Contracting Data Collection Services at Hanga Akazi (Ha) for Employment and Entrepreneurship Activity

The RTI INTERNATIONAL in Rwanda from African region had released this tender for Tenders are invited for Contracting Data Collection Services at Hanga Akazi (Ha) for Employment and Entrepreneurship Activity Location: Kigali Deadline: Tuesday, 20/06/2023 17:00 RTI International is an independent, nonprofit research institute providing research, development, and technical services to government and commercial clients worldwide. It is implementing a USAID-funded Hanga Akazi (HA) Activity in Rwanda. HA is a five-year activity that will work with private and public sector to scale up equitable employment and entrepreneurial opportunities in Rwanda’s agri-food system. Hanga Akazi will address the problem of insufficient employment opportunities and limited entrepreneurial success for Rwandans. Using a facilitative, demand-driven, private-sector-led approach, the E&E Activity will facilitate capacity development of Rwandans in the key technical and soft skills required to participate in a modern workforce. The goal of HA is transformative partnerships in Rwanda's agriculture sector and complementary market segments, leading to a resilient and catalytic agri-food ecosystem that drives inclusive job creation, increased entrepreneurship opportunities, and the entry and growth of new and existing enterprises to contribute to inclusive and sustainable private sector growth. The Activity uses two impact indicators that cut across components to measure progress toward this goal: Number of individuals with new or improved employment following participation in USG assisted programs (target of 23,000 jobs) Number of full-time equivalent (FTE) jobs created with USG assistance (target of 19,000 jobs) ABOUT THE SHORT-TERM ASSIGNMENT This Terms of Reference (ToR) document refers to services of a firm to perform various types of interviews on selected partners, key informant interviews, focus group discussions) and fill in forms to collect the data provided by interviewees identified by Hanga Akazi. The assignment will also offer services related the collection of data and information for the partner beneficiary baseline and other subsequent studies that will be conducted on an ad hoc and intermittent basis. Data will be collected during visits to sampled project beneficiaries’ households and/or to market actors supported by the Hanga Akazi Activity countrywide. After selection, the service provider will receive the project logic model, MEL plan and data collection instruments (the service provider will have to review translation of the tools). SCOPE OF WORK FOR A LOCAL DATA COLLECTION FIRM Hanga Akazi is seeking a local research firm with experience in both quantitative and qualitative data collection to partner beneficiary baseline and other subsequent studies that will be conducted on an ad hoc and intermittent basis. The selected firm will commence activities in July 2023. Key responsibilities of the local data collection partner include: Instrument finalization. The local data collection firm will be required to assist and advise the HA MEL team (led by MEL Manager) on the contextualization and suitability of the instrument (s) for data collection. HA will adapt the developed tool(s), but the firm will conduct a final review to check for the appropriateness of the language used in the instruments, and will translate the instrument, as it relates to the local dialects used in the specific programme communities. The local data collection firm will be responsible for digitalizing and uploading the survey onto data collection tablets. Enumerator recruitment and data collection training: The local data collection firm will identify and recruit data collectors (firm will identify total number needed based on data collection caseload described in this ToR) who will be responsible for collecting the quantitative and qualitative data for HA targeted inidcators. The local firm will be responsible for ensuring that qualified data collectors are present. Based on enumerator assessments, a final team of selected enumerators will be determined from the full group of trainees. The local firm will be responsible for developing a Data Collection Guidance note for review by HA MEL team prior to training. The firm will also be responsible for printing all data collection instruments for training, incorporating (and translating) any revisions to instruments following the training and pilots, and printing all instruments for data collection. Pilot survey tool: The local data collection will conduct a small pilot exercise to ensure an existing survey tool is appropriately adapted for the local context and target population and that the survey has been effectively transferred onto the tablet. The local research firm will be responsible for coordinating the logistics of the pilot exercise, including identifying appropriate participants for the quantitative survey pilots, and providing feedback to HA Mel team on how to modify the survey. Quantitative data collection: The local research firm will coordinate all logistics for quantitative and quantitative data collection of validated surveys (most significantly, travel to and from the evaluation sites in appropriate vehicles for the local conditions). This may imply the firm may have to collect up 10% more to achieve the required number of effective surveys. Surveys will be administered orally in the local language across the country, as not all respondents will be literate. The precise timing, Location, Women, Men, Youth, and Persons with disability to be surveyed will be provided by HA MEL team prior to data collection. The survey supervisor(s) will ensure that all surveys are completed correctly prior to leaving each evaluation site, and that data is stored securely. The research firm will also be responsible for ensuring all research ethical standards are followed, such as obtaining informed consent, clearly explaining that participants have full choice in participating in the research, and respecting participants who wish to withdraw or discontinue surveys. Data entry and cleaning: The local data collection firm is responsible for entering all data collected under surveys using their own digital data collection tool like Kobo collect. Daily data-quality checks are required. The data collection firm will be responsible for developing data entry template which will be reviewed by HA Supervisor(s). The hired firm will conduct thorough data sport checks and submit to HA a final, clean dataset. Data collection firm will also prepare and deliver a codebook to accompany final dataset. published on 12 Jun 2023. The tender expired on 20 Jun 2023. This tender is sourced from Official Website and is eligible for suppliers interested in Data services. Interested bidders can obtain further information including complete bid documents or ways to participate by registering on Tender Impulse and referencing via Tender Impulse ID 3218497.