The 1993 Kenya Demographic and Health Survey (KDHS) was a nationally representative survey of 7,540 women age 15-49 and 2,336 men age 20-54. The KDHS was designed to provide information on levels and trends of fertility, infant and child mortality, family planning knowledge and use, maternal and child health, and knowledge of AIDS. In addition, the male survey obtained data on men's knowledge and attitudes towards family planning and awareness of AIDS. The data are intended for use by programme managers and policymakers to evaluate and improve family planning and matemal and child health programmes. Fieldwork for the KDHS took place from mid-February until mid-August 1993. All areas of Kenya were covered by the survey, except for seven northem districts which together contain less than four percent of the country's population. The KDHS was conducted by the National Council for Population and Development (NCPD) and the Central Bureau of Statistics of the Government of Kenya. Macro International Inc. provided financial and technical assistance to the project through the intemational Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) contract with the U.S. Agency for International Development. OBJECTIVES The KDHS is intended to serve as a source of population and health data for policymakers and the research community. It was designed as a follow-on to the 1989 KDHS, a national-level survey of similar size that was implemented by the same organisations. In general, the objectives of KDHS are to: assess the overall demographic situation in Kenya, assist in the evaluation of the population and health programmes in Kenya, advance survey methodology, and assist the NCPD to strengthen and improve its technical skills to conduct demographic and health surveys. The KDHS was specifically designed to: provide data on the family planning and fertility behaviour of the Kenyan population to enable the NCPD to evaluate and enhance the National Family Planning Programme, measure changes in fertility and contraceptive prevalence and at the same time study the factors which affect these changes, such as marriage patterns, urban/rural residence, availability of contraception, breastfeeding habits and other socioeconomic factors, and examine the basic indicators of maternal and child health in Kenya. KEY FINDINGS The 1993 KDHS reinforces evidence of a major decline in fertility which was first revealed by the findings of the 1989 KDHS. Fertility continues to decline and family planning use has increased. However, the disparity between knowledge and use of family planning remains quite wide. There are indications that infant and under five child mortality rates are increasing, which in part might be attributed to the increase in AIDS prevalence.
