This is the fourth medium term strategic plan (MTSP) since ESRF started operations in 1994. Throughout its existence ESRF has benefited from generous grants provided by numerous stakeholders led by Government and the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF), allowing it to undertake its strategic mandate of providing evidence-based policy advice and building the capacity of public and private sector operators in policy analysis and application.
During its start-up phase, the Government of Tanzania provided technical and legal expertise in setting up the institution and donated land and buildings for its offices. For most of its first eight years of operation ACBF provided most of the funding needed for both research work and staff salaries. However, since 2003 the Foundation has been challenged to identify alternative sources of core funding for its operations, a task that has not been easy. As part of implementing Phase III of the strategic plan (2004-2008) the Government of Tanzania has generously provided an annual grant of USD 100-150,000 as core institutional support grant. This was part of an agreement for ACBF approving a conditional research grant of USD 1.5 million, expected to be exhausted in 2009.
This has allowed ESRF to undertake both research and to disseminate research results. Other grantors so far include the (i) United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), which has supported the operations of a knowledge management programme (www.tzonline.or.tz) and a post-graduate diploma programme (PGD) in collaboration with UNICEF (www.esrftz.org/ma); (ii) The Ford Foundation, which has provided funds for post-graduate scholarships (Masters and PhD) locally and overseas (www.esrftz.org/ifp); and (iii) the Norwegian Government and IDRC, which has funded research on regional integration for SADC (www.foprisa.net) and institutional network of research centres in SADC and EAC (www.seapren.org). DANIDA and DFID have also contributed in running phase III of the strategic plan.

Through ESRF’s own research agenda and in collaboration with regional and international research institutions it has been possible to produce reports with policy recommendations for application by the government of Tanzania, the East African Community and SADC. ESRF has also been actively involved in formulating and assessing the implementation of national strategies for economic growth and poverty reduction as well as enhancing good governance of people, systems and natural resources.

In order to effectively implement the fourth phase of ESRF MTSP, a total of USD14 million will be needed over a period of four years to cover, among others, research agenda (USD5.77m); capacity building and policy dialogues (USD1.82m); and knowledge management, networking and dissemination (USD 3.28m). In research, there are four main thematic areas to be pursued that are consistent with the Tanzania Development Vision 2025 and MKUKUTA. These are: growth and wealth creation, governance, globalisation and regional integration and social wellbeing and protection. The institution welcomes contributions from well wishers to finance any of the programme and/or research agenda as indicated in the Medium Term Strategic Plan (www.esrftz.org/mtsp). For further inquiries please contact the Executive Director (ed@esrf.or.tz) or Telephone +255 22 2760260 fax 022 2760062.