Africare was recently awarded a $30-million, five-year contract from USAID to implement a flagship nutrition project under Tanzania’s Feed the Future (FtF) program. The goal of the program is to improve the nutritional status of children and pregnant and lactating women in Tanzania through interventions in Dodoma, Manyara, and Morogoro regions, and, in particular, reduce child-stunting and maternal anaemia. It will include capacity-building activities for national, regional and local institutions, a behavior change campaign that targets improved nutrition practices and consumption, and a rigorous operations research component to test the comparative effectiveness of different interventions.
The Monitoring and Evaluation requirements under the contract include two components that require the services of a Baseline Survey Consultant:
1) Input to, and coordination on, a “Unified Baseline Survey” (UBS) to be conducted by a firm (The Mitchell Group, or TMG) contracted by USAID to conduct various M&E activities related to the Tanzania FtF program.
2) Fielding of a project-specific baseline survey to capture required FtF data as well as relevant project data that will feed into performance monitoring, a final evaluation, and the Operations Research component.
Purpose of the Scope of Work
The purpose of this Scope of Work is to outline key tasks required of the Consultant for both the Unified Baseline Survey and the Project-Specific Baseline Survey.
Tasks
1. Manage and coordinate Africare’s input to and participate in the UBS, including, but not limited to:
a. Providing feedback on the questionnaires, in particular ensuring that key nutrition variables are included.
b. Coordinating with TMG on survey planning and the survey timeline for field work in the districts where both the UBS and Africare’s project-specific baseline may take place. (The UBS will be conducted in 9 districts across the three regions, and Africare plans to work in 8 of those 9 districts, creating the possibility that coordination around field work to avoid overlap and survey fatigue will be necessary.)
c. Coordinating with TMG and managing any in-kind contributions from Africare to the UBS effort. (In-kind contributions of Africare resources to the UBS have not been agreed, but if they are, the Consultant will be responsible for coordinating and managing them.)
d. Providing input on the UBS sampling plan, survey design, field work plan, and enumerator training plan.
e. Reviewing data sets and reports from the UBS.
2. Organizing and managing the project-specific baseline, including:
a. Completion of the survey design, planning, and sampling
b. Completion of a survey budget and timeline
c. Questionnaire design
d. Hiring and training of enumerators and field supervisors
e. Oversight and management of field work, including ensuring data quality and that survey protocols are being followed
f. Data entry planning, hiring and training of data entry workers
g. Oversight of data entry; preparation of a cleaned survey data set and variable code book
h. Preparation of a baseline survey report
i. Please note: In addition to available resources for hiring enumerators and data entry workers, resources may be available for short-term hires to help in specific technical areas, such as sampling, but these are subject to Africare’s discretion.
3. Coordinate with the research organization conducting the Operations Research to incorporate any OR data needs into the project-specific baseline survey.
Qualifications:
• Degree in economics or statistics, at least at the Master’s level (PhD preferred)
• At least five years of proven experience in:
o Planning, design and management of surveys
o Development of questionnaires (experience with nutrition or health questionnaires preferred)
o Experience with and knowledge of survey data quality assurance
o Report writing
o Working with stakeholders
o Working with surveys conducted for evaluation studies
• Understanding of operations research and rigorous evaluation methodologies
• Familiarity with nutrition programming in development contexts
• Strong management, organizational, and communications skills
• Willingness to undertake regular field visits
• Fluency in English; proficiency in Kiswahili desirable
• Proficiency in data analysis software and other computer processing
Location and time period:
The consultancy will cover about 90 days total of work, between October 15 and March 31 (start date may be flexible), which will take place in both the Consultant’s home location and Dar es Salaam. The Consultant will be expected to make 3-5 trips to Tanzania to work on key survey tasks, coordinate with stakeholders, and oversee field work.
How to Apply:
Applications should include a resume and cover letter. In the cover letter (of no more than two pages in length) the candidate should briefly describe his or her motivation for the position and highlight relevant experience. Please send application materials to clemrow@africare.org, including “Baseline Survey Consultant” in the subject line.
This position is opened until filled. Unfortunately, due to the large number of applications that we receive, we may not be able to respond to each individual candidate. Please respect our no phone calls policy.
Africare is an independent, non-profit organization working to improve the quality of life of the people in Africa. Since 1970, Africare has worked in partnership with African nations to build sustainable, healthy and productive lives and communities. Headquartered in Washington, DC with 1,400 international staff working across 21 countries, Africare is the largest non-governmental organization working exclusively in Africa.
