Migration, Kinship Networks, and Reproduction in Nigeria

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Typically, rural to urban migration in the developing world is often accompanied by a shift to nuclear families and reduced fertility. But in sub-Saharan Africa, fertility does not always decline with urbanization and this appears to be associated with the highly active, social and economic ties migrants maintain with home villages. Using anthropological demography, this project will investigate how reproductive rates (fertility) are influenced by the kinship networks that link urban migrants and their rural villages in Nigeria. The research focuses on six Igbo-speaking villages and their migrants to Kano, the largest city in northern Nigeria. The PI will adopt a life cycle approach to examine how each of the four major life stages (adolescence, marriage, child-bearing, and cessation of child-bearing) entail different cultural, behavioral and reproductive health issues, as well different patterns of migratory behavior. Methods include a random survey of 400 rural households and a survey of all linked migrant households in Kano, as well as collection of life histories and participant observation. Surveys will elicit fertility and migration histories and explore social and economic interactions between households. This research will contribute to our understanding of rural to urban migration shapes fertility patterns in the developing world.