On 5 August 2016 IFPRI-Malawi held a special seminar by Professor David Canning (Professor of Population Science and Professor of Economic & Public Health at Harvard University’s Chan School of Public Health) entitled “The Demographic Dividend in Africa: Does it apply to Malawi?” Professor Canning presented on the components of population growth, new views on the importance of population, the health and wealth of nations, the demographic dividend and Africa’s demographic transition.
The seminar attracted participants from the government, the development partners and academia who benefited from this presentation. The key message from the presentation was that the country’s demographic dividend occurs when there is a larger proportion of the population of the working age and a low proportion of children and dependents. A smaller number of children per household leads to investment in child health, education, female labor force participation and savings. When this happens, the payoff in terms of economic growth and human development can be fairly large, leading to a demographic dividend. However, the demographic dividend is not automatic, it depends on effective policies in the areas of employment, social policy and reproductive health.
