Fertility Desires among Married Men in Rural Areas of Tanzania: Implications for Family Welfare and Sustainable Development

High fertility rates remain a major obstacle to family welfare, public health, and socioeconomic growth in Tanzania, especially in rural areas yet married men in these areas strongly desire large families. While understanding its drivers is essential for designing strategies to intervene in the situation research on specific drivers in rural areas is limited. This study aimed to assess the fertility desires among married men in rural areas of Tanzania and its implications for family welfare and sustainable development, specifically the study examines the prevalence of fertility desires among married men, analyzes its implications on family welfare and sustainable development, and examines the drivers for higher fertility rate in rural Tanzania. The study used the 2022 Tanzania Demographic and Health Survey (TDHS) data. A total of 3961 cases were analyzed to obtain the answer for this study. Both descriptive and inferential statistical data analyses were used in making the data analysis. The findings indicated that the fertility rate among married men in rural Tanzania is higher relative to their urban counterparts. Such a high rate implies, among others, that the family's economic welfare will be distorted, and parental care will be limited resulting in moral decay; increased maternal and child health problems, and pressure and depletion of resources will be increased. Men's desire for children is shaped by several factors, including age, education, knowledge of contraception, ideal number of children, number of living children, marital status, frequency of newspaper reading, and wealth index. Given the observed scenario, the study recommends that the government and non-government sectors should establish comprehensive efforts to promote family planning and reproductive health for better utilization of the available resources, encourage couple-based counselling at health facilities, promotion of male contraceptive methods such as condoms and vasectomy