What do we know about fertility stalls in Africa? A literature review

Résumé

The purpose of this document is to review the literature on fertility stalls in Africa. To begin, we provide a descriptive approach of the demographic transition since the 1950s and the unusual pace of fertility decline mainly since the 1990s, from a comparative perspective. Then, we summarize the halts and reversals in fertility decline from the early 2000s. First, we describe the methods used to define a fertility stall, we identify the stall periods, and we list the studies by country where the slowdowns occurred. Second, we analyze the fertility dynamics during stall periods, such as the changes in the proximate determinants of fertility, birth intervals, fertility desires, and fertility preferences. Third, we summarize the studies analyzing the potential causes of fertility stalls, such as education, wealth, HIV, and under-five mortality, among others. Finally, we propose a research agenda together with our conclusions.