Demographic responses to resource constraints in Rwanda.

This paper examines two demographic processes, changing fertility rates and migration patterns, in the context of rapidly evolving circumstances in Rwanda during the past fifteen years. Various economic, social, political and environmental factors from the local to the international merged to create a situation of worsening pressure on resources in rural Rwanda. Some of the factors profoundly affected the subsistence agriculture sector which was the mainstay of the national and household economy in Rwanda, but perhaps more importantly they also limited the ability of farmers to engage in profitable non-subsistence activities in both commercial agriculture and non-agricultural activities. The combined result was a general decrease in household incomes and, poignantly, a painful decline in opportunities for young people. The Rwandan population responded to the various changes with a variety of economic adjustments, both in the agricultural sphere and in non- and off-farm employment. It also responded with fundamental demographic changes that altered the family structure and the distribution of the population. These demographic responses are the focus of this paper. (author's abstract)