Has the Navrongo Project in Northern Ghana Been Successful in Altering Fertility Preferences?

Has the Navrongo Community Health and Family Planning (CHFP) Project been successful in changing fertility preferences? Using linked data from panel surveys conducted in the Kassena-Nankana district of northern Ghana in 1995 and 2002 as part of the CHFP, we compare reproductive behavior against prior fertility preferences and show the transition of women from wanting to not wanting more children. Descriptive and multinomial logistic regression results show that the acceptance of smaller family sizes (i.e., 1–3 children) and high proportions of women reporting no intention to have more children in the future reflect that the combination of mobilizing community volunteerism and retraining and redeploying nurses to village-based locations results in a change in reproductive behavior. Implications for policy are discussed.