Reproductive choices in the post-colonial african and urban context: the case of Maputo, the capital of Mozambique

Abstract

The article analyses how experiences of urbanism in a post-colonial African context shape reproductive choices. Employing a qualitative methodological approach, often overlooked in fertility studies in Africa, the analysis suggests that the desire or belief in the socioeconomic benefit of having a small family are compelling motivations to voluntarily reduce the number of children. However, the people’s autonomy (agency) and institutional factors (conditioned by the social structure) determine the opportunities to make alternative choices to achieve the desired family size. In other words, the number of opportunities to act (sociologically) is a determinant of reproductive choices. The conclusion is that disparities regarding intra-urban fertility, a problem that has received little scholarly attention in Africa and Mozambique in particular, are the result of differences in access to opportunities to act.

Keywords

• fecundidade. espaços urbanos. áfrica, pós-colonial. moçambique. maputo.