Trends in Contraceptive Prevalence in Sub-Saharan Africa: The Roles of Family Planning Programs and Education

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Bongaarts ◽  
Karen Hardee
Keyword(s):  
Family Planning ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Family Planning Programs ◽  
Contraceptive Prevalence ◽  
Sub Saharan

scholarly journals Human fertility in relation to education, economy, religion, contraception, and family planning programs

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Frank Götmark ◽  
Malte Andersson
Keyword(s):  
Family Planning ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Gdp Per Capita ◽  
World Population ◽  
Relative Importance ◽  
Health Food ◽  
Family Planning Programs ◽  
Five Factors ◽  
Per Capita ◽  
Sub Saharan

Abstract Background The world population is expected to increase greatly this century, aggravating current problems related to climate, health, food security, biodiversity, energy and other vital resources. Population growth depends strongly on total fertility rate (TFR), but the relative importance of factors that influence fertility needs more study. Methods We analyze recent levels of fertility in relation to five factors: education (mean school years for females), economy (Gross Domestic Product, GDP, per capita), religiosity, contraceptive prevalence rate (CPR), and strength of family planning programs. We compare six global regions: E Europe, W Europe and related countries, Latin America and the Caribbean, the Arab States, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Asia. In total, 141 countries are included in the analysis. We estimate the strength of relationships between TFR and the five factors by correlation or regression and present the results graphically. Results In decreasing order of strength, fertility (TFR) correlates negatively with education, CPR, and GDP per capita, and positively with religiosity. Europe deviates from other regions in several ways, e.g. TFR increases with education and decreases with religiosity in W Europe. TFR decreases with increasing strength of family planning programs in three regions, but only weakly so in a fourth, Sub-Saharan Africa (the two European regions lacked such programs). Most factors correlated with TFR are also correlated with each other. In particular, education correlates positively with GDP per capita but negatively with religiosity, which is also negatively related to contraception and GDP per capita. Conclusions These results help identify factors of likely importance for TFR in global regions and countries. More work is needed to establish causality and relative importance of the factors. Our novel quantitative analysis of TFR suggests that religiosity may counteract the ongoing decline of fertility in some regions and countries.

scholarly journals Male involvement in family planning; an often neglected determinant of contraceptive prevalence in Sub-Saharan Africa

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (9) ◽  
pp. 260
Author(s):  
Mamah Johnbosco ◽  
Okafor Love ◽  
Egbuji Chuma ◽  
Mgbafulu Christian ◽  
Ibo Chukwunenye ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Family Planning ◽  
Child Health ◽  
Maternal And Child Health ◽  
Male Involvement ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Reproductive Health Services ◽  
International Conference ◽  
Contraceptive Prevalence ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
And Child Health

<p class="abstract">For more than two decades, there have been efforts to include men in family planning programmes. Male involvement was first echoed on a global scale at the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) plan of action, Cairo 1994.<strong> </strong>This article is aimed at highlighting the importance of male involvement in increasing contraceptive prevalence in Sub-Saharan Africa.<strong> </strong>A literature search using Google, Google scholar, PubMed, Hinary, Medical textbooks and related journals. Relevant articles were extracted and used for this review.<strong> </strong>Majority of the literature assessed showed alienation of men in family planning and other reproductive health services despite the declaration made at the International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo, 1994. Findings also showed significant level of awareness of modern family planning methods amongst men but very low support for its use by themselves and/or their spouses or partners. Some of the reasons for such apathy include fears of side effects, non-availability, high cost and ignorance. The importance of involving men in family planning services cannot be over stressed. There are overwhelming evidence that with male support, there would be greater uptake and sustained use of family planning. This will lead to improved maternal and child health indices especially in our setting where the burden of the morbidity and mortality of maternal and child health is greatest.</p>

scholarly journals Trends in contraceptive prevalence rates in sub-Saharan Africa since the 2012 London Summit on Family Planning: results from repeated cross-sectional surveys

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (7) ◽  
pp. e904-e911 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saifuddin Ahmed ◽  
Yoonjoung Choi ◽  
Jose G Rimon ◽  
Souleymane Alzouma ◽  
Peter Gichangi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Family Planning ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Prevalence Rates ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Contraceptive Prevalence ◽  
Sub Saharan

scholarly journals Trends in fertility and fertility preferences in sub-Saharan Africa: the roles of education and family planning programs

Genus ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 76 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
John Bongaarts
Keyword(s):  
Family Planning ◽  
Family Size ◽  
Fixed Effects ◽  
Population Policy ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
High Fertility ◽  
Family Planning Programs ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Desired Family Size ◽  
Dhs Surveys

Abstract A common explanation for the high fertility prevailing in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is a widespread desire for large families. This situation poses a challenge to population policy-makers in the continent. If the desired family size is high, then presumably family planning programs can only have a limited effect on fertility because these programs aim to assist women in achieving their reproductive goals. But this conclusion is based on the assumption that family planning programs do not affect the desired family size, which is questionable and is investigated here. This study examines the determinants of trends wanted and unwanted fertility in SSA using fixed-effects regressions of country-level data. The dependent variables include the total fertility rate, and its wanted and unwanted components. Explanatory variables include a family planning program score and four socioeconomic variables (women’s educational attainment, child mortality, GNI per capita, and percent urban). Data come from 103 DHS surveys in 25 countries in SSA with at least two DHS surveys between 1989 and 2019. Women’s education and family planning programs are found to be the dominant determinants of fertility decline and their effects operate by reducing both wanted and unwanted fertility. The effects of education are not surprising but the finding that family planning programs can reduce wanted fertility implies that their impact can be larger than conventional wisdom suggests. Indeed, in a few poor countries, the implementation of high-quality programs has been associated with substantial declines in wanted fertility (e.g., Ethiopia, Malawi, Rwanda). The mechanism through which this effect operates is unclear but likely involves media programs that diffuse knowledge about the benefits of smaller families.

Fragile, Threatened, and Still Urgently Needed: Family Planning Programs in Sub-Saharan Africa

2009 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 147-154 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roy Jacobstein ◽  
Lynn Bakamjian ◽  
John M. Pile ◽  
Jane Wickstrom
Keyword(s):  
Family Planning ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Family Planning Programs ◽  
Sub Saharan

Change and Continuity in Kassena Men's Perceptions of Family Planning in Northern Ghana

2018 ◽  
Vol 77 (2) ◽  
pp. 135-145 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lauren Wallace ◽  
Philip Baba Adongo
Keyword(s):  
Family Planning ◽  
Family Formation ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Northern Ghana ◽  
Family Planning Programs ◽  
Upper East Region ◽  
Intergenerational Change ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Companionate Marriage ◽  
The Impact

Studies suggest that men's perceptions of family planning in sub-Saharan Africa would be improved if they were included more extensively in family planning programs. However, few studies capture how men's views change over time and what processes are responsible for these shifts. Examining the processes that underpin men's shifting family formation strategies is essential in order to understand the impact of family planning programs. This research, framed by a political economy of fertility approach that draws on life history data, highlights intergenerational change and continuity in men's perceptions of family planning in Kassena-Nankana West District of the Upper East Region of Ghana, where a family planning program involving men was implemented in the 1990s. Eight months of ethnographic fieldwork was conducted in rural village and clinic settings in 2013 and 2014. We find that men's sense of responsibility for the cost of schooling, against a changing economic backdrop, as well as shifts toward “companionate marriage” are among the most salient factors contributing to their growing approval of family planning. This study highlights the importance of paying attention to changes in the larger socioeconomic context that encourage men's acceptance of family planning. We argue that programs incorporating men should move beyond health education to consider broader social and economic drivers of attitudinal change.

scholarly journals Promoting Scale-Up Across a Global Project Platform: Lessons from the Evidence to Action Project

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Ghiron ◽  
Eric Ramirez-Ferrero ◽  
Rita Badiani ◽  
Regina Benevides ◽  
Alexis Ntabona ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Family Planning ◽  
Scale Up ◽  
Scaling Up ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Health System Strengthening ◽  
Country Level ◽  
Look Ahead ◽  
Republic Of The Congo ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Multi Stakeholder

AbstractThe USAID-funded flagship family planning service delivery project named Evidence to Action (E2A) worked from 2011 to 2021 to improve family planning and reproductive health for women and girls across seventeen nations in sub-Saharan Africa using a “scaling-up mindset.” The paper discusses three key lessons emerging from the project’s experience with applying ExpandNet’s systematic approach to scale up. The methodology uses ExpandNet/WHO’s scaling-up framework and guidance tools to design and implement pilot or demonstration projects in ways that look ahead to their future scale-up; develop a scaling-up strategy with local stakeholders; and then strategically manage the scaling-up process. The paper describes how a scaling-up mindset was engendered, first within the project’s technical team in Washington and then how they subsequently sought to build capacity at the country level to support scale-up work throughout E2A’s portfolio of activities. The project worked with local multi-stakeholder resource teams, often led by government officials, to equip them to lead the scale-up of family planning and health system strengthening interventions. Examples from project experience in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Nigeria, and Uganda illustrating key concepts are discussed. E2A also established a community of practice on systematic approaches to scale up as a platform for sharing learning across a variety of technical agencies engaged in scale-up work and to create learning opportunities for interacting with thought leaders around critical scale-up issues.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document