Consultant Support for Baseline Study for the Project on Nutritional behavior changes among cotton growers in Maharashtra and Gujarat

Consultant

Project In Brief

The project goal is to contribute towards better nutrition of the families and nutritional behavior changes among cotton growers in Wardha district in Maharashtra and Kutch district in Gujarat is being implemented by Swayam Shikshan Prayog (SSP). The project purpose is to build capacities of extension officers and grassroots service providers to enhance behavior change of CCI farmers towards improved nutrition security in Wardha and Kutch districts of India.

The project will sentitize 2000 BCI farmer families to understand nutrition in practical terms and activate to take nutrition sensitive decision in farm design, food production and food consumption. The objective is to “help people to help themselves” and build knowledge and skills of the community to be able to produce at least 5 out of 10 food groups throughout the year, consume balanced diverse diet and avoid diseases. The objective will be achieved through the development of Master Trainers with clarity of concept and strong facilitation skills. Capacity building measures consists of mostly hands-on skills trainings which user participatory methodologies for behavior changes and sustain the changes through self-monitoring.

Need :

WHH and SSP are conducting a baseline to assess the situation at ground zero prior to beginning with implementation. The baseline data will be collected, the results of which are intended to be used for planning targets and assessing progress as per the project indicators. Through this call, we are looking to engage Consultant(s) for the data analysis and report writing of the baseline survey data.

The baseline survey data comprises data from a quantitative survey implemented with farmer households, preferably from marginal families, landless families and having undernourished children below 5 years, in the project intervention areas. The sample size of the survey is around 322 respondents from 10 villages.

Assignment In Brief

The primary tasks of the consultant will be to clean the baseline survey data, analyse it and write a report assessing the current situation of project stakeholders in line with the project indicators. The data in excel sheets will be provided to the consultant by Welthungerhilfe and SSP.

Data Cleaning and Analysis
1. Data cleaning will be completed by the consultant. The cleaned dataset will be shared with WHH and SSP in excel format. Data cleaning will be completed by the consultant. The cleaned dataset will be shared with WHH and SSP in excel format.
2. Consultant to conduct analysis for baseline data. The results will be used by the Consultant for report writing.
Report Writing
1. The Consultant will submit a report with findings from the survey that would be used to inform intervention decisions of the project.

Outputs and Deliverables

Cleaned Dataset in Excel: Provide cleaned, consistent and analyzable dataset in excel.
Draft Analysis Report: A draft evaluation report to be shared as per the timeline. A final evaluation report to be shared within 1 week of receiving comments from WHH. The report shall provide a comprehensive narrative of situation assessment based on the programme indicators. (Maximum 25-35 pages (plus mas: atory annexes)). The steps for evaluation design proposed by Welthungerhilfe are as follows:
Choose an Evaluation Design: The first crucial decision is to determine the type of evaluation design we want for this project. There are three possibilities – Non-Experimental, Quasi-experimental, and Experimental (RCTs). These designs differ in terms of their scientific validity and how subjects (families) are assigned to project exposure. In a non-experimental design, we wouldn’t have a control group, which means we would only compare baseline and endline values within the sample of 2000 families. On the other hand, both Quasi-experimental and RCTs involve having a control group (families not exposed to the project) for comparison. The choice here significantly impacts how convincingly we want to present our project’s results to stakeholders (RCTs are gold standard). Additionally, data availability for cotton growers in these areas is crucial to define the population and randomly assign individuals to test and control groups.
Determine Sample Size: Based on the chosen evaluation design, we’ll need to decide on the sampling strategy. For any research design with a 95% confidence interval and a 5% margin of error, we would require a sample of at least 322 households. If we opt for a Quasi-experimental or Experimental design, we will also need a control group of a certain size.
Select the Sampling Method: Once the sample size is determined, we can move on to choosing the sampling method. Stratified random sampling appears to be the most suitable method in this case. We can define strata on any dimensions (like Geography, Caste, Vulnerability, Agro-ecological zone etc.) and spread these 322 households on these strata’s to reduce any disparity in the representation. Also, for MDD-w the respondent needs to from HHs with age between 15-49, MAHFP respondent needs to be someone, who cooks food in the HH (usually the women in rural India) hence it’s become important to have these population demographics available to avoid non-responsiveness.

Contract Period:

Contract Period for the consultancy will be for three months starting in November 2023. Contract will be governed by standard terms of service contracts of organization. And will be shared with shortlisted candidates upon request.

Qualification & Experience:

Post Graduation qualification in social development /rural development from a reputed Institution. Minimum 5 to 8 years of experience in development sector & consultant must have demonstrated track record of keen interest.

Remuneration:

Remuneration will be on par with the norms in the Social sector. Interested candidates are expected to make a financial offer of their minimum expectation.

Selection Process

Offers will be accepted by individual consultants, commercial companies, NGOs and academics until the fill in date.

Applicants have to provide a financial bid. The financial part includes a proposed budget for 10 to 12 days of work that includes data cleaning, analysis and report writing. It should state the fees per working day (including the government tax, if applicable), the number of working days proposed and other costs. Proof of professional registration and taxation is also required (e.g. by providing the evaluator(s) tax number). Cost of logistics, stationery, transport etc. must be included in the budget. CV with references.

A shortlist of maximum three consultants will be established based on expressions of interest. The shortlist will be evaluated on the basis of their updated resume, financial offer and their reference check by Swayam Shikshan Prayog:

Preference will be given to candidates having successfully handled similar assignment. Weightage will also be given to candidates with whom Swayam Shikshan Prayog had prior satisfactory association.

Final selection will be by a Management Committee of SSP, who may telephonically interview the shortlisted candidates and decision of the Committee will be final and binding.

Only shortlisted candidates shall be contacted. In case your profile does not match with the aforementioned requirements, your application will be eliminated at preliminary scrutiny stage and SSP is not obliged to send any communication in that regard and will not entertain any follow ups in that regard.

Please mail your expression of interest along with your profile; timescale based financial offer and at least 2 independent references to sspindia1@gmail.com

Closing Date for Applications: 06th November, 2023

Consultant