This paper assesses whether fertility theories are still relevant in explaining fertility behaviour in the era of modernization of societies in sub-Saharan Africa over the past six decades. The paper particularly focuses on five classical fertility theories: Child Survival Hypothesis, Intergenerational Flow of Wealth, Relative Income Hypothesis, Demand and Supply Framework of Fertility and Value of Children Theory. A rapid scoping review of five classical fertility theories and empirical literature on fertility in sub-Saharan Africa and other developing regions was done using data sources such as PubMed, Scopus, ScienceDirect, EBSCO, MEDLINE and JSTOR. Three arguments are made. First, the theories of fertility provide some form of understanding of how traditional values and institutions encourage high fertility behaviour in traditional African societies. Second, even though some fertility theories predicted a fall in fertility with the emergence of modernity, empirical research and statistical evidence showed no significant reduction in general fertility levels. Last, empirical studies in the African subregion have acknowledged the presence of such modern institutions and have found that these institutions have influenced the fertility decisions of many within the subregion. What is theoretically expected to occur in terms of fertility reduction is moderate. In effect, traditional values still play a vital role in fertility behaviour and are deeply entrenched in fertility decisions in the subregion.

本文评估了生育理论在过去六十年撒哈拉以南非洲社会现代化时代是否仍然有助于解释生育行为。本文重点研究了五种经典生育理论：儿童生存假说、财富代际流动、相对收入假说、生育供需框架和儿童价值理论。使用 PubMed、Scopus、ScienceDirect、EBSCO、MEDLINE 和 JSTOR 等数据源，对撒哈拉以南非洲和其他发展中地区生育率的五种经典生育理论和实证文献进行了快速范围审查。提出了三个论点。首先，生育率理论提供了对传统价值观和制度如何鼓励传统非洲社会的高生育率行为的某种形式的理解。其次，尽管一些生育理论预测随着现代性的出现生育率会下降，但实证研究和统计证据表明总体生育水平并没有显着下降。最后，非洲次区域的实证研究承认了此类现代机构的存在，并发现这些机构影响了该次区域内许多人的生育决策。理论上预计生育率下降的幅度是适度的。事实上，传统价值观在生育行为中仍然发挥着至关重要的作用，并且在该次区域的生育决策中根深蒂固。