Levels, Patterns, Differentials and Trends of Male Fertility in Sub- Saharan Africa. What Can We Learn from Demographic and Health Surveys?

Male fertility has been largely neglected in demographic research (Coleman, 2000; Greene and Biddlecom, 2000; Zhang, 2011). Although the role of men in fertility decisions and changes has received increased attention since 1990s (DeRose, and Ezeh, 2005; Greene and Biddlecom, 2000; Zulu, 1997), the patterns, levels, changes and determinants of male fertility have remained an understudied research area (Zhang, 2011). Various reasons have been described for explaining this lack of studies (Greene and Biddlecom, 2000; Zhang, 2011; Estee, 2004): the larger and less clearly defined age range of reproduction among males, the fact that males may be unaware of some of their progeny, data quality issues,... On the other hand, there are also good reasons why male fertility should be studied (Zhang, 2011). It includes methodological motivations, theoretical reasons, policy issues1, etc.