Gender-Transformative Cash Transfers Pilot Evaluation, Ghana

Background

Established in 2002, the International Cocoa Initiative (ICI) is a leading organisation promoting child protection in cocoa-growing communities. ICI works with the cocoa industry, civil society and national governments in cocoa-producing countries to ensure a better future for children and contribute to the elimination of child labour. 

In May 2023, an innovation project was launched by ICI and its partners with an experimental design to test whether cash transfer impacts differ depending on whether men or women receive the money, and to assess the effectiveness of cash transfers when combined with other interventions to promote gender equality and financial inclusion.

Scope of work 

ICI is seeking a consultant to conduct a mixed method evaluation study of the gender-transformative cash transfer pilot. The evaluation will be composed of: 

• a quantitative survey among a sample of approximately 1600 households spread across 79 communities and 5 districts in Ghana (1’100 beneficiary households divided up into two treatment arms; and 500 control group households)
• a qualitative assessment of the modalities of the project design, using Focus Group Discussions and key informant interviews from 10 selected communities

A. Quantitative survey

The quantitative survey will be composed of two questionnaires, developed by ICI: 

• Household questionnaire - administered to the head of household and spouse, covering basic demographic data about household members, their participation in VSLA and GALS activities, household economic activities, income and expenditure, wealth, decision making within the household, gender perceptions, and child protection.
• Child questionnaire - administered to children aged 5-17 within sampled households, covering children’s engagement in work activities, schooling, and wellbeing.

Data will be collected with KoboToolbox forms and stored and managed on an ICI Kobo platform.

B. Qualitative assessment

To assess the design and feasibility of the supply-chain based cash transfer, and to deepen the insights on effects on gender relations, qualitative data will be collected in 10 randomly selected communities (two from each district). These data will comprise 

• Separate focus group discussions with cash beneficiaries, non-cash beneficiaries in the same communities, and VSLA GALS participants.
• qualitative interviews with GALS champions, purchasing clerks, and community leaders.
• key informant interviews with ECOM field staff and PDA field staff (who have facilitated the GALS training).

The qualitative assessment aims to explore the key challenges associated with the gender-transformative cash transfer approach and the resulting dynamics within recipient families. If consent is given by respondents, the qualitative interviews and discussions may be recorded to facilitate accurate transcription.

More orientation on the methodology and research questions will be provided by ICI. The research will be conducted in close collaboration with the ICI team.

Timeframe

Data collection must be completed between July 2024.

Requirements

ICI is seeking a consultant with proven experience conductinglarge-scale household surveys related to child labour, gender equality and financial inclusion, in rural areas of Ghana, and with proven experience in qualitative research on gender perceptions and community dynamics. Household and child interviews must be conducted by trained data collectors, with prior experience interviewing children. 

• Participation in the survey will be voluntary. Heads of household will be asked to give their informed consent prior to starting interviews, children will be asked their assent.
• The consultant will use data collection tools developed by ICI, which have been extensively field tested and build on tried and tested methods of interviewing children about child labour. ICI staff will support the training of the data collectors on the use of these tools. 
• Recognising that children involved in child labour represent a vulnerable population group, the consultant will follow local guidelines on working with vulnerable populations. For any children identified at immediate risk (for example a child in a situation of forced labour), an identification and referral process will be set up to ensure that follow-up and support can be provided.
• During data collection, each child and household head will be assigned a unique identifier, enabling personal data to be stored separately and ensuring anonymity of participants during the analysis phase.

Analysis

The consultant will be responsible for analyzing the quantitative data to assess the impact of the cash transfer on a set of outcome indicators proposed by ICI; and the difference in outcomes depending on the gender of the cash transfer recipient. The consultant will also conduct an analysis of the qualitative data, based on a set of research questions proposed by ICI, and present the qualitative results in a separate report.

The consultant will also deliver to ICI a clean dataset containing all key outcome indicators, accompanied by a comprehensive codebook and documentation of indicator construction.

Deliverables

The consultant will provide the following: 

• Approved workplan and schedule, including training plan
• Two clean and complete datasets (household and child data) containing all key outcome indicators, accompanied by a comprehensive codebook and documentation of indicator construction; each of the 2 data sets data must contain unique identifier codes for households, so that children can be matched to households.
• A quantitative assessment report containing a description of methodology, descriptive statistics of key demographic and outcome indicators, the results of the impact analysis, and additional observations during data collection
• A qualitative assessment report containing a description of methodology the results of the qualitative assessment.

• Presentation of the results in a stakeholder workshop on cash transfers organized by ICI (September 2024, tbc)

How to apply

Interested contractor should send a technical and financial proposal, describing the contractor’s relevant experience and capacity to undertake the study for the child labour prevalence survey. The proposed budget and technical proposal must be submitted by email with the email subject: “Your family name_cash transfer study consultancy” to recruitment-gha@cocoainitiative.org by 13th June 2024. 

Please apply using an offer as a single document.  

The offer must include: 

• Information on prior experience and how the contractor meets the requirements above, including an example on experience in conducting surveys in at least one of the following areas-child labour prevalence with children; cash transfer impact assessment, gender equality (2 pages, max.)
• Technical and financial offer, including the total amount offered in Ghanaian Cedi. Note that the budget should detail all staff and material costs, including travel expenses and other fees. (2 pages, max.)
• CVs of the study team leader and other key team members, and qualification / profile of enumerators to be hired
• Contact details of two referees.

By submitting your application, you consent to us processing your data for the purpose of evaluating your application for this consulting position. We will keep your application data confidential and only use it for recruitment purposes. Once the consulting position is closed, your application will be deleted.

Please note that only those candidates who match the above requirements and who have been selected for interview will be contacted.

ICI Core Values

All ICI staff members and partners are expected to adhere, respect and always promote at any time ICI Core Values: HUMANITY, INTEGRITY, NEUTRALITY, PARTNERSHIP, INNOVATION. Please refer to the ICI website for more details (https://www.cocoainitiative.org/about-us/our-organisation/our-values)