How does Religion shape Education & Fertility in Africa?
Anyone who wants to understand Africa must pay attention to religion, principally because most Africans are extremely religious. The vast majority say that religion is extremely important and that they attend worship services every week.
For this reason, when I spent a year living in Kitwe (Zambia), I went to Church every single week: Baptist, Catholic, Anglican, Pentecostal, Seventh Day. I also attended Bible study with Jehovah’s Witnesses. I was keen to learn what they learnt and how they interacted.
Religion isn’t just about prayer, ritual, or moralising supernatural punishment; it’s an entire way of life. Western academics sometimes seem reluctant to recognise the ways in which religion shapes culture. Thankfully, two brilliant new papers have quantified how religion affects education and fertility in Africa.
