RFP_009_2026 Natl Firm conduct baseline research, Lab analysis, Participatory

The selected firm will be responsible for the following tasks:

Task 1: Inception, desk review and stakeholder engagement

• Conduct a desk review of key project documents, the project safeguards instruments (ESMF/SES screening) and relevant national policy on agrochemical management, and refine the methodology, sampling design, laboratory-analysis protocols and work plan in an inception report. 

• Facilitate consultations and formalize written agreements clearly outlining the roles, responsibilities and commitments of local government authorities, sector departments, financial institutions (microfinance associations), national universities, regional vocational schools, agricultural technical working groups, community-based organizations and other relevant stakeholders.

• Establish formal participatory environments and mechanisms for continuous stakeholder engagement, feedback and monitoring of progress, ensuring active stakeholder participation and ownership throughout implementation.

Task 2: Baseline research and laboratory analysis

• Conduct detailed baseline surveys and assessments including laboratory testing and environmental analysis – to understand the existing agroecological potential, economic dynamics, cultural contexts, local perceptions of agricultural practices and social structures in each pilot site.

• Laboratory analysis shall be conducted by an ISO/IEC 17025-accredited laboratory (in-house or subcontracted). The firm shall test for, at minimum, the POPs/HHP analytes the project is required to report on (including chlorpyrifos, paraquat, carbendazim and site-relevant residues), stating limits of detection/quantification and analytical methods for each. Sampling shall follow documented chain-of-custody and QA/QC procedures.

• The firm shall establish a household-level economic and agrochemical-use baseline capturing, per crop and per site: agrochemical application rates (kg active ingredient/ha), input expenditure, yield, farm-gate price and gross margin, to enable measurement of income and agrochemical-reduction change 

• Assess and document existing agricultural practices, particularly pesticide usage and plastic waste management practices such as the disposal of containers, mulch films and other agricultural plastics.

• Implement systematic sampling and rigorous laboratory testing of soil, water and crop samples from each selected pilot site to quantify pesticide residues, agrochemical contaminants and environmental impacts, using accredited laboratories and documented chain-of-custody and quality-assurance procedures.

• Map illegal pesticide trade routes and farmer perceptions in and around the pilot sites.

• Consolidate findings into a baseline assessment report for each pilot site, aligned to the project results framework indicators to enable subsequent monitoring and reporting (including PIR/GEF reporting).

Task 3: Participatory research, action plan implementation and promotion of alternative practices

• Develop and implement site-specific participatory research training programs focused on IPM, organic farming, pesticide risk management, beneficial organism identification, precision agriculture technologies, and cost-benefit analysis for decision-making.

• Conduct participatory diagnostics to identify, prioritize and develop actionable plans addressing local agricultural challenges (environmental, economic and waste management), including cause-effect analysis, prioritization of solutions, assignment of tasks and monitoring arrangements.

• Facilitate farmer-led innovation to explore alternatives to hazardous chemicals and improve plastic waste management.

• Design and implement site-level awareness-raising and behavior-change campaigns promoting alternative practices to reduce the use of hazardous chemicals – including IPM, biological control, biopesticides, organic inputs and agroecological approaches – with key messages and IEC materials in Lao language tailored to farmers, women, youth and ethnic-minority groups, aligned with the projects national communication strategy.

• Establish demonstration activities and organize farmer field days, exchange visits and community events in the pilot sites to showcase alternative practices, providing clear evidence – including simple cost-benefit comparisons – that sustainable practices generate savings, create value for crops and can attract differentiated market prices.

• Implement action plans collaboratively developed with stakeholders, with clearly defined roles and structured working groups.

• Establish and nurture community networks among farmers, authorities, technical experts and agribusiness actors to enhance long-term sustainability and connect sustainable production with sustainable consumers and markets at local level.

Task 4: Monitoring, assessment and dissemination

• Design and implement a monitoring framework with defined indicators  including sex-disaggregated data to track progress, impacts and effectiveness of implemented practices, aligned to the project results framework.

• Conduct regular monitoring activities and provide regular progress reports with recommendations for adaptive management.

• Implement tailored dissemination and outreach activities to raise awareness of alternative practices, drive behavior change away from hazardous chemicals and strengthen market linkages for agricultural produce, and track awareness and adoption of alternative practices (with sex-disaggregated outreach records) as part of the monitoring framework.

• Compile findings and experiences into detailed reports, including practical recommendations for scaling-up and replicability, and organize dissemination events in stakeholder forums and virtual platforms (virtual meetings, social media) to promote uptake among stakeholders and beneficiaries. 

Task 5: Consolidation, sustainability, handover and knowledge transfer

• Consolidate the results of all preceding tasks into a final consultancy report documenting implementation across the 5 pilot sites, the monitoring framework established, results achieved (including awareness and adoption of alternative practices), key findings, challenges and lessons learned, with clear, actionable recommendations for sustainability, scaling-up and replicability. 

• Finalize and hand over the complete baseline dataset, including quantified baseline values against each mapped results-framework and GEF Core Indicator, together with the documented endline re-measurement methodology for each, so that change can be credibly measured and attributed at Mid-Term Review and Terminal Evaluation. All raw and cleaned datasets, laboratory reports, chain-of-custody records, geo-referenced sampling coordinates, questionnaires, codebooks and analysis files shall be delivered to UNDP as its property, in open and reusable formats.

• Prepare and validate a sustainability and handover strategy setting out how the participatory producer groups, demonstration plots, community networks and the site-level monitoring routine will be sustained beyond contract end, with roles and responsibilities explicitly transferred to PAFO/DAFO, the Department of Agriculture Extension and Cooperative (DAEC), the FARM Project Management Unit, the pilot-support local consultant and the producer groups themselves. The strategy shall include a handover protocol confirming that ongoing monitoring cycles after 11 June 2027 will continue under the PMU and local consultant. 

• Distil the pilot experience into structured inputs to the projects National Replication and Scaling-Up Plan including site-level evidence on agroecological performance, cost-benefit and income effects, farmer-adoption dynamics, plastic-waste management practices, and the enabling conditions and barriers to scaling  presented so they can be directly incorporated by the project team into the national plan.

• Document, where relevant, the evidence generated by the pilots that supports farmers access to the financial mechanisms developed under Outcome 2.1 (e.g., demonstrated income gains, reduced input costs, product quality and marketability), strengthening the link between the demonstrations and the projects finance workstream.

• Produce at least one accessible knowledge product (e.g., a practice brief or case study) capturing the pilot approach and results for use by government partners, extension services and other stakeholders, with key content available in Lao language.

• Contacts Links UNSPSC codes

  Email address: kongthanou.khanthavixay@undp.org

  Surname: Kongthanou Khanthavixay