Background:

IFPRI, in collaboration with partners, is conducting a study to test innovations that can improve the design of crop insurance product and accelerate varietal turnover in Ethiopia. The insurance component aims to strengthen Pula’s area Yield Index Insurance (YII) in the Amhara region that insures the value of purchased inputs against low yield due to a wide range of climate risks, including drought, excessive rainfall, pests and diseases, and several other peril. Specifically, the study tests whether YII can be strengthened by using smartphone images of insured crops as a mechanism to provide fail-safe insurance coverage. The component on accelerating varietal turnover promote recently released improved (drought-tolerant) teff and wheat varieties through trial packs. The study also aims to assess the complementary or linkage between insurance and access to new varieties that are more drought tolerant. Theoretically, newly released drought tolerant varieties can help farmers to manage moderate risks, whilst insurance can cover more severe/extreme risks. IFPRI seeks a qualified survey firm based in Ethiopia to conduct a midline household survey, which will take place in September and October 2024.

Scope of work:

The midline survey will primarily focus on varietal adoption and short in length (i.e., 60 minutes long at most). The survey will be conducted in the month of September and October 2024 and the survey firm will be mainly responsible for (but not limited to) the following tasks:

• Provide feedback/input on the questionnaire and translation: the midline questionnaires will be developed by the research team at IFPRI. The survey firm will provide feedback and translate the questionnaire into Amharic. The survey firm will also be responsible for coding the questionnaire in SurveyCTO or another survey application agreed upon with IFPRI.
• Recruiting, hiring, and managing survey enumerators, supervisors, and coordinator: the survey firm will be responsible for the recruitment of about 25 enumerators, 5 supervisors, and 1 survey coordinator—in addition to several alternate candidates.
• Organizing enumerators training session to be led by the IFPRI team: the survey firm will be responsible for organizing a 5-day training session (3-4 days in the classroom plus two pilots) in Bahir Dar. This includes renting the training hall and availing ourselves of all the necessary materials for the training. The IFPRI team will evaluate each enumerator throughout the training for the understanding of the questionnaires and decide on the final list of enumerators who qualify to take part in the survey. The survey firm will be responsible for organizing two pre-tests/pilots of the survey as part of the enumerator training.
• Organizing and conducting data collection: organize for data collection among approximately 1920 households living in 10 districts and 120 kebeles in the Amhara region. The organization of data collection mainly includes:
  • The rental of four 4×4 vehicles to be used for data collection and all vehicles shall be insured for all their occupants in case of any injury occurring during transport.
  • Organizing the survey logistics and checking the quality of the work performed by enumerators by frequent random visits to enumerators during their fieldwork, and by the verification of submitted surveys including through conducting back-check surveys with 5% of the sample households.
  • Ensuring that the field operations run smoothly and solving any issues related to logistics, tablet computers, and others.
  • Ensuring that enumerators upload all collected data onto the SurveyCTO every day.
  • Ensuring the interviews meet ethical requirements, including but not limited to the administration of informed consent and maintaining confidentiality of data.
  • Conducting a debriefing session at the end of the survey and preparation of a detailed field report.

Required qualifications of the survey firm:

• Documented past performance on the organization and implementation of at least three large-scale household surveys in Ethiopia with a sample size comparable to this midline survey.
• The proposed survey team/staff (i.e., enumerators, supervisors, coordinators) should have at least 3 years of university education and experience in at least three rural household surveys conducted with CAPI (preferably using SurveyCTO).
• Financial report that shows proficiency in managing and documenting expenditures.
• Ability to undertake survey work within the specified timeline.

Duration: 3 months (from preparation to completion)

Application documents:

Please include the following (in English) in your application:

1. Cover letter.
2. Technical proposal with a detailed budget.

Application deadline: September 15, 2024