'As a young girl, I always dreamt to have a big family of 5 girls and a boy. This is because I am the only girl in the midst of 4 boys. When I felt lonely, I imagined an alternative reality where I had sisters.

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Becoming a mother at 22, I asked myself, "Chioma, do you still want to have 5 children?" I had to rethink my dream not because of my experiences of motherhood, but because I became a conservation biologist and saw how population affects the use of natural resources. The landmass of my country never increases, but its population does.  I have seen conflict between farmers and pastoralists because both groups seek for food for their families. Yet we keep increasing in number.

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In my culture, the number of children you have determines the level of respect given to you as a woman. But this is gradually changing. In the former days, a woman can give birth to 11 children and more, until 6 children became the minimum. Now most couples are content with 3 children.

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For me, I no longer desire to have 5 children but to have 2. This is my choice, not because I am coerced but because I believe I should be part of the solution we face with this planet.'