By Jethro Ibileke
Following his inauguration as governor of Edo State on Nov 12, 2025, Senator Monday Okpebholo launched a five-point agenda, called the SHINE Agenda. The governor described the agenda as a visionary roadmap that places Security, Health, Infrastructure, Natural Resources and Agriculture, and Education, a strategic reflection of key pillars embedded in the SDGs.
If a healthy nation is truly a wealthy nation, then, it is pertinent to state that the nucleus of the five-point agenda is HEALTH, because, it is only a healthy nation that could guarantee the security of lives and properties of its citizens, harness its natural resources, develop its agricultural potentials, and educate its citizens. That is where family planning comes in.
Family planning refers to the ability of individuals and couples to make informed decisions about whether and when to have children, and to regulate the number and spacing of their pregnancies. This encompasses a range of methods, including contraception and treatment of infertility, aimed at achieving desired family size and spacing. Essentially, it’s about empowering individuals to have control over their reproductive health and future.
Family planning, often viewed through the lens of health and reproductive rights, holds profound and often underestimated economic significance, particularly for poor women in rural communities.
In Edo State, Nigeria, where a substantial portion of the population resides in agrarian areas with limited access to resources and opportunities, the ability of women to decide the timing, spacing, and number of their children directly influences not only their individual economic well-being but also the broader development prospects of their households and communities.
Many of the rural communities in the state are ravaged by abject poverty, diseases and economic instability that could partly be traced to families having more children than they could comfortably feed, educate or take care of their health needs. This, in turn, could be traced to lack of proper family planning.
In line with an adage in Yoruba language, aboundance of children will translate to aboundance of poverty, which is one of the key fixtures the administration of Governor Okpebholo is targeting to eradicate, or, at least, to reduce to the barest minimum.
There is no gain saying that inadequate knowledge of family planning has impoverished many families in Edo, especially in the rural areas, hence, the need for the government to invest heavily on it, both in budget allocation, enlightenment and otherwise. This will definitely impact on household income, women’s empowerment, health expenditure, education, and, mostly, community development.
Benefits and gains of family planning:
Foremost among the immediate economic benefits of family planning, especially in the rural communities is its direct impact on household income and poverty reduction. In large families, especially those with many young dependents, household resources are stretched beyond limit. For women who are often primary caregivers and also contribute to agricultural labor or small-scale trading, frequent pregnancies and childbirths can significantly reduce their productive capacity.
A woman recovering from childbirth cannot engage in strenuous farming activities or travel long distances to markets. When such women are empowered with adequate knowledge to plan their pregnancies, it allows them to recover fully and return to their economic activities more quickly and consistently. This sustained engagement in income-generating activities, whether farming, petty trading, or artisanal crafts, translates directly into higher household income.
Moreover, with fewer children, the per capita income of the household will increase, alleviating the severe pressure on limited financial resources and pulling families further away from the brink of poverty, which is a huge contribution to government’s effort to eradicate poverty.
Beyond immediate income, family planning is a powerful catalyst for women’s economic empowerment. In many rural communities, women bear the burden burden of domestic and childcare responsibilities, including the constant cycles of pregnancy, childbirth, and breastfeeding, which severely limit their time, energy, and physical capacity, which limits their opportunities to acquire new skills, or engage in more lucrative ventures. Family planning offers such women the autonomy to control their reproductive lives, thereby freeing up valuable time and enabling them to invest in themselves.
Family planning also plays a critical role in mitigating high cost of healthcare, a significant economic drain on households. Frequent pregnancies, especially when closely spaced, carry elevated risks of maternal complications such as hemorrhage, eclampsia, and infections, as well as infant mortality. Treating these complications often requires expensive medical care, including hospital visits, medications, and sometimes emergency procedures, which can push already vulnerable families into catastrophic health expenditures and debt.
By preventing unplanned pregnancies and allowing for adequate spacing between births, family planning reduces these health risks. Healthier mothers will give birth to healthier children, with fewer medical bills to pay, less lost income due to illness, and a more robust workforce within the household. Indeed, the healthy children of today are the thriving adults of tomorrow.
The economic importance of family planning also extends to education. For poor rural families, the cost of educating multiple children—even in public schools—can overwhelming. When families have more children than they can financially support, difficult choices often have to be made, with girls withdrawn from school to assist with household chores or to be married off early. Family planning allows parents to have fewer children and thus allocate more resources per child, increasing the likelihood that all children, especially girls, will complete their education.
What Edo government must do now:
Governor Monday Okpebholo must as a matter of urgency, engage all relevant ministries and agencies, including the those of health; women affairs, and other gender-based agencies and partners in spreading the family planning message to enlighten and educate all stakeholders. It must also fulfill its counterpart funding obligations. It must also make family planning components and consumables, accessible and available at all designated centers, especially at rural communities, either free or subsidised.
In conclusion, the economic importance of family planning for rural dwellers in Edo cannot be over emphasized. It is not merely a health intervention but a fundamental economic tool that empowers women, enhances household income, reduces crippling health expenditures, promotes educational attainment, and fosters sustainable community development.
By investing in and promoting accessible family planning services, stakeholders can unlock the immense productive potential of women, enabling them to make informed choices that lead to greater economic security for themselves, their families, and the wider rural economy of the State.
