RFP - Project Impact Evaluation ProRISE – Project on Resilient Incomes for Smallholder Farmers through an Ecosystems Approach

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About the Organization

Established in 1993, WOTR is a non-profit that engages at the intersection of practice, knowledge and policy across scales and in collaboration with various stakeholders across sectors. Its goal is to ensure water, food, livelihoods and income security together with a growing quality of life for vulnerable and disadvantaged communities in rural areas on a sustainable and equitable basis. WOTR’s areas of work include watershed development and ecosystems management, integrated water resources management, climate resilient agriculture, sustainable rural livelihoods, women’s empowerment, nutrition, health, sanitation and hygiene. Cross-cutting themes across these areas include adaptation and resilience to climate change, institutional development, governance and policy engagement.

WOTR has been working with rural communities in India for over 3 decades now. It has touched the lives of over 8.4 million across 7,635 villages in 10 states of India – Maharashtra, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Odisha, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Bihar and Karnataka. It has included participants from 63 countries in training and exposure programmes. On the ground, over 2.34 million hectares of degraded landscapes/watersheds have been regenerated, over 158 billion litres of potential water harvesting capacity have been created, and agricultural productivity has increased significantly with a 121% increase in area under triple cropping. Farm incomes in most project villages are 2 to 4 times higher than those in control villages. Moreover, it has facilitated over 21,500 SHGs involving 2, 53,000 women.

About the Proposal

The overall objective of the project, ProRISE, is to ensure resilient income for the smallholder farmers through the FPC model.

The Indicator to measure this objective: The average annual net income from the farming of 10,000 smallholder farmers connected with FPC increases by at least 1.5 times.

Long Term Outcomes:

The expected outcomes due to the project interventions at the end of the project, and the indicators to measure these,e are mentioned below:-

• Promotion of Climate Resilient Farming Systems among smallholders, especially women farmers, through the input supply centre of FPCs.

Indicator- 20,000 farming families are engaged in climate-resilient farming practices.

• FPCs establish sustainable and engendered businesses and enterprises

Indicator 1- The average annual turnover of at least 9 FPCs is increased to a minimum of Rs. 25 Million per FPC from the Indian financial year 2025-26 onwards.

Indicator 2- A minimum of 1000 women are involved in the various businesses run by the FPCs.

• FPCs become a trusted stakeholder in the Market Ecosystem. Indicator- At least 5 institutional buyers continue their business with the same FPC.

Short Term Outcomes:

• Reduction in the use of chemical inputs with the biological alternatives
• Promotion of water-saving technologies in irrigation management
• Supply of saplings of good varieties of chilli through Saplings Business
• Value chain developed for selected crops with Post-Harvest Management set up
• Modern Technology in agri-business and communication is adopted. Decision Support System (DSS) platforms & Use of Technology for FPOs and the farmers.
• Pedagogy developed on greening and engendering the agri-businesses.
• FPC Governance systems established
• Knowledge generated and disseminated

Project Period: 30 months; from 1 Dec 2023 till 31 May 2026

Project Locations: The project is being implemented by 11 Farmer Producer Companies (FPCs) in 8 blocks from 3 districts of Maharashtra. Out of these 11 FPCs, 6 are from Jalna, 3 are from Dharashiv, and 2 are from Solapur district in Central Maharashtra, which is a drought-prone region. The names of the FPCs with the name of the respective block/ taluka (in brackets) are given below:

• Jalna District: Shri Kalika, Krushiyug, Sant Dayanand and Krushiputra (Bhokardan), Jamuvant Agro (Ambad) and Purnakarth (Jafrabad)
• Dharashiv District: Jalpriya (Bhoom), Shri Yogirana Krushi (Paranda) and Aapli Agro (Dharashiv)
• Solapur District: Shri Bhagwant Mahila (Barshi) and Raje Rao Rambha (Karmala)

Objectives of the impact evaluation:

 The overall objective of the evaluation is to conduct a systematic and objective-based assessment of the project, its design, activities, implementation strategies and results. The aim is to determine the relevance and fulfilment of objectives, effectiveness, impact and sustainability. The specific objectives include:

• Changes with respect to outcomes indicators mentioned in the project overview above to assess the overall impact of the project.
• To analyze organizational and management structure of FPOs, their effectiveness in onboarding farmers, especially the women in governance, management and business activities of the FPOs.
• To evaluate the impact of various FPO activities on the net income of the farmers on account of timely, appropriate and adequate input supply, productivity increase, mechanisation of farm operations, aggregate produce marketing, diversified marketing interventions, value addition of produce, government subsidy, etc.
• To assess the level of convergence with other stakeholders and their schemes, if any, such as those of State Governments, banks, MFIs, corporates, technology institutes, etc., in the operations of FPOs
• Draw strategic lessons and recommendations for the program design for the next phase.

Eligibility

Key qualifications of the evaluator(s):

The consultant team/consultancy/research agency should consist of experts specialised in Agriculture, Agri business, Gender integration, and Farmer-Producer Organisation. The team should include a team leader and two-three senior experts. The evaluation team needs to include both women and men and demonstrate comprehensive gender skills.

The experts should fulfil the following requirements as a team:

• Extensive evaluation experience in Water, Agriculture, Agri-business, Gender and FPOs
• Very good knowledge of qualitative and quantitative data collection and ICT applications,
• Very good knowledge of statistical analysis (Excel, SPSS or comparable software),
• Very good speaking fluency in Marathi and English, and excellent writing skills in English
• Understanding of the partnership principles in NGOs, FPOs and market players

How to Apply

The evaluators’ offer documents should contain the following:

• Consultant Team/ Agency Credentials: - Organisation and team credentials include details of relevant past assignments.
• Technical/ Specific proposal: - short explanation and justification of the methods to be deployed; Timeline for study - CVs of all evaluators to be involved
• Financial proposal - Complete cost estimate that includes both, the fee as well as any ancillary costs to be incurred, such as travel, accommodation, taxes, fees and costs of meetings in the scope of the evaluation, etc.

Interested consultants/agencies will submit their proposal documents with a cover letter addressed to ‘The Director, Watershed Organisation Trust’ through Email to pune@wotr.org - The proposal documents must be submitted before 11:00 PM on 1st February 2026.

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Tags Food, Agriculture and Nutrition Livelihood Rural Development Others