Empowering Women-owned Businesses Through Public Procurement in Tanzania
Project Summary
This study is intended to address the questions on how public procurement programs can be used as effective instruments to enhance women’s participation in high value sectors and work. The research outcome will support the promotion of women-owned SMEs in Public Procurement by understanding the gaps/problem in order to:
provide recommendations for policy guidelines that the government and the private sector can adopt; as well as identify innovative and inclusive policy interventions, to be scaled as well as Develop advocacy strategy and a monitoring tool for tracking women participation in public procurement.
identify problem/gap will also guide the team in concretizing suitable interventions for strengthening needed capacities of women SMEs. (This may include searching for and information sharing, preparing various types of tender documents, leveraging resources, networking, and use of IT among others as critical components of the solution for Women Economic Empowerment (WEE).
Make innovative communication policy strategies to promote and secure the confidence of all procuring entities and by promoting Gender-responsive procurement (GRP) as a powerful tool for improving and promoting WEE and Gender Equality (GE).
To realize the Sustainable Development Goals, (SDGs) especially goal number 5 to which the Government of Tanzania (GoT) is a signatory, the country public procurement systems, including the National Public Procurement Policy, therefore strives to secure the confidence of all procuring entities and discourage socio-economic exclusion including gender-based discrimination as well as to create a well-functioning system that is equitable and transparent.
Overcoming Budget, Attention and Availability Constraints to Healthy Diets in Tanzania
Project Summary
This study was conducted in the urban low-income setting of Temeke District, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, aiming to assess the impact of food subsidies on dietary habits among low-income households. The intervention targeted a population characterized by limited access to nutritious foods, high reliance on processed options, and constrained purchasing power. Using a randomized controlled trial (RCT) design, the project offered vouchers for specific healthy food items, including eggs, UHT milk, and unflavored yogurt, to households in the treatment group. These vouchers were distributed over a three-month period and were intended to promote the consumption of nutritious foods and improve dietary diversity among vulnerable households.
The intervention produced notable outcomes. During the subsidy period, the consumption of the targeted foods increased significantly: UHT milk by 1.635 days and eggs by 2.355 days per week. Even after the intervention, milk consumption remained higher by 0.223 days per week, indicating a potential shift in dietary preferences. However, the study also observed unintended consequences, including increased consumption of unhealthy complements such as added sugar, highlighting the complexity of dietary behavior changes.
The study further explored spillover effects on neighboring households, revealing minimal impact but significant changes in the consumption of soda and juice, suggesting nuanced social and environmental influences on dietary patterns.
These findings emphasize the potential of food subsidies to improve access to and consumption of nutritious foods among low-income populations. However, the results also underscore the need for complementary strategies to address the inadvertent increase in unhealthy food consumption. This project contributes critical insights for policymakers and development practitioners seeking to design effective interventions aimed at improving nutrition and health outcomes in resource-constrained urban settings.
Home-Grown Growth in African Cities: How Self-Build Housing Drives Urban and Economic Growth in Ghana and Tanzania"