Morocco WFS

Although richer in natural resources than many developing countries, Morocco's economic development has been plagued by repid population growth, along with declines in the world price of its main export, phosphate, and a costly war in Western Sahara. Situated on the northwest corner of Africa, the Kingdom of Morocco is dominated geographically by its long coastline and the rugged Atlas mountain range to the east ans south. Abour 1/3 of the population live in remote mountain villages and speak Berber rather than the official language, Arabic. Despite large expanses of desert, agriculture has always been an economic mainstay. Morocco has hab near self-sufficiency in foodstuffs, but is now threatened by the burgeoning population, growing at 2.9% annually. The Moroccan governemnt officially recognized the role of population in development as early as 1966 and initiated a family planning program the following year. In 1979-80, a nationwide survey was conducted in conjunction with the World Fertility Survey program in part to assess the progrss of the family planning and health delivery systems. The newly published results show that contraceptive use is higher than expected. About 23% of the married women use birth control, and almost 20% use one of the more reliable methods. The pill is the most popular method, accounting for 71% of all users, followed by withdrawal, the IUD, and rhythm. Large families are valued, women want about 5 children each, but actual fertility exceeds even these levels. The Total Fertility Rate (TFR) for the 1974-79 period was 5.9 children per woman. This indicated a significant decline in childbearing among younger women, since women aged 40 and over reported an average total of 7 children. The WFS results support evidence of decline in birth rates indicated by the 1982 Moroccan census. Declines in infant mortality also measured by the WFS have not been as dramatic, but do show constant improvement, falling from 130 in the 1950s to about 93 in 1975-80. In general, the WFS results show real movement towards the government's goal of lowering fertility rates.