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Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | The Greater Risk of Fewer Deaths: An Ethnodemographic Approach to Child Mortality in Hausaland |
Authors: | Ross, Paul J. Etkin, Nina L. Muazzamu, Ibrahim |
Year: | 1991 |
Periodical: | Africa: Journal of the International African Institute |
Volume: | 61 |
Issue: | 4 |
Pages: | 502-512 |
Language: | English |
Geographic terms: | Nigeria Northern Nigeria |
Subjects: | Hausa child mortality Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups) Health and Nutrition |
External link: | https://www.jstor.org/stable/1160534 |
Abstract: | In recent years there has been an increasing interest to address the 'why' and 'how' of demographic phenomena through intensive field study. These micro-approaches attempt to identify and contextualize local demographic behaviour, particularly as it undergoes change. This article explores a dimension of this problem as it pertains to a small Hausa-Fulani community. On the basis of research conducted in Hurumi, the vestige of an ancient walled village situated on the southeast periphery of the Kano close-settled zone of northern Nigeria, in 1975-1976 and 1987-1988, the authors draw attention to local evaluations of trends in childhood mortality, and their assessments of survival risk, vis-à-vis the more conventional 'reality' suggested by standard demographic measures. By so doing the authors underscore the importance of an ethnodemographic perspective for population studies. The evidence suggests a decline in childhood mortality rates attendant upon the increasing availability of biomedicines. However, local perceptions are that mortality risks are now greater for those less than five years old. Bibliogr., notes, sum. in English and French. |