The countries discussed in this paper are the francophone countries of West Africa and the Republic of Congo, with comparative references made to North Africa (mainly Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia). Obstacles to the adoption of family planning in the countries of tropical Africa are a very high mortality rate among children; a socioeconomic structure that favors high fertility; very low levels of literacy; infrastructure and female participation in non-agricultural jobs; an inadequate health infrastructure; an acute lack of health personnel; and governmental opposition to the idea of population control. If family planning were introduced as an integral part of maternal and child health (MCH), it is believed that the program would have some chance of success. Potential areas of assistance by donor countries in creating a network of MCH centers are: (1) if desired by the countries, building up a "post partum" family planning program in major hospitals of major cities; (2) stimulating the development of MCH centers in both rural and urban areas; (3) offering scholarships for the training of nurse-midwives and developing local facilities for their training; and (4) offering assistance in the fields of census taking and demographic sample surveys. Ten tables present population, demographic, and mortality data. Two appendixes are reprints of two articles. An annex presents a summary of the meeting proceedings. (DB)