & Maxwell.Google Scholar
Evans-Pritchard, E. E. 1951. Kinship and Marriage among the Nuer of the Sudan. Oxford: Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
Fox, R. 1967. Kinship and Marriage. London: Penguin.Google Scholar
Frank, O. 1987. ‘The demand for fertility control in sub-Saharan Africa’, Studies in Family Planning 18 (4), 181–201.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Frank, O. and McNicoll, G. 1987. An Interpretation of Fertility and Population Policy in Kenya, Centre for Policy Studies Working Papers 131, New York: Population Council.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gluckman, M. 1950. ‘Kinship and marriage among the Lozi of Northern Rhodesia and the Zulu of Natal’, in Brown, A. K. Radcliffe and Forde, D. (eds.), African Systems of Kinship and Marriage. London: Oxford University Press for the International African Institute.Google Scholar
Hakansson, N. T. 1988. Bridewealth, Women and Land: social change among the Gusii of Kenya. Uppsala Studies in Cultural Anthropology 10, Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell.Google Scholar
Hakansson, N. T. 1994. ‘The detachability of women: gender and kinship among the Gusii of Kenya’, American Ethnologist 21, 516–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hammerslough, C. 1992. ‘Proximity to contraceptive services and fertility transition in rural Kenya’, International Family Planning Perspectives, 18 (2), 54–8.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harlow, V. and Chilver, E. M. (eds.) 1965. History of East Africa 2. Oxford: Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
Herzog, J. 1974. ‘Fertility and cultural values: Kikuyu naming customs and the preference for four or more children’, Rural Africana 14, 89–96.Google Scholar
Isiugo-Abanihe, U. 1985. ‘Child fosterage in West Africa’, Population and Development Review 11 (1), 53–74.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kabwegyere, T., and Mbula, J. 1979. A Case of the Akamba of Eastern Kenya. Changing African Family Project Series 5, Canberra: Australian National University.Google Scholar
Kelley, A. and Nobbe, C. 1990. Kenya at the Demographic Turning Point. World Bank Discussion Papers 107, Washington, DC: World Bank.Google Scholar
Kenya Government, National Council for Population and Development. 1989. Kenya Demographic and Health Survey, 1989. Calverton, Md.: IRD Macro International.Google Scholar
Kenya Government 1994. Kenya Demographic and Health Survey, 1993. Calverton, Md.L: IRD Macro International.Google Scholar
Kenyatta, J. 1938. Facing Mount Kenya. London: Seeker & Warburg.Google Scholar
Kershaw, G. 1973. ‘The Kikuyu of central Kenya’, in Molnos, A. (ed.), Cultural Source Materals for Population Planning in East Africa 3, Beliefs and Practices. Nairobi: East African Publishing House.Google Scholar
Khasiani, S. A. 1988. ‘The family planning programme in Kenya: current impact and future prospects’, in Ominde, S. (ed.), Kenya Population and Development to the Year 2000. Nairobi: Heinemann.Google Scholar
Kuria, G. K. 1987. ‘The African or customary marriage in Kenya today’, in Parkin, D. and Nyamwaya, D. (eds.), Transformations of African Marriage. Manchester: Manchester University Press for the International African Institute.Google Scholar
La Fontaine, J. 1963. ‘Witchcraft in Bugisu’, in Middleton, J. and Winter, E. H. (eds.), Witchcraft and Sorcery in East Africa. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Leakey, L. S. 1977. The Southern Kikuyu before 1903. London: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Mackenzie, F. 1989. ‘Land and territory: the interface between two systems of land tenure, Murang'a District, Kenya’, Africa 59 (1), 91–109.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mackenzie, F. 1990. ‘Gender and land rights in Murang'a District, Kenya’, Journal of Peasant Studies 17 (4), 609–43.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mayer, P. 1950. Gusii Bridewealth Law and Custom. Rhodes Livingstone Papers 18, Cape Town: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Middleton, J. 1965. ‘Kenya: changes in Africa life, 1912–45’, in Harlow, V. and Chilver, E. M. (eds.), History of East Africa 2. Oxford: Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
Middleton, J., and Kershaw, G. 1965. The Kikuyu and Kamba of Kenya. Ethnographic Survey of Africa: East Central V, London: International African Institute.Google Scholar
Middleton, J., and Winter, E. H. (eds.). 1963. Witchcraft and Sorcery in East Africa. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Miller, R., Ndhlovu, L., Gachara, M., and Fisher, A. A. 1991. ‘The situation analysis study of the family planning program in Kenya’, Studies in Family Planning 22 (3), 131–43.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Molnos, A. (ed.), 1973. Cultural Source Materials for Population Planning in East Africa 3, Beliefs and Practices. Nairobi: East African Publishing House.Google Scholar
Mugambi, J. N. K. 1989. African Heritage and Contemporary Christianity. Nairobi: Longman.Google Scholar
Mwambia, S. P. 1973. ‘The Meru of central Kenya’, in Molnos, A. (ed.), Cultural Source Materials for Population Planning in East Africa 3, Beliefs and Practices. Nairobi: East African Publishing House.Google Scholar
Njogu, W. 1991. ‘Contraceptive use in Kenya: trends and determinants’, Demography 28 (1), 83–99.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
O'Brien, D. 1977. ‘Female husbands in southern Bantu societies’ in Schlegel, A. (ed.), Sexual Stratification. New York: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Ominde, S. (ed.). 1988. Kenya Population and Development to the Year 2000. Nairobi: Heinemann.Google Scholar
Oucho, J. O. 1987. ‘Formulation, implementation and impact of population policy in Kenya’, in van de Walle, E. and Ebigbola, A. (eds.), The Cultural Roots of African Fertility Regimes. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania.Google Scholar
Page, H. 1987. ‘Fertility and family planning in sub-Saharan Africa’, in van de Walle, E. (ed.), The State of African Demography. Liège: IUSSP.Google Scholar
Page, H. and Lesthaeghe, R. (eds.). 1981. Birth Spacing in Tropical Africa. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Parkin, D. 1978. The Cultural Definition of Political Response: lineal destiny among the Luo. London: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Parkin, D. 1980. ‘Kind bridewealth and hard cash: eventing a structure’, in Comaroff, J. (ed.), The Meaning of Marriage Payments. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Parkin, D. and Nyamwaya, D. (eds.). 1987. Transformations of African Marriage. Manchester: Manchester University Press for the International African Institute.Google Scholar
Price, N. L. 1992. Final Report of Research Project: Cultural Constraints to the Adoption of Modern Contraception in Kenya. London: Overseas Development Administration.Google Scholar
Price, N. L. 1995a. The Value of Children amongst the Kikuyu of Central Province, Kenya: an anthropological perspective on fertility. Papers in International Development 13, Centre for Development Studies, Swansea: University of Wales.Google Scholar
Price, N. L. 1995b. The Social and Institutional Context of High Fertility amongst the Gwembe Valley Tonga of Zambia. Papers in International Development 11, Swansea: Centre for Development Studies, University of Wales.Google Scholar
Price, N. L., and Mbito, M. N. 1992. ‘Cultural Constraints to Voluntary Fertility Regulation in Central Province, Kenya’.Unpublished keynote paper presented at an Overseas Development Administration seminar at the Aberdares Country Club,Kenya, January.Google Scholar
Radcliffe, Brown A. R., and Forde, D. (eds.). 1950. African Systems of Kinship and Marriage. London: Oxford University Press for the International African Institute.Google Scholar
Robinson, W. 1992. ‘Kenya enters the fertility transition’, Population Studies 46 (3), 445–57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schlegel, A. (ed.). 1977. Sexual Stratification: a cross-cultural view. New York: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Sidinga, I. 1985. ‘The persistence of high fertility in Kenya’, Social Science and Medicine 20 (1), 311–25.Google Scholar
Sinding, S. 1991. ‘The Demographic Transition in Kenya: a portent for Africa?’ Unpublished lecture, Chapell Hill, NC.: School of Public Health, University of North Carolina, 28 February.Google Scholar
Tobisson, E. 1986. Family Dynamics among the Kuria. Gothenberg Studies in Social Anthropology 9, Gothenburg: Acta Universitatis Gothoburgensis.Google Scholar
Uchendu, V. C. 1965. The Igbo of Southeast Nigeria. New York: Holt Rinehart & Winston.Google Scholar
van de Walle, E. (ed.). 1987. The State of African Demography. Liège: IUSSP.Google Scholar
van de Walle, E., and Ebigbola, A. (eds.). 1987. The Cultural Roots of African Fertility Regimes. Philadelphia: Centre for Population Studies, University of Pennsylvania.Google Scholar
van de Walle, E., and Foster, A. D. 1990. Fertility Decline in Africa: assessment and prospects. World Bank Technical Paper 125, Washington, DC.: World Bank.Google Scholar
Warwick, D. P. 1982. Bitter Pills: population policies and their implementation in eight developing countries. London: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Warwick, D. P. 1988. ‘Culture and the management of family planning programmes’, Studies in Family Planning 19 (1), 1–18.CrossRefGoogle Scholar