Ifakara Health Institute has been awarded a major grant of GBP 35,000 to lead a research initiative aimed at understanding the drivers and influence of household and geographical poverty on health, demand and supply of healthcare in Tanzania.

The project, titled the DEEP Project, derives its name from the Data & Evidence to End Extreme Poverty (DEEP) Challenge Fund, which supports local researchers and analysts, encouraging the development of small to medium-sized research projects. The fund seeks to generate valuable insights for improving national policies and strategies and focuses on reducing poverty and vulnerability to poverty.

Earlier in March this year, Tanzania was announced as the inaugural focus country for the DEEP Challenge Fund. Following a competitive application process, Ifakara Health Institute secured the grant. The project will be led by Dr. Peter Binyaruka, a seasonal research scientist and health economist at Ifakara, serving as the Principal Investigator.

During the DEEP Project’s kick-off meeting held on December 12, 2024, Dr. Binyaruka expressed gratitude for the support and outlined the project’s goals, objectives, timeline, and the team driving the research. The research will focus on exploring poverty-health dynamics to inform effective evidence-based policymaking aimed at breaking the vicious cycle of poverty and health.

The six-month project is scheduled to run from December 2024 to June 2025. Key activities include secondary data analysis, data extraction workshops, stakeholder engagement meetings, and conferences to share updates and disseminate findings.

The DEEP Challenge Fund is a global research consortium led by Oxford Policy Management (OPM) in collaboration with the World Bank’s Development Data Group, with funding from the United Kingdom’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO). It aims to provide evidence and solutions to help eradicate extreme poverty worldwide.

This initiative marks a significant step forward in addressing the interplay between poverty and health in Tanzania, with the potential to influence transformative national strategies.