CARE INTERNATIONAL IN RWANDA

P.O Box 550 Kigali, KG 541 ST  

Career Center Building, 8th floor.

Tel: +250 788 306 241, 0788 304 454

E mail:  care.rw@care.org

www.care.org  

KUNGAHARA: Resilient Systems for Food and Nutrition

Terms of Reference for the Selection and Analysis of Nutrition and Gender Sensitive Value Chains 

1. Background

CARE is a leading humanitarian and development organization seeking a world of hope, tolerance, and social justice, where poverty has been overcome and people live in dignity and security. We work around the globe to save lives, defeat poverty, and achieve social justice. Globally, CARE and partners intend to support 200 million people from the most vulnerable and excluded communities to overcome poverty and social injustice by 2030. This is through 6 impact areas: Gender Equality, Climate Justice, Humanitarian, Right to Health, Right to Food Water and Nutrition and Women Economic Justice.

2. Project Overview & Target Groups

CARE Austria, together with CARE International in Rwanda (CARE Rwanda), in partnership with DUHARANIRE AMAJYAMBERE Y’ICYARO (DUHAMIC-ADRI) are implementing the KUNGAHARA: Resilient Systems for Food and Nutrition project, running between 1^st January 2024 and 31^st December 2026, funded by the European Union and co-funded by the Austrian Development Cooperation.

In line with the EU’s global objective of the KUNGAHARA Call for proposals, the overall objective of the project is to strengthen resilient food systems and nutrition security in Rwanda. To tackle the different factors hindering food availability and nutrition, the project will enact locally-led and owned change at every stage of the food system – production, aggregation, processing, distribution, and consumption – through two complementary supply and demand outcomes:

Outcome 1: Equitable, sustainable, inclusive, productive and nutrition sensitive agricultural value chains in Gicumbi, Rulindo and Gakenke districts are strengthened; and

Outcome 2: The consumption of diverse and nutrient rich foods by vulnerable households, in particular women and children, in Gicumbi, Rulindo and Gakenke district is increased. 

The project is targeting smallholder farmers and will use a holistic set of interventions to enhance food systems in a sustainable manner, equipping women and youth farmers ‘groups and cooperatives within the selected environment and nutrition-sensitive value chains with the skills, connections, and support to improve production and access to markets, and as a result, nutritious food availability and increase in its consumption.

The project’s target groups include:

• 31,000 Smallholder farmers/Household members
• 90 Farmer Promoters (selected among smallholder farmers)
• 150 Nutrition Champions (selected among smallholder farmers)
• 60 Market actors
• 825 Members of local authorities and nutrition-related stakeholders 

3. Objectives of this assignment

The main objective of this assignment is to conduct a participatory nutrition and gender sensitive agriculture value chain analysis to select nutritious agri-food value chains from which women can benefit more equally and identify gender-based constraints at each level of the chain, such as limited access to productive resources and constrained agency.

The analysis will serve to validate the value chains pre-selected at proposal design stage (piggery, poultry, maize, beans & tomatoes) and/or propose new ones to be the focus of the intervention under outcome 1, ensuring the support of the Action to nutritious, diverse, and safe food.

The analysis will provide evidence-based information on existing opportunities and constraints across agricultural value chains and recommend possible solutions to unlock identified bottlenecks.

3.1 Specific objectives of the analysis

1. Identify value chains that offer significant potential to enhance nutrition outcomes among the population in Gicumbi, Rulindo and Gakenke districts. This involves assessing the nutritional content and diversity of products within different value chains suitable for the specific climatic and agricultural conditions in the target districts, considering factors such as micronutrient density, protein content, and dietary diversity.
2. Assess the gender dynamics and women's participation across various stages of the identified value chains - production, processing, marketing, and decision-making processes. Additionally, the analysis should identify strategies and interventions that address gender disparities and promote inclusive economic growth.
3. Provide evidence for the selection of value chains that offer opportunities for income generation, employment, and economic diversification for smallholder farmers. By strengthening value chains that are vital sources of food and income for rural communities, this analysis will enhance the resilience of food systems and livelihoods, particularly in contexts affected by climate change, market volatility, and other external shocks. This includes identifying opportunities to improve market access, value addition, and linkages with support services and infrastructure.
4. Conduct agriculture policies analysis including those related to nutrition and other policies across KUNGAHARA selected value chains to better understand policy entitlement situational status for actors operating across the different functions of value chain nodes, identify gaps/bottlenecks encountered and propose strategies to bridge the gaps

4. Methodology and approach

The methodology to be deployed along the execution of the assignment will be mainly of a qualitative nature and shall include studies and reports review and gathering of primary data relevant to the selected value chains and targeted group in the intervention districts.

Prior implementation, an in-depth revision of the report of the value chain analysis recently conducted by CARE in Rulindo and Gakenke districts, targeting some of the pre-selected value chains (poultry and tomatoes). This assignment should incorporate nutritional and other missing aspects for both value chains.

5. Data analysis

The analysis is expected to exhaustively cover three focus areas:

1) Agricultural value chains and market systems analysis.

The following tasks are to be accomplished:

• Rigorously analysis various value chains (including Kungahara pre-selected value chain and rank them in the order of their importance in terms of criteria: economic, nutritional, gender, institutional, and environmental.
• Rank value chain (performance) fit for nutrition and production (across districts of intervention. At least 2 additional value chains per target district, as well as the 5 pre-selected value chains, shall be identified by the consultant prior to beginning of th exercise included in the analyses.
• Once a selection of value chains is confirmed by the Kungahara project
  1. Analyze the levels at which selected value chains are susceptible to risks/shocks in each target district (climate change effects, pests and diseases, market volatility- price fluctuations), and in the case of climate change, analyse how market systems and actors (farmers, VC actors, extension and financial service providers, institutions, etc.) respond to these shocks and stresses, and the gaps and/or opportunities the project should address/capitalize on.
  2. Analyze the ecological suitability and the environmental risks and opportunities (e.g., green technologies or climate-smart practices already in use), along with proposed mitigation or improvement/scaling-up measures, of the selected value chains across the districts of intervention.
  3. Assess agriculture conformance to requirements and standards to the market.
  4. Specifically concerning small holder farmers:
     1. Analyse and highlight market structures for the selected value chains in relation to small holder farmers.
     2. Highlight major skills gaps for small holder engagement across selected value chains.
     3. Identify bottlenecks/limitations encountered by small holder farmers along their involvement across these value chains.
     4. Assess opportunities that are/can be explored by small holder across the prioritized value chains.
     5. Analyze existing initiatives and propose implementable models for organizing and empowering small holder farmers order to make their production more viable and sustainable,
  5. Recommend measures that could be taken forward across project interventions to close the identified gaps.
  6. Recommend framework for design, implementation, monitoring, risk management and evaluation of selected value chains development strategies.

2) Nutrition and gender sensitive value chain analysis.

The following tasks are to be accomplished:

• Examine gender and power dynamics, identifying the level of access and control over resources of women, along the Kungahara selected value chains.
• Identify the key gendered factors affecting women in relation to their vulnerability and capacity to respond, absorb and adapt to climate change.
• Examine the impact of family members on female participation across the prioritized value chains.
• Identify and document high potential areas for female to engage along the Kungahara selected value chains.
• Outline key gender issues/inequalities encountered by value chain actors across different stages of the selected value chains.
• Assess the effect of double work burden female smallholder farmers which limits their full involvement/participation across value chain nodes.
• Elaborate findings and recommendations with implementable measures/strategies/interventions for gender mainstreaming along the value chains.

3)  Policy analysis.

The following tasks are to be accomplished:

• Map existing interventions by the Government and other development agencies in supporting and enhancing agriculture production and nutrition.
• Identify existing agriculture policy entitlements that have been established to be exploited by the value chain operators specifically targeted value chains as well as the targeted groups,
• Analyse environmental policies and climate adaptation plans and recommend practical interventions for small holder farmers to better exploit opportunities across prioritized value chains,
• Recommend intervention/enforcement approaches to be deployed along KUNGAHARA implementation to close identified gaps and ensure maximal exploitation of those policy entitlements by the targeted group across selected value chains. 

6. Ethical approaches & Data disclosure

The approach to the analysis must consider the safety of participants at all stages. The bidder will need to demonstrate how they have considered Prevention of Sexual Harassment, Exploitation, and Abuse (PSHEA); through the different data collection stages, including recruitment and training of research staff, data collection and data analysis and report writing. Bidders are required to set out their approach to ensuring complete compliance with international good practice with regards to research ethics and protocols. The consultant must show how they will comply with the Rwanda data privacy and protection law.

Data disclosure

• CARE requires that the datasets that are compiled or used in the process of external evaluation are submitted to CARE when the evaluation is completed.
• Data must be disaggregated by gender, age and other relevant diversity, in line with the project’s Theory of Change.
• Datasets must be anonymized with all identifying information removed. Each individual or household should be assigned a unique identifier. Datasets which have been anonymized will be accompanied by a password protected identifier key document to ensure that we are able to return to households or individuals for follow up. Stakeholders with access to this document will be limited and defined in collaboration with CARE during evaluation inception.
• In the case of textual variables, textual datasets or transcripts please ensure that the data is suitable for dissemination with no de-anonymizing information unless these are case studies designed for external communication and suitable permission has been granted from the person who provided the data. In these circumstances, please submit, with the case study, a record of the permission granted, for example a release form.[1]
• Where there are multiple datasets (for example both tabular and textual datasets) identifiers must be consistent to ensure that cases can be traced across data lines and forms.
• CARE must be provided with a final template of any tools, interview guides, or other materials used during data collection.
• Formats for transcripts (for example: summary; notes and quotes; or full transcript) should be defined in collaboration between CARE and the external evaluator at the evaluation inception.
• All temporary or dummy variables created for the purposes of analysis must be removed from the dataset before submission. All output files including calculations, and formulae used in analysis will be provided along with any Syntax developed for the purposes of cleaning.
• We require that datasets are submitted in one of our acceptable format types.
• CARE must be informed of and approve the intended format to be delivered at evaluation inception phase. Should this need to be altered during the project CARE will be notified and approval will be needed for the new format.

7. Expected Tasks and roles

7.1. Responsibility of the consultant/firm

The consultant(s) will be responsible for setting up procedures and guidelines to: 

• Develop and present an inception report and tools to CARE team for inputs and feedback.
• Finalize and submit the final inception report.
• Train enumerators for the data collection exercise. One component of the data collection training should include procedures on safely managing disclosure of any safeguarding issues/cases of safeguarding.
• Conduct data collection including pretesting of tools in the 3 districts covered by the project.
• Ensure that datasets are clean, complete, and consistent.
• Analyse data and write analysis report.
• The consultant/firm will be liable to secure any prior visa or approvals that might be required to conduct the assignment.
• The consultant shall be liable for ethical procedures including obtaining informed consent from respondents.
• All documents and data collected will be treated as confidential and used solely to facilitate analysis.
• The production of the analysis report will be the responsibility of the consultant covering all the aspects as outlined in this ToR.
• All training and logistics costs for the enumerators including transport and data collection materials during data collection will be covered by the consultant.

7.2. Responsibility of CARE

• Assume all the responsibilities pertaining to the consultant hiring process.
• Ensure that all necessary documentation is availed to the consultant.
• Facilitate initial connections of the consultant with different stakeholders.
• Overall data quality control and technical review report
• Provide any other technical or operational support to the consultant as needed for example review of the questionnaires and participating in the selection and training of enumerators.
• Select 5 value chains per target district to become the focus of the in-depth research.
• Perform inception report review.
• Approve draft and final report. 

he Task Manager for this work will be the Quality Assurance Specialist. The Consultant is also expected to liaise closely at the design stage and subsequently with other key personnel in CARE. 

9. Expectations and Deliverables

The consultant (s) is expected to provide the following:

1. Inception report including:
   1. A preliminary analysis of various value chains across the districts of intervention as per literature review and technical inputs from key stakeholders. The value chains will be ranked in order of their importance, in terms of the following criteria: economic, nutritional, gender, institutional, and environmental. Besides the Kungahara pre-selected value chains, at least 2 additional value chains per target district shall be identified by the consultant and included in this preliminary analysis. CARE and DUHAMIC ADRI will select 5 value chains for each target district to become the focus for the in-depth research.
   2. Research methodology including the sampling methodology and the analysis framework.
   3. Draft data collection tools and protocols
   4. Data analysis plan
   5. Detailed work plan outlining all tasks to be completed by each of the members of the consultant team for the duration of the analysis.
   6. Ethical approach, quality control plan, limitations to the study design and mitigation strategies, enumerator training plan.

2. Draft and final report. The consultant will submit two rounds of reports for review and comments, before submitting the report as final. For this purpose, the consultant will convene a validation meeting of value chain analysis results and documentation of the validation (prepare and make a power-point presentation) and meeting notes with questions raised.

The content of the final report will be:

1. Cover page: Title page with date, logos, consultant name.
2. Executive summary: a brief of maximum two pages with description of the methodologies, main findings, conclusions, and recommendations
3. Introduction
4. Brief description of program
5. Objective of the study
6. Study methodology.
7. Detailed report on findings
8. This should include areas where the project can put more emphasis on
9. Annexes: study ToRs, the composition of consultant team, tools, a list of sites visited, a list of key informants, references, etc.

10. Evaluation Timelines

The analysis will take 30 working days between April and May 2024. However, the consultancy firms shall have to indicate their own realistic workplan in the proposals to be submitted. 

11. Professional Skills and Qualifications

Qualifications: bidders are required to clearly identify and provide CVs for all those proposed in the Evaluation Team, clearly stating their roles and responsibilities for this analysis.  The consultancy team members should have a strong background in agriculture sciences, agriculture value chains, market systems, environment and climate policies, agriculture policies and gender mainstreaming analysis and should include market expert, Gender expert, policy analyst and data collection expert, The consultancy firm should hold a minimum of five (5) years' experience in similar business consultancies.

The lead consultant should have a master’s degree (PhD preferred) demonstrating thematic and/or research qualifications and a minimum of five years of experience in delivering rigorous analysis and researches.  The consultants’ proposed evaluation team should include the technical expertise and practical experience required to deliver the scope of work and analysis evaluation outputs with regards to:

• High level of understanding and practical experience and models for agriculture value chains intra-development among developing countries.
• Having been involved in women and youth economic empowerment studies would be an added advantage.
• Excellent writing and reporting skills.
• Good working knowledge for the use of standard computer software. 

12. Proposal Evaluation Criteria

The technical and financial proposal will be assessed using the below criteria.

13. Application procedures

The application file should contain the following documents:

• A technical proposal, with a clear timeframe and a description of the proposed methodology detailing how the deliverables will be achieved, and the team credentials for similar assignments.
• Detailed Curriculum Vitae of the proposed team to carry out the assignment with clear roles and functions.
• A financial offer detailing the various costs associated with the delivery of the above services, in PDF format and must be a separate document from the technical offer.
• Evidence of the consultant’s experience in doing similar assignments: Copies of similar assignments (with evidence for good completion of the previous similar assignments);
• Submit at least 3 references with their contacts and addresses.
• Bank account information including the scanned copy of blank check or document from the bank confirming bank account information (name, account number, swift code, …)
• Consultant firm profile; VAT registration certificate; RRA tax clearance certificate; RSSB tax clearance certificate (when applicable). For applicants without registration in Rwanda, submit the above requirements from the country of registration as applicable. 

Interested consultants or consultancy firms are requested to submit their offers not later than March 25^th,2024 at 5pm local time to the following e-mail address: rwa.procurement@care.org, with mention of “Consultancy for a Selection and Analysis of Nutrition and Gender Sensitive Value Chains for Kungahara project” in the subject line 

Applications that are not meeting requirements will not be considered. 

Kigali, March 12th,2024. 

Procurement Unit

[1] All release forms should be agreed in advance with CARE.