Empowered Citizens are Promoting Food and Nutrition Governance in Three Municipalities in the Kapilvastu District Project

Geographic Coverage

Budget

Project Status

Target Groups

and Beneficiaries

Funding Partners

Term of Reference (ToR) for

  Assessment for Off-Farm Trade Identification

 

  1. INTRODUCTION:

The Project titled “Empowered Citizens are Promoting Food and Nutrition Governance in Three Municipalities in Kapilvastu District” (WE Project) is funded by BMZ/ Welthungerhilfe and is being implemented jointly by Rural Reconstruction Nepal (RRN) and Kapilvastu Integrated Development Services (KIDS) in Kapilvastu, Maharajgunj and Buddhabhumi municipalities of Kapilvastu district, Lumbini province, Nepal. The project envisions supporting marginalized communities in effectively claiming their rights to economic inclusion and access to sufficient food. Empowering women is one of the goals of the project as it often contributes directly to improving the nutritional situation of household members, as they use available resources more rationally and for the benefit of all family members. The project aims for civil society organizations and members of marginalized groups in the three target communities are work closely with the relevant authorities at the local and provincial levels, using effective strategies to claim their right to food. The four-year-long project (Oct 2023 to Dec 2027) comprises the following five output areas;

  • Output 1: Local governments in the 3 target municipalities are empowered to implement effective food security and livelihood strategies.
  • Output 2: Civil society organizations in the three target communities are empowered to effectively advocate for the right to food at the local and provincial levels.
  • Output 3: Women’s capacities to improve their income and nutritional situation are strengthened and their participation in decision-making processes is improved.

Among the three output areas of the project, this assessment program is an intervention under Output 3, which aims to identify the relevant entrepreneurship which should include vocational or customized skill training (off-farm) needs, market situation with demand and supply, access to the finance service and other enabling factors needed for implementing successful and profitable Small-Micro Entrepreneurship (SMEs) designed for women in target project areas. Engaging women in such trades and businesses will increase their incomes and ultimately improve the nutrition, food and health situation of the families.

  1. PURPOSE OF THE ASSESSMENT:

The assessment aims to find the most potential vocational skills (off-farm) that are highly demanded in the market in terms of job placement and explore enterprise development opportunities for women. The study focuses on rapid market assessment at the local level (Kapilvastu district) to identify market-led enterprises and potential off-farm vocational skills or trades by considering market demand and job creation. This assessment will support the plan of possible products to be developed/promoted, improved, and traded at the local level. The evaluation will also identify possible marketplaces to link the business resulting in more visibility, better pricing, and boosting the sales of the products

However, the specific objectives of this consultancy service are as follows:

  1. To identify the  most potential  skill  (off-farm) preferably for women in targeted municipalities,
  2. Assessment of demand and supply of skilled labor in the local or regional market by rapid labor market assessment
  3. Conduct feasibility and market assessment for initiating/start-up of selected trades/micro-enterprises in targeted areas and associated district and regional market
  4. Recommend the most appropriate and relevant  trades/small-micro enterprises  suited for women in the targeted areas and associated district and regional market
  5. Assessment of financial requirements to start these identified and recommended enterprises.
  6. Recommend relevant solutions to other challenges and stakeholders for the partnership and leverage the resources for selected SMEs, including local government and private sectors.

 

  1. METHODOLOGY:

The assessment should be carried out in participatory and exploratory research design applying the mixed method tool and techniques. Several meetings with the business communities will be organized and linked with the small-scale producers and microenterprises. The consultant or firm should collect primary data and information with the related stakeholder and process, not limited to the following:

 

  • Documents review, (proposal, five-year plan of local, province, and federal government focusing on SMEs),
  • A district-level consultation meeting among local governments, peer agencies, private sector actors, market stakeholders and financial institutions,
  • Consultation meetings with the representatives of municipalities and wards and community at project implementation areas,
  • Conduct Focused Group Discussion (FGD) with potential women for training, KII with key government officials/ selected entrepreneurs,
  • Consultation with enterprise development section of local government, cottage and small industries, agriculture section, CTEVT, agriculture knowledge center, vocational training institutes, business associations,
  • Consultation with similar entrepreneurs (successful and failure) and receive input for further improvements,

 

The methodology for the study team will be as follows:

  1. Preparatory Phase: The preparatory phase includes; i) desk review of documents like project documents, and relevant latest market study reports, business feasibility study of the location conducted by relevant institutions, and other relevant reports of MoI, World Bank, ILO, Helvetas, etc. ii) start-up meeting amongst the study team and Project Team including RRN, KIDS and WHH; iii) design and finalization of field work plan and methodology, and iv) Meeting with the Project Team to finalize the study framework and tool.
  2. Field Work: The study team will visit the working municipalities, associated markets nearby and carry out consultation meetings for data accumulation and household survey-focused group discussions and key informant interviews (KII), etc.
  3. Analysis and Write-up: The study team will intensively work on reviewing, cleaning, analyzing, as well as compiling and consolidating relevant primary and secondary qualitative and quantitative information/data needed to draw conclusions

 

  1. KEY DELIVERABLES:  

The following deliverables are expected:

  • Inception Report. This should include a detailed work plan, methodology, a practical timeline, and a draft report outlining an assessment for off-farm trade identification. Partner organizations (WHH, RRN, and KIDS) will review and provide the inputs in the inception report.
  • Draft Report of an assessment for off-farm trade identification and training with the recommendation.
  • A two-page summary report, including key infographics.
  • The consultant or firm should organize a debriefing meeting based on the draft report among partner organizations (WHH, RRN, and KIDS). It will review and provide inputs in the draft report.
  • The consultant or firm will finalize and submit the final report with clear recommendations for the further enterprise promotion and vocational skills required for the project participants including an executive summary, in English, no later than 7 days after receiving comments/feedback on the draft report.
  • The report must highlight major findings, recommendations, strategies, and concrete information about the possible trade/sector.
  • Stakeholder sharing meeting on the findings of the report.

 

  1. REQUIRED QUALIFICATION AND COMPETENCIES:

The consultant/consulting firm is required to have the following expertise and qualifications:

  • The lead consultant must have at least a master’s degree in business administration or related degree with at least 5-7 years of experience in entrepreneurship development, TVET, and market research or similar fields with completion of at least 3 assignments of similar kinds.
  • The sub-lead consultant must have a Master’s degree in a similar field with at least 2 years of experience.
  • Have proven track records of conducting similar studies.
  • The consultant(s)/consulting firm must have a good command of writing and speaking in English.
  • Strong analytical and research skills
  • Excellent communication and reporting skills.
  • Familiarity with the Kapilvastu district and experience working with the Madheshi community will be an added advantage.

 

  1. TIMEFRAME/SCHEDULE

The overall tasks are expected to be accomplished within 45 days. The assignment will be effective in action from the day of signing of the contract.

 

  1. CONFIDENTIALITY

All data and information received from the organization, as well as those collected during the rapid market assessment, shall be treated with the utmost confidentiality. All data, findings, reports, and related intellectual property resulting from this study will be the sole property of RRN, KIDS, and WHH. The consultant shall not, during the term of the contract and after the expiration, disclose any proprietary or confidential information relating to the service to other parties without the written consent of RRN, KIDS, and Welthungerhilfe (WHH).

 

  1. SELECTION CRITERIA

Proposals will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

SNCriteriaMarks
1

Evaluation of firm profile/Individual CV

(At least seven years of progressive professional experience in conducting and analyzing vocational skill assessments, enterprise assessments, market and value chain assessments, etc.)

20
2

Experience and expertise in assessing on-farm and off-farm skills, livelihood, and entrepreneurship development projects. Extensive knowledge of standards and procedures for the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) sector, and enterprise development.

Experience working with CTEVT and vocational skill training institutes, guiding enterprise development,

20
3Cost-effectiveness / financial proposal20
4Implementation Methodology20
5Submission of 2 sample reports of similar type of assessment/survey or study.10
6Presentation10
 Total100

 

  1. REQUIREMENT

Interested consultants/ firms are requested to submit an Expression of Interest (EOI) with the following documents.

  1. a) Letter of expression of interest (EoI)
  2. b) Technical and Financial proposal in separate file and folders
  3. c) Firms’ Profile detailing past assignments and experience in the related field.
  4. d) CVs of team leader/ expert and research analyst highlighting their areas of work and experience
  5. e) Company registration certificate
  6. f) Latest tax clearance certificate g) VAT registration certificate (For both firms and individual consultants)

 

Annexes:

Annex 1: ToR

Annex 2.  Technical proposal template (includes):

  1. i) Cover page: Title, submitted to, and submitted by and date
  2. ii) Table of contents
  • iii) Introduction: Background, Objectives, and Scope of the overall task, Firms relevancy for this task in terms of the experience of consulting firm/individual (Max. 5 pages)
  1. iv) Methodology: The detail of the methodology consists of Area, KII, FGDs, stakeholder consultation meeting etc. (Max. 2 pages)
  2. v) Team Composition: Brief of team composition (Team leader/ expert and research analyst) (Max. 2 pages)
  3. vi) Action plan with a clear time frame (Weekly breakdown)
  • vii) Overall output with separate tasks (Max. 1 page)

 

Annex3.

Word/excel file of financial proposal

 

Annex4

1: Profile of organization and

2: CV of Team leader and Research Analyst

3: Two previous relevant reports

 

Sealed bids must be submitted to the RRN central office, Gairidhara, Kathmandu, or in the field office, Taulihawa, Kapilvastu on or before 5.00 pm local time on 2081/07/09 (October 25, 2024). Documents received after this deadline shall not be accepted.

 

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