Sub-Saharan Africa is the region with the highest fertility rate and lowest contraceptive prevalence in the World. However, the rate of contraceptive use does not entirely match the levels of expected fertility. Efforts to solve this enigma have led researchers to wonder about hidden means of fertility regulation that were not adequately measured in international surveys. Recent literature has indicated that women in West and Middle Africa have marked preferences for traditional means of birth control (such as the calendar method and withdrawal) but tend to under-declare them. In parallel, sexual inactivity within marriage seems to be a widespread phenomenon in sub-Saharan Africa, and researchers are wondering whether abstinence is a prevalent (but unmeasured) means of birth control. This thesis tries to find out whether abstinence is indeed a common yet hidden means of contraception, and to ascertain the potential contraceptive needs of sexually inactive couples.