Among various ethnic groups in Africa...the greatest misfortune that can befall a man or woman is to be childless. No matter how rich and successful the individual may be, life is miserable and unfulfilled without children.... According to a Yoruba folk song, they are considered to be 'clothing and adornment' for their parents. Anyone who does not have children has nothing to cover his shame and nakedness. Agiobu-Kemmer (1992, 5)

Within countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, children are highly valued; they are a "gift of God". Children are the perpetuators of the family and society. Because of this, it is the responsibility of the community to see that children are raised appropriately, and it is expected that as they grow into adulthood they will provide for the older members of the community. This view of children influences how their needs are met.

Within traditional cultures, child rearing practices are based on a culturally-bound understanding of what children need and what they are expected to become. The practices and beliefs surrounding pregnancy, childbirth, and early childhood development are passed on from one generation to another. When societies are more or less isolated from one another and outside influences are limited, what one generation passes on is similar to the way the next generation raises its children, and there is a relative stability of values, practices, and beliefs.

In all societies there are traditional rituals and practices surrounding the death of infants and young children. There are belief systems which explain the etiology of diseases, and there are ways of treating these diseases. Healers pass on their wisdom from generation to generation and are able to heal many illnesses. Traditional birth attendants are trained by their elders to facilitate the birth process, and to assure both the well-being of the mother and the infant. They also provide the new mother and family with support during the infant's early life.

While some cultures have remained relatively isolated and intact, there are other cultures which have been more vulnerable to change. This vulnerability is the result of increased exposure to other ideas, sometimes through formal education, and increasingly through mass media. For some societies the introduction of different ideas has resulted in a relatively easy incorporation of the new, with maintenance of the traditional. For others, the juxtaposition of the traditional and the new, along with economic changes which have threatened people's survival, has left cultures disorganized and peoples at a loss in terms of their values and beliefs. In the jargon of present-day psychology, these cultures could be classified as 'dysfunctional'. They no longer provide children with the grounding, stability, and vision that was found within traditional belief systems.

In the struggle for identity and in the desire to be "modern", some have completely cast off their traditions, or think they have. Yet the modern does not always work for them. As a result, people are seeking to identify and recapture traditional values. There is an increasing awareness that much of what existed within traditional cultures was positive and supportive of growth and development, for the individual and for the society. Likewise there were practices that today we recognize as harmful to a person's health and well-being. It is this search to define and understand the traditional in relation to what is known today that is the basis of current research and programmes in many parts of the world.

The Workshop on Child Rearing Practices and Beliefs in Sub-Saharan Africa, held in Windhoek, Namibia in October 1993 was a part of that process. It provided a context within which studies of five different cultural groups were presented and discussed. As specific child rearing practices and beliefs were delineated, they were assessed in terms of which were positive supports to children's growth and development and which were 'out-of-sync' with current medical knowledge. The participants then developed guidelines for how this information could be used in the creation of policies and programmes designed to provide supports to families as they are raising their children.

This document provides a summary of the Workshop. The report begins with a discussion of the relationship between child rearing practices and children's development. The next section includes an overview of the role of the family and community in supporting children's growth and development. Then beyond the family and community there is the wider physical and socio-economic context that plays a part in determining how children are raised. The dimensions of context are defined. A part of this definition is the extent to which traditional cultures have remained intact and the degree of modernization being experienced by the culture. A continuum from traditional to more modern practices, with examples of what it means for young children as a culture moves along the continuum, is presented. Data from the various studies reported on at the workshop are then presented. The report concludes with guidelines for the use of child rearing practices and beliefs as the basis for programme development.