Deadline: 7-Sep-22
The Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) is issuing this Request for Proposals (RFP) for the Implementation of research to improve fortification quality in India, Nigeria, and Bangladesh.
The purpose of this RFP is to engage services of a Service Provider to design and conduct implementation research activities to test and refine the digitization theory of change, with particular focus on the digitization and gender equity efforts, in Bangladesh, Nigeria and India as part of GAIN’s work on digitizing fortification quality and strengthening enabling environments.
Objectives
- The main objective is to design and conduct implementation research activities in Bangladesh, Nigeria and India to test and refine the digital QA/QC project theory of change during the planning and pilot phases, with particular focus on the digitization and gender equity efforts. This includes assessment of the current status (at baseline) and changes (up to the end of the pilot phase) regarding the cycle of food quality improvement:
- The specific objectives are to:
- At baseline:
- conduct a literature review and design implementation research methods to be carried out in each country;
- develop a detailed program impact pathway (PIP) that illustrates the theory of change in each of the countries (e.g., outlining the quality improvement cycle and change that is expected through digitization at all levels including premix producers, food producers, regulatory authorities, and laboratories);
- review guidance on gender-sensitive fortification programming (being developed by GAIN during the planning phase) and integrate gender-sensitive metrics into all implementation research data collection activities; and
- collect relevant baseline data in each country to assess the current situation (before the digital QA/QC project), e.g., on the current roles/responsibilities, inputs/processes/outputs, and corrective actions (data indicators to be defined by the Service Provide and aligned to the PIP).
- During pilot phase:
- collect relevant data to ascertain fidelity of implementation (i.e., delivery as intended) and change effectiveness (i.e., technical change in terms of time, quality and/or cost of the previous vs. digital systems and human change in terms of capacity/readiness, expectation, and need among data collectors and decision makers and the extent to which they are achieved) to confirm that the intended outputs and outcomes are being realized (i.e., the theory of change is sound) and to understand characteristics of the operating environment that drive or impede the attainment of results (data indicators and frequency of collection to be defined by the Service Provider);
- conduct review meetings between research and implementation teams to discuss findings and, as appropriate, recommendations for course corrective actions; and
- document recommendations for scale-up in the pilot mills, to additional mills in country, and across typologies of country programs.
- At baseline:
Phases
There are three separate phases to the development of the digital QA/QC data system in each country:
- Planning: Based on a previous scoping exercise via the BMGF and the partners involved, a series of immediate next steps were identified before piloting the system, including country consultations to ensure buy-in/acceptance, data flow mapping and device/data integration in a “computer lab” setting.
- Pilot: Implementation and testing of MVP in 3 mills, in Bangladesh, Nigeria and India; testing devices and system with external monitoring agencies and working with decision makers to test and further development of Digital QA/QC; ongoing monitoring of project and implementation research.
- Scale up: Roll out of MVP in 15-20 mills, in Bangladesh, Nigeria and India (20-40 mills).
Ineligible
The following proposals will automatically not be considered or accepted:
- Proposals that are received after the RFP deadline at the specified receiving office.
- Proposals received by fax or post.
- Incomplete proposals.
- Proposals that are not signed.
For more information, visit https://www.gainhealth.org/requests-for-proposals