The paradox of enhancing male involvement in family planning uptake in rural Tanzania: insights from Bahi District, Dodoma Region

Background Family Planning (FP) is a requirement of global and national legal instruments to ensure its full provision to both men and women. Male involvement in FP is internationally streamlined to ensure it is achieved in resource-constrained countries. However, because of lack of sustainable means of ensuring men are fully engaged, less is documented on male involvement in FP uptake among developing countries. This study examined the paradox of enhancing male involvement in FP uptake in rural Tanzania. Methods The study held from May to July 2022 employed mixed methods, whereby, quantitative and qualitative data were collected. A questionnaire was used to collect quantitative data from 90 respondents in Bahi District, whereas, in-depth interviews were conducted with 25 key informants. Quantitative data such as descriptive statistics including frequencies, cross tabulation and descriptive ratio statistics; categorical outcome predictions to specifically investigate relations; and cluster analysis to determine the relationship between variables related to this study, performing chi-square test was conducted through IBM SPSS software version 26. Besides, a thematic approach was employed for qualitative data to identify and interpret themes in the data set. Results Most men are not effectively involved in FP due to several limitations that revolve around contextual issues emanating from institutional and community settings. It was revealed that 71% of respondents mentioned inefficient practice of specific policies and guidelines as limiting FP uptake. Also, 93% mentioned limited FP method choices for men, whereas 95% argued over the existing myths and misconceptions in the community, with 67% pointing to social norms limiting FP uptake. Religious beliefs were also cited as limiting male involvement in FP matters. Conclusion Male involvement is an essential aspect of effective FP uptake. Given the low male involvement in Bahi District, this study recommends designing participatory programmes to enforce the available policy geared to improving male involvement is imperative. Thus, efforts are needed to ensure friendly environments in health facilities to attract males to accompany their partners for FP services. On the whole, effective community engagement from the local government is encouraged. In this, non-state actors have the opportunity to design effective interventions to address the problem.