It was recognized that there was a long-term need for an operations research avenue within BSF.JP. In this connection, two in-depth studies were carried out in the United Republic of Tanzania by the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium. The study on household food security in the United Republic of Tanzania's Kagera region sought to delineate the most food-insecure areas; detect the real causes of food insecurity, such as misguided policies; develop relevant indicators to monitor food insecurity at regional, village and family levels; and identify technological options for combating it. The study on poverty alleviation in Dodoma, the United Republic of Tanzania, in the context of the IFAD/BSF.JP-funded Water Supply and Health Project in Marginal Areas, aimed at assessing the impact of health interventions on poverty alleviation.

In Ethiopia, the BSF.JP-funded water supply, health and basic sanitation component of the Southern Region Cooperatives Development and Credit Project illustrates well the use of the project's nutrition assessments and actions in integrating the various components to promote enhanced HFNS for the target group. A comprehensive baseline and nutrition survey, based on participatory rural appraisals (PRAs), was executed in each of the eight project woredas (districts). The survey identified: the main causes of malnutrition and food insecurity, particularly among the women and children of the most vulnerable households; a nutrition-improvement action plan to improve the health and nutritional status of the most vulnerable groups; and benchmark indicators to monitor household-level impact at definite intervals.