Ethnicity and contraceptive use in sub-Saharan Africa: The case of Ghana

Using a sub-sample of ever-married women from the 1993 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey (GDHS), this study examines differentials in contraceptive use in six cultural groups: Ga-Adangbe, Twi, Fante/other Akans, Ewe, Guan/others and Mole-Dagbani. Multivariate analysis is used to explore whether reported ethnic differentials in contraceptive use can be attributed to ethnicity or to other characteristics that distinguish the ethnic groups. Overall, the findings are generally more consistent with the 'characteristics' hypothesis, because contraceptive use differentials by ethnic group is accounted for by differences in socioeconomic and demographic characteristics of these women. However, for the Fante/other Akans, even after the necessary controls, ethnicity continued to emerge as a significant determinant of contraceptive use. Programmatic implications of these results are discussed.