Contraceptive use lowers population growth rate in Central Kenya, NCPD says

Central region has the lowest population growth rate compared to other regions in Kenya, National Council for Population and Development (NCPD) officials have said.

The region recorded an annual population growth rate of 1.6 per cent.

Nyeri County has the lowest in the region with 0.5 per cent growth rate.

The statistics place Murang’a County second from Nyeri with a population growth rate of 0.6 per cent per annum.

This was revealed by NCPD officials during the World Population Day celebrations for Central Region in Othaya, Nyeri County.

The Central Region NCPD Coordinator, Fidelis Ndung’u said the slow growth rate in Nyeri was as a result of the high use of contraceptives by women.

She noted that 67 per cent of the current married women had embraced family planning methods.

This high number of women using contraceptives was attributed to the high level of literacy in the county with research revealing that the rate of literacy among women at 88 per cent in the region.

“The women in this region are well informed on methods of family planning owing to the use of any of those methods,” she said.

Mrs Ndungu revealed that women in the region were giving birth to an average of four children each.

She dismissed claims that high alcohol intake in the region was the major contributing factor to the slow growth rate saying it had played a minimum role in the process.

“Those men drinking alcohol should not view it as a method of family planning,” She said.

Speaking at the same function, Nyeri South County Commissioner Evans Ogwanawa said sustainable economic development and growth rate could be achieved if the population growth rate is controlled.

“Both the rich and the needy have to strike a balance in the size of their families to ensure economic growth,” he said.