Consultancy firm for conducting an endline household survey for the Climate Information and Inputs project in Ethiopia

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 the 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. The intervention was implemented during the 2026 Meher season across 190 study villages in nine woredas. A total of 1,900 study farmers were selected through public lotteries during an in-person listing exercise conducted in early 2026.

IFPRI is seeking a qualified collaborator for the implementation of an endline household survey between January and February 2027. The collaborator will be responsible for programming and translating the survey instrument, recruiting and training the fieldwork team, tracking and interviewing study farmers across the nine study woredas, and delivering clean and appropriately labelled data to IFPRI.

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:

• Program the endline household questionnaire (approximately 90 minutes in length) in CAPI software, based on an instrument provided by IFPRI, and translate it into Amharic. Provide any feedback on the questionnaire. Pretest and pilot the CAPI instrument before fieldwork begins.

• Conduct an endline household survey of approximately 2,470 farmers across the 190 study villages in nine woredas in the South Wollo and North Shewa zones. This comprises the 1,900 farmers already enrolled in the study, plus 4 additional farmers in each of the 143 treatment villages, to be randomly selected from the village listing rosters (provided by IFPRI).

• Track and interview the farmers already enrolled in the study. Where an enrolled farmer cannot be located or declines to participate, the reason should be recorded using a short attrition form, but farmers should not be replaced. Obtain informed consent from the additional farmers selected in treatment villages.

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

• Recruit the required fieldwork team, including a general coordinator, supervisors, and enumerators. A team of approximately 30 enumerators, organized in six field teams, is suggested in order to complete the survey within the available window.

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• Fieldwork is expected to take place between mid-January and late February 2027. It is suggested that fieldwork begins in areas with potential accessibility limitations due to conflict.

• Provide adequate space, equipment, internet access, and printed materials to hold a training session for enumerators and other staff during approximately 6 days, and the provision of food, transportation, and lodging to enumerators and supervisors.

• Deploy fieldwork, including mobilization and provision of lodging (when applicable) and meals or perdiems, to all enumerators and supervisors implementing the survey.

• Provide small incentives (such as cards with mobile phone credit) to respondents answering the survey.

• Put in place quality control measures, including independent back-checks on at least 5 percent of completed interviews, GPS stamps on all interviews, and daily upload of data to allow IFPRI to run high-frequency checks. Respond to data quality flags raised by IFPRI within 48 hours and provide weekly field reports to IFPRI.

• Assign 4 audio auditors that listen to completed interviews on a daily basis and provide feedback to supervisors and enumerators to improve the quality of the interviews and ensure appropriate coding of the respondent’s answers.

• Some study areas may be subject to access restrictions or security incidents. The collaborator will agree a protocol with IFPRI for such situations, and should be prepared to shift to phone-based interviews or other alternative modalities where in-person fieldwork is not possible.

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

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

Deliverables

• The final CAPI survey instrument, programmed, translated, and piloted;

• A fieldwork readiness report covering the recruited team, the completion of enumerator training, and the fieldwork plan;

• A progress dashboard and partial field reports during implementation; and

• The final cleaned dataset, organized by modules and duly labeled, together with a technical note on survey implementation.

Required qualifications of the collaborator

• Demonstrated past performance in implementing at least three large-scale household surveys with sample sizes comparable to this survey (2,500 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.

• 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.

• Experience implementing panel or tracking surveys, including locating and re-interviewing previously enrolled respondents.

Application deadline: October 16, 2026