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This paper by the Sustainable Development Department of the Food and Agricultural Organisation, explores the availability, accessibility and affordability of reproductive health services in sub-Saharan Africa. It reviews the current situation and proposes some solutions to respond to the unmet need for family planning. Barriers to available and accessible family planning services in Africa, especially in rural areas include: lack of strong government commitment; lack of communication between urban centres and rural areas; and lack of adequate resources. The paper also examines the relevance of existing reproductive health strategies to rural populations and highlights several questions that warrant further exploration. These include what can be done to redress the rural-urban imbalances in policies and programmes, and to what extent can the reproductive health needs of rural people be met by relying primarily on urban-centered strategies?

The paper concludes that the reproductive health needs of rural people should not be overlooked. To correct the existing rural-urban imbalances, policy-makers and service providers need to be more active in assessing the relative merits of different service delivery approaches, and developing effective strategies to specifically address the needs for rural inhabitants. There is no one model for delivery of reproductive health services and it is therefore necessary to look at what type of service is appropriate in a given socio-cultural context. [adapted from author]

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