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NORGLOBAL-Norge - Global partner

Fertility outcomes and the roles of children in household risk management strategies in rural West Africa: the cases of Senegal and Benin

Tildelt: kr 5,1 mill.

The relationship between fertility and growth is often seen in view of a child quality-quantity trade-off. Low fertility allows for higher human capital investments per child, and thus considered favorable to economic development. On another front, good r isk management is seen as a key to growth as the vulnerability caused by the lack of safety nets yields low-risk, low-return behavior among the poor. This project proposes to bring the two lines of research together by developing a comprehensive model of the roles children play in household risk management strategies, assuming the importance of this role to family investments and income. Core hypotheses derived will be tested on a recently gathered data set from Senegal. Gaps identified will be filled by new data collection in Senegal and Benin, the latter serving as a most dissimilar case within West Africa. The model takes point of departure in existing research on children as i) insurance and pension providers, ii) parties in household diversification schemes (portfolio management efforts), and iii) an adjustable supply of labor. The model will furthermore take four critical factors into account: 1) household vulnerability, 2) availability of other risk management tools, 3) fostering opportunities to lower short-term costs related to investments in children, and 4) the influence of women in the household bargaining over fertility, risk management and child outcomes. The project aims to provide policy recommendations on how to promote reproductive hea lth and fertility reduction without making poor households more vulnerable and thus more risk adverse. To support the basis for policy advice, the project suggests complimenting analytical findings by a cost assessment of on-going interventions implemente d by local partner institutions and international organizations. The project supports a PhD grant, an international advisory board, and two female scholars associated with universities in Senegal and Benin.

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NORGLOBAL-Norge - Global partner