Title: Data collection firm to support quantitative data collection for a longitudinal youth cohort study in Rwanda to understand livelihood trajectories for young women and young men

Location: Rwanda

Background

The International Food Policy Research Institute with support from the Mastercard Foundation and in collaboration with the UN World Food Programme have begun a five-year partnership titled Strengthening food systems to promote increased value chain employment opportunities for youth. This initiative aims to strengthen local food systems and make them more efficient, sustainable, and inclusive for youth (age 15-35), in particular young women, and is being implemented in eight countries: Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal Tanzania, and Uganda. This work falls under the Young Africa Works Strategy, which aims to create dignified and fulfilling work for 30 million young people in Africa, with a specific focus on jobs for young women.

With these goals in mind, IFPRI is seeking an experienced data collection partner with expertise in collecting survey-based data to collaborate on baseline data collection for a longitudinal youth cohort study focused on understanding the livelihood trajectories of young women and young men in rural areas and how their livelihood experiences intersect with other domains (e.g., family formation, health, community/civic engagement).

Overview

This scope of work is to lead the data collection for the first wave of the Rwanda Youth Livelihoods Survey, which will begin data collection in mid-2025. This work is focused on understanding the livelihood trajectories of rural youth (aged 15-35 years) as they transition to adulthood and how livelihood experiences intersect with other domains, including education, health, family formation, and civic engagement, across a background of increased vulnerability in the region due to climate change and conflict and insecurity. Overall, the survey is designed to be able to provide evidence on a wide range of topics related to youth livelihoods, and we anticipate that the survey will be widely used for doing so.

The sample will be comprised of approximately 3,000 youth drawn from rural areas in all five provinces in Rwanda, and the sample selection will be designed in conjunction with the National Institute of Statistics. The sample design will be nationally representative of both men and women between 15-24 and 25–35-year-old for a total of four research categories of interest. Locational sampling determination will be done in conjunction with NISR and their sampling methodology. Sampling will be weighted at the province level to reflect the latest population census. A nationally representative select number of villages and households containing youth will be randomly selected. Within each household, both the primary household respondent (e.g., the head) and a youth respondent will be interviewed. The interview with the household head will last approximately 30 minutes, and the interview with the target youth will last approximately 90 minutes.

Activities

• Translate survey materials into appropriate local languages
• Finalize sampling plan
• Update an existing SurveyCTO CAPI program (used in the same survey in a different country)
• Obtain local ethics approval and research permits
• Pilot the surveys
• Identify and select all interviewers, including both women and men so that interviewers and interviewees can be matched on gender.
• Lead the training of the field team, jointly with an IFPRI staff member (approximately 5 days).
• Supply materials for data collection (e.g., copies of survey and enumerator manuals, tablets)
• Maintain primary responsibility for the logistical aspects of fieldwork (e.g., renting transportation, lodging, recruitment of respondents, seeking community-level approval as appropriate).
• Conduct a listing of village-level households containing youth to be selected according to determined sampling frame.
• Conduct household interviews with the primary household respondent and one randomly selected youth respondent in each randomly selected household
• Provide regular communication on data collection and data processing throughout the duration of the project.
• Conduct back checks to ensure data quality
• Deliver final data and a field report that incorporates IFPRI’s feedback.

Required Qualifications:

• Demonstrated experience successfully conducting large quantitative surveys that focus on youth
• Demonstrated ability to provide adequate logistical resources to recruit, train, deploy, and supervise enumerators
• Ability to conduct interviews in local languages while providing data and documentation in English.
• Experience in building trust and good relations with village leaders and respondents.
• Experience collecting data on sensitive topics from both young women and young men.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience working with international and national researchers.
• Experience co-authoring reports and other publications.

Application

To apply, the following items should be submitted:

• Letter of intent describing the capacity, experience, and availability to conduct this work
• Budget
• Examples of the applicant firm’s previous work
• CVs of primary researchers