DEEP Tanzania Challenge Fund awards first six grants to researchers focussing on poverty reduction

Applications for the DEEP Tanzania Challenge Fund opened in March and more than 150 proposals were submitted. Of these, ten will be successful and the first six to receive funding have now been announced. The winning applicants are:

• Global Water Partnership Tanzania, for a project training AI to produce data on extreme poverty distribution using modern water-access indicators as a measure
• Francisco M. P. Mugizi, for a project examining whether membership of self-help groups, offering financial support, is successful in protecting agricultural workers against financial shocks
• University of Dar es Salaam, for a project investigating how climate variability is hampering young people’s participation in the agricultural sector
• The Open University, for a project looking at whether the emotional and societal challenges that can push caregivers of children with disabilities into poverty are mitigated if mothers are members of a supportive collective
• Zanzibar Research Center for Socio-economic Research, for a project which is creating a digital dynamic poverty registry for mapping and identifying households living in poverty
• Ifakara Health Institute, for a project examining the geographical and financial barriers to healthcare for those living in poverty and how lack of access to healthcare can exacerbate ill-health and act as a driver for poverty

Part of the selection criteria was that research projects must support ongoing initiatives tackling extreme poverty and that they address existing evidence gaps. These gaps were identified in consultation with local policy and research communities and other key stakeholders as well as being highlighted using an Evidence Gap Map of poverty research.

A National Steering Committee, made up of government representatives, academics, donors and members of civil society, approved the successful projects. It was also involved in developing and approving the strategy of the Tanzania DEEP Challenge Fund and, going forward, it will monitor progress and provide ongoing support to awardees. It will also support dissemination of the project outputs and identify policy impact opportunities, ensuring the research has the maximum possible impact.

Steering committee member and Executive Secretary of the Zanzibar Planning Commission, Dr. Rahma Mahfoudh, said: “We look forward to seeing how this project evolves and contributes to our collective mission of eradicating poverty.”

Pamela Shao, Senior Consultant and OPM Tanzania Country Manager said: ‘We are so excited to be announcing the first tranche of winners of the DEEP Tanzania Challenge Fund. Each of the research projects is innovative and scalable and has the potential to make a valuable contribution to poverty alleviation in Tanzania. We’re grateful for the contributions of every researcher and institution that submitted applications and are looking forward to working with the winners as their projects come to fruition.’

DEEP Challenge Funds are also running in Ethiopia and Bangladesh with the DEEP Bangladesh Challenge Fund opening to applicants on 12 December. Applications for the DEEP Ethiopia Challenge Fund are now closed, and successful research projects will be announced shortly.

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About DEEP: Data and Evidence to End Extreme Poverty (DEEP), is a consortium of the Universities of Cornell, Copenhagen, and Southampton led by Oxford Policy Management, in partnership with the World Bank’s Development Data Group and funded by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office. DEEP’s focus countries are Bangladesh, Ethiopia, India, Madagascar, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nigeria and Tanzania.