Policy Briefs

Malawi is one of the 15 countries categorized as a population and climate change “hotspot” because of its rapidly growing population, water scarcity and falling food production. Malawi’s population has grown from 6 million in 1966 to about 15 million now and the United Nations Population Division projects that it could more than triple to 50 million by 2050, and reach 129 million by 2100. AFIDEP and Population Action International (PAI) conducted a study to assess the landscape for integrating population and climate change in Malawian development policies and strategies.

Like many other African countries, Kenya is faced with a rapidly growing population and low resilience to climate change. Its current population of about 41 million people is projected to grow to 97 million by 2050, and reach 160million by 2100. AFIDEP and Population Action International (PAI) conducted a study to assess the landscape for integrating population and climate change in Kenyan development policies and strategies.

Despite the strong links between population and climate change, and their role in sustainable development, these issues are not a priority in broader development policies and strategies. Unfortunately, population, climate change and development are often addressed separately at policy and program levels. We conducted assessments in Kenya and Malawi, complemented by in-depth interviews, and found that policymakers recognize the importance of population issues for climate change and development.

This policy brief summarizes recently published evidence on the development benefits of Family Planning (FP) that could be used to advocate for stronger political commitment and financial investments for FP programmes in the region. The evidence is mostly drawn from the Lancet’s July 2012 special issue on FP, the Guttmacher Institute and UNFPA’s 2012 Adding it Up report, and recent research conducted by AFIDEP.

The paper on which this brief is based used data of trends in readiness, willingness, ability, and contraceptive use in Africa from the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHSs), which provide highly standardized and nationally representative information about contraception and health. Specifically, the paper tracked trends in 24 sub-Saharan African countries that had conducted two or more DHSs – 13 countries from western Africa and 11 countries from eastern Africa.