Research Briefs

Tanzania’s demographic and economic profiles favourably position it to benefit from the demographic dividend if the country unleashes its full development potential by simultaneously prioritising: reforms and investments that accelerate fertility decline; industrialisation and job creation; investments in education and health to develop quality human capital; and improved governance and accountability in use of the country’s financial and natural resources.

Family Planning (FP) has immense health, environmental, and economic growth benefits. For instance, it is estimated that in 2008, family planning averted 32% of maternal deaths in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), and that such deaths would decline by a further 29% if all women who want to avoid pregnancy use an effective contraceptive method (Ahmed et al. 2012). Family planning also helps save the lives of children; spacing births of children by at least two years would reduce deaths of infants by 10% and deaths of children aged 1-5 years by about 20% (Cleland et al. 2012).