Cambridge-Africa

Allen Kabayengi

Dr. Allen Kabagenyi was the first female THRiVE PhD fellow to successfully defend her Thesis. She was registered at Makerere University School of Statistics and Planning, College of Business and Management Sciences for her doctoral program. She is demographer, researcher, sampling statistician and lecturer at the department of Population Studies, School of Statistics and Planning, Makerere University.

Her research interests are in family planning, fertility and related reproductive health issues. She is a Survey Sampling Statistician and a KISH fellow under the University of Michigan–Survey methodology program. She is a Demographic and Health Survey fellow under the USAID-DHS fellowship program as well as Population Communications Fellow, a position she attained from Population Reference Bureau fellowship program supported by USAID.

Her doctoral study sought for explanations for the high fertility rates in Uganda asking whether low contraceptive prevalence was responsible. Owing to the existing divergent views regarding Uganda’s fertility stall, her study findings showed no evidence of a fertility stall in Uganda for the period 1973- 2011. Factors influencing the fertility levels included age at marriage, age and education of the respondents as well as spousal characteristics including education and employment status. Barriers to modern contraceptive use included fear of side effects, stigma associated with use, domestic violence, preference for large family sizes and polygamy. Discussions with health workers indicated partner opposition, stock outs, misconceptions and lack of provider expertise were hindrance to family planning utilization and influence continued high fertility.

These were conclusions made:

• Continued education of females beyond secondary and encouragement of late entry into marriage would deter high fertility in Uganda

• Low contraceptive use is not the sole predictor of persistent high births, but a combination of explanatory factors

• Regular stock-out, limited method choice, and lack of provider expertise are an impediment to Family Planning utilization

• Partner opposition to family planning, education and employment status influence fertility levels

• There is was no evidence of a fertility stall in Uganda for the thirty eight year period studied