Nicholas Kristof wrote a column pointing to high desired family size in countries he was visiting in Africa, which you can read here: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/20/opinion

Below is his blog on this subject.
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BLOG: Is Consensus Possible on Birth Control?
Date: Thursday, May 20, 2010
Source: The New York Times (U.S.)
Author: NICHOLAS KRISTOF

My column today is about the need for birth control as a key to fighting poverty. In short: let’s make contraception as available as sex. Here are a few extra thoughts I didn’t have space to address.
First, all the numbers on a subject like this are dubious. The U.N. or research groups put out nice reports with figures for all kinds of things, and I sometimes worry that they imply a false precision. The truth is we have very little idea of some of these numbers. For example, the WHO studies have suggested that well over half a million women die each year from pregnancy complications, while a new Lancet study put the number at about 350,000. We don’t know which is right, because nobody really keeps track of women who die in poor parts of the world.
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Contraception is a “best buy” for development. The policy brief located below highlights five “next generation” contraceptives, each of which offers one or more advantages over similar earlier methods. These innovations are among those expected to enter the market within five years.

Contraceptive Choice (PDF, 272 KB)

As the world focuses on the global economic crisis, one of the most trusted, most cost-effective and proven poverty-reduction interventions is in danger of marginalization and neglect, according to a new report. The measure is contraceptive services.

Released to coincide with World Population Day, observed worldwide throughout July, the report, Contraceptives at a Crossroads: Averting a Global Contraceptive Crisis by the International Planned Parenthood Federation described systemic problems that bar individuals and couples from access to reproductive health supplies such as contraception and condoms.

For full article, visit:
http://www.peopleandplanet.net/doc.php%3Fid=3600.html

Opposition to contraception is hurting the Philippines. Each year, more than half of the 3.4 million pregnancies in the country are unplanned, resulting in high costs to women, their families and the national health care system. In addition, this very high rate of unintended pregnancy is impeding the Philippine’s development goals.

Yet this is not an epidemic for which there is no known solution. Unintended pregnancies are highly preventable if women have access to voluntary family planning information and services, particularly modern methods of contraception.

For full article, visit:
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/views-and-analysis

Ask 46-year-old Erlinda Cristobal (real name concealed by request) how many children she has.
“Ten,” she said.

“But I was supposed to have only six,” she snapped in a breath.

After the sixth pregnancy, Cristobal decided that she and her husband, a casual laborer who earns an average of four dollars a day, should not have any more children.

“My husband doesn’t have a stable job. There are days when we don’t eat so that our children can,” she told Xinhua in an interview near her residence in Manila.

For full article, visit:
http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=461829&publicationSubCategoryId=200

A debate is stirring in the predominantly Roman Catholic country of the Philippines: should the government provide contraceptives to the public?

More than 100 members of the House of Representatives have co-authored a bill that would allow government funds to be used to promote artificial contraceptives — which is now prohibited in the Southeast Asian nation.

For full article, visit:
http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/02/08/philippinesa>

The Bush administration this month is quietly cutting off birth control supplies to some of the world’s poorest women in Africa.

Thus the paradox of a “pro-life” administration adopting a policy whose result will be tens of thousands of additional abortions each year — along with more women dying in childbirth.

The saga also spotlights a clear difference between Barack Obama and John McCain. Senator Obama supports U.N.-led efforts to promote family planning; Senator McCain stands with President Bush in opposing certain crucial efforts to help women reduce unwanted pregnancies in Africa and Asia.

For full article, visit:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/09/opinion/09kristof.html

A radio-controlled contraceptive implant that could control the flow of sperm from a man’s testicles is being developed by scientists in Australia.

The device is placed inside the vas deferens – the duct which carries sperm from each testicle to the penis. When closed, it blocks the flow of sperm cells, allowing them to pass again when it is opened via a remote control. The valve could be a switchable alternative to vasectomy, the researchers say.

For full article, visit:
http://technology.newscientist.com/article/dn13232

A growing and heated debate in this predominantly Catholic country revolves around the church’s uncompromising stance against the use of contraceptive devices that is said to be contributing to poverty and affecting the quality of life for many Filipinos.

A group of 15 bishops led some 12,000 protestors at a rally here on Jul. 25 against a proposed House of Representatives bill aimed at devising a national reproductive health policy.

Pulling the other way opinion pieces in the national press have been critical of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s pro-Catholic church stand on population issues. They urged her to make a bold anti-poverty statement in the State of the Nation Address (SONA) that was delivered on Monday.

For full article, visit:
http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=43412

Manila housewife Jasmin is well aware the bigger the family the bigger the potential poverty trap.

“I feel it most when we eat together because the food on the table is not enough,” said the 33-year-old mother of six who had her fallopian tubes tied to avoid getting pregnant. “So, I decided to have ligation because life is hard.”

Artificial birth control is often taboo in this staunchly Roman Catholic country. Yet with a birth rate that is one of the highest in the world, sustainable population growth is becoming a burning issue, especially as millions of poor people struggle to feed themselves at a time of high food prices.

For full article, visit:
http://www.reuters.com