Background

The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), together with Sasakawa Africa Association (SAA), the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR), and Farm Radio International (FRI), are implementing a project centered around livelihood support packages (LSP) informed by seasonal climate forecasts (SCFs) to enhance the resilience, productivity, and food security of smallholder farmers in the Amhara region of Ethiopia.

A first component of the intervention involves the dissemination of climate information services —including seasonal forecasts, short term weather forecasts, and agro advisories based on these— through multiple channels to farming households across eight woredas targeted by the project in the South Wollo and North Shewa zones. A second component of the intervention focuses on the procurement, distribution, and delivery of LSPs —including improved seeds, fertilizers, and other adaptive technologies aligned with the SCFs for that season— to farming households through an established network of agro‑dealers or cooperatives across the targeted areas in Amhara.

IFPRI is seeking a qualified collaborator for the implementation of an in-person listing exercise between March and April 2026. The collaborator will be responsible for obtaining lists of kebeles and villages and, with support from IFPRI, randomly selecting these to be part of the study. In addition, the collaborator will be responsible for visiting each selected study village, obtaining and updating lists of farmers in that village, conducting a public lottery to select study farmers, and contacting farmers to explain the project and obtain their consent for participation.

Interested firms are requested to prepare a detailed budget and provide the resume/CV of the team leader.

Scope of work

The Collaborator will be responsible for the following specific activities:

• In each of 8 previously-selected study woredas in South Wollo and North Shewa zones in the Amhara region, obtain lists of kebeles, together with additional information, from woreda-level leadership and collaborate with IFPRI staff to randomly select 24 kebeles to be part of the study.

• In each selected kebele, engage with kebele-level leadership to obtain a list of villages within that kebele and randomly select one village to be part of the study.

• At each selected village, engage with local leadership to obtain existing lists of farmers in that village, and update the list based on the latest and best-available knowledge, including basic demographic characteristics as well as whether that farmer currently cultivates wheat and/or teff.

• Engage with local leadership to explain the activity and obtain help to call for a small meeting with village farmers and leaders to conduct a public lottery. In said lottery, staff from the collaborator will briefly explain the project and randomly select study farmers (from the updated list) to be invited to participate in the study, in addition to a list of replacements.

• Contact each randomly-selected farmer in that village and invite him/her to participate in the study, explaining the study’s purposes, and all ethical requirements as required by the study. Obtain informed consent from farmers and provide them with a free-of-cost small vegetable kit including seeds and informational brochures to grow vegetables on a 25 m² patch of land (these kits will be provided to the consultant by IFPRI). When farmers are not found or are not willing or eligible to participate in the study, a replacement farmer must be selected to attain the required sample size.

• The overall goal is to select 10 study farmers in each of the 200 study villages, reaching a total of 2,000 farmers.

• Maintain digital records of all kebele lists within selected woredas, village lists within selected kebeles, farmer lists within selected villages, and lottery procedures and outcomes. Maintain hard-copies of consent forms from all farmers approached and a ledger of vegetable kits distributed to study farmers who consent to participate. Program any CAPI instruments to obtain these data, as needed.

• Recruit all the required fieldwork team, including a general coordinator, supervisors, and enumerators that will permit to complete the listing exercise in 20 effective field days.

• Provide adequate space, equipment, internet access, and printed materials to hold a training session for enumerators and other staff during 3 days, and the provision of food, transportation, and lodging to enumerators and supervisors.

• Deploy fieldwork, including mobilization and provision of lodging (when applicable) and food, to all enumerators and supervisors implementing the exercise.

• Ensure interviews meet ethical requirements, including but not limited to informed consent and maintaining confidentiality of data.

• Put in place quality control measures to ensure accurate data collection and provide weekly field reports to IFPRI.

• Delivery of data to IFPRI. The bases must be organized by modules and duly labelled.

• Prepare a technical note on the listing exercise implementation, detailing any problems encountered during the fieldwork and any special cases recorded, among others.

Deliverables

• Digital records of kebele lists within 8 study woredas, village lists within 24 study kebeles per woreda, farmers within 1 study village per kebele.

• Evidence of village-level lotteries to select study farmers. Final lists of study farmers with digitalized physical copy of consent form. Vegetable kits distributed among study farmers.

• Final report detailing fieldwork and any obstacles encountered

Required qualifications of the collaborator

• Demonstrated past performance in implementing at least three large-scale household surveys with sample sizes comparable to this survey (2,000 households) and resulting in good-quality data.

• Team leaders should have experience in the realization of at least three survey studies in Ethiopia and include technicians with advanced knowledge of the survey programming software, if needed.

• Previous experience hiring and supervising teams of enumerators.

• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.

Preferred qualifications

• Extensive field experience in conducting surveys on rural development, agriculture, and/or food security in Ethiopia.

• Experience working with international institutions on similar settings and with a similar farmer population as Amhara.

Application deadline: March 3, 2026