Survey Firm for Farmer Chat Evaluation Midline Survey

Job Description:           

Digital Green, in collaboration with local partners, is piloting an AI-powered mobile application, Farmer.Chat, designed to improve the speed and efficiency of agricultural extension services. The application aims to empower extension workers and farmers by providing personalized advisory services that can be accessed through voice, text, images, or videos in local languages. The platform delivers location- and crop-specific information, including weather updates, enabling farmers to make faster and more informed decisions while promoting climate-smart agricultural practices. The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) conducted a baseline evaluation to document the status of key outcome and impact indicators prior to the program’s expansion phase and now plans to conduct a midline survey to systematically assess the impact of FarmerChat.

The midline study will cover approximately 2,995 sample households across 599 villages in Nakuru County. The survey will collect information on household background characteristics, farmers’ use of digital tools, and the adoption of agricultural practices. Data will be collected using tablets equipped with a survey application. IFPRI is seeking a qualified survey firm based in Kenya to conduct the midline data collection.

In addition to the household survey, the midline data collection will include the implementation of a short “video nudge” intervention for a subset of sampled households. At the end of each survey interview, enumerators will show a short video (approximately 15 minutes) to the respondent using a tablet and facilitate a brief follow-up discussion using a structured guide. The video is designed to encourage reflection on agricultural opportunities and practices and forms part of the broader evaluation design. The survey firm will therefore be responsible for ensuring that enumerators are adequately trained to administer this component, that the videos are preloaded and functioning on all tablets, and that implementation protocols are followed consistently across treatment villages. In addition, the survey firm will assist farmers in treatment villages with updating the FarmerChat application to the latest version. The midline survey, including the video-based intervention and related activities, is estimated to take approximately 2 hours per household in total.

Scope of work:

The selected firm will coordinate and implement a face-to-face quantitative survey with farming households across 599 villages in Nakuru County, Kenya. As noted above, the survey will consist of in-person interviews with both male and female farmers using Computer-Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI). The study will cover approximately 2,995 households (five households per village).

In addition to the survey interview, enumerators will administer a short video-based intervention at the end of the interview in a subset of villages assigned to this component of the study. The video will be shown to respondents using the survey tablets and will be followed by a brief structured discussion facilitated by the enumerator. All data collection activities should be completed by mid-May 2026. The survey instrument and the list of specific study locations will be provided by IFPRI.

The responsibilities of the survey firm will include, but are not limited to, the following:

1. Survey Preparation

• Translate the survey instrument into relevant local languages, as needed.
• Obtain all required ethical approvals, research permits, and other local authorizations.
• Procure and prepare a sufficient number of tablets for CAPI-based data collection.
• Program, test, and finalize the CAPI questionnaire for field administration.
• Integrate video playback functionality into tablets to support the video-based intervention.
• With guidance from IFPRI, prepare a field implementation manual prior to enumerator training, which will serve as the basis for quality assurance.

2. Enumerator Recruitment, Training, and Pretest

• Recruit, hire, and manage enumerators to conduct data collection, ensuring a mix of male and female interviewers with appropriate language skills.
• Facilitate and ensure smooth implementation of a five-day enumerator training and a two-day survey pretest in collaboration with IFPRI staff.

3. Fieldwork Implementation and Monitoring

• Develop a detailed fieldwork schedule for the survey teams and provide regular progress updates.
• Develop and share protocols for spot checks and back-checks with IFPRI for feedback prior to fieldwork.
• Participate in weekly coordination meetings with IFPRI throughout the data collection period.
• Share data from spot checks, back-checks, and any emerging field issues with IFPRI promptly.
• Assist farmers in treatment villages with updating the FarmerChat application to the latest version.

4. Data Management and Cleaning

• Share CAPI-generated raw data with IFPRI (in Stata format) during fieldwork.
• Conduct data cleaning to ensure internal consistency and perform range and logic checks; share error-check do-files with IFPRI.
• Respond to queries from IFPRI regarding data cleaning and quality issues.
• Deliver the final cleaned datasets (in Stata format) for all 2,995 households, including English translations of open-ended responses where necessary.

5. Reporting

• Provide a brief fieldwork report summarizing survey implementation, challenges encountered, and any issues related to data management and cleaning.

Deliverables:

The survey firm will deliver the following outputs:

1. an inception package including a fieldwork plan, staffing structure, translated survey instruments, required ethics approvals and permits, a finalized CAPI questionnaire with the video intervention integrated and tested, and a field implementation manual with quality control protocols;
2. completion of enumerator training and a survey pretest in collaboration with IFPRI, with revisions incorporated into the final survey tools;
3. successful implementation of fieldwork covering approximately 2,995 households across 599 villages, including weekly progress updates and regular sharing of raw CAPI data and spot- and back-check results; and
4. final data and documentation, including cleaned datasets in Stata format, data-cleaning do-files and codebook, translations of open-ended responses where necessary, and a brief final fieldwork report summarizing survey implementation and data quality procedures.

Required qualifications of the consultant / survey firm:

• Demonstrated experience conducting quantitative survey fieldwork in Kenya within the past 5 years.

• Demonstrated experience conducting survey-related training.

• Expert knowledge of local context and languages in the target areas.

• Experience in building trust and good relations with village leaders, interviewees, and communities.

• Strong program management skills.

• Demonstrated experience in successfully coordinating large field teams and managing deliverables.

• Excellent computer skills and experience using CAPI and statistical software packages.

• Demonstrated experience with obtaining appropriate local ethics reviews and permits.

Preferred qualifications:

·       Familiarity with digital tools used in agriculture and their impact on farming practices.

Duration: 

3 months (April, 2026 – June, 2026; from preparation to completion).

Application instructions:

Please upload a proposal outlining the approach, human resources, timing, and costs (including details of staff time, training of trainers, field data collection, overhead, etc.), along with CV/resume (including details of previous related experience) for individual(s) leading the work. We expect that the applicant will be a local survey firm able to handle a contract with IFPRI and source the required human resources to fulfil the scope of the work themselves.

**This requisition is only open to firms. Interested firms must submit/upload a cost-proposal with the application. **

**We are unable to respond to every applicant individually; only selected applicants will be contacted. **

Deadline:

March 21, 2026