1 Million for research on reproductive health and economic development

7 October 2008

Two research initiatives have been awarded following the joint WOTRO-Hewlett call for research on population, reproductive health and economic development. One initiative will address the impact of reproductive health services on socio-economic development in sub-saharan Africa at macro, meso and micro-level. The other initiative addresses the hypothesis that reproductive health policies and practices can bring down excess fertility in the short run and will create income surplus at the household level.

The impact of reproductive health services on socio-economic development in sub-saharan Africa: connecting evidence at macro, meso and micro-level.
Professor Ruerd Ruben (Radboud University) and professor Switbert Kamazima (Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences, Tanzania)

The research in Tanzania involves an innovative combination and sequence of evidence-based micro-meso-macro-level analyses and aims to offer a new and challenging linkage between reproductive health (RH) services and poverty reduction programmes, considering RH investments as a key strategy for controlling health risks and shocks that are known to occasion critical fallbacks into chronic poverty. The research team comprises three PhD-researchers (from Tanzania) and three post-doc researchers (from Tanzania and the Netherlands) and their supervisors. See Programmes

Breaking the cycle: reproductive health and poverty decline in Rwanda
Professor Pieter Hooimeijer (Utrecht University) and dr Herman Musahara (National University of Rwanda).

In Rwanda reproductive health, through addressing the high level of unmet needs for family planning and the high level of infant and child mortality, could be a key mechanism to break the cycle of decreasing agricultural productivity, high population growth and increasing poverty. The research programme addresses the hypothesis that reproductive health policies and practices can bring down excess fertility in the short run and will create income surplus at the household level to invest in the health and education of the children. Four PhD-researchers and one post-doc researcher, from Tanzania and Congo, and their supervisors are responsible for carrying out the research. See Programmes