Human Security and Fertility: The Case of Haiti

In: The journal of environment & development: a review of international policy, Band 5, Heft 1, S. 28-45

Abstract

This article examines environmental security in Haiti and specifically the connection between human security and fertility. Rather than viewing population growth as a causal factor leading to the breakdown in Haiti's social order, this article examines the ways in which the lack of social order in Haiti has created a context in which fertility rates have remained high. It attempts to move beyond simplified views of population-environment-security links to a fuller appreciation of the institutional factors that have contributed to the country's socioeconomic decline and the breakdown of public order. The principal conclusion is that the tremendous human insecurity in Haiti—which is due to failures in governance, widespread poverty, and environmental degradation—has contributed to large desired family size. To succeed, future efforts to reduce fertility rates will need first to address the economic and environmental security of poor Haitians and particularly women.