Don’t blame alcohol for low fertility

Residents of Dagoretti Market in Nairobi looking at a torched building by youth which was selling illegal alcohol on July 2,2015. PHOTO | EVANS HABIL | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Politicians, for their part, are concerned that the numerical advantage they have exploited over decades to determine Kenya’s political leadership is in danger, courtesy of the falling fertility rates in the region. They believe the high alcohol consumption has rendered many men impotent.
  • The KDHS reveals that central and eastern Kenya have the highest use of contraceptives, at 73 and 70 per cent, respectively, higher than Nairobi, at 62 per cent. It is not surprising that the northeastern region has the highest fertility rates, considering that it has also the lowest contraceptive use, at 3 per cent.
  • The report, published in 2012 further notes that while some regions like Nairobi, the Rift Valley and western Kenya have witnessed an increase in consumption, the central region has shown a notable decline.

Some angry women and men in the central Kenya region have on many occasions demonstrated against the uncontrolled consumption of alcohol, both legal and illicit, in the region, the reason being that the men can no longer fulfil their sexual obligations, whether for recreation or procreation.

Politicians, for their part, are concerned that the numerical advantage they have exploited over decades to determine Kenya’s political leadership is in danger, courtesy of the falling fertility rates in the region. They believe the high alcohol consumption has rendered many men impotent.

Indeed, according to the recently released 2014 Kenya Demographic and Health Survey (KDHS), central Kenya recorded the second-lowest fertility rate of 2.8, after Nairobi’s 2.7. Compare this with their neighbours in the eastern and Rift Valley areas, with 3.4 and 4.5, respectively.

The fertility rate in western Kenya was 4.7, Nyanza 4.3, Coast 4.3, with northeastern leading the pack with 6.4.

However, the low fertility rates in central Kenya are not due to the drunken men: It is all about the sober women in the region who have made a personal and informed choice as to when to have children.

The KDHS reveals that central and eastern Kenya have the highest use of contraceptives, at 73 and 70 per cent, respectively, higher than Nairobi, at 62 per cent. It is not surprising that the northeastern region has the highest fertility rates, considering that it has also the lowest contraceptive use, at 3 per cent.

And this has been the trend over the decades. All the previous five KDHS carried out in 1989, 1993, 1998, 2003, and 2008-09 also indicated that national contraceptive use continued to increase, and that women in central Kenya had the highest uptake of contraceptives.

Indeed, alcoholism can lead to a myriad of health problems, including impotence.

The problem of alcoholism is not unique to central Kenya. Nairobi has the highest proportion of those who use alcohol (22 per cent) followed by the Rift Valley (15.7 per cent), eastern (14.6 percent) and central Kenya a distant fourth (10 per cent), according to a report by the National Authority for the Campaign against Alcohol and Drug Abuse.

The report, published in 2012 further notes that while some regions like Nairobi, the Rift Valley and western Kenya have witnessed an increase in consumption, the central region has shown a notable decline.

Considering the high literacy levels and the economic empowerment among women in central Kenya, coupled with availability of family planning services, it will be futile, as suggested by some leaders from the region, to import sober men from other regions in Kenya to help increase the fertility rates.

The monetary incentives placed on any new bundle of joy in the region appear not an incentive enough to these ladies. Indeed, the women of central Kenya have made a choice to have lean families that suit their modern lifestyles.

The writer is science media consultant