Survey Firm to Support the International Food Policy Research Institute’s Impact Evaluation of the Labor Intensive Works Project

Request for Proposal (RFP) and Terms of References (TOR) for Survey Companies

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 Labor Intensive Works project funded by KfW and implemented by the Social Fund for Development (SFD).

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.

The services required by IFPRI are described in this Terms of Reference.

2. Project Background

The objectives of LIWP are to create temporary job opportunities to reduce the negative impacts of crises on food security and to use the job opportunities to invest in beneficial projects, through the construction of new infrastructure or improvements of existing infrastructure.The targeted outcomes are increased income and consumption smoothing, reduction in poverty, and infrastructure development.Due to the crisis situation and urgency of achieving high levels of coverage, LIWP focuses currently on short-term interventions of 4–6 months.This means that the infrastructure development is limited to projects that can be achieved within this time frame, such as Protection and rehabilitation of Agricultural lands and terraces, construction and rehabilitation of irrigation canals, improvement, and protection of rural roads, etc.

Targeting of communities occurs at different geographical levels sequentially.Governorate and district-level targeting is based on a distress index and the history of prior SFD involvement at the district level is taken into account.At the village level, there is a combination of desk targeting and field targeting.Desk targeting of villages based on basic service deprivation according to the census, prioritization of villages with at least 300 people in a single village or cluster, and priority to villages hosting IDPS.Field verification is also used in particular to ensure poverty village conditions seen in the area and ensure compliance with a policy that there must be fewer than 30% of farms growing qat.

Beneficiaries self-select, depend on reducing wages from 10-20% lower than the prevailing local wages. Participation is based on their well-being and capabilities.Households who wish to work are registered and receive an allocation of 40-50 workdays, depending on the number of participating households relative to project needs.

Women and people with special needs are specifically encouraged to participate by designing appropriate work tasks and schedules to accommodate their needs. Households are grouped into specific work types, with up to three workers from the same household, all involved in the same activity. During infrastructure construction, some participants receive on-the-job training for skills such as building, plumbing, plastering, blacksmithing, etc.

3. Objectives

3.1 Objective of the study

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

• What are the impacts of LIWP on household and community welfare?

• Does the new livelihoods approach increase sustainability of impacts?

3.2 Sample Size and Location

The planned panel sample size is 2800 households in 56 communities in selected governorates in all regions of Yemen (including areas under control of the de facto authorities in the North and areas under control of the internationally recognized government).

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.

3.3 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 hours long, with enumerators completing 3-4 questionnaires per day.

The main outcomes of the survey are presented below.

Outcomes:

· Employment, wages, and labor income

· Reduced coping strategies index and food consumption score

· Time use

· Revenues and costs from livestock if any

· Debts, loans, and savings

· Perception of employability and skills gained

· Subjective perception of wellbeing

· Social cohesion

· Vignettes designed to measure intrahousehold and community decision-making norms

· Benefits from community assets.

4. Specific Tasks

The baseline and the end line data collection are expected to occur in Q1-2024 and Q2-2025, respectively. For the baseline data collection, 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. 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 is also required. The selected survey firm should work to ensure that this achieved in a reliable and ethical manner.

iii. 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.

iv. 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.

The pilot test should cover 60 households and data from the pilot be shared with IFPRI at least one week before data collection.The survey firm should be ready to modify some parts of the questionnaire after the data from the pilot are analyzed by the PIs.

v. Recruitment & Training & Main Data Collection

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

· Recruiting Field Researchers

Quantitative 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. At least one half of the interviewers should be women to allow for women to be interviewed in their houses. 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. Interviewers may be recruited from the same district as study communities to avoid long travel and ensure acceptability of females moving without mahrams, but must not be recruited from the same subdistrict as study communities.

· 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 over 3 days in Cairo together with the research team, including 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. Travel costs for supervisors to Cairo should be included in the financial proposal.

Quality Controllers Mechanism

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 percent of the sample which will be shared with IFPRI to verify acceptable level of confidence that interviews took place according to the study criteria.

Interviewers Training

To ensure that the interviewers have understood the issues under examination, they will also receive training sessions on data collection. The training should occur in person or using a live video feed, at least 40 hours, and encompass a full review of the questionnaire with sufficient space with clarification of the purpose and meaning of each question, supervised practice with partners in going through the full questionnaire and using the CAPI, and assessment of interviewer readiness for fieldwork. Supervisors are required to participate in these training sessions. Trainings must be arranged so that either a local IFPRI consultant or IFPRI research staff in Cairo can attend remotely or in-person all trainings.

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.

vi. 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.

vii. 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.

4. Timeframe

This assignment will commence from January 2024 to May 2024.

5. PROPOSAL

With this announcement, interested companies are requested to submit a technical and financial proposal to be considered by IFPRI. Proposals should be submitted by 13 December 2023, virtually on Taleo.

6. 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 and the local authorities.

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.