Rapid population growth has already led to serious consequences for Ethiopia, including massive deforestation, a struggling economy, and one of the highest rates of maternal mortality in the world. If the country’s current fertility rate of 5.4 children per woman remains unchanged, Ethiopia’s population will reach 350 million by the year 2050, a figure far too high for significant economic and human development to occur.

Pathfinder was one of the first international organizations to support reproductive health and family planning activities in Ethiopia and continues working today to address this high rate of growth and its reproductive health consequences. Pathfinder’s current reproductive health and family planning work in Ethiopia contains the following components.