DKT Ethiopia’s Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) -supported Rural Social Marketing (RSM) pilot concluded in February, with promising results.

The pilot, a 15-month, $1.1 million grant, expanded on DKT’s mainstream RSM Project (“Lekie”), experimenting with three (3) implementation models for increasing FP demand and uptake in rural Ethiopia.

The models, which tested the value of increased frequency of promotion and distribution activities as well as using Interim Communicators – community-based promoters – resulted in a two to four-fold increase in contraceptive distribution over DKT’s mainstream RSM activity.

DKT has implemented RSM since 2012. The activity leverages the power of markets to assemble geographically diffuse and media-naïve populations at predictable intervals. This allows DKT to build supply and demand for FP in rural areas, where fertility is more than twice as high as in urban areas.

Contact Abeje Israel for more information.