Please follow below links to download detailed RFP/TOR:
https://hotjobs.bdjobs.com/jobs/worldvision/worldvision207.htm
Purpose:
The overall design approach for a proposed study on the role of Village Savings and Lending Associations (VSLA’s) in southwest Bangladesh. Specifically, the study will take a two dimensional lens;
i) at the community level by focusing on the financial behaviors, needs and challenges of VSLA’s (required level of effort to start up/form, manage (in terms of participants and Village Agents cost and time), literacy (financial and entrepreneurial), adoption of new behaviors including utilization of loans and savings, and exposure to financial services) in order to:
ii) Identify opportunities to leverage formal financial services such as Agent Banking to further strengthen the impact of VSLA’s beyond the life of the project[1].
The study will explore the Village Agent methodology particularly the strategy to use VSLA members to start and monitor new VSLAs. Utilizing a Market Systems Development lens, the study seeks to understand the financial system within/around Nobo Jatra’s implementation area and how Nobo Jatra could better utilize financial inclusion at the population level in its geographic targets.
In doing so, the underlying objective is to strengthen the sustainability of VSLA’s through a co learning and consultative process that factors in the needs of the VSLA members to improve their lives and livelihoods--regardless of age, gender, socio economic status--and also ascertains the entry points and services required by formal financial institutions that allow VSLA’s to thrive, self-sustain and replicate.
The study is part of Nobo Jatra’s overall Collaborating, Learning and Adaptation (CLA) effort, a commitment to adaptive management principles and application of learning. The study is intentionally timed in FY20 as the project changes gears to transition into a ‘facilitative and monitoring’ role where approaches such as VSLA’s are sustainably anchored with local stakeholders as the driving force. As such, the intention is that systematic knowledge gathering on VSLA’s will allow adaptation and field focused solutions based on deeply contextual feedback from local communities, field staff and local partners on the gaps, challenges and opportunities - which in turn will sustain the outcomes of VSLA’s beyond the life of the project . This will pave the way for Nobo Jatra to;
i) monitor the effectiveness of VSLA’s to transform lives/livelihoods through access to finances during the two year cost extension (FY21-22) and adapt or provide customized support to restore VSLA’s as needed;
ii) build a strong technical evidence base for what actually works for VSLA sustainability within the context of southwest Bangladesh and;
iii) amplify the application of the learnings to multiple implementers, communities of practice or other key food and nutrition security stakeholders.
Background
Financial inclusion means that individuals have access to affordable financial products and services that meet their needs and are delivered in a responsible and sustainable way. Financial access facilitates day-to-day living, and helps families plan for everything from long-term goals to unexpected emergencies, manage risks and withstand financial shocks which can improve overall quality of lives.
Bangladesh has made remarkable progress in reducing poverty, supported by sustained economic growth. Based on the international poverty line of $1.90 per person per day, poverty declined from 44.2 percent in 1991 to 13.8 percent in 2017.[2] Overall, Bangladesh has also made remarkable progress in achieving food security despite high population density and frequent natural disasters. Whilst the country has one of the fastest rates of agriculture productivity growth in the world since 1995 (2.7 percent per year, second only to China), this self-sufficiency is continuously threatened by the effects of climate change including decrease of arable land by at least one percent per year, an increasing population and stagnating yields. Bangladesh is still facing daunting challenges in that 22 million people are still living below the poverty line. In some parts of southwest Bangladesh, between 25 and 34 percent of households live below the poverty line of $1.90 a day. To make matters worse, this southwest coastal region of Bangladesh is subject to many natural and man-made challenges. The area is frequently hit with cyclones, tidal surges, floods, and droughts. Increased soil salinity, waterlogging, and the injudicious conversion of cultivable land into shrimp farms has made life difficult for farmers. As a result, many families struggle to put nutritious food on the table and too many children are malnourished.
The country is at an important juncture as it strives to attain the status of a middle income country. However, in order to stay on track to achieve this milestone, financial inclusion has been identified as one of the decisive enablers to fulfilling the Sustainable Development Goals. A background study commissioned for the General Economics Division of the Planning Commission in Bangladesh[3] for the country’s 7th Five Year Plan (2016-2020) noted that despite the substantial expansion of bank branches and an increase in the membership of MFIs and other financial institutions, around 25% of the country’s adult population still remains financially excluded. A substantial share of households, especially in rural areas, still remain outside the coverage area of the formal banking system and are therefore unable to access mainstream financial products. Increasing access to financial services for Bangladeshis, especially for the rural poor, is critical to enabling them to adopt new and more productive income earning opportunities and technologies. This access will help counter personal financial crises and unforeseen risks, and increase their chances of moving out of poverty.
Imperative for the Study
Since 2015, Nobo Jatra, a five-year Development Food Security Activity (DFSA) implemented by World Vision and funded by USAID Food for Peace has been working across 4 sub districts in south west Bangladesh to ‘improve gender equitable food security, nutrition and resilience of vulnerable populations.’ The project targets over 856,000 direct participants who are classified as poor or ultra-poor. The ultimate goal is to reduce malnutrition, but to make that a reality, Nobo Jatra intervenes with thoughtful, empowering approaches that cut across sectors including Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH), nutrition, agriculture and alternative livelihoods, disaster risk reduction, governance and gender. The project has been awarded a 2 year cost extension from 2020-2022 with the goal to monitor the outcomes achieved during the first 5 year phase. Sustaining results through functioning, locally led systems underpin the cost extension – with Nobo Jatra taking a lighter touch.
Increasing access to financial services for the rural poor, particularly women, is a catalyst to adopt, diversify and expand more productive income earning opportunities and technologies. This access helps counter personal financial crises and unforeseen risks, thereby increasing chances of graduating out of poverty. Village Savings and Lending Associations (VSLA’s) are a central tenet of Nobo Jatra’s sustainability approach – a fact recognized and validated by the Mid Term Evaluation. As per the original project design, 966 VSLA’s with 20,347 Ultra-Poor Graduation participants and total savings of $288,656 are currently in operation - creating much needed access to finances to expand and diversify Income Generating Activities. Routine monitoring has shown that VSLA’s established in the 2nd year of the project are still operating with minimum support from the project.
Four years of implementation, monitoring and learning efforts (including the Mid Term evaluation and donor comments) have shown that if gains across sectors are to sustain, families need access to finance as a resilience capacity to help them cope with and adapt in the face of socioeconomic and climatic shocks and stresses. Subsequently, in year 3 of the project, VSLA’s were amplified to reach all remaining 36, 497 (m-887, f-35,610) participants under the Agriculture and Livelihoods component. **
Given that the cost extension focuses on private sector engagement – going beyond agriculture to cut across WASH and nutrition – the scale up of VSLA’s will be intentional and incremental to include participants across sectors with emphasis on those involved in income generating activities (for example, health and nutrition community sales agents, WASH entrepreneurs, Local Service Providers, youth, Village Development Committees etc.) In doing so, key reflections with staff has shown the need for better clarity on the VSLA approach that works best in the south west Bangladesh context including the scope and demand for financial services such as Agent Banking.
Agent Banking is a fairly recent phenomenon in Bangladesh and is expected to reach the poorest, rural populations. The possibilities to innovate, promote and deliver new products and services through Agent Banking services to reach the mass market are significant. A major objective for this study will be to ascertain the types of services on offer by Agent Banking services and how this correlates to the needs of local communities served by Nobo Jatra. Equally, it is important to establish the coverage of Agent Banking services in rural, south west Bangladesh.
Further, utilizing a Market Systems Development lens, the study will provide understanding of the financial system and how Nobo Jatra could better utilize financial inclusion at the population level in its geographic targets. The September 2019 USAID document “Guidance on Assessing Resilience in Market Systems” Will be used to guide the study[4] This may include agent banking with banks, but also other options such as VSLA linkages to MFIs[5]. As noted above, any linkage to MFIs should be done based on the bankability of VSLA individual members. The study will provide recommendations on how Nobo Jatra, in a monitoring role, can facilitate more financial inclusion in its geographic areas at the population level, but especially for those living on less than $1.90 per day per person. The study will also utilize the “Better Together: improving food security and nutrition by linking market and food systems” journal article.[6]
Co Learning Process
As Nobo Jatra gears towards the cost extension, there will be a gradual transition starting in FY20 to ‘co learning’ which is anchored within adaptive management principles. Strongly guided by the CLA framework, co learning will enable i) regular (monthly, quarterly) feedback cycles to allow for course corrections, ii) strategic and regular reflection (‘pause and reflect” in the CLA framework) with stakeholders we have handed activities over to, within the project team and partners, iii) recommendations (tailored to specific audiences) and concrete action steps as a key output to learning exercises, which are then followed up and monitored. This will include meeting with the most appropriate trade organization bodies in financial services to explore how the financial system can become more inclusive of vulnerable households and resilient to shocks such as cyclones.[7]
Engagement of stakeholders (community, Government officials, elected representatives, private sector, banks, credit cooperatives, MFIs, and other financial institution representatives, financial services trade associations such as the Credit Union League of Bangladesh) to establish a co- learning process will also contribute to greater ownership of the process, results and action. “Value will be placed on all forms of knowledge” (CLA Framework) – by actively involving the structures/systems we will be monitoring/strengthening during the CE in the learning process. (For example, the VSLA’s themselves, the community groups and community support groups, Community Sales Agents, Water Management Committees, youth volunteers, MFIs, banks, financial services trade associations, etc.) The co learning would enhance and align closely with M&E activities – by systematically using quantitative data generated by routine monitoring and bolster this further using processes and tools designed to extricate qualitative evidence.
Alignment of Learning with the USAID Office of Food For Peace
This study aligns with the recently released USAID Office of Food for Peace (FFP) learning agenda[8] that prioritizes learning opportunities that improve the quality of design and implementation of non-emergency food security programming. Specifically, this study aligns with the following FFP learning themes:
· Resilience – strengthening resilience capacities,
· Sustained results – local engagement and handover, community ownership and agency
· Access and inclusion – women’s empowerment and integration of gender
Scope for Partnership
Given the purpose of the study, there is opportunity to partner with the Implementer-Led Design, Evidence, Analysis and Learning (IDEAL) activity, funded by the USAID Office of Food for Peace (FFP). For specific technical support, a partnership with the Strengthening Capacity in Agriculture, Livelihoods, and Environment (SCALE) Program is also being explored. SCALE have also reviewed and provided input into this Terms of Refernece. This partnership is still being fleshed out and could be in the form of technical and quality oversight, validation and dissemination. Preliminary discussions with SCALE have shown that VSLA’s are a cross cutting theme across countries, partners and projects – and Food for Peace are also encouraging combined learning and knowledge sharing on VSLA approaches.
Specifically, the study aligns with the following strategic focus areas for IDEAL:
i) Data collection and analysis for improved program impact
ii) Adaptive management and application of learning
iii) Sustainability and planning for exit
That said, there is also scope for the three DFSA’s in Bangladesh to combine learning efforts around VSLA’s – coordinating research themes and dissemination efforts.
Banks with established Agent banking services can also partner in the study
Methodology
Both qualitative and quantitative data will be collected to understand the financial behaviors and needs of participants and the operating context of VSLAs. Data will be collected through desk research, community consultations and interview of key stakeholders in the community, Government, as well as banks, financial institutions and financial services trade associations (banks, MFIs, credit unions), particularly those with targeted schemes for financial inclusion for the rural poor. Findings will be shared and validated during a workshop convening VSLA members and other relevant stakeholders. Based on the study findings, a detailed plan will be developed to link existing VSLA groups/members with the relevant financial service providers. Additionally, tools will be developed to monitor how the financial system is working for VSLA members, uptake of financial institutions’ products and services on offer, savings behavior etc. If needed, customized coaching and mentoring will be provided if any parts of the system are not functioning as planned.
The key research questions are,
1) What is unique about the population or context that Nobo Jatra are currently working in related to VSLAs/financial services? How has COVID affected the population?
2) To what level members of VSLAs understand cash management (required level of effort to manage a savings group (cost and time), literacy, and exposure to financial services)? To what extent have these members applied new information they have received to their daily lives? To what extent have they committed to apply this learning after the life of the program?
3) To what extent are VSLA members saving, amount being saved, are the savings/loans adequately meeting the participants’ needs, how are the loans being invested? How has COVID affected this?
4) What Agent banking services and other financial institution products and services are available in Nobo Jatra working areas (services, products, coverage, targeted to)? What are savings group members interested in availing outside of informal services? Are savings group services sufficient to meet their individual and household financing needs?
5) Based on product/service availability and VSLA member need, what are the opportunities to enhance VSLA member access to formal financial services?
6) Questions around support beyond the life of project: Who are the other government or non-governmental actors who can play a role in serving as an information point of services for savings groupss? Are these trusted entities? Why or why not? Is there an opportunity to form the village agents into an association that further supports groups and can form new groups pending demand? What information would groups need to have now to be able to understand that support services from a village agent will start to be a pay for service?
7) How can extremely poor households below $1.90 a day be more included in the financial systems utilizing financial products such as savings, credit and insurance?
8) How can the financial system in the Nobo Jatra geographic area be more resilient to shocks such as cyclones? What role can savings groups play to enable households to better cope with shocks/stresses? What is the role of other financial services? Insurance? Savings accounts (with MFIs and/or commercial banks)? Digital services?
[1] Nobo Jatra recognizes the inherent challenge of linking VSLAs to Micro Finance Institutions (MFIs) due to the high cost of conducting business but also the probable lack of targeted products designed by MFIs to VSLAs.
[2] https://www.worldbank.org/en/results/2018/11/15/bangladesh-reducing-poverty-and-sharing-prosperity
[3] http://bidslink.bids.org.bd/bidsorgbd/completed_research/Executive%20Summary%20Access%20to%20FS.pdf
[5] World Vision are fully aware of the risks associated with MFI’s – however, given that a significant proportion of participants have access to and interaction with MFI’s – the study will also focus on this option to accurately reflect the local operating context. That said, this does not mean that World Vision will actually proceed with the MFI route.
[6] To be published Dec. 2019 in the “Enterprise Development and Microfinance” Journal. Final version available upon request to the corresponding co-author Dan Norell at dnorell@worldvision.org
[7] https://www.marketlinks.org/sites/marketlinks.org/files/resources/guidance_for_assessing_resilience_in_market_systems_final_sept_2019.pdf . See Table 1. Page 22.
[8] https://www.fsnnetwork.org/office-food-peace-learning-agenda
How to apply:
Please follow below links to download detailed RFP/TOR:
https://hotjobs.bdjobs.com/jobs/worldvision/worldvision207.htm
https://hotjobs.bdjobs.com/jobs/worldvision/RFP-207.pdf
Notice for Submission
Separate Technical and Financial proposals shall be sent directly through email in PDF format to: wvb_scm@wvi.org and no CC to any WVB staff.
Maximum file size: 9MB. If mail returned due over file size, please split the file and send in separate email.
RFP reference: “RFP:200876_Sustained Impact of Village Savings and Lending Associations in South West Bangladesh” shall be mentioned in subject line.
Dead Line for Submission
Deadline for proposal submission is:
On or before 11.59 PM (BST) on 3rd June, 2020