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369 - Africa at a population turning point
March 2011
In the coming decades, the West African countries could benefit from a demographic window of opportunity to reduce their poverty. The arrival of 160 million young people on the labour market between 2010 and 2030 could accelerate economic growth. These countries could take advantage of this “demographic dividend”, which the emerging countries have been doing for 40 years. On condition that they lower their fertility rates, are still the highest in the world, with an average of five children per woman. That would enable them to reduce the number of economically non-active people being supported for each active individual..
An IRD researcher asserts this in a review published recently by the Agence française de développement (AFD), concerning a far-reaching survey( 1) conducted in 12 West African countries( 2): family planning and promotion of contraception are some of the main keys to sustainable economic growth. Yet to arrive at such a situation, these countries must assign 3 to 5 times the means currently given over to such a policy. Will they be able to manage this population turning point successfully?
348 - Why are urban populations in Africa becoming overweight?
April 2010
Urban dwellers in the developing countries are expected to more than double in number between 2000 and 2025. This surging urbanization comes along with changes in food habits: more meat, fats, salt and sweetened products, taking rapid snacks outside the home. Paradoxically, whereas undernutrition is still cause for great concern in many African countries, obesity is rising up in the cities.
IRD nutritionists and their partners 1 have revealed that in two districts of Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso, 36% of women and 14.5% of men are overweight. They showed such excess body mass to be associated with the “modern foods” and dietary habits taken up by its inhabitants, in particular the better-off sections of society.
These investigations brought insights into the causes of obesity among urban populations, with a view in the long term to setting up suitable programmes for preventing its exerting consequences for health.
Ces travaux permettent de mieux comprendre les causes de l’obésité de populations urbaines, pour la mise en place à terme de programmes appropriés pour en prévenir ses conséquences sur la santé.
Sub-Saharan Africa : the population emergency
December 2007
Ritual fires, a social and symbolic act among the Bwaba of Burkina Faso and the Bassar of Togo
April 2007
