CALL FOR TENDERS

Survey Firm to Support the International Food Policy Research Institute’s Impact Evaluation of the SMEPS Solar Powered Irrigation Intervention

1. SUMMARY

In this Call for Tenders, the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) invites survey firms to submit their offers to support IFPRI’s impact evaluation study for the implementation of solar irrigation systems.

The general objective would be to collaborate on all aspects of data collection including preparation for the survey, survey data collection, and data cleaning. The call for proposals required survey firms to submit a full proposal offer to fulfil the required tasks.

2. BACKGROUND ON THE INTERNATIONAL FOOD POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTE

The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), an international organization, conducts research to provide policy solutions that reduce poverty and end hunger and malnutrition throughout the developing world in an environmentally sustainable manner. Founded in 1975, IFPRI has worked for more than 40 years with policymakers, academics, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), the private sector, development practitioners, and others to undertake research, capacity strengthening, and policy communications activities. These activities are designed to address the broad range of economic development and poverty reduction issues that bear on IFPRI’s mission. The Institute is one of 15 organizations worldwide that make up the CGIAR. IFPRI was officially deemed a public international organization under Executive Order 12359.

IFPRI’s vision is a world free of hunger and malnutrition. This vision is based on the human right to adequate food and freedom from hunger and a recognition of the dignity inherent in all human beings. It is a vision of a world where every person has secure access to sufficient and safe food to sustain a healthy and productive life and where food-related decisions are made transparently and include the participation of consumers and producers. This flows from the CGIAR’s vision to reduce poverty and hunger, improve human health and nutrition, and enhance ecosystem resilience through high-quality international agricultural research, partnership, and leadership.

IFPRI’s mission is to provide research-based policy solutions that sustainably reduce poverty and end hunger and malnutrition. This mission flows from the system level objectives of the CGIAR, “To reduce levels of rural poverty, improve food security, improve health and nutrition, and sustainably manage natural resources in developing countries through scientific research and research-related activities in the fields of agriculture, livestock, forestry, fisheries, policy, and natural resources management.”

Two key premises underlie IFPRI’s mission: first, sound and appropriate local, national, and international public policies are essential to achieving sustainable food security and nutritional improvement; and, second, research and the dissemination of research results are critical inputs into high-quality food policy debate and the formulation of sound and appropriate policies.

IFPRI’s mission focuses on:

• ·identifying and analyzing alternative international, national, and local policies in support of improved food security and nutrition, emphasizing low-income countries and poor people and the sound management of the natural resource base that supports agriculture;
• ·strengthening the capacity of people and institutions in developing countries to conduct research on food, agriculture, and nutrition policies;
• ·establishing and optimizing its international, regional, national, and local partnerships; and
• ·communicating research results to all those in a position to apply or use them and carrying out dialogues with those users to link research and policy action.

IFPRI places priority on activities that benefit the greatest number of poor people in greatest need in the developing world. In carrying out its activities, IFPRI seeks to focus on vulnerable groups, as influenced by income, religion, ethnicity, agroecological location, and gender.

IFPRI’s work is carried out by four research divisions and one communications division. Research is undertaken at the community, national, regional, and global levels and is divided into six (6) strategic research areas with the cross-cutting gender theme, supported by the cross-cutting themes of policy communications, partnerships, and capacity strengthening. IFPRI leads two of the CGIAR Research Programs (CRPs), namely (a) Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM) and (b) Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4HN). PIM leads action-oriented research to equip decision makers with the evidence required to develop food and agricultural policies that better serve the interests of poor producers and consumers. A4NH helps realize the potential of agricultural development to deliver gender-equitable health and nutritional benefits to the poor. A4NH was created to help ensure that agricultural practices, interventions, and policies will maximize health and nutrition benefits, while reducing health risks.

3. BACKGROUND ON THE SOLAR POWERED IRRIGATION PROJECT

The program for which IFPRI plans on conducting an impact evaluation study, and for which tenderers should submit their offers is the Solar Powered Irrigation Project. The Solar Powered Irrigation Project’s main objective is to improve the smallholders’ access to irrigation water, rural livelihoods and food production through the implementation of solar powered pumps in Yemen. This implementation of the intervention will be carried out by Small and Micro Enterprise Promotion Service (SMEPS).

The project theory of change assumes that improving livelihoods through increased income, production, productivity and knowledge channels, results in more resilient communities that are able to effectively cope with current and future food insecurity, health, nutrition and natural disaster shocks.

The project outcomes are aligned with sustainable development goals and targets and aims to create positive impact towards achieving goal number 2 Ending Hunger, goal number 6 Ensure availability and sustainable of water and sanitation for all, and goal number 7 Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all.

4. OBJECTIVE, QUESTIONNAIRES, AND SPECIFIC ACTIVITIES

4.1 Objective of the study

The proposed panel survey seeks to answer the following questions, among others:

• ·How successful are solar-powered irrigation systems at increasing agricultural productivity?
• ·How such systems impact accessibility to affordable water sources and reliance on fuel used in irrigation?

4.2 Sample Size and Location

Pending the final project design and final agreement with SMEPS and the Government of Yemen, the projected panel sample size is in 36 communities in Hadramout and Shabwa governorates

• ·120 treatment – targeted smallholder (main questionnaire)
• ·120 control – targeted smallholder (main questionnaire)
• ·36 well owners (short questionnaire A)
• ·72 treatment- spillover smallholders (short questionnaire B)
• ·144 control- spillover smallholders (short questionnaire B)
• ·36 local market surveys for prices of key commodities (short questionnaire C)

If the sample size changes substantially from the projected sample here, the budget may be amended with the agreement of the IFPRI and the survey firm.

4.3 Questionnaires

The selected survey firm will work with IFPRI to finalize the design of the questionnaire in English and Arabic [1] .The survey length will approximately be 1.5- 2 hours long (main questionnaire); 10-20 minutes (short questionnaire A); 10-20 minutes (short questionnaire B); 15-30 minutes (short questionnaire C).

The main outcomes of the survey are presented below:

• ·Production
• ·Productivity (inputs)
• ·Income sources
• ·Household food security
• ·Environmental impact
• ·Social cohesion
• ·Spillovers on non-direct beneficiaries
• ·Women’s time use
• ·Availability and prices key food items grown locally and accessibility and cost of water at the community level.

Note that these modules are subject to edits, additions, and deletions.

4.4 Specific activities to be achieved by the tenderer

The baseline and the end line data collection are expected to occur in Q3-2023 and Q1-2024, respectively. The selected survey firm will be tasked with the following activities:

i. Approvals

The selected survey firm will be responsible for obtaining all necessary fieldwork approvals and permissions for conducting in-person surveys.

ii. Translation

The questionnaires will be developed in English and the selected survey firm will be expected to translate them into Arabic. All translations will then be checked by IFPRI staff/consultants.

iii. Training Manuals & Other Documents

In addition to the questionnaires, the selected survey firm will be expected to deliver copies of all training materials used, including:

• • ·Interviewer manual
  • ·Supervisor manual

Other documents as developed to manage the samples may include interviewer assignment sheets and fieldwork achievement sheets.

Obtaining respondents’ consent forms is also required. The selected survey firm should work to ensure that this achieved in a reliable and ethical manner.

iv. Data Entry System

The survey firm is expected to use a computerized system for data entry that will enable remote real-time monitoring by IFPRI.

v. Pilot Test

After developing the questionnaires and receiving approvals, the selected survey firm would be expected to implement a pilot test, designed in consultation with IFPRI. The pilot will be conducted to provide a final check on the questionnaires’ design and data entry system, as well as length of the interview.

The selected survey firm will recruit teams, from amongst their best personnel, to participate in an associated pilot test data collection training, utilizing both print and tablet questionnaires. Recruits must have previously worked with the tenderer. The training should also be delivered to Supervisors, Interviewers, and Quality Controllers.

The pilot will take place in a few areas not covered in the sample of the main data collection. Locations will be divided amongst the teams recruited for the pilot.

vi. Recruitment & Training & Main Data Collection

The main data collection involves several activities that are described in some details below:

• • ·Recruiting Field Researchers

Quantitative interviewers, qualitative interviewers, Supervisors and Quality Controllers will be recruited by the selected survey firm to participate in the training. All recruits selected for the survey should have previous experience, and all must be university graduates. Selection will be from amongst those who have previously worked closely with the tenderer in similar surveys. Knowledge and experience with the research topic and methodology, performance during in-house training, and field practice will all be considered for selection. Staff selection must also consider the interviewer’s familiarity and fluency in the local dialect of the expected respondents.

• • ·Training of Field Staff

Different training sessions will be conducted by the selected survey firm for the main data collection:

• • · Supervisor Training

Training sessions for supervisors will take place, going over the main modules of the survey questionnaires to ensure that they understand the content of the survey. The training will also focus specifically on a supervisor’s main responsibilities including how to enter a community, how to check the sample in the field, how to deal with non-response cases, how to organize a team’s work, how to use the tablet program, how to review the completed questionnaires before transferring to the designated Dropbox, how to solve duplicates if they occur, how to fill the fieldwork achievement sheet, and how to problem-solve, etc.

• • · Quality Controllers Training

The survey firm is expected to propose an appropriate and well tested quality control mechanism. One of the main quality control mechanisms is to have a random back-checks component for 10-20 percent of the sample. Recording the surveys’ GPS coordinates also ensures that the enumerators are in the right villages.

• • · Interviewers Training

To ensure that the interviewers have understood the issues under examination, they will also receive training sessions on data collection. Supervisors will additionally be required to participate in these training sessions.

Interviewers will receive training on basic interview techniques and specific survey topics (e.g. measurements of indicators, KTP, CAPI, etc.) as well as:

• ·Entry into a community and acting as a team
• ·Obtaining consent forms
• ·How to ask survey questions
• ·How to fill out the questionnaire, using visual aids
• ·Reporting training (including the interviewers’ assignment sheet, reporting issues, etc.).
• ·How to problem-solve
• ·Role playing
• ·Mock interviews
• ·Field practice in areas not covered in the survey sample
• ·Others

The training will include in-house sessions and field practice. The in-house sessions will include practice with print questionnaires followed by special training on the data entry system. Field practice will be conducted, after receiving security approvals, in areas not covered in the main data collection sample.

The selected survey firm’s trainers will observe the interviewers while they conduct interviews to give them feedback on their performance and respond to their questions. Each interviewer will be evaluated during field practice by different trainers. Interviewers who do not perform well in the field practice will be excluded from the remainder of the training and main data collection.

At the end of the training sessions, interviewers are ranked based on an overall evaluation of their performance. The best performing interviewers will be selected to participate in the main data collection. Ranking results will also be considered in team creation to ensure a balance of interviewer levels.

The trainings will be scheduled in consultation with IFPRI, to allow their staff/consultants to attend and respond to questions as necessary. This is particularly important for sessions concerning the content of the survey modules.

• • ·Main Data Collection

Once the training sessions are completed, teams will be composed as appropriate to the sample. Any issues or questions that arise during the data collection should be communicated to the IFPRI contact person and documented in the data collection report.

During the period of main data collection, in order to facilitate real-time monitoring by IFPRI, the survey firm will upload data as it is shared from the field to a shared Dropbox readable by the IFPRI research team.

For quality assurance within the methodology of using tablets, the selected survey firm will ensure:

• ·Effective supervision of the interviewing teams during fieldwork.
• ·Field visits and checks on a regular basis, at all stages, by the fieldwork coordinator and the associated staff team.
• ·Close communication maintained between the office and fieldwork teams, throughout fieldwork.
• ·An agreed system of quality control checks conducted by the quality controllers
• ·Print a certain percentage of questionnaires to be used if the tablet fails or proves problematic during the interview. In this case the interviewer has to continue the interview on paper and can enter the data on the tablet, later on the same day, after solving the problem.
• ·Other suggestions for quality control are welcome.

vii. Data Processing and Cleaning

Data cleaning procedures should be agreed with IFPRI and fully documented. The selected survey firm will be expected to submit the raw data (as originally entered at the time of the interview), a cleaned and labeled dataset, and full documentation (including do files) of how the raw data was processed. This will ensure the cleanliness, completeness, and consistency of the data collection, coding, and entry, as well as to facilitate further tabulations and analysis.

The tenderer is requested to fully elaborate on the data cleaning process they will follow.

viii. Follow-up and Responsiveness

Within 1 month after the fieldwork completion and data delivery, the selected survey firm will be available on a continuous basis to discuss with IFPRI initial findings from the data analysis, and will consult with the fieldwork staff to check if any surprising findings match their qualitative impressions from the field.

5. PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Type of Contract

Global price

Contracting Party

International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)

Participation

• · Participation in this tender procedure is open only to the invited tenderers.
• ·Tenders should be submitted by the same service provider or consortium which was invited and to which the letter of the invitation to tender is addressed. No change whatsoever in the identity or composition of the tenderer is permitted unless IFPRI has given its prior approval in writing;
• ·Invited service providers are not allowed to form alliances with any other firms or to sub- contract to each other for the purposes of this contract. For this purpose individual experts recruited for the project implementation as expert or non-expert are not regarded as subcontractors;
• ·To be eligible for participation in this tender procedure, tenderers must prove to the satisfaction of IFPRI that they comply with the necessary legal, technical and financial requirements and have the means to carry out the contract effectively.

Selection Criteria

The survey firm selection will be based on IFPRI assessment of potential to deliver high quality data at a reasonable cost, as indicated by survey firm elaboration of their data quality procedures, experience, and references. The survey firm selection will also be based on its proven ability in obtaining the necessary approvals and permissions for conducting fieldwork and based on having a solid relationship with the Government of Yemen.

Commencement Date and Period of Implementation

The selected survey firm will work with IFPRI to ensure the study progresses well and on time.

Detailed Timeline and Estimated Activity Duration

Table 1: Activity, Start Dates and Durations

Dates are tentative pending finalization of evaluation design with program partners and security clearance receipt.

Reporting requirements

The selected survey firm shall be expected to provide the following reports:

Table 2: Reporting Requirements

Submission and approval of reports

• ·Reports, documents, and corresponding IT files referred to above must be submitted to IFPRI.
• ·Reports must be written in English.
• ·IFPRI is responsible for approving the reports.
• ·PowerPoint presentations or equivalent will not be considered as reports.

6. SUBMISSION OF TENDERS

Tenders must be submitted such that they are received in soft copy before the application deadline date. They must include the requested documents and information and be submitted to Ms. Basma Yassa, [email protected] – with the subject heading “IFPRI – SMEPS Impact Evaluation”.

Alliances

Any tenders received from tenderers comprising firms other than those mentioned in the list of invited companies will be excluded from this tender procedure unless prior approval from IFPRI has been obtained. Invited tenderers may not form alliances or subcontract to each other for the contract in question.

Sub-contracting

No sub-contracting will be allowed.

Operational language

All written communications for this tender procedure and contract must be in English, unless otherwise specified or agreed to by IFPRI.

7. TENDER DOSSIER REQUIREMENTS

The Tender Dossier must include:

i. A proposal that describes the tenderer’s:

• • • • ·Recruitment processes and procedures for supervisors, interviewers, and quality controllers.
      • ·The type of tablets and programming used
      • ·Trainings duration
      • ·Main data collection fieldwork plan (i.e. surveys per day, team size) and duration
      • ·Quality control procedures for data collection
      • ·A detailed timeline (consistent with Table 1), with a mention of the firm’s exact availability during the contracting period
      • ·All facilities and equipment to be provided by the tenderer (e.g. venue for trainings, tablets, etc.)
      • ·Financial proposal, including a detailed budget

ii. The tenderer must also fill out Annex 1, Annex 2, and Annex 3 at the end of this document.

iii. A list of referees that may be contacted.

iv. Other relevant documents.

ANNEX 1: ORGANIZATION AND STAFFING

Please summarize the structure and composition of your team, including each members’ proposed position, their years of experience, educational background, specialist areas of knowledge, experience in the country or similar settings, as well as their degree of fluency in languages. You should list the main disciplines of the assignment, the key expert responsible, and proposed technical and support staff.

ANNEX 2: TEAM COMPOSITION, TASK ASSIGNMENTS & LEVEL OF EFFORT