Govt in bid to control population growth rate

GOVERNMENT is working on controlling the country's population growth rate and aligning it to the country's  economic growth rate by lowering the national Total Fertility Rate, a Cabinet minister has confirmed.

Total Fertility Rate refers to the average number of live births a woman can have by the age of 50. According to the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (ZimStat) the country's Total Fertility Rate stands at 3,8 children per woman, which analysts said was high considering the country's estimated economic growth rate for 2014 of about three percent.

Government is targeting to reduce the country's fertility rate to three children per woman by 2020.
Zimbabwe's population, which according to the 2012 national census report is estimated to be at 13 million, increased by 1,4 million from 11,6 million recorded during the 2002 national census exercise.

The country's Total Fertility Rate is, however, not among the highest in Africa as other countries such as Guinea have fertility rates as high as seven children per woman.

Minister of Health and Child Care Dr David Parirenyatwa told Sunday News last week that it was important for the country to reduce its population growth rate and align it with the rate at which the local economy was growing.

He said it would be unwise for the country's population to grow uncontrollably as this could put a strain on the available infrastructure and resources, and could also impact negatively on the country's economic growth.

"The country in my view needs an optimum population. We need to look at our level of production and the number of consumers and see if they tally. If our economy is not big, we cannot afford to have a huge population because that will put a strain on our economy and obviously affect growth.

"We are working with various arms of the ministry, which include the Zimbabwe National Family Planning Council, to encourage couples to use birth control methods which we feel will help us achieve our targets.

"Like I said, we must have optimum population growth which means we don't want to have a small population as well, as this again will also affect our economy in terms of replacement of labour among other things. So what we want is to strike a balance between economic growth and population growth," he said.

Zimbabwe National Family Planning Council marketing and communication manager, Mr Simon Chikwizo, confirmed that his organisation had been charged by Government to work on reducing the country's population growth rate.

Mr Chikwizo said his organisation would, among other things, increase the uptake of contraceptives among married couples.
He said his organisation aimed to increase, the country's contraceptive prevalence rate from 58 percent to 70 percent by 2020, a development he said would also translate to a decrease in the country's total fertility rate.

Contraceptive prevalence rate refers to the rate at which contraceptives are being used in a particular area.
"We feel that one major way we can push down the Total Fertility Rate is through massive distribution of contraceptives especially among married couples where we feel there is low uptake of contraceptives.

"Our researches have also shown us that fertility rates are high among members of certain religious sects and these are helping push the national average high. So in our work we are targeting those people as we try to make our distribution as wide as possible," Mr Chikwizo said.

He echoed Dr Parirenyatwa's sentiments, saying the move to reduce the country's population growth rate was aimed at balancing the available resources and the consumers of the resources.

"If we have an optimum population the resources that we have as a country will not be strained. If resources are strained a  quality of the lives led by such families is poor because they will have to scramble for the little resources that are available.

"By reducing the birth rate the resources that are available will be able to support quality lives for children. A smaller population will also not strain the available infrastructure," he said.

Economic analyst, Mr Trust Chikohora, added that achieving optimum population growth was important for infrastructural development planning as this would ensure that the available infrastructure was not strained.

Mr Chikohora said it was important for a country to align its population growth rate with the economic growth rate as this would help spur economic development as well as better the quality of the citizens' lives.

"Measured growth in line with available resources is always encouraged. If population growth is aligned to the rate at which a country's economy will be growing then the standard of life in that country also improves. So it is always important to optimise population growth.

"Optimum population growth is important for economic growth and infrastructural development planning. If the population is small it means that the available resources will not be strained and like I said the standard of life will also improve.

"Estimates show us that economic growth for 2014 is at three percent, which in my view is way too low. This would also add sense to the move by Government to control population growth," he said.

Government's move to encourage reduction of the population growth rate comes just a few months after the Registrar General, Mr Tobaiwa Mudede, came out in the media discouraging people from using contraceptives.

Mr Mudede argued that contraceptives were part of a ploy by white neo-imperialists to retard population growth among black people.