Use of the Manyatta Model to Promote Uptake of Family Planning in Hard-to-Reach Communities in Samburu County, Kenya

Introduction: Samburu County has a low modern Contraceptive Prevalence Rate (mCPR) of 25.4% against 57% at the national level. The country is highly patriarchal and men are the key decision-makers in women’s health including family planning. The Delivering Equitable and Sustainable Increase in Family Planning (DESIP) project hypothesized that the Manyatta Model (a model implemented at the homestead level) will contribute to increased uptake of Family Planning (FP) services among the hard-to-reach communities of Samburu North sub-County. Interventions: Through the model, community health promoters (CHPs) conducted health education at the homesteads hereby referred to as Manyatta. The model utilized a structured planning and mobilization strategy dabbed the Tag-Team approach. The model was piloted in six sites supported by DESIP. Quantitative data was collected from July 2019 to June 2020 and also from July 2020 to June 2021 from the link health facility records. This was triangulated with qualitative data from 10 Key Informant Interviews (KIIs) and 6 Focussed Group Discussions (FGDs) conducted with the project beneficiaries in the pilot sites. Findings: The findings indicated that clients initiated on FP (first-time users) increased from 13% (n=835) in (July 2019- June 2021) to 18% (n=1,101) in (July 2020- June 2021) out of the eligible population of 6,286 women of reproductive age 15-49 years. Uptake of Implants improved from 17% in (July 2019-June 2020) to 24% in July 2020- June 2022). From the KIIs and FGDs, it was evident that targeting males especially elders contributed to improving male participation in FP and reproductive health decision-making. This is because the Samburu Community is highly patriarchal. Conclusion: Based on the results of the pilot sites, DESIP proposes scaling up the Manyatta Model, an approach which was made possible by engaging communities in designing their trajectory to better healthcare