Consultant Hire

Terms of Reference (ToR)

I. Background

Kalika Self-reliance Social Centre (KSSC-Nepal) in consortium with FORWARD Nepal is implementing Project “Grassroots Civil Society Organization as the Promoters of Improved Food System and Equitable Livelihood Opportunities-NPL1083-22” in partnership with Welthungerhilfe (WHH) Nepal and with funding support from (BMZ).  The project aims to improve the food and nutrition security of targeted 5000 households in three rural municipalities of Kapilvastu district, focusing on vulnerable groups (Dalit, Muslim, and OBCs) in three local governments namely Yashodhara, Mayadevi and Suddodhan 

The project contributes to the empowerment of civil society to support the transformation pathway to resilient, equitable, and sustainable food systems at local, provincial, and national levels. The project aims to enhance livelihoods for improved food and nutrition security of 5,000 targeted households, focusing on nutritionally vulnerable groups (Infants, young children, pregnant / breastfeeding women, and adolescent girls). It is intended that smallholder farmers and landless have improved availability and access to diverse foods, targeted households adopt improved nutrition, care, and hygiene practices, civil society organizations have strengthened capacities for community engagement and advocacy, and governance systems are strengthened to address food and nutrition security at all levels.  5000 households will be directly involved in food and nutrition security interventions (4500 smallholder farming households and 500 landless households).

II. Objective:

The major objective of the task is to support for comprehensive guiding document preparation for of the three Rural/ municipalities of Kapilvastu district. This master plan will further assist municipalities in prioritizing food and nutrition issues in their upcoming projects, resource allocation, planning, and implementation to meet the goals set by Nepal’s Sixteenth Periodic Plan (2024-24) and SDG-2 (Zero Hunger). The work will be guided by the Right to Food and Food Sovereignty Act 2018, Local Government Operation Act 2017, and other priority, provisions of the government

The specific objectives are as follows:

• Facilitate the workshop on the nutrition policies and instruments for local government;
• Facilitate Visioning workshop, SWOT analysis, and validation workshop for finalization of food and nutrition master plan;
• Facilitate the best practices sharing workshops through Provincial and National-level workshops. 

III. Scope of study:

The scope of this assignment is to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the data, derive insights and translate them into policy recommendations, compile to prepare the master plan, and share it through provincial and national workshops. 

IV. Methodology:

The methodology for the study team will be as follows: 

Preparatory Phase: The preparatory phase includes; i) desk review of documents like project documents, periodic progress reports, and relevant secondary information; ii) start-up meeting amongst the study team and Project Team including KSSC Nepal, FORWARD Nepal, and WHH; iii) design and finalization of field work plan and methodology, and iv) Meeting with the Project Team to finalize the study framework and tool.

Field Work: The study team will visit the working municipalities and carry out consultation meetings for data accumulation and household survey-focused group discussions and key informant interviews (KII) and facilitation of workshop for the master plan (Visioning workshop, SWOT analysis, validation workshop, Learning sharing). 

Analysis and Write-up: The study team will intensively work on reviewing, cleaning, analyzing, as well as compiling and consolidating relevant primary and secondary qualitative and quantitative information/data needed to draw conclusions including the GIS map demonstrating the vulnerable settlement and other key aspects of the working area. Additionally, they will simultaneously draw inferences from existing plans and policies of the federal, provincial, and local governments, the team will also conduct workshops with the local, provincial, and national governments. 

V. Consultant/study team

The team will be led by a senior professional with 5 - 7 years’ experience and expertise on food and nutrition policy review and formulation, specific involvement in position paper preparation and advocacy strategy preparation will add value. In addition to this food and nutrition data analysis and documentation expert having consistent involvement in data analysis, research, qualitative studies and report writing, documentation and publication is must. 

Note: Other members could be included based on the requirements of the Team Leader/s. The Consulting team must be Gender inclusive.

VI. Key Task and Deliveries

1. Inception Meeting:   

1.1 Inception Meeting with the Project Team for the review and reflection of the technical proposal.  Provide a comprehensive Inception report based on the discussion with the Project Team (KSSC-Nepal/FORWARD Nepal/WHH).     

1.2 Inception meeting with the local government: The consulting team will meet the leadership of the local government; these meetings will be instrumental in assessing the current understanding and localization of key federal and provincial plans and policies.

2. Facilitate visioning workshop:

To formulate a vision, mission, strategy, and objective of a food and nutrition master plan and to create a sense of ownership as a prerequisite for the master plan, one visioning workshop of three days in each working municipality will be organized. The consulting team will facilitate these workshops. These workshops include the sensitization of contemporary federal, and provincial polity provisions, priorities, and commitments such as MSNP-III, Right to Food and Food Sovereignty Act, 2018, SDG goals, Agriculture development strategy, Action track for food system transformation,16th periodic plan, etc. to the political and administrative leadership of the local government. The SWOT analysis will be carried out with the involvement of local stakeholders. 

3. Data collection and analysis:   

Based on the agreed methodology, the consulting team will conduct food and nutrition status assessments in three municipalities to have evidence of the food and nutrition status before the master plan is developed. An assessment of the existing status, food availability, services, and the identification of resource gaps (in terms of financial, human, and technical) will be conducted. More specifically the analysis will include the trend analysis, spatial analysis, and financial analysis.  

4. Finding sharing: The consulting team will facilitate the sharing the draft reports with the project team and local government in both English and Nepali versions including the raw data wherever applicable through a presentation.    

5. Validation of the finding:  The consulting team will facilitate one validation workshop in each local government for validation of the finding. The workshop will provide inputs or feedback from the local government, officials, communities, and other stakeholders. 

6. Final master plan sharing: The consulting team will share the final plan in English and Nepali versions to the project team.   

7.  Facilitation of the learning-sharing events: The consulting team will facilitate the key aspects of the master plan in the provincial and federal level learning and sharing events.   

The consultant should facilitate together with the project team to endorse the master plan by the municipal assembly and publish it in the LGs gazette and the respective website and come into force as a formal official document of local stakeholders. 

VII. TIMEFRAME: The overall tasks are expected to be accomplished by the end of December 2024. The assignment will be effective from the day of signing the contract. The review of existing policies on food and nutrition and the capacity needs assessment of Local government should not exceed more than 5 months (including preparatory work, Fieldwork, visioning workshops, drafting and finalizing the master plan, sharing at the local and provincial level)

VIII.  TECHNICAL AND FINANCIAL OFFER

• Technical proposal including a brief description of the overall communication plan for the activity, methodology, materials, tools, etc. including timeframe. The technical proposal must not exceed 5 pages and must comply with the Terms of Reference.
• Financial offer detailing the proposed budget for the activity. It should state the fees per working day (plus the respective Tax/VAT, if applicable), the number of working days proposed, materials costs, and any other expenses. 
• CVs of team leader and team members
• Legal documents (registration & tax clearance in case of consulting firm and PAN/VAT registration card for the individual). 
• Organization Profile
• Sample reports of similar activities conducted by the organization/team leader (if available).

Please remember that to submit your application, you must send it via email to the following address: ksscnepal2050@gmail.com If you have any questions or need assistance, please don't hesitate to contact us at 076-560282. The interested and qualified consulting firm must apply before 7 days from the date of publication.

IX. COPYRIGHT: Copyright for the documents will remain with KSSC/FWD/WHH including the right to distribute the material or parts of it to WHH Nepal partners in Nepal and abroad.   

(Note: The candidates must adhere to KSSC policies and internal procedures, protocols, and Code of conduct with special attention to Child Safe Guarding and Protection and Do No Harm)

(We Kindly request that firms who applied earlier refrain from submitting again. This notice is open exclusively to new applicants.)