A comparison of the performance of male and female CBD distributors in Peru

This report presents the results of an operations research project to increase male involvement in family planning in Peru. Two community-based distribution (CBD) programs, PROFAMILIA of Lima and CENPROF of Trujillo, Peru, recruited male contraceptive distributors and compared their performance to that of female distributors recruited at the same time. Both programs found it harder to recruit men than women as distributors. Program supervisors, who were women, were less comfortable with men than with other women, even though there were no differences in distributor compliance with program norms. Male distributors were more likely to serve male clients and sell male methods (condoms), while female distributors were more likely to serve female clients and sell female methods (pills). Men sold as much or more total couple-years of protection than did women, and they recruited as many or more new acceptors. Gender was found to exert an impact on method mix independent of other distributor characteristics, such as age, education, marital status, and number of living children. The study suggests that family planning programs can influence method mix and client characteristics by recruiting men as CBD distributors.