This study of local perceptions of population and development in a rural southwestern Nigerian town questions some of the underlying assumptions of the demographic theory of fertility transition. Fertility transition theory and modernisation theory from which it derives have not explained why fertility remains high, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, despite the presence of some conditions associated with its decline in Western societies, nor why development, despite a plethora of projects, has failed to ‘take-off’. As this study demonstrates, neither fertility change nor development follows a universal trajectory. Whether lower fertility or Western models of development are viewed as possible or advantageous reflects cultural ideas about proper social relations as well as political and economic conditions, which may hinder or facilitate these changes. Key Features:Its example of grass-roots development complements economic development textsProvides an ethnographic study of fertility changeExamines the historical processes of social change in the context of Nigeria under military rule

A rich and compelling account of the social and cultural processes that underlie the dynamics of fertility in contemporary Nigeria! Rich, important and insightful!Readers with interests in anthropology, demography or Africa all have much to learn from this fine book. -- Daniel Jordan Smith, Department of Anthropology, Brown University A rich and compelling account of the social and cultural processes that underlie the dynamics of fertility in contemporary Nigeria! Rich, important and insightful!Readers with interests in anthropology, demography or Africa all have much to learn from this fine book.

Elisha P. Renne is an associate professor in the Department of Anthropology and the Center for Afroamerican and African Studies, University of Michigan.