Challenges of Reducing Under-Five Mortality: an Analysis of Contributing Factors from the Nigerian Context

In a bid to deepen understandings about underlying causes of the uneven success in reducing global child mortality rates by 2015 (MDG 4), this research analyses the situation in Nigeria, a country that ranks second highest in global child mortality ratings. Using the proximate framework for child survival developed by Mosley and Chen (1984) and extant literature, this study identified factors influencing child survival at global and national levels. An empirical investigation was subsequently conducted using the third and fourth rounds of the Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) in years 2003 and 2008 to identify factors that determine the likelihood of child mortality in the country. Hence, the empirical strategy adopted was a Probit estimation technique. The results of which suggested that bio-demographic factors and environmental characteristics of the household are primary factors driving child mortality in Nigeria. Taking it a step further, the study delved deeper into a critical analysis of particular bio-demographic factors and environmental characteristics that significantly impacted child mortality. An identified key factor was birth spacing which was then analysed from biomedical and cultural perspectives to provide a holistic examination of Nigeria’s child mortality situation. This contextual approach revealed various complexities underlying birth spacing across different cultural settings and ethnicities within Nigeria. This study is indicative of the importance of understanding the local con-texts and pathways through which main causes of child mortality operate in high child mortality countries like Nigeria. It also highlights the need for more re-search that investigates structural causes intensifying the spate of child mortality especially as these causes are quite resistant to Quick-fix policies tailored to achieve the global priority of reducing child mortality.