Differential Analysis of Male Fertility in Central Africa: The Case of Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Congo, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Chad

Given the challenges of population growth and the decision-making power of men within the family sphere in Central Africa, this article focuses on the differential analysis of male fertility. Various difficulties arise in conducting such an analysis, which explains the limited interest in demographic research on male fertility. Among these challenges are the biological characteristics that position men as observers of the reproduction process, while women are at the heart of human reproduction. This difference has directed fertility data collection towards mothers, creating a gap in data regarding men. To address this gap, we combine the "birth configuration" with the "date of the last birth" method to quantify male fertility using the total fertility rate (TFR). Evaluating birth stability allows for the selection of the last 36 months to account for live births. This SFI is 9 children in Chad, 7.3 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 6.9 in the Central African Republic, 4.7 in Cameroon, and 4.6 in Congo. Given the variation in these data, negative binomial regression with zero inflation was used to identify characteristics that influence male reproduction. The results show a reducing effect from education, modernization, Islam, contraception, and standard of living, while sexual multi-partnering and marriage increase offspring. Age at first sexual intercourse has no influence on male reproduction.