PROJECT BACKGROUND

The Project titled “Empowered Citizens are Promoting Food and Nutrition Governance in Three Municipalities in Kapilvastu District” 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.

PROJECT’S OBJECTIVE:

Civil society organizations and members of marginalized groups in the three target communities are working closely with the relevant authorities at the local and provincial levels, using effective strategies to claim their right to food

PROJECT’S OUTPUT:

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

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES OF THE TASKS:

Various food and nutrition-related interventions are initiated by the project such as a capacity enhancement program for local government, CSOs, and other stakeholders, support to develop municipal-level food and nutrition plans, nutrition education and rehabilitation programs, referral support for SAM children, skill development to women (on-farm and off-farm), agricultural practices aimed at diversifying food production through GAP sessions, LANN+ (Linking agriculture and natural resource management towards nutrition security) sessions, and small irrigation facilities. The project engages adolescents, youth, and women to build their capacities and mobilize them into the community for women and youth empowerment crucial for the social transformations. The project brings together nutrition stakeholders to advocate for need-based nutrition activities with the community and encourages the allocation and proper use of local budgets for nutrition. Local government, civil society, and citizens are also empowered through various trainings and sensitization events particularly related to their rights concerning food and nutrition. Furthermore, the project is focused on establishing linkages between rights holders and service providers through activities such as citizen/group engagement in the participatory planning process and evidence-based advocacy dialogues. 

The project will sensitize the local governments on the importance of investing in a food and nutrition master plan and support the formulation of such plans. The master plan will guide a municipality to prioritize food and nutrition topics in their programs, resource mobilization, planning, and implementation to meet the targets set by Nepal’s Fifteenth Plan (2019-2024) and SDG 2. The development and endorsement of the three master plans are the key components of the project which ensures yearly budget allocations in their plans during the fiscal year planning. The Right to Food and Food Sovereignty Act 2018 will be used as a guiding framework.

KEY TASKS AND DELIVERABLES

 

1. Review existing policies on food and nutrition and capacity need assessment of local governments (30 days)

• Review existing policies/plans related to food and nutrition and capacity need assessment of local government.
• Organize a 1-day workshop in 3 municipalities to orient 90 persons (E.g. Mayors, deputy mayors, ward chairpersons, women members, chief administrative officers, planning officers, health, agriculture, and women section in charge and health post coordinators) on the existing policies, right to food and food sovereignty act, SDGs, accountability towards citizens, human rights framework and GESI.
• Share the draft assessment reports with the project team, and rural municipalities in both English and Nepali versions with recommendations for enhancing existing policies and addressing capacity gaps.
• Submit the final assessment report to RRN incorporating comments and feedback from the project team and respective municipalities.

2. Based on the result Orientation training on food and nutrition security policies (9 days)

• of the capacity need assessment (1) Conduct 3-day workshop programs for the elected representatives, food and nutrition coordination committee members, and government officials on food and nutrition-related themes.
• Sensitize the municipal representatives, officials, and communities on the existing policies, right to food and food sovereignty act, MSNP III, SDGs, accountability towards citizens, human rights framework, and GESI to address identified capacity needs.
• The training ensures that the policies are formulated, implemented consistently, and effectively across the community and that the efforts of local governments to address food and nutrition issues are coordinated and aligned with broader efforts at the regional and national levels.
• The training intends that the municipal representatives and officials will make use of their understanding of the right to food, regulations, and plans and subsequently develop comprehensive and contextualized food and nutrition master plans and prioritize these at service delivery.

3. Development of Municipal Food and Nutrition Master Plan (4 months)

• Conduct food and nutrition status assessments in three municipalities (35 days) to have evidence of the food and nutrition status before the master plan is developed. An assessment of the existing status, food availability, services, and the identification of resource gaps (in terms of financial, human, and technical) will be conducted. The results of the assessment will be used for the development of a realistic food and nutrition master plan.
• Organize a 1-day vision building workshop in each of the 3 municipalities to formulate a vision, mission, strategy, and objective of a food and nutrition master plan and to create a sense of ownership as a prerequisite for the master plan. The vision will be incorporated into the master plan inclusive of situation analysis, recommendations, and proposals for an improved food and nutrition situation. The findings of the food and nutrition status assessment will be deliberated to create an understanding by all stakeholders of the specific situation of the master plan development exercise.
• Provide technical support for drafting municipal food and nutrition master plans for each municipality. The plan should be aligned with MSNP III, Nepal’s 15th Plan, SDG 2, the Right to Food and Food Sovereignty Act, and the GESI framework. The master plan consists of the existing policies and programs, stakeholder analysis, specific intervention for nutrition-sensitive and nutrition-specific activities and responsibilities of the authorities, thematic officers, and resource mobilization plan. Share the draft document reports with the project team and rural municipalities in both English and Nepali versions for comments and feedback. The consultant team will submit the final report documents to RRN after incorporating comments if any.
• Organize one-day sharing and validation workshops at each municipality to facilitate exchange between the stakeholders, review, validate, and finalize the master plan for implementation. The workshop will review inputs or feedback from the local government, officials, communities, other stakeholders, and the project team. Also, organize a one-day provincial-level sharing workshop with selected federal representatives and relevant provincial stakeholders to share and acknowledge the master plans. The consultant should facilitate together with the project team to endorse the master plan by the municipal assembly and publish it in the LGs gazette and the respective website and come into force as a formal official document.

SCOPE OF ASSIGNMENT

The scope of this assignment is to analyze the data, derive insights and translate them into policy recommendations, compile information to draft an assessment of food and nutrition status and review rural municipalities’ policies, and programs (human resources and budget), plan to facilitate workshops on the food and nutrition policies and instruments to draft food and nutrition master plans and identify best practices to combat malnutrition and the sharing through provincial and national workshops.

METHODOLOGY:

Considering the information outlined in the ToRs, the consultant team will develop a comprehensive methodology for each task and design and finalize the assessment and master plan frameworks and tools with the project team and WHH.  The consultant team will follow the (i) preparatory phase (desk review of reference documents like project documents, log frame, baseline report, periodic progress reports, and relevant secondary information), (ii) fieldwork (consultation meetings with stakeholders, review of the municipality’s policy, plans, project baseline, and necessary surveys and other documents, household survey for food and nutrition assessment, carry out the focused group discussions, and key informant interviews (KII), facilitation of workshops and orientation of local government representatives and officials on various policy and legislations provision of the right to food, MSNP II, SDG-2, etc. (iii) Analysis and write-up report ( data review, analysis, and consolidation of relevant primary and secondary information/data (qualitative and quantitative), drawing inferences from existing plan and policies of federal structures and policy level intervention and recommendation,  use of data analysis online software. Innovative ideas regarding the methodologies of the assessment and plan development could be considered.

 

 

TIMEFRAME/SCHEDULE

The overall tasks are expected to be accomplished by the end of December 2024. The assignment will be effective in action from the day of signing of the contract. The review of existing policies on food and nutrition and the capacity needs assessment of local governments should not exceed more than 30 working days and the overall assignment should not exceed more than 5 months (including preparatory work, fieldwork, vision-building workshops, drafting and finalizing the master plans, sharing and validation at the local and provincial level).

BUDGET

The financial proposal has to indicate all-inclusive costs for overall tasks. The project team will negotiate to finalize the budget with the consulting firm. The organization will provide funds on an instalment basis. 30% of the agreed budget will be paid after signing the agreement and upon approval of the inception report and tools. The next 30% of the budget will be provided upon submission of the first draft of the Food and Nutrition Master Plans and the remaining 40 % amount will be paid after the conduction of a validation workshop of the final master plan at local and provincial level.

SELECTION CRITERIA

Proposals will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

SN	Criteria	Marks
1	Evaluation of firms profile/Individual CV	20
2	Experience on a similar project-related thematic area	20
3	Cost-effectiveness / financial proposal	20
4	Implementation Methodology	20
5	Submission of 2 sample reports of policy review and/or capacity needs assessment of local government and Municipal Food and Nutrition Master Plan	10
6	Presentation	10
	Total	100

 

 

 

REQUIREMENT

Interested consultant/consulting firms should submit the following documents while sending their expression of interest (EoI).

1. a) Letter of expression of interest (EoI)
2. b) Technical and Financial proposal in separate file and folders
3. c) Firms’ Profile detailing the past assignments (at least one policy review and capacity needs assessment report of LG, one food and nutrition status assessment, and one Food and Nutrition Master Plan of LG)
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, policy review methods, and tools including proposed sample sizes of HHs survey for food and nutrition status assessment, KII, FGDs, etc. (Max. 3 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 reports (Policy Review and Capacity Needs Assessment Report of LG-1/or Food and Nutrition Status Assessment-1, and Food and Nutrition Master Plan of LG-1)