Terms of Reference (TOR): Development of a Training Manual for Local Distributors on Business Skill Improvement, Demand Aggregation, and Cookstove Market Promotion

Terms of Reference (TOR)

for

Development of a Training Manual for Local Distributors on Business Skill Improvement, Demand Aggregation, and Cookstove Market Promotion

Practical Action Nepal Office

House No. 1114, Panipokhari, Lazimpat 

P.O. Box 15135, Kathmandu, Nepal 

Phone: +977-1-4523639/640 / 4513452

E-mail: proposals@practicalaction.org.np

August 2024

1. BACKGROUND

Practical Action is a global change-making group that consists of a UK-registered charity with community projects in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, an independent publishing company, and a technical consulting service. It combines these specialisms to multiply its impact and help shape a world that works better for everyone. In Nepal, Practical Action is focused on putting ingenious ideas into work to contribute to poverty reduction and sustainable well-being through working in three expertise change areas: Farming that works, Energy that transforms, and Resilience that protects. 

Almost 54% of HHs in Nepal use solid biomass as their primary means of cooking and most cook with inefficient stoves, which have a high toll on the environment and human health. The Country Action Plan (CAP) emphasizes the transformation of the Cookstoves and Fuels Market in Nepal to reach the ambitious target of universal access to clean cooking by 2030. The Government of Nepal (GoN) has previously committed to ensuring 3 million households adopt clean cooking and that 25% of households nationwide adopt electric cooking by 2030. GoN also aims to limit the LPG use to under 40%. 

Although the clean cooking sector in Nepal is evolving, and gradually moving towards higher-tier cooking technologies, there is a need to establish a sustainable market value chain of these products with assurance in quality of products and services.  Supply chain infrastructure is weak as private sectors are not confident to expand their businesses to rural communities. Last-mile distributors working in remote areas have poor access to market information (product quality, price, demand, and supply) which is a barrier to business growth of clean cooking. Without access to the right information and changes in household dynamics and financial mechanisms, many rural households cook using rudimentary stoves or open fires, using fuels such as animal dung, crop residues, and wood which pose serious environmental, and health issues. 

Practical Action adopts a multipronged strategy to improve dissemination and transform the market for clean cooking solutions in Nepal, including strengthening the supply chain of clean cookstoves; and increasing demand from households through several capacity-building activities and live cooking demonstration events including improving affordability and access to finance. 

PROJECT APPROACH

Under the thematic area ‘Energy that transforms’, Practical Action is implementing two flagship projects with the Participatory Market System Development approach. 

1. Transforming the Cookstove Market in Nepal (TCM) project aims to develop a sustainable market system of high performance biomass cookstoves with Tier ratings of 3 and above. The project plans to disseminate 75,000 cookstoves across the period of 5 years (2022-2027) in rural areas of two provinces - Lumbini and Sudhurpaschim. 

2. Sustainable Market Development of eCooking in Nepal (SMDeN) project aims to develop an electric cooking market in two provinces, Koshi and Gandaki. The project will increase the number of eCooktop users by 25,000 within the period of 2 years (2023-2025).  The interventions will facilitate access to eCooking solutions for rural households and SMEs by demonstrating the potential to simultaneously build demand and strengthen the supply chain supported by an improved enabling environment. 

Applicable to both the projects, Participatory Market Systems Development (PMSD) aims to address systemic problems so that markets work more effectively for marginalised groups, providing more lucrative and fairer opportunities. It does this by modifying the incentives and behaviours that determine how market actors act. Central to achieving this are four principles: Facilitation, Participation, Systems Thinking, and Gender. 

NATURE OF ISSUE

Inorder to achieve the project goals the interventions are designed to support (i) behaviour changes, through result based discounts on on clean cooking solutions, (ii) training and business development support services to last-mile distributors (LMD), linking with Global Distributor’s Collective (GDC) (iii) institutional strengthening of LMDs and service providers for reliable supply of technology and fuel, evidence-based advocacy, linkages with local financial institutions and (iv) Gender transformation: agency building to make informed decisions.

Furthermore, to achieve the results, a robust market value chain system need to be established for the sustainability of the actors, where LMDs or Local Distribuers play an important role. A critical aspect is to enhance the business skills and provide necessary tools and strategies to effectively promote clean cookstoves market. This involves bolstering the capacity of local distributors in demand aggregation, service delivery, and efficient after-sales services. Consequently, an effective training manual, ready to refer, is essential for augmenting the business skills.

2. OVERALL OBJECTIVES

The overall objective of this assignment is “to develop an effective training manual for local distributors, focusing on business skill improvement, demand aggregation, and cookstove market promotion.” 

The Specific objectives are: 

• To create a structured approach to market development that enhances the capacity of distributors or LMDs to generate demand, provide excellent service, and ensure customer retention using ATEAR framework (Attraction, Trust, Experience, Action, and Retention) to enhance the clean cookstove market. 
• Capacity building on achieving operational excellence and growing last-mile business.

3. SCOPE OF WORK

The consultant will be responsible for the following tasks:

• Assess the current capabilities of local distributors (both biomass and eCooking) in generating demand and making sales. Identify gaps and areas for improvement in their current practices (eg. SWOT analysis).
• Review existing documents, reports, and training materials related to the cookstove market in Nepal and integrate relevant insights and data into a training manual.
• Review all the relevant documents and contents to understand the cookstove market dynamics distributor's capabilities.
• Devise a marketing strategy tailored to the local distributor's situation.
• Develop an user friendly, clear and concise illustrative handbook or the training manual in Nepali Language as a ready to use reference.

The scope of the study will include but not be limited to :

a. Prepare a comprehensive training manual or a handbook that includes: 

• Perform a training needs assessment for distributors, including two high-performing and two low-performing ones.
• Assessment tools to evaluate the status of local distributors.
• Step-by-step progressive plans aligned with the ATEAR framework.
• Business indicators to help local distributors assess their current status and devise effective plans.
• Interactive content supported by charts, figures, and diagrams.
• Tools, exercises, and examples from other successful clean cookstove business models.
• Templates and worksheets for local distributors to apply learned concepts and approaches. 
• Strategies for understanding customer buying behavior and increasing sales.
• Major parameters and factors for ensuring long-term business sustainability.

4. METHODOLOGY

The consultant will employ the following methodologies:

• Conduct field visits to project areas to engage with local distributors (at least four) and stakeholders. Hold interviews to gather insights and feedback. 
• Litrature review: analyze existing documents, market analysis reports, and training materials.
• Extract relevant information and integrate it into the training manual.
• Conduct two levels of ToT based on the manual (as a form of Piloting the manual).
• Draft the training manual and share it with Practical Action. 
• Finalize the training manual by incorporating all received feedback including learnings from ToT.

5. DELIVERABLES

The following are the expected deliverables from this assignment:

1. A detailed report on the current situation of local distributors, including identified gaps and improvement areas. 

2. A complete training manual (In Nepali Language), ready for publication. The training manual should cover a range of topics that address both the business and technical aspects of clean cookstove distribution. Here’s a suggested outline for the content:

• Introduction
  • Purpose of the Manual
  • Importance of Clean Cookstoves
  • Market potential of clean cookstoves in Nepal
• Cookstoves Sales and Marketing Strategies 
• Market mapping, identify opportunities and constraing and business plan development
• Business Management Skills
  • Inventory Management:
  • Financial Management:
  • Procurement
  • Record Keeping
• Distribution and Logistics
  • Marketing agents management
  • Supply Chain Management 
  • Demand aggregation and Logistics Planning:
  • Partnerships and Collaborations
• Customer Service and After-Sales Support
  • Customer Relationship Management:
  • After-Sales Support
  • Feedback Mechanisms
• Leadership
  • Strategy
  • Human Resources Management

(The above-mentioned topics are for consideration only. The consultant is free to add or remove any topics based on the findings of the training needs assessment)

3. Conduct two levels of ToT each for eCooking and bi0mass cooking. 

4. A final physical presentation on the deliverables upon task completion. 

6. QUALIFICATION AND EXPERIENCE

The Consultant should have the following expertise: 

• Proven experience in developing training manuals and capacity-building programs and administering them.
• Expertise in business skill improvement, demand aggregation, and market promotion. 
• Familiarity with the cookstove sector and market dynamics.
• Strong analytical and strategic planning skills.
• Excellent communication and report-writing skills.
• Prior work experience with rural communities and local distributors is preferred.

7. BUDGET

The maximum available budget is NPR 500,000.00 (In words: Nepalese Rupees Five hundred thousand only) inclusive of applicable taxes. This includes consultant’s fee, meetings, lodging/accommodation, airfare/travel, and stationaries including all other costs associated with this assignment. All applicable taxes will be deducted at the source. Payment will be made in two installments: 50% in advance after signing the contract and 50% after completion of all work and submission of final reports as per the deliverables. 

8. REPROTING AND COORDIANTION:

The consultant will report to the Thematic Lead-Energy and will coordinate closely with the Project Managers and team to ensure the successful completion of the assignment. Regular updates and progress reports will be required throughout the assignment period. The consultant will be responsible for ensuring compliance with Practical Action procedures, reporting formats, and other guidelines as notified to the consultant before or during the period of work.

9. DURATION AND TIMELINE

The consultant is expected to complete the task within two and half months of the commencement of the assignment which is anticipated to be effective from 01  September 2024  and will be completed by 15  November 2024.

10. Invitation for the letter of interest:

Practical Action Nepal Office requests consulting firms/individual (registered in VAT) to submit (i) an application highlighting the letter of interest (LoI) (ii) brief technical proposal along with your proposed methodology (not more than 7 pages) (iii) recently updated CV, and (iv) a financial proposal with detail cost breakdown to conduct the proposed work in a non-editable pdf version through an email mentioned below no later than 26 August  2024.

Practical Action Nepal Office

House no: 1114, Panipokhari, Lazimpat 

PO Box 15135, Kathmandu, Nepal 

Phone: 977-1-4523639/640 

Email: proposals@practicalaction.org.np

Practical Action believes in and follows through a fair and competitive process to recruit the consultant in all of its assignment to ensure quality assurance.