Hiring a consultant to conduct baseline survey for AgroInnovation Project

Overview

Swisscontact – the Swiss Foundation for Technical Cooperation – is an independent, non-profit development organization founded in 1959. Operating in over 40 countries, Swisscontact promotes inclusive economic growth through private sector development. In Rwanda, it has been active since 2012, focusing on skills development, sustainable agriculture, and entrepreneurship in alignment with the country’s Vision 2050.

Under the AgroInnovation Project – “Fostering resilient food systems and smallholder livelihoods” – Swisscontact supports startups and agribusinesses in developing and scaling climate-smart innovations to improve productivity, nutrition, and market access for Rwandan smallholder farmers. It achieves this by providing comprehensive support during the early stages for startups (agripreneurs), including incubation, mentorship, networking with potential business partners, and access to customized financing options tailored to the agri-sector. AgroInnovation project emphasizes the promotion of replicable, climate-friendly business models within the food system, helping to build resilient farm-to-fork supply chains that ensure sustainability, transparency, and traceability from production to consumption. Particular attention is given to women-led businesses, recognizing their central role in subsistence farming in Rwanda.

The project’s objectives align around three pillars: increasing smallholder incomes and livelihoods, strengthening the overall Rwandan food ecosystem and food security, and advancing climate change mitigation and adaptation by building farmers' resilience to climate shocks.

Swisscontact seeks to engage a qualified consultant to conduct a baseline survey of targeted smallholder farmers for the Kura Na Agtech program, establishing baseline values for key indicators that will measure the impact of agriculture technology solutions on farmer livelihoods, productivity, and agriculture technology adoption in Rwanda.for supporting the effective monitoring, evaluation, and learning of the AgroInnovation project specifically for the KuraNa ag tech program.

ASSIGNMENT BACKGROUND

Smallholder farmers in Rwanda continue to face challenges such as limited access to appropriate technologies, inefficient market linkages, low productivity, and exclusion from formal value chains. At the same time, a growing number of agri-food startups are developing innovative products and services that could address these gaps, if provided with the right support to scale.

The KuraNa Ag tech programme, under the AgroInnovation project, is a collaborative initiative between Swisscontact and Impact Hub Kigali. It supports innovative agri-tech startups including Loopa ltd, Kumva Insights ltd, and Mulika farms Ltd. The program aims to foster greater use of sustainable agricultural solutions through technology and entrepreneurship, enhancing productivity and market access for smallholder farmers.

Purpose and objectives of the baseline survey

Primary Purpose:

To establish baseline values for key indicators that will measure the impact of agritech solutions on smallholder farmers and provide a reference point for monitoring and evaluating changes in farmer livelihoods, productivity, and technology adoption.

Specific Objectives:

1. Establish Baseline Values on Socio-Economic Characteristics: Document current income levels and sources of income for smallholder farmers, assess current agricultural productivity levels (yields per unit area), evaluate food security status and household welfare indicators.
2. Document Current Agricultural Practices and Technology Use: Map existing agricultural technologies and practices currently used by farmers, assess current access to markets and market information, evaluate current input sourcing patterns and costs, document post-harvest handling and storage practices, and assess existing climate resilience practices and farmer knowledge.
3. Assess Technology Adoption Readiness and Barriers: evaluate farmers' awareness and perception of agricultural technologies, identify barriers to technology adoption (financial, technical, social, cultural), assess farmers' willingness to pay for agricultural technology solutions, document current information and communication channels used by farmers.
4. Assess Access to Finance: Analyze current access to agricultural finance, including use of loans, credit, or savings groups, and document both barriers and opportunities for financial inclusion among smallholder farmers.
5. Establish Demographic and Geographic Profile: Document farmer demographics disaggregated by gender, age, and geographic location, Map farm sizes, land tenure arrangements, and crop diversification patterns, Identify vulnerable groups and their specific challenges.

Scope of work

The consultant will design and deliver a quantitative baseline survey for the AgroInnovation project, focusing on smallholder farmers’ access to, performance in, and benefits from agritech solutions, financial products, and climate-smart practices. Geographically, the survey will be conducted in areas identified for rollout by Mulika Farms, Loopa, and Kumva Insights, targeting smallholder farmers anticipated to benefit from these solutions. It will ensure representation from different segments, including women, youth, farmers from various crop type.

Key Activities:

• Undertake a rapid review of project documents, M&E framework, and proposed indicators to inform survey design.
• Develop and pre-test structured survey tools covering project-relevant domains (productivity, food security, climate resilience, market access, jobs, finance, technology adoption).
• Propose and implement a statistically sound sampling methodology to ensure representative, disaggregated baseline data.
• Recruit, train, and manage enumerator teams, oversee data collection and field quality control.
• Clean and analyze data to establish baseline values for all agreed indicators, including gender, youth, regional, startup/intervention area, and farmer type (by farm size) breakdowns.
• Facilitate regular updates, validation workshops, and stakeholder engagement to ensure transparency and buy-in.
• Prepare and deliver a well-structured inception report, draft and final baseline report, cleaned datasets, and a summary presentation.

Key performance Indicators to be measured: 

Deliverables

REQUIRED SKILLS AND QUALIFICATIONS

The consultant must demonstrate:

1. Master’s degree in Monitoring & Evaluation, Statistics, Agriculture, Data science, development studies, Project Management.
2. Minimum 5 years’ relevant professional experience conducting research or baseline surveys, preferably within the agriculture sector and among farmer communities, with proven evidence of having led a minimum of 3 similar or directly relevant assignments within the last 2 years in Rwanda.
3. Familiarity with agri-tech, innovation ecosystems, or entrepreneurship support programs is desirable.

Application Instructions

Interested consultants must submit their application by email to rw_info@swisscontact.org no later than October 10th, 2025. The subject line must state: “Consultancy for Baseline Survey of the AgroInnovation Project”.

• All required documents, technical and financial proposals, proof of relevant assignments, academic degrees, and CVs, must be combined into a single PDF file. Only applications submitted in this format will be reviewed. The technical proposal must not exceed 8 pages and 2 pages for cost proposal (excluding annexes). Incomplete or non-compliant applications will be automatically disqualified.

Evaluation criteria