Can Family Planning Programs Reduce High Desired Family Size in Sub-Saharan Africa?

During the past half century, fertility declines have been pervasive in Asia and Latin America. Between the early 1950s and the early 2000s, the total fertility rate (TFR)-the average number of live births a woman would have during her lifetime, assuming constant fertility rates-dropped from 5.7 to 2.4 births per woman in Asia and from 5.9 to 2.3 births per woman in Latin America.1 Only a handful of countries in these regions still have fertility rates higher than four births per woman. In Sub-Saharan Africa, however, fertility remains high in the large majority of countries. Although some declines have occurred, the average total fertility rate in 2005-2010 exceeded 5.1 births per woman-more than double the levels observed in Asia and Latin America.