Womenʹs empowerment and fertility decline among the Pare of Kilimanjaro region, Northern Tanzania

This research was designed to explore the connection between the empowerment of women and fertility outcomes, through an ethnographic study, a community-based survey and in-depth interviews. The purpose of the work is to test the relationship between a fertility decline and the status of women in a rural area of Kilimanjaro Region, Tanzania. Our major hypothesis was that the decline in fertility in the Kilimanjaro Region—given that the preconditions proposed by Caldwell, Orubuloye, and Caldwell (1992) have been satisfied—is due to the empowerment of women, particularly to gender equity within families. Research was conducted in two villages—Masumbeni and Kisanjuni—located in the Ugweno Division of the Pare Mountains in the eastern part of Kilimanjaro Region. Findings show that in this population age at first birth increased and the progression from having one child to the next child declined. This pattern was evident during the 1980s, it is stronger in the 1990s. The factors associated with this phenomenon are those related to the status of women, particularly, free partner choice, womenʹs education and wealth of the family.