The Socioeconomic, Cultural and Demographic Factors of Gap between Urban and Rural Areas in Terms of Early Childhood Development: An Empirical Evidence from Cameroon, Using Fairlie Decomposition Model

Henri Fika , Institut de Formation et de Recherche Démographiques (IFORD)

An inclusive early childhood development is an important condition of a country’s economic growth in the long run. In Cameroon, considering the data of 5th MICS , 68.0% of 36 to 59 months children living in urban area are in a good development process, whereas in rural area they are 56.5%. In other words, 36 to 59 months children living in urban area have 120.4% more chances to be in a good development process than those who live in rural area. Thus one may ask the following question: what are the explanatory factors of this observed gap between urban and rural area in terms of early childhood development? To answer this important question, we consider the socio-economic, cultural and demographic dimensions of the environment where the child grows. In this paper, this development process includes physical, cognitive and psychosocial aspects.

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 Presented in Session 2. Children & Youth