I. PROJECT BACKGROUND AND SCOPE OF WORK
1. ABOUT GAIN
The Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) is a Swiss-based foundation launched at the UN in 2002 to tackle the human suffering caused by malnutrition. Working with both governments and businesses, we aim to transform food systems so that they deliver more nutritious food for all people.
At GAIN, we believe that everyone in the world should have access to nutritious and safe food. We work to understand and deliver specific solutions to the daily challenge of food insecurity faced by poor people. By understanding that there is no “one-size-fits-all” model, we develop alliances and build tailored programmes, using a variety of flexible models and approaches.
We build alliances between governments, local and global businesses, and civil society to deliver sustainable improvements at scale. We are part of a global network of partners working together to create sustainable solutions to malnutrition. Through alliances, we provide technical, financial and policy support to key participants in the food system. We use specific learning, evidence of impact, and results of projects and programmes to shape and influence the actions of others.
Headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, GAIN has representative offices in Denmark, The Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In addition, we have country offices in Bangladesh, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Tanzania. Programmes and projects are carried out in a variety of other countries, particularly in Africa and Asia.
2. BACKGROUND
The Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) is issuing this Request for Proposal (RFP) and will be the administrative lead organisation for this RFP.
Low-quality diet, particularly processed food consumption, are the leading risk factor for poor health. Access to low-quality diets is becoming prevalent nowadays. Indonesian adolescents’ snack multiple times a day and regularly purchase pre-packaged snacks sold by street vendors, school canteens and kiosks.
GAIN’s ‘Food Investigator Game’ is a project that aims to involve adolescents through an interactive game to map out the source of nutritious foods and snacks in their local food environment. Supported with education, it aims to encourage adolescents to seek out healthier options, while at the same time signalling demand for healthier food to the vendors in the hope of triggering a market response.
The project will develop a game in collaboration with adolescents, that maps the food environment. It will encourage participants to input nutrition data from labels of packaged foods and snacks and instantly interpreting this information using front-of-package labels (FOPL).
Front of package labels (FOPL) are an effective means of communication with consumers at the point of decision-making and purchase. Adolescents may respond differently to different FOPL, and this may influence their decisions at point-of-purchase. For example, some FOPL such as Nutri-score, create summary indices of multiple nutrients, including nutrients of concern as well as beneficial nutrients, to present a product’s overall nutritional profile on a continuum from least to more healthy. This type of FOPL evaluates the overall nutritional profile of the product, without providing details on the levels at which nutrients of concern are present.
Other FOPL schemes, like the traffic light label, which colour-code multiple nutrients, convey complex information for the consumer to do an assessment of healthfulness of the product. This task could be challenging for products with high values of one nutrient of concern but low value of another nutrient of concern. Another type of FOPL are nutrient warnings, which are binary signals to consumers about the presence or absence of high levels of nutrients of concerns. While these nutrient warning that identify unhealth products most effectively discourage purchase of junk foods, we seek to generate evidence on the type of FOPL that might be more effective for our target population.
The purpose of this RFP is to engage services of a Service Provider to help determine the most effective FOPL to be used as part of the Food Investigator Game to help adolescents make better food choices. The research involves two phases. In the first phase, we examined adolescents’ perceptions of and reactions to three different types of FOPLs: a warning label, a color-coded traffic light label (TLL), and a healthy check icon. Based on the results of this phase, we aim to conduct a randomized experiment to determine which label (TLL or warning label) will be the best option for the gaming app. Depending on input from Indonesian experts, this experiment could be conducted online or in-person. The overarching objective is to understand which FOPL is most effective at helping Indonesian adolescents a) identify that a food is unhealthy and b) discourage them from purchasing unhealthy products.
3. SCOPE OF WORK AND DELIVERABLES
Tasks:
1. Review research protocol including data collection instruments. Provide recommendations to adapt to the local context.
2. Translate data collection instruments to Bahasa Indonesia.
3. Prepare recruitment plan to ensure reaching the intended target audiences (low vs high SES; girls and boys; etc.)
4. Prepare training materials and brief data collection manual. In collaboration with GAIN, conduct training of recruiters and enumerators to ensure following high-quality data collection methods and safety protocols.
5. Prepare and implement a quality control process to ensure quality of data collection.
6. If in-person surveys are conducted, prepare all preliminary activities needed to conduct field work activities such as requesting local permission for field work.
7. Test data collection instruments with target group. Refine instruments and data collection procedures based on results.
8. Conduct data collection according to established protocol and manuals.
9. Prepare brief field work report describing field work activities and progress, findings from quality control process and corrective measures.
10. Conduct all post-survey activities including preparing anonymized dataset ready for public distribution, codebook, and other accompanying resources (questionnaire) using Nesstar software
11. Develop a Powerpoint presentation with preliminary results (descriptive statistics of main variables of interest).
12. Participate in discussions with GAIN and partners regarding data analysis and interpretation.
3.1. OBJECTIVES
To determine the most effective FOPL that should be used as part of the Food Investigator Game to help adolescents make better food choices.
3.2. DELIVERABLES
The service shall be performed between 2 September 2021 and 30 October 2021. The proposed deliverables and deliverable dates are planned for in-person data collection. They will be adapted if we adopt online data collection procedures.
Deliverables | Date Deliverable Due |
Brief report with recommendations to strengthen research protocol. Revised data collection instrument. | 6 September 2021 |
Translated data collection instrument, brief recruitment plan, and quality assurance plan. | 13 September 2021 |
Training material and enumerator’s manual | 20 September 2021 |
Brief report on results of instrument testing, including revised instrument | 27 September 2021 |
Brief field work report | 17 October 2021 |
Anonymized dataset, codebook and questionnaire prepared with Nesstar software; Powerpoint presentation with preliminary results | 30 October 2021 |
II. INSTRUCTIONS FOR RESPONDING
This section addresses the process for responding to this solicitation. Applicants are encouraged to review this prior to completing their responses.
1. CONTACT
Please direct all inquiries and other communications to rfp@gainhealth.org with subject line ‘FOPL Indonesia-query’. Responses will not be confidential except in cases where proprietary information is involved.
2. BUDGET
Applicants are required to provide GAIN with a detailed fee percentage proposal. The final budget amount will have to be approved by the organisation prior to starting the project.
3. FORMAT FOR PROPOSAL
Interested applicants should prepare a brief proposal (maximum 5 pages) that includes:
- Description of strategy with clear activities and process for conducting this service. Applicants are encouraged to submit two proposal alternatives and corresponding budgets – one encompassing in- person data collection and another online surveys. They may also submit proposals considering online survey activities only.
- Activities and timeline: A timeline for undertaking and completing the main activities, including planning, implementation, and reporting, should be provided. A Gantt diagram is preferred.
- Budget: Provide a budget in USD (US Dollar), broken down by main cost categories (Personnel, travel, operational, direct, and indirect costs) and by main activities. Include a brief narrative justification for line items included. The budget should be inclusive of all taxes/VAT and indirect costs.
- Detailed profiles (qualification, expertise, relevant experience etc.) of the individuals who will be completing the work including their full names, their expertise and publications in relevant research. The applicant team must include a partner based in Indonesia, including letters of commitment.
- A completed ‘Offer of Services’ form (see end of RFP for template).
4. SUBMISSION AND DEADLINE
Completed proposals should be submitted in electronic format to rfp@gainhealth.org by email on 23 August 2021 with subject line ‘FOPL Indonesia – proposal’.
5. UNACCEPTABLE
The following proposals will automatically not be considered or accepted:
- Proposals that are received after the RFP deadline.
- Proposals received by fax.
- Incomplete proposals.
- Proposals that are not signed.
A complete RFP can be downloaded here.
