Factors of early pregnancy among adolescent girls in the prefecture of tandjouare in northern Togo: context and approaches to solutions

It is a fact that the phenomenon of teenage pregnancies is progressing to the point of becoming, in the words of Khiari, "not a problem of society, but a problem in society" (Billy D. A., 214, p.2) The precocity of teenage pregnancies in Togo compromises or prevents these teenagers being kept or retained in the education system, thus reducing their potential to contribute to achieving the demographic dividend. Teenage girls in the prefecture of Tandjoaré in northern Togo are no exception to this reality. The objective of this article aims to analyze the factors that expose adolescent girls to early fecundity. A mixed methodology (quantitative and qualitative) was used. The survey covers 74 teenage mothers and interviews with resource persons. The teenage mothers were randomly selected from seven localities in the prefecture of Tandjaoré. The data collected was processed and analyzed using Cspro and arcgis software for maps. It appears that the early fertility of adolescent girls is due to the precociousness of their engaging in sexual activities (23% before the age of 15 and 95% before the age of 17), the weakening of parental control and traditional considerations or norms, the lack of information and education in matters of sexuality, a low percentage (8%) of use of contraceptive methods. It should also be added to the above factors, precarious economic conditions of households and the low level of education of young girls. About 61% of respondents are illiterate versus only 0.57% who have schooled beyond secondary education level.