Commodity/Service Required:

Technical services to coordinate a household survey with household members within Feed the Future Rwanda Kungahara Wagura Amasoko’s geographic focus and targeted value chains (VCs)

Type of Procurement:

Subcontract

Type of Contract:

Firm fixed price

Term of Contract:

Time of Delivery

Contract Funding:

USAID

This Procurement supports:

Feed the Future Rwanda Kungahara Wagura Amasoko

Submit Proposal to:

procurementftfkwa@rti.org

Date of Issue of RFP:

29 May 2023

Date Questions from Supplier Due:

12 June 2023

Date Proposal Due:

16 June 2023

Approximate Date Purchase Order Issued to Successful Bidder(s):

To be determined

Method of Submittal:

Respond via e-mail with attached document in MS Word / pdf format.

The Bidder/Seller agrees to hold the prices in its offer firm for 90 days from the date specified for the receipt of offers, unless another time is specified in the addendum of the RFP/RFQ.

Solicitation Number:

FTF KWA 2023-18

Description of Activity/Service:

Feed the Future Rwanda Kungahara Wagura Amasoko is a five-year project working with and through the Government of Rwanda (GOR), the private sector, and associations to boost economic growth by increasing the country’s high-value agricultural exports such as coffee, tea, horticulture, spices and dairy products. Implemented by RTI International and its consortium of partners—JE Austin Associates (JAA), Dalberg Limited, LixCap, and Vanguard Economics—Kungahara Wagura Amasoko is co-creating solutions to support GOR’s on-going efforts to shift subsistence to commercia agriculture.

The project aims to facilitate $300 million in new investments in the sector; create 1,000 jobs along the targeted value chains through generating additional productive employment, and; increase household incomes by at least 50% while gainfully integrating women, youth and people with disabilities into high-value agri-export value chains.

Kungahara Wagura Amasoko is designed to address systemic challenges that are inhibiting Rwanda’s high-value agricultural export growth. By employing a market systems-based approach to facilitate change, the project hypothesizes that changes within and among these market actors will positively impact household-level farmers and producers within the agricultural Value Chains (VCs) targeted in the Activity’s Zone of Influence (ZOI). This also means that household level actors (e.g., farmers, producers) are considered Feed the Future Rwanda Kungahara Wagura Amasoko‘s indirect beneficiaries, rather than direct project participants.

The purpose of the survey is to determine quantitatively the project’s indirect outcomes at the household levelby assessing the socio-economic condition at the household level, specifically household income (the pool of income streams of each household member within the targeted VCs), and the level of accessibility by both youth and women to productive economic resources. The survey will measure the income changes for FY2023 at the household level and will be a reference for future targets and constitute the basis to measure the project performance in future years.

Product or Service Expectations (both if applicable):

DETAILED ACTIVITIES

The following activities will be the responsibility of the successful applicant with the oversight, input, and guidance of the MEL Advisor.  

• Preparatory phase: Key documents of the project will be submitted to the firm together with draft questionnaires for the quantitative surveys. The Firm will:

1. Review and refine the following project documentation;  I) Existing desk reviews from the baseline and Year 1 surveys ii) Previous methodology of the study, including but not limited to the sample size used in the previous HH surveys across the selected ZOI and targeted value chains, with appropriate representation of women-headed households, and households with youth and people with disabilities participating in agricultural activities
2. In collaboration with the MEL Advisor, prepare a detailed work plan protocol
3. Program the survey instrument into a mobile data collection platform and a proposition to do data coding and data entry to be validated the project team. (There will be no paper-based data collection)

• Field work: Field work will take place in targeted value chains in the ZOI noted above. During the field work, and with the support of the project team the firm will:

1. Train data collectors: Including field testing of the questionnaire.
2. Pilot the data collection tool in one of Kungahara Wagura Amasoko districts.
3. Supervise data collection: Ensure high-quality assurance throughout data collection along with strong consideration ethics, including daily update reports of progress and rapid identification of issues with proposed solutions.
4. Supervise data entry.

• Data analysis: In collaboration with the data collection team and the project team, the firm will:

1. Deliver the cleaned and the raw dataset in Excel, CSV format, including cleaning rules script file with detailed description of the cleaning steps taken. The firm will submit the codebook to the KWA team that aligns with the clean dataset
2. Compare the last year dataset and findings to the current survey and provide the difference between the two based on the indicators being measured.

• Draft report:

1. Draft survey report; descriptive statistics summarizing the socio-demographic characteristics of subjects, mean (SD) or median (IQR) based on their normality distribution, frequency (percentage), comparison of means statistical tests and bivariate statistical analyses (e.g., correlations)The report should provide the actuals results as per the three project indicators listed above  with all disaggregates and the difference between last year results and the current survey
2. Integrate comments from the team into the report.
3. The consulting firm will address client feedback, if applicable

• Final report: The final report will take into consideration comments from the project team and partners. The final report will be written in English and will be maximum 35 pages long (without the annexes). It must include the following sections:

1. Executive summary (max. 3 pages) 
2. Context: description of changes made to desk review documents, areas where it is implemented, and objective of the study( 2 pages)
3. Methodology and limits to the methodology (2 pages)
4. Survey main results (26 Pages max)
5. Conclusions and recommendation (2 pages)

Responsibilities of Kungahara Wagura Amasoko MEL team:

• Seeking the introductory letter from NAEB that will be used by enumerators in the field
• Supervise the training of enumerators to see if they are well trained on the tools and if they are familiar with the tools
• Supervise the data collection pilot and the actual data collection on the field

The annual household survey study will take place during the month of June and July 2023. The firm will submit a work plan and specific dates will be agreed at the beginning of the consultancy.

Deliverables, Timelines, Special Terms and Conditions:

QUALIFICATIONS

Key qualifications required for the firm to conduct this assignment include demonstrated ability to;

• Plan, manage and collect data ensuring quality and rigor in all data collection activities.
• Recruit and manage the household survey team through the period of performance.
• Train enumerators on data collection tools and use of mobile collection platform and GIS mapping and recording.
• Provide enumerators with tablets and GIS mapping gadgets to be used during the data collection.
• Collect data at household level, manage quality data input, provide daily updates on data collection within the zones of influence (see Sampling Section), and perform preliminary data cleaning and analysis.
• A team leader with:
• Advanced university degree (Master's) in Social Sciences, agriculture , Statistics or a directly related technical field(s),
• 5 years of demonstrated experience conducting agricultural household surveys at the national and/ or international levels, using electronic/mobile data collection.
• Past experience in conducting assessments with Gender and Social Inclusion perspectives
• Experience in all aspects of conducting surveys, including developing sampling strategies, training enumerators, programming instruments.
• Demonstrated hands-on experience in a technical or supervisory/managerial capacity, cleaning data, and drafting reports.
• A team of enumerators with:
• Experience in data collection in districts and nationwide surveys (such as EICV, DHS, and similar household surveys)
• Experience in quantitative data collection as well as data entry
• Experience in using digital devices for data collection,
• At least 3 years of relevant experience
• Strong communication (written and spoken) skills in Kinyarwanda and English as well as interpersonal skills
• Willingness to work in rural areas
• GIS capabilities to track data collection locations

EVALUATION CRITERIA

1.       Technical expertise: Demonstrated expertise in conducting similar assignments as demonstrated by a strong performance record including understanding of all aspects of this assignment [40%]

2.       Technical approach: Quality and clarity of application relative to required SOW, including feasibility of the proposed methodology for undertaking the assignment [30%]

3.       Value for money: LOE and cost break-down by level of effort as shown in Table above [30%]

APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS:

• Company Overview: 2 pages maximum  

1. Full address of Firm/Company.
2. Company profile, including number of years conducting household surveys
3. Registration certificate and date. 
4. Include Unique Entity ID (SAM.gov) or proof of confirmation that Unique Entity ID has been requested.

• Company Expertise: 3 pages maximum  

1. Description of at least three similar or related assignments including referee name and contact information (phone and e-mail) for each assignment.
2. Summary biography of the team who will be providing support. 

• Annexes:

1. Budget submitted in excel template, see Attachment C
2. Curriculum Vitaes for all proposed team members, detailing relevant education, work experience, and certifications (not to exceed 2 pages maximum per CV)

Applications should be submitted to procurementftfkwa@rti.org NO LATER THAN 16^th June 2023. No portion of this assignment may be subcontracted.