Family planning programs in sub-Saharan Africa (42 countries and 450 million population), the fastest growing and poorest region in the world, need effective communications campaigns to educate people about the benefits of contraception, help change attitudes about fertility control and family size, and provide information about available contraceptive methods and family planning services. Radio, an important medium in areas where a strong oral tradition and low literacy exist, is the most effective way to reach people in sub-Saharan African because of its credibility, portability, immediacy, flexibility, imaginative potential, and relatively inexpensive production costs. For family planning communications, radio's limitations include the difficulty of transmitting a complicated idea over the air, and the communicator's lack of control over the medium. Therefore, family planning communicators should use radio as part of a multi-media campaign, in conjunction with personal communication, and should use culturally acceptable messages presented in an interesting way. Family planning programs in other areas of the world--including Columbia's PROFAMILIA, the Jamaica Family Planning Association, and the Johns Hopkins University/Population Communications Service--have used radio programming with varying success. However, innovative approaches based on strong audience research can be used successfully to promote family planning in sub-Saharan Africa, despite cultural barriers and a generally unreceptive audience. (Twenty-seven references are attached.) (MM)