Giant_and_Dwarf-FIN

Continent of Gigantic ProblemsWe only have fragmented information about birth rates and child mortality in traditionalAfrican societies, but according to expert estimates one third of children born inmany parts of Africa did not live to see their first birthday and many more did not survive tofive years of age. Records from an ethnic group living on today’s Ivory Coast territory showthat a woman only had the right to ceremonially bury her fourth child; with extremely highchild mortality expensive ceremonial funerals for all children would have been economicallyunsustainable. Demographers, as well as the oldest colonial testimonials, estimatethat women gave birth six to seven times during their lifetime. This low number of birthsper woman, in the absence of reliable contraception was likely caused by long-term breastfeedingof children. Long-term breastfeeding in conditions of poor nutrition, miserablehygiene and an environment infested with pathogens on one hand increased chances ofsurvival, but on the other hand long-term lactation suppresses the next ovulation cycleand likelihood of another pregnancy. There were also various social taboos banning sex forbreastfeeding women, on top of biological factors, although we may only speculate aboutthe effectiveness of such taboos. If the child survived, the interval between individual birthswas often three to four years during the early colonial period.Giving birth and raising a child in these conditions was extremely hard, this naturallyled to the spread of cults celebrating fertility and children across Africa. Capacity to procreatefueled man’s pride, fertile women reached high social statuses; infertile women wereseen as outcasts. In his book “Africans: The History of a Continent” Cambridge Universityprofessor John Iliffe states:“The important objective of the wars was to capture people. The important theme ofthe art was fertility of women. Healing rituals focused on the care for pregnant womenand newborns. This African obsession with reproduction later surprised anthropologistswho were familiar with the regions of the world where the natural conditions are morefavorable.” 11Exactly this cultural attitude towards fertility, this “fertility obsession”, was met shortlyafter colonization of Africa by European powers, but in particular in the second half of 20 th century,with achievements of western civilization. While European colonial masters throughoutthe 20 th century plundered Africa’s natural resources, they also brought resources and knowledgeto Africa. The most significant from the perspective of population growth were modernepidemiology, vaccines, higher hygiene standards, ports, railroads and roads capable not onlyof exporting African hard woods and minerals but also food aid where needed. And later itwas the “green revolution” which also enabled growth in Africa’s food production.This interplay of local cultural factors and the effects of Western technology led inthe second half of the 20 th century and in the early 21 st century to an explosive growth ofAfrican populations.11 John Illife, Africans: The History of a Continent, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK 1995.Professor Illife’s book is available to Czech and Slovak readers in a Czech translation and can be warmlyrecommended to anyone with deeper interest in African history.21