Family planning in rural Uganda: knowledge and use of modern and traditional methods in Ankole.

Ankole has recorded the highest fertility in Uganda over the past several decades. One of the main proximate determinants of fertility in the area is the low level of contraception. A study of knowledge and use of modern and traditional contraceptive methods is reported in this paper. It is shown that higher proportions of women known and practice traditional methods compared with modern ones. Several factors contributing to past low use of modern contraceptives in the area are examined and current contraceptive use is also examined.

PIP: The Ankole have demonstrated the highest fertility in Uganda over the past several decades. The low level of contraceptive prevalence constituting a main proximate determinant of fertility in the region, a study of the knowledge and use of modern and traditional methods was conducted. 2-stage sample survey data from 1984 were employed, and revealed that more women know and practice traditional methods compared with modern ones. Use of any form of contraception, however, remains low. Low use of modern methods was due to lack of knowledge of supply sources, low education, low levels of employment outside of the home, unavailability of supplies, and pronatalist cultures. The author, therefore, recommends several courses of action to reduce fertility in the Ankole. Better-educated women have shown a higher degree of modern contraceptive method use suggesting that government encourage young women to attain higher education levels. Improved employment opportunities for women will also hopefully serve as incentives to limit fertility. The Family Planning Association of Kenya should take advantage of unmet demand for family planning services and supplies, and make supplies more readily available. Additionally, more efficient follow-up services should be developed. Prolonged breast feeding should be encouraged, child health improved, and research conducted on the traditions, norms, customs, and taboos of target populations. As such cultural conflicts serving as obstacles to program success may be more easily overcome. Finally, the author comments that adopting and improving upon some traditional methods will be better accepted than relying wholly upon modern, foreign contraceptive methods.

Family planning in rural Uganda: knowledge and use of modern and traditional methods in Ankole

Ankole has recorded the highest fertility in Uganda over the past several decades. One of the main proximate determinants of fertility in the area is the low level of contraception. A study of knowledge and use of modern and traditional contraceptive methods is reported in this paper. It is shown that higher proportions of women known and practice traditional methods compared with modern ones. Several factors contributing to past low use of modern contraceptives in the area are examined and current contraceptive use is also examined

The value of children as a major influence on fertility in Uganda: a case study of Ankole.

PIP: In the high fertility area of Bankole, a 1985 study of the value of children to the Banyankole was conducted. Information on marriage patterns, perceptions of the pros and cons of children, and the costs and benefits of extended families was obtained through a random sampling of 900 household and surveys of more than 1000 ever-married man and 1000 ever-married women. A total fertility rate of 8.7 exists for the area, with rate differences observed between socioeconomic groups. Of pastoralists, peasants, and cultivators, the pastoralists reported the lowest fertility rate of 7.1, compared to the highest rate from the cultivators of 10.3. Despite the effect of education, employment, and religion in increasing the age of first marriage from 18 years in 1969 to 21.5 by 1985, cultural practices persist in encouraging high fertility levels. Pastoralist male migration for work during dry season, and the female return to her parents' home following delivery may be 2 practices contributing to a comparative lower fertility rate among this group. Absence of taboos regarding postpartum sexual abstinence among the Banyankole is a determinant of high fertility for the Ankole as a whole. With recorded 4% annual growth in the area, and governmental budgetary constraints to shifting funds into the social service sector, politically, culturally, and socially acceptable population policies are needed to combat pronatalist customs of the Ankole.^ieng