Statement of Work

Hiring of a Consulting Firm for undertaking primary survey for Gender Responsive Cell

1. Context & Background

The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), under the Development Strategy and Governance Division, New Delhi (IFPRI-SAR), is implementing the Strengthening Women’s Advancement and Resilience in Agriculture (SWARNA) Project – through establishment of Gender Responsive Cell (GRC) in collaboration with the Department of Agriculture and Farmers’ Empowerment (DAFE), Government of Odisha. Agriculture in Odisha employs a large share of women, supported by extensive gender-focused schemes and a substantial gender budget. However, policies remain largely gender-neutral, limiting women’s effective participation and benefits, compounded by critical gaps in gender-disaggregated data. GRC, led by IFPRI, seeks to address these gaps by embedding gender considerations into planning, budgeting, and policy processes within the agriculture department. The survey aims to test the identified indicators that will be implemented by GRC to monitor the outcomes of welfare schemes and policies at the ground level by collecting data on them . It will generate gender-disaggregated evidence to assess scheme performance, the extent of women’s inclusion and mainstreaming, and the responsiveness of existing interventions. The survey will also capture key challenges faced by women beneficiaries, including barriers to access, participation, and benefit realization, to inform more inclusive and effective policymaking.

2. Objective:

The primary objective of this engagement is to hire a competent consulting firm to conduct a primary survey under the ongoing SWARNA project under GRC in collaboration with the Department of Agriculture and Farmers’ Empowerment (DAFE), Government of Odisha. IFPRI requests proposals from qualified survey agencies in India to undertake primary survey in selected districts of Odisha. The services of the survey agency shall include but are not limited to training of enumerators, digitizing questionnaires, data collection, data monitoring and preliminary data cleaning for the assigned sample.

3. Period of Assignment: The contract period will be from Aug 01, 2026 to November 30, 2026.

Supervisor: The agency will be responsible for its work and will report to Dr. Mamata Pradhan (Research Coordinator) and Dr Devesh Roy (Senior Research Fellow) or their designees. The agency shall carry out the assigned tasks in accordance with the attached scope of work

3. Service Fee:

• Indian Income Tax: Please note that payment of Resource Fee will be subject to deduction of prescribed Indian Taxes, as applicable, at source by IFPRI-SAR.

• Notice Period: This service agreement may be terminated by either side (IFPRI or staff) by providing advance written notice.

4. Key Responsibilities/Activities:

• Team Deployment and Training: Deploy a competent survey team- enumerators and supervisors. In collaboration with IFRPI, provide training to the enumerators on survey instruments, data collection on tablets using CAPI interface

• Primary Data Collection: The agency will conduct individual quantitative and qualitative interviews across selected villages in identified districts of the state, ensuring representation from possible major agro-climatic regions social groups and other relevant categories. . The primary survey will cover approximately 600-700 households. In addition, the agency will undertake at least 20 Key Informant Interviews (KIIs) with relevant stakeholders.

• The survey questionnaire will be provided by the IFPRI team and digitization will be done by the survey agency in consultation with IFPRI researchers. A survey agency to use tablets or Android phone for data collection. Survey Agency will be responsible for integrating the survey instrument in CAPI programming and build monitoring mechanism in the tools

• Agency to manage the logistics of all the assigned enumerators – accommodation, travel and timely submission of the data points. Agency to supervise the data collection process to ensure sample is covered within the stipulated time.

• Quality Assurance and Monitoring: Implement regular monitoring mechanisms for the survey team to ensure both the qualitative and quantitative targets of data collection are met in a timely manner. The survey agency's monitoring team should report to IFPRI researchers daily and maintain a monitoring sheet or log that tracks sample data. This log should capture key information from the modules, ensure data consistency, and document any reasons for missing or incomplete responses.

• Progress Reporting and Collaboration: Conduct regular progress update meetings with IFPRI's researchers and incorporate suggestions and feedback throughout the survey process.

• Ensure all ethical code of conduct are followed and data privacy and confidentiality are maintained.

• Submission of the Final Dataset: Survey agency will be responsible to the primary cleaning of the data and submit -raw data file, cleaned data file and a complete record of Error Log- highlighting all the changes made during the cleaning.

5. Eligibility Criteria

1. Deliverables and Payment Schedules:

1. Duration: August 01, 2026 to November 30, 2026

Interested firms are invited to apply within 15 days of the publication of this advertisement, submitting complete company details as per the eligibility criteria, along with a detailed budget proposal and the CV of the lead consultant.