RFP Invited for Baseline Study of Accelerating Income: Strong Organizations, Thriving Farmers Project

RFP for Baseline Study of “Accelerating Income: Strong Organizations, Thriving Farmers Project”

About the Organization:

Heifer International is a global non-profit working to end hunger and poverty and care for the Earth by using sustainable practices and engaging smallholder farmers in agricultural development.  Heifer was founded on the simple belief that ending hunger begins with giving people the means to feed themselves, generate income and achieve sustainable livelihoods.

Project Background

Heifer International is initiating a new project in Andhra Pradesh – a state where Heifer did not have programmatic presence earlier. Heifer International will explore 4 districts (Krishna, East Godavari, Nellore and Anantapuram) of Andhra Pradesh for prospective project location. Heifer International is planning to strengthen Farmer Producer Organisation (FPOs) through diversifying into poultry production in Andhra Pradesh. Heifer International will build, test, and refine a poultry intervention model that will complement the value chains that FPOs and Small Holder Farmers (SHFs) are already involved.

Project Goal and Objectives:

To accelerate income growth for 8 FPOs through intensification and diversification in poultry which will affect around 7500 pro-poor small holder farmers in India. The objectives of the project are -

• To improve FPO key business functions
• To improve the support provided by FPOs to members
• To improve FPO access to markets
• To improve ecosystem support by strengthened MSMEs FPO and market system actors

The Results Framework mentioning the goal, results and intermediate results we aim to accomplish is attached in the Annexure of the document. Performance indicators are a means to measure project performance towards the results and intermediate results. This is performed yearly throughout the entire project life cycle.

Approach and Implementation

• FPOs: Organizations constituted under a formal legal structure or in process of becoming legal (cooperatives, livestock associations, Mutually Aided Cooperative Society (MACS), etc.) that play a fundamental role in linking SHFs to markets and offer services for their members (e.g., technical assistance, inputs and aggregation).
• Formal or informal businesses (micro, small, medium enterprises (MSMEs): Producer and non-producer owned businesses, agribusiness, organized producer groups, among others that offer support services in the value chain (e.g., input suppliers and veterinary services). These are small businesses that need capacity development and support within the project’s philanthropic and financial services framework.
• Consumers: Consumers are targeted through campaign activities promoting production and consumption of poultry

Evaluation Rationale

The purpose of this RFP is to identify a consultancy to conduct a baseline evaluation for the Accelerating Income project and build an understanding about the current status of FPO. This baseline will allow Heifer to measure a variety of indicators, at both the FPO and the household levels, ranging from social capital to actual income levels. The values determined in this baseline will be the first step in establishing a measuring stick with which Heifer will assess the success of this intervention.

Evaluation purpose/Baseline survey objectives

• Establish and document the base values of the project’s indicators in relation to the above stated objectives and impact areas.
• Review the project MEL Plan with the baseline results and Indicators Performance Tracking Table (IPTT) (these could be a Heifer activity). And suggest the possible targets for each Result level indicator for the coming years of the project
• Generate a draft baseline report that will be validated during validation workshops and production of the final baseline report.
• Assess FPO business maturity using the Heifer Business Transformation Model tool
• Validate the assumptions made for the basic analysis of the project and re-project the targets and returns for all the years
• Using Heifer International’s method, collect data on cost of a nutritious low cost diet, basic acceptable housing, savings to cover unexpected costs and other basic needs (Education, Clothing, Healthcare, Transport, Communication, Culture and External Support) that will be used to finalize calculating Living Income Benchmark (LIB) for the project area.

Audience and intended users

The audience of the study report will be HPI, HPI India and donors, specifically the project team, and the implementing partners and select external stakeholders. An Executive Summary and recommendations will be provided to HPI India Program Management. HPI will use the report to make changes to its current strategy of providing support to this technical area and to share lessons learned with other stakeholders; partners and project participants will learn about their strengths and weaknesses and adjust their plan accordingly.

Application:

Proposals should be submitted in the aforementioned format only.

Send to: procurement-in@heifer.org

Deadline of Submission: 7th July 2020 by 1800 Hrs.

Send your proposal as per the format prescribed. The subject of email shall be the RFP Number i.e. RFP/HPI/WC/3 followed by the “Bidder’s Name”.

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