Introduction

Family planning, as defined by contemporary institutions such as the World Health Organization (WHO)
and the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF), refers to the range of techniques through
which a couple decides the number of children to have, if any, and how to plan or schedule a woman’s
pregnancies. American and European women’s reproductive health advocates—most famously the
American activist Margaret Sanger—coined the phrase “family planning” in the 1930s to bring together
the concerns of multiple constituencies, including Malthusians who feared the effects of population
growth, and advocates of women’s reproductive freedom and health. As a global movement, “family
planning” consists of networks of institutions, funds, and the dissemination of new kinds of
contraceptive technology. The modern family planning movement, which links spatially broad
demographic goals with women’s reproductive lives, emerged in Africa in the colonial era through the
efforts of a range of actors, including missionaries, European colonial administrators, and medical
professionals. Many of the early family planning clinics in Africa were voluntary dues-paying
organizations. By the late 1960s, many family planning clinics were incorporated into a global network of
IPPF affiliate branches, (The International Planned Parenthood Federation: a global non-governmental
organisation with the broad aims of promoting sexual and reproductive health, and advocating the right
of individuals to make their own choices in family planning) and African government health systems,
with support from international donor organizations, including the Pathfinder Fund, the Population
Council, and USAID(United States Agency for International Development). Yet family planning in Africa is
not simply the wholesale importation of a concept envisioned by Margaret Sanger in 1930s Brooklyn
into African contexts. For one thing, as the historian Megan Vaughan has argued, “the family” is not a
static or uniform concept, but has changed over time and across cultural and historical contexts, and as
such, “family planning” does not unfold in a uniform way across the globe. Moreover, while
international development organizations define family planning as having two goals—spacing and timing
pregnancies, and limiting the number of children in a family—many Africans value the former and not
the latter.

The first population intervention trial was conducted in the 1950s, in the form of a clinical trial with an
intervention area and a control area, in the Punjab province of India, around the village of Khanna, in
1954–1959 . India was the first country to officially adopt a family planning program in 1952. Following
this trial, many family planning programs were implemented in most Third World countries, in Asia,
Latin America, the Middle-East, North Africa and later in sub-Saharan Africa.

Kenya held the world record in fertility at the time of independence, and was a pioneer for family
planning in Africa. Kenya held the world record in fertility at the time of independence, and was a
pioneer for family planning in Africa. Modern contraception was introduced in Kenya in 1957 and the
first clinics distributing modern contraceptives began in 1960. The Kenyan Family Planning Association
(FPAK) was created in 1962 and the national family planning program was launched in 1967, the first
national program in sub-Saharan Africa, then expanded in 1975.

The history of family planning in Nigeria has been marked by several major handicaps: lack of political
commitment and recurrent political instability; on social grounds, strong resistance from traditional and
religious authorities, especially Muslims in the north and Catholics in the south, as well as sexual taboos,
rumors and frontal opposition to certain methods of contraception from selected groups; at
organizational level, poor organization and mismanagement of the program, and in particular low
reliance on community activities. However, family planning had started early, in 1962, with the creation
of an association (Family Planning Council of Nigeria). As in Ghana, but later, a population policy was
adopted in 1989 (National Population Policy for Development, Unity, Progress, and Self-Reliance),
followed by an awareness campaign (1992), but they were not successful and did not have an impact as
in Ghana, although an ambitious goal of four children per woman has been recently adopted. The family
planning program was reactivated in 2004, then in 2012, but so far had only modest effects in rural
areas.

Benefits of Family Planning

Ensuring access to voluntary family planning helps manage rapid population growth by preventing
unintended pregnancies while reducing maternal and child mortality, and improving the health and
economic well-being of families and communities. Research demonstrates that family planning is an
essential component of achieving development goals for health, poverty reduction, gender equality, and
environmental sustainability

The United Nations estimates that every dollar spent on family planning saves between $2 to $6 in
interventions aimed at achieving other development goals.4 When combined with progressive
development policies, family planning reduces poverty and stimulates economic growth because:

Fertility decline after a period of rapid growth produces a temporary window of opportunity for a
nation’s economy as the size of the dependent population is reduced in relation to the size of the
working population. The large base of workers with fewer dependents means there are more resources
available for health, education, infrastructure, and job creation.

Helping women and families prevent unintended pregnancies and unwanted births makes it easier for
communities to pace development with population growth. This enables a community to expand health
care, build schools, and develop infrastructure and employment opportunities as the population grows.
The nation can invest more in the quality of care instead of struggling to keep pace with the quantity of
services.

Planned childbearing makes it easier for parents, especially women, to achieve education and career
goals, which raise family income. When countries develop and fertility declines, the proportion of
women earning wages rises sharply.
Family planning programs reduce inequality between women in different socioeconomic groups.
Unintended childbearing is most common among poor, rural, and uneducated women. Countries that
effectively reach people in these communities with family planning have fewer socioeconomic
differences in unplanned reproductive health outcomes.

Family planning provides many benefits to mother, children, father, and the family.

Mother

Enables her to regain her health after delivery.

Gives enough time and opportunity to love and provide attention to her husband and children.

Gives more time for her family and own personal advancement.

When suffering from an illness, gives enough time for treatment and recovery.

Children

Healthy mothers produce healthy children.

Will get all the attention, security, love, and care they deserve.

Father

Lightens the burden and responsibility in supporting his family.

Enables him to give his children their basic needs (food, shelter, education, and better future).

Gives him time for his family and own personal advancement.

When suffering from an illness, gives enough time for treatment and recovery.

National Population Policy in Nigeria

Nigeria’s Population Policies of 1988 and 2004 The government of Nigeria promulgated her first
population policy in 1988 which was a consequence of the effects of the rapid population growth
(Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1988). One major part of the policy is the specification of targets,
which shows a strong interest of the government to alter the reproductive behaviour of Nigerians.
The targets include: “the protection of the health of mother and child; to reduce the proportion of
women who get married before the age of 18 years by 50 per cent by 1995 and by 80 per cent by the
year 2000; to reduce the proportion of women bearing more than four children by 50 per cent by
1995 and by 80 per cent by the year 2000; to extend the coverage of family planning service to 50
per cent of women of childbearing age by 1995 and 80 per cent by year 2000; to reduce the number
of children a woman is likely to have during her lifetime, now over 6, to 4 per woman by year 2000
and reduce the present rate of population growth from about 3.3 per cent per year to 2.5 per cent by
1995 and 2.0 per cent by the year 2000” (Federal Republic of Nigeria 1988: 13-14). It is clear from
the above targets that the government wanted the total fertility rate to drop to four (4) live births
per woman. In addition, the government expected the use of contraceptives to increase within
women of child bearing age. In summary, the policy was aimed at improving the quality of life of an
average Nigerian by reducing fertility through the provision of family planning services across the
nation. The revised edition of the policy was published in 2004. The policy identified new challenges
that came up from the 1991 National Population Census, 1994 International Conference on
Population and Development, 1999 HIV/AIDS summit in Abuja, and 2000-2015 Millennium
Development Goals. These challenges were pointers to a possible significant relationship between
population and health. The policy also has some specific targets which include: “Achieving a
reduction of the National population growth rate to 2% or lower by the year 2015; a reduction in the
total fertility rate of at least 0.6 children every five years; increase the modern contraceptive
prevalence rate by at least 2 percentage point per year; reduce infant mortality rate to 35 per
1,000 live births by 2015; reduce child mortality rate to 45 per 1,000 live births by 2015; reduce
maternal mortality to 125 per 100,000 live births by 2010 and 75 by 2015; achieve a 25 percent
reduction in HIV adult prevalence." ( Federal Republic of Nigeria, 2004)