Expression of Interest for Impact Evaluation and Piloting of the Social Behaviour Change Communication Training of Trainers In 2019, the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MoAL) launched the Food Security and Agriculture Productivity Project (FSAPP), funded by the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program (GAFSP) and supervised by the World Bank. The project set out to improve the productivity and market access in Southwestern Bhutan. As part of the project, MoAL collaborated with the Ministry of Health (MoH) to develop the Behaviour Change Communication (BCC) Strategy for Food and Nutrition Security (20192022), which focused on production, post-harvest, and marketing practices. In December 2022, the production-oriented BCC initiatives were rolled out in 29 gewogs across five districts. MoAL and MoH, with support from the World Bank, have since revised the FSAPP Training of Trainers Manual (TOTM) into a comprehensive Social Behaviour Change Communication (SBCC) package. This new approach targets dietary diversification, hygiene, and childcare practices at the community level, promoting greater dietary diversity and improved overall food intake. The SBCC TOTM covers seven key themes: Malnutrition and its causes Food groups and their nutritional benefits Role of local farming in nutrition Dietary diversification Food safety and hygiene Maternal and childcare practices Maternal and child health services Collectively, these themes offer a holistic approach to food and nutrition security, supported by a toolkit to help practitioners visualise and communicate key messages. The SBCC TOTM will be piloted in selected gewogs in Bhutan that have not previously received related interventions. Concurrent with the pilot, an Impact Evaluation (IE) will be conducted to assess the effectiveness of the revised TOTM compared to the original BCC TOTM and a control group. Evidence generated from the IE will inform decisions on scaling up the intervention. The World Bank Group (WBG) therefore intends to recruit a qualified consulting firm to guide the MoAL in the SBCC pilot and design and implement this impact evaluation. A detailed note on the pilot and impact evaluation complements this ToR to guide the potential firm on the critical design and implementation aspects. 3. Approach for piloting and evaluation The piloting and impact evaluation of the SBCC will follow the below sequencing. Piloting: The revised SBCC TOTM will be piloted in gewogs within FSAPP dzongkhags that have not previously received the BCC intervention, delivered through a cascade training model. Impact Evaluation: An impact evaluation will run concurrently with the piloting phase, starting with baseline data collection, followed by an endline survey to assess effectiveness and inform scale-up decisions. The theory of change anticipates the following progression of outcomes: Immediate outcomes: Households gain knowledge and begin to shift perceptions about diet, hygiene, childcare, and farming. Intermediate outcomes: Households adopt improved practices such as dietary diversification, exclusive breastfeeding, handwashing, and kitchen gardening. Long-term outcomes: Improved nutritional status of households, particularly women and children. 3.1 Cascade Training The TOTM will be delivered through a multi-tier cascade training structure comprising a Principal Training Team, Master Trainers, Community Resource Persons (CRPs), and Village Health Workers (VHWs). The Principal Training Team comprising a Nutrition Expert familiar with the SBCC TOTM and previously trained Facilitators from the Agricultural Research and Development Centers (ARDC) for the BCC TOTM will identify and train the Master Trainers (Gewog Agriculture Extension Supervisors AES) with support from District Agriculture Officers. Master Trainers will receive two days of training in their respective districts on either the SBCC or BCC TOTM, depending on their assigned study arm. They will then develop workplans and recruit and train CRPs. Simultaneously, Primary Health Center (PHC) staff and VHWs will be trained by the Principal Training Team to support community-level interventions. CRPs will be trained in each chiwog; the minimum number of CRPs will depend on the gewogs household and population size. During training, CRPs will develop a tentative activity timeline, identify opportunities to implement the TOTM, and establish a simple activity recording checklist. CRPs are responsible for communicating and reinforcing practical nutrition and care messages from the training during household visits, community meetings, and local gatherings collectively referred to as "counselling." VHWs carry out the same function during health visits, community gatherings, and outreach clinics. For the scale-up phase, Principal Trainers will hand over their training responsibilities to newly trained Master Trainers. 3.2 Piloting Activities The SBCC and BCC TOTMs will be piloted in two gewogs each from Samtse and Chukha districts with diverse cultural and dietary practices, comprising resettled households from various parts of the country and offering a mix of western, central, and southern Bhutan. Gewogs without prior FSAPP implementation will be selected to avoid contamination from earlier interventions, enabling clearer attribution of observed changes to the TOTM. The key activities under the pilot include: Recruitment of a Nutrition Expert as Principal Trainer Identification and recruitment of Master Trainers by MoAL and the respective dzongkhags Training of Master Trainers Recruitment of CRPs by Gewog AES in consultation with dzongkhags and gewogs Identification of VHWs Capacity building of CRPs and VHWs, including refresher trainings (preferably biannually) and cross-district learning opportunities Pretesting of the TOTM by CRPs prior to full piloting 3.3 Geographic Coverage The assignment will be implemented in the Samtse and Chukha dzongkhags prioritized by the MoAL. Within these districts, six gewogs will be selected across three study arms 2 gewogs implementing the SBCC TOTM (treatment) 2 gewogs implementing the BCC TOTM (comparison) 2 control gewogs (no intervention) In addition to the four pilot gewogs (two each from Samtse and Chukha), two gewogs will serve as control sites. These have been pre-identified by MoAL and will be confirmed or revised, if needed, in consultation with District Agriculture Officers. Table 1. Districts and gewogs for pilot implementation. Study Arm Gewogs District SBCC TOTM (Treatment) Tashicholing, Geling Samtse, Chukha BCC TOTM (Comparison) Dumtoed, Darla Samtse, Chukha Control (No Intervention) Pemaling, Chapcha Samtse, Chukha 4. Objectives of the Assignment The objectives of this assignment are to pilot the SBCC ToTM and conduct a rigorous and contextually appropriate impact evaluation of the piloted SBCC TOTM, in order to: Assess the effectiveness of the SBCC TOTM in improving knowledge, attitudes, and nutrition-related behaviours at the household level; Compare its performance against the existing production-focused BCC TOTM and a control group; and Generate evidence to inform the refinement, scalability, and institutionalization of the SBCC approach within Bhutans food and nutrition security programmes. 5. Scope of Work The assignment covers two interconnected components: (i) support to piloting the SBCC TOTM and (ii) impact evaluation. Both components run concurrently and are equally critical to the success of the assignment. 5.1 Inception and Study Design Finalization Review the concept note, piloting protocol, and existing study design documents. If important gaps are identified, finalize the study protocol, including the evaluation approach and design, sampling methodology, and data collection tools, in consultation with the World Bank, MoAL, and MoH; Develop, propose, and justify a rigorous and representative sampling strategy, including power calculations, intra-cluster correlation assumptions, and proposed sample sizes per study arm; account for anticipated non-response and attrition between survey rounds; Propose minimum sample sizes per gewog and in total per survey round, sufficient to detect a minimum detectable effect (MDE) of policy-relevant magnitude; Define eligibility criteria for survey respondents; and describe the within-gewog household selection procedure. Submit an Inception Report detailing the piloting, evaluation analytical plan, sampling framework with power calculations, work plan, and updated timeline. 5.2 Support to Piloting the SBCC TOTM The consulting firm will provide technical and coordination support to the MoAL for piloting of the SBCC TOTM in the four intervention gewogs across Samtse and Chukha. The consulting firm will hire a nutrition expert that will lead the principal training team. While MoAL remains the lead implementing agency and is responsible for the cascade training structure (see Section 3), the firm is expected to: Planning support: meet with the MoAL, MoH, ARDCs, and regional stakeholders to discuss the pilot, implementation modality, roles and responsibilities, and develop a logistical plan for implementing the pilot. While the focus is on piloting the SBCC, the pilot will also need to organize a rehearsal of the BCC in control dzongkhags. Support pretesting of the TOTM: Work with CRPs to pretest the SBCC TOTM materials and counselling messages in the pilot gewogs prior to full rollout, document feedback, and provide recommendations for refinement to MoAL and the World Bank; Training workshops for master trainers: plan and organize together with the ARDCs two-days training workshops which will train the master t Tender Link : https://wbgeprocure-rfxnow.worldbank.org/rfxnow/public/advertisement/7050/view.html
