DEEP Challenge Fund for Poverty Reduction (Tanzania)

Preference for awards will be given to proposals that actively engage national policy makers in the identification of research topics that address national strategy, policy and programmatic issues, and which involve policy makers in the communication and uptake of results.

Local policy and research communities are helping to define the scope of the Challenge Fund to ensure that commissioned research meets identified evidence gaps and supports ongoing initiatives in extreme poverty reduction that can make a difference to people’s lives.

Aims

• The Tanzania DEEP Challenge Fund aims to encourage national researchers and analysts to develop and deliver small and medium research projects that would help to generate insights and improve national strategy, policy and programmes affecting poverty and vulnerability to poverty.
• Applicants are encouraged to develop their own ideas; expand on the techniques, ideas and insights that DEEP has been developing over the last three years; analyse under-analysed datasets; undertake small and innovative qual-quant case studies, and develop ideas and analysis that are particularly relevant to current national policy and programmes or to the emerging Vision 2050.
• Proposals can include partnering with members of the DEEP consortium, especially if this facilitates the learning of new analysis techniques (such as Big Data analysis, small area estimation techniques, or poverty dynamics using synthetic panels), new insights about the drivers of poverty (such as climate change, COVID, urbanisation, migration, conflict, social exclusion and social norms), or analysis on ‘what works?’ in relation to government policies and programmes that include poverty reduction objectives.

Scope

• Applications covering a wide thematic area that relates to poverty will be accepted, as the DEEP programme uses a multidimensional understanding of poverty. Applicants should emphasise how their proposed project explicitly contributes to research on poverty in instances where the scope of the project may otherwise be less obviously related to DEEP’s core objectives.
• Applications are particularly encouraged to propose poverty related research in the following areas and pertaining to the following groups:
  • Social protection
  • Urban poverty
  • Land access and tenure
  • Political voice
  • Formal employment
  • Youth
  • People with disabilities

Funding Information

• They will allocate between £5,000 and £50,000 per research project. Currently, there is up to £200,000 available to fund research projects in Tanzania.
• The research should start by early to mid June and be completed six months after the award date.
• Being part of the fund offers a great opportunity for researchers and analysis. Benefits include:
  • The advantages of possible collaborative work within the DEEP consortium
  • Guidance and support from the DEEP team
  • Quality assurance from the Tanzania National Steering Committee, and
  • The prospect of presenting research findings at the DEEP Scientific Conference in early 2025.

Who can apply?

• Organisations, institutions, and individuals working on poverty reduction in Tanzania are encouraged to apply for a Challenge Fund grant.
• They will give priority to Tanzania-based researchers. They would also welcome partnerships between established research institutions and lesser-known institutions, or organisations and individuals. Proposals can include partnering with members of the DEEP consortium.

For more information, visit DEEP.