Terms of Reference

Consultancy Support to the Suchana Program on Policy Advocacy and Governance for Strengthening Market Systems

1. Project Background

The Suchana program aims to reduce undernutrition leading to stunting in children under two years of age living within 250,000 very poor households with women of reproductive age (15-45 years) in Sylhet and Moulvibazar districts of Bangladesh. The program adopts an integrated approach to nutrition-specific and nutrition-sensitive interventions and aims to develop a sustainable and replicable model that can be scaled. Suchana is funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID) and the European Union (EU) and is implemented by a consortium of eight partners, including Save the Children, iDE, WorldFish, Helen Keller International, and implementing agencies CNRS, RDRS and FIVDB. icddr,b is responsible for carrying out the impact monitoring of the program. iDE’s role in the program is to provide technical advisory services related to strengthening market linkages and capacity building of the consortium partners on market-based approaches.

2. About the Assignment

2.1 Context of the Assignment

Among the five pillars of the Suchana program, Pillar 3- better nutrition through improved economic status - focuses on increasing household income and strengthening livelihood strategies through a nutrition-sensitive approach which ensures that households are able to afford a nutritious diet, have the economic means to put nutrition knowledge into practice, and invest in developing secure and resilient livelihoods. Nutrition-sensitive interventions differ from nutrition-specific interventions in that they aim to address the underlying causes of malnutrition rather than providing a direct solution. The effects of nutrition-sensitive interventions may be less direct, but they may impact a larger number of beneficiaries in a more sustainable way, as the root causes of malnutrition affect many people, and solving them produces long-term gains in nutrition. The nutrition-sensitive approach is also designed to be gender transformative and climate-sensitive through a household-based approach and a rich engagement with climate-sensitive technologies and service delivery mechanisms.
 
Suchana is applying a Nutrition-Sensitive Market Systems Development approach. The first component of Pillar 3 is the implementation of market-led income generating activities (IGAs) with start-up investment grants. IGAs focus on increasing household access to sufficient nutritious food through increased income and production for consumption, to prevent chronic malnutrition and reduce the incidence of stunting. The second component of Pillar 3 is support for homestead food production (HFP) of nutritious food, primarily for domestic consumption, but also to support income generation by selling surplus produce.
 
Suchana is, building trust, communication, and incentives between beneficiaries and market actors to create strong forward and backward linkages. Suchana is supporting both top-down systemic interventions and bottom-up facilitated linkages. Rapid Market Assessment and IGA analysis have supported the design of this systems strategy and have identified systemic constraints disaggregated by sub-sectors. To address these constraints, the Suchana market systems strategy deploys five key interventions at micro, meso and macro levels in the market system which are Business Groups (Micro Level) and Local Business Advisor (Last mile actor) development, establishing Collection Points, Local Service Provider engagement (Meso level) and lead firm engagement (Macro level). This overarching strategy is integrated into each of the five main project sectors: horticulture, livestock, poultry, aquaculture, and off-farm sub-sector. Suchana have some platform like Collection Point Management Committee, Market Management Committee, LSP Network, Village Model Farmer etc. to lead relevant interventions.   

In this document “market governance" means the governing structures and norms within the market system. The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) outlines five principles for market governance which are useful in project design or evaluation to assess the impact of market power structures on a given project’s target group – such as poor or marginalized or women headed households. The framework rests on the assumption that weaknesses in any of these factors result in inefficiencies in the market, leading to negative effects upon the poorest and most vulnerable. These five principles include- accountability, transparency, non-discrimination, participation and efficiency.

2.2 Objective of the Assignment

The overall objective of this assignment is to develop the capacity of iDE Suchana field team to apply aspects of policy advocacy and market governance as a means for strengthening the market systems within the area of influence of the Suchana program. The specific objectives of this assignment are to provide consultancy support for –

1. Identifying key policy areas and constraints related to food security, WASH and nutrition
2. Conducting a situational analysis of market governance in local market systems within the Suchana area of influence and providing recommendations for the design of interventions that strengthen and improve it
3. Developing the capacity of staff to engage in advocacy with local government and civil society for improved policies on the same
4. Integrating policy advocacy and market governance into the core Market System Development strategy of the project

3. Major responsibilities of Consultant or Firm

This assignment has been designed specifically around these three phases as described below:

4. Major responsibilities of iDE

iDE will provide the consultant with the necessary support to undertake and implement the assignment and execute the ToR. Such responsibilities include the following:

• Provide initial briefing and existing work overview
  
• Provide relevant project documents and technical support
  
• Monitor regularly, and provide feedback and ensure the effectiveness of the contract; and,
  
• Disburse payment as per the agreed schedule

5. Expected Deliverables

All deliverables described above should be written and/or presented in English. The quality should be suitable for an international audience.
 
Subsequent to signing the contract, the consultant will present iDE with a brief report demonstrating it’s understanding of this assignment, the proposed methodology of carrying out the assignment, study tools, a work plan with implementation schedule, associated budget, and a draft table of contents (TOC) for the final report and guidelines. A draft of this inception report will be reviewed by iDE, resulting in a final agreement on the strategy that guides the consultancy.

6. Eligibility Criteria

General experience and expertise:

1. Any qualified international or national firm or individual consultant may apply
2. Ability to communicate cross-culturally and collaborative nature.
3. Excellent communication, written and verbal skills in English
4. The consultant must have experience in conducting studies, a clear understanding of market research methodologies and experience in using different social research tools and techniques
5. Excellent understanding of the MSD and M4P
6. Personal commitment, efficiency and flexibility, together with the ability to work both independently under minimum supervision and with large diverse project teams.

7. Budget and Payment Schedule

The total budget for this work must not exceed BDT 1,200,000 (Twelve Hundred Thousand Taka only) and must include all costs including Govt. 10% Tax and 15% VAT, and consultants' fee for conducting the assignment.  Budget should include remuneration, field-based travel (accommodation, transport, per diems) and any miscellaneous costs. Government tax regulation will apply and tax will be deducted at source. The consultant will submit an invoice at the end of each phase. The payment schedule is as follows:

1. 20% of the contract value disbursed upon approval of Inception report covering both activities
2. 40% of the contract value disbursed upon approval of deliverables (1.1 & 1.2) for the first activity
3. 40% of the contract value disbursed upon approval of deliverables for the second activity (2.1 & 2.2)

8. Work Schedule

The assignment will be carried out from 1st September to 31st October 2019 as stated below.
 

9. Bid Submission

All expressions of interest should include:

1. Cover letter (maximum one page);
2. Technical Proposal (maximum 3-4 pages) which should include:
• Understanding of the assignment
• Relevant experience of the consultant/ firm
• Profiles/resumes of the personnel to be involved in the assignment must be included in the annex
3. Financial Proposal (maximum one-page): breakdown of cost estimates (which must be within the stipulated budget mentioned in the ToR) for services rendered. This should include, but not be limited to: daily consultancy fees, accommodation, and living costs; transport cost, stationeries, and supplies needed for the consultancy.
4. If applicable, please also include:
• Company/Consultant profile
• VAT Registration Certificate
• TIN Certificate
• Joint Stock Company Registration Certificate
• Trade License Certificate

Interested and qualified consultants/ consultancy firms should submit their proposals to bangladesh.procurement@ideglobal.org by 7th August 2019 4:30 pm, Dhaka Time. Please write “Suchana Consultancy on Policy Advocacy and Market Governance” in the subject line. Only shortlisted firms will be contacted and invited by an interview either in-person or via video-conference.