Tanzania Awards Grants for Research on Poverty Reduction

Tanzania Allocates Research Grants to Combat Poverty
February 28, 2025

A total of ten research projects in Tanzania have secured funding under the DEEP Challenge Fund. The beneficiaries include Mkwawa University with three projects, the University of Dar es Salaam with two, Ifakara Research Institute, Global Water Partnership Tanzania, Zanzibar Economic Research Centre, and the Economic and Social Research Foundation (ESRF).

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania — Ten groundbreaking research initiatives in Tanzania have been awarded grants to advance efforts in poverty alleviation. The funding comes through the DEEP Challenge Fund, which is designed to support researchers who collect data, information, and statistics on poverty and explore practical solutions to combat it.

The fund, launched in March 2024, is implemented by Oxford Policy Management Tanzania. Its primary goal is to empower Tanzanian researchers with modern techniques for data collection, scientific evidence, and statistics that can be used to evaluate and address poverty.

Dr. Charles Sokile, the organization’s Country Director, stated that the fund would enable Tanzanian researchers to conduct studies that measure poverty more rapidly, cost-effectively, and using modern technology, such as artificial intelligence and big data.

"Traditional poverty measurement methods are often costly and time-consuming, such as national censuses, which can take up to ten years," Dr. Sokile explained. "We’ve introduced alternative methods that can deliver results in a much shorter time frame with an efficiency rate of 80% compared to those long-term methods."

Dr. Sokile emphasized that by adopting these innovative approaches, Tanzanian researchers would be able to collaborate with global experts to develop data-driven solutions. This will ultimately inform government policies that can better support efforts to lift people out of poverty.

Pamela Shao, Senior Advisor for Oxford Policy Management, revealed that after the fund's launch, 154 project proposals were submitted by researchers and research institutions. Of these, ten projects were successful in securing funding, ranging from £5,000 (approximately TSh 13.7 million) to £50,000 (around TSh 150 million).

"Each funded project has demonstrated how it will contribute to strategies for addressing poverty in Tanzania. We are grateful to the researchers and institutions that submitted their projects, and we eagerly anticipate the results that will emerge from their work," said Pamela.

Dr. Rahma Mahfoudh, Executive Secretary of the Zanzibar Planning Commission, noted that the government was closely monitoring the implementation of these projects, which are expected to play a significant role in achieving the country’s poverty eradication goals.

"We are confident that the researchers will use the grants to conduct studies in targeted areas. Our focus is on ensuring that the scientific results from these studies lead us toward the ultimate goal of eradicating poverty in Tanzania," stated Dr. Mahfoudh.