Appel d’offres : Etude sur la nutrition et l’environnement alimentaire des adolescents éthiopiens, Ethiopie.
BACKGROUND
Food systems are not providing sustainable healthy diets (defined as: “ A dietary pattern that promotes all dimensions of individuals’ health and wellbeing; has low environmental pressure and impact; is accessible, affordable, safe and equitable; and is culturally acceptable ”) for everyone, everywhere: healthy diets are unaffordable for 3 billion people. Poor quality diets are associated with all forms of malnutrition and 11 million premature adult deaths each year.
Food systems contribute significantly to environmental degradation and biodiversity loss and are responsible for over 25% of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. While food systems are an important source of employment in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), many jobs are in the informal sector with low and uncertain income and poor labor conditions, especially for women and youth.
Diets are rapidly evolving due to changes in income, women’s employment, urbanization, and developments in technology, food marketing, and public policy. These changes, which happen in urban and rural areas, contribute to shifts in food environments (defined as: “ The interface that mediates the acquisition of foods to people within the wider food system” ) . Food environments increasingly promote ready-to-eat, convenient, cheap, and often ultra-processed foods associated with poor health.
Adolescents’ increasing autonomy, openness to new ideas, impulsivity (including sensation seeking behavior), and desire to conform to peers is likely to make them particularly vulnerable to the negative effects of the rapidly changing food environment. Understanding and recognizing the realities of adolescent lives, diets, nutrition, and health is critically important for planning and designing successful actions to address adolescents’ needs.
Our proposed study of adolescents and their food environment in Ethiopia seeks to fill some of the knowledge gaps. We will (1) describe and assess the nutritional status, dietary intake, and physical activity patterns of adolescents (and their mothers) in three sites (Addis Ababa and two smaller towns) in Ethiopia; (2) assess the food environments these adolescents are exposed to and how these relate to adolescents’ diets; (3) identify micro-,small-, and medium-scale enterprises (MSMEs) that have the potential to increase delivery of specific types of more sustainable, nutritious foods and to understand labor structure within those enterprises.
This project is led by a consortium of international and Ethiopian research organizations (the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), the Alliance of Bioversity and CIAT (ABC), Wageningen University and Research (WUR), and Ethiopia’s Public Health Institute (EPHI), referred to as “Research Consortium” throughout this requisition. The study protocol will be reviewed by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) of IFPRI in Washington DC and by a local IRB in Ethiopia.
This requisition seeks a data collection firm (called “Collaborator” throughout) and describes the content and amount of work required to successfully conduct the study. Moreover, details on the role of the partners, data management, and communication are highlighted. Precautionary measures to be implemented by the Collaborator for the prevention of COVID-19 for staff and study respondents and their families are presented under paragraph 8 below.
General aim and objectives
The overall objective of the study is to carefully describe the nutritional status and dietary intake of adolescents 12 to 18 years of age and their mothers from households in low- and middle-income neighborhoods in three sites (Addis Ababa and two smaller towns) in Ethiopia, to characterize the food environment these individuals are exposed to, and to gain an in-depth understanding of the individual, household, community and food environments factors that drive these nutrition outcomes. A key component of the food environment are MSMEs, so a portion of the study will concentrate on understanding both what they tend to sell and their employment structure.
The specific objectives of the proposed study are as follows:
– Describe the nutritional status and the dietary intake of adolescents 12 to <18 years of age and their mothers from poor and middle-class households in three sites (Addis Ababa and two smaller towns) in Ethiopia.
– Describe the food environment of adolescents 12 to <18 years of age and their mothers from poor and middle-class households in three sites (Addis Ababa and two smaller towns) in Ethiopia are exposed to.
– Assess to what extent individual and household factors and the food environment affect food choice, nutrient intake, and nutritional status.
– Document the level of inequality in nutritional status, dietary intake, and food <18 environment exposure by age, gender, socioeconomic status, and residence.
– Document food availability and services provided to buyers by different types of MSME food vendors.
– Characterize labor structure and conditions, with a focus on gender and youth, among MSME food vendors.
Precautionary measures to prevent the transmission of COVID-19
Conducting field studies during the COVID-19 pandemic requires the implementation of strong mitigation strategies to prevent transmission of the virus. We provide an example of what these measures may look like. Depending on the severity of the pandemic at the time of the surveys, these measures will be modified. At a minimum, Collaborator will follow all government imposed COVID-19 rules and regulations.
Training of Investigators
- At the start of each day of training, all enumerators, support, and research staff will be examined by the Collaborator for possible symptoms (e.g., cough, difficult breathing, fever, fatigue). Fever will be measured with a flash thermometer. Suspect cases will be required to stay home, obtain a COVID-19 test and, if necessary, quarantine for 14 days.
- Enumerator training will be organized in large auditoria that are adequately ventilated at each break. Meals, coffee breaks and practical exercises will be organized outside to the extent possible.
- After each training day, the benches, tables, and shelves will be disinfected with an alcoholic solution (>70% v/v alcohol).
- We are training 10% more enumerators than needed for the study in order to have the possibility of replacing investigators who show symptoms of COVID-19 and who will have to be quarantined for 14 days.
Field Study
- The informed consent form contains a paragraph explaining to the head of the household and the interviewees how the interviews will be conducted.
- After each measurement, the scales and length boards will be disinfected with a 70% v/v alcoholic solution as recommended by the WHO.
- Required Qualifications
– Company, NGO, or organization with proven professional experience in setting up and conducting large-scale complex quantitative surveys with national and international research partners.
– Experience programming and using CAPI.
– Experience in getting legal approval to conduct the survey, in sensitizing and building trusting cordial relationships with communities, leaders and village chiefs, and interviewees.
– Excellent communication skills in English
Technical and financial offer
The following items must be included in the technical offer :
– A presentation of the firm and previous experience (with references) in implementing surveys and studies;
– Detailed CV of people leading the survey firm;
– A detailed technical proposal. Clearly present any risks related to this work and propose mitigating strategies;
– A detailed budget for the study including (but not limited to) the enumerator training, fieldwork, number of enumerators and team leaders/ supervisors, collaborator staff involved, salary costs, per diems, transportation cost (car/fuel) and various logistic costs. The budget should clearly show unitary costs, the number of units/persons and number of days leading to a (sub)total.
Apply now
Deadline : May 15th, 2023