“Could the population gender disparities be the reason people engage in polygamous unions?” asks James Chavula in an article entitled “Polygamy Beyond Numbers,” published in The Nation.
In a recent study by Pakachere on multiple concurrent partners in Malawi, 84% of respondents said they were in monogamous relationships, while 12% were in unions with one co-wife and 3% in relationships with more co-wives.
The researchers also found that polygamy increases with age.
” Whereas only 11% of married men aged 30 to 34 are in polygamous unions, the corresponding proportion of men aged between 50 to 54 was 16%,” the researchers said.
