Request for Proposal (RFP) and Terms of References (TOR) for Survey Companies
Collect baseline household data for monitoring inclusive development through links with secondary cities, agricultural commercialization, and climate smart agriculture in Kasungu and Mzimba
1. OBJECTIVES
IFPRI is supporting the Government of Flanders during its implementation of the fourth Country Strategy Program (CSP IV) with a focus on inclusive development through the links with secondary cities, agricultural commercialization, and climate smart agriculture (2024 โ 2028).
To that end, IFPRI is responsible for organizing longitudinal data collection to:
ยท Monitor progress towards CSP IV goals in Kasungu and Mzimba (incl. poverty reduction, increased agricultural commercialization, adoption of sustainable agricultural practices, and improved off-farm income)
ยท Inform on rural-urban linkages and urbanization in Kasungu
ยท Inform on the emergence of larger commercial farmers in Kasungu and Mzimba
2. Overall Approach
The collaborator will partner with IFPRI to lead the baseline household survey for this study. In total, 2,000 interviews will be conducted. Each interview will take up to 1.5 hours to complete. Responses during interviews will be recorded by the field team using tablet computers on a program written using SurveyCTO software.
The survey will be conducted in the districts of Kasungu and Mzimba. As the survey serves multiple purposes, there are several groups that representative data should be collected for:
1. Rural households in Mzimba and Kasungu
In each district, 50 enumeration areas that were listed by the National Statistics Office of Malawi as part of the 2024 Agricultural Census will be randomly selected to be part of the study. Departing from the NSO household listing of the selected enumeration areas, a random sample of 10 households will drawn in each enumeration area, resulting in a total sample size of 1,000 households across both districts.
2. Urban households in Kasungu Boma
In Kasungu Boma, 25 enumeration areas will be randomly selected to be included in the study. A full household listing following protocols similar to the ones that are used by NSO will be conducted in the selected enumeration areas. In each enumeration area, the listing data will then be used to draw a random sample of 20 households. In total, 500 households in Kasungu Boma will be interviewed.
3. Medium and large-scale farmers in Mzimba and Kasungu
IFPRI will conduct a listing of larger-scale farmers in Mzimba and Kasungu. The sampling frame and sampling procedure will be developed in consultation with the collaborator to ensure efficient organization of the field work. In total, 500 medium and large-scale farmers will be interviewed.
Upon successful completion of the baseline survey, the collaborator may be invited to conduct intermediate (phone) survey(s) and the end-line survey scheduled for 2028.
3. Specific Tasks
ยท Assist in submission of study protocol to a local IRB.
ยท Development and testing of a CAPI program for the questionnaires in SurveyCTO based on draft versions of these questionnaires in Word or XLSForm provided by IFPRI.
ยท Translation of questionnaires into Chichewa.
ยท Procurement of all supplies necessary for data collection including tablets for administering the survey.
ยท Preparatory work including:
o Pre-testing the household questionnaire.
o Selection and training (minimum of 5 days) of all field staff.
o Pilot testing the listing and household questionnaires (this should follow or coincide with the training).
o Liaising with local officials on community entry and to identify sampled households.
ยท Take primary responsibility for conducting training and fieldwork. The fieldwork includes both listing and a household survey.
ยท Develop a field schedule for the data collection teams and provide regular status updates during fieldwork.
ยท Development and implementation of a system for data quality checks, corrections and callbacks to be implemented during the survey fieldwork. This includes re-contacting respondents to fix any missing or erroneous data.
ยท Develop a protocol for data capture to ensure that data can be downloaded to a project Dropbox folder daily (in Stata format).
ยท Coordinate with the IFPRI team to run data quality checks as the data are collected.
ยท Delivery of the data collected and final field report.
4. Timeframe
August 1, 2025, to November 1, 2025.
5. PROPOSAL
With this announcement, interested companies are requested to submit a technical and financial proposal to be considered by IFPRI.
6. SELECTION CRITERIA
The survey firm must have the following capacity and evidence of work:
ยท At least 3 years of implementing nationwide or large-scale rural household surveys.
ยท Evidence of capacity and delivery of quality output (based on feedback from past survey implementers and documentation from the firm).
ยท Pool of trained and experienced enumerators and supervisors for surveys in the northern, central, and southern regions.
ยท Proven management of enumerators and supervisors.
ยท Tablet-based programming and interviewing.
ยท Data management.
ยท Data quality check system.
ยท Good supervision, communication, and feedback system among the survey teams.
ยท Sufficient protocols for ethical and safe data collection.
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