The show resonates with viewers and sparks conversations about family size.

Families eagerly gather every week in Kano, Nigeria’s second-largest city, to watch the hit TV show “Gidan Badamasi,” a comedy-drama that focuses on the social effects of large families, according to The New York Times.

Thursday evenings are the time when families gather around their small televisions to watch the fictional story of a wealthy but carefree protagonist who struggles to care for his many children. The presentation highlights the challenges of raising large children in a society that aims to provide education and employment opportunities despite a global shift in birth rates, addressing a very relevant issue across Africa , where a young and large population is growing rapidly.

According to The New York Times report, many African women have many more children than women on other continents: women in Nigeria have on average more than five children, while American and European women have about 1.5, and Chinese women even more less. And recent progress in reducing child mortality in Africa means that more children are surviving into adulthood than ever before.

But the birth rate in Africa is also gradually declining. It has fallen about 38 percent over the past 60 years. This is largely due to education, economics and changing attitudes towards family size, which are evident in conversations sparked by shows like “Gidan Badamasi”, l one of the biggest hits of recent years on the main Hausa language television channel.

“It’s a very bad habit to raise children he can’t take care of,” said Sani Ibrahim, 53, a school principal and father of six siblings. New York Times.

“It’s a problem for me,” he said, “to have so many children. »

North and Southern Africa have long been experiencing “fertility transitions,” that is, significant reductions in their birth rates. But across much of the rest of Africa, fertility has remained generally high.

“Gidan Badamasi” had a “massive and instant” effect, sparking discussions about reducing family size. It succeeded, many viewers told The New York Times, where many international organizations had failed.

“You can’t come to this part of the world and say people shouldn’t get married, people shouldn’t give birth to lots of children, people should use birth control,” said the main writer of the series, Nazir Adam Salih.