RFP - for Final Evaluation of Support Micro/Small entrepreneurs among particularly vulnerable communities in the Sundarbans

ToR for Final Evaluation of

Support Micro/Small entrepreneurs among particularly vulnerable communities in the Sundarbans

1. INTRODUCTION ANDCONTEXT

Country:

India

Project title:

Project no.:

1409-23

Project holder:

Welthungerhilfe

Project budget:

500000 USD

Co-financer (line):

SPF

Project period:

01/07/2023 - 30/11/2026

Deutsche Welthungerhilfe e. V. is one of the largest non-governmental organization’s in Germany operating in the humanitarian assistance and development fields. It was established in 1962, as the German section of the “Freedom from Hunger Campaign”, one of the world’s first initiatives aimed at the eradication of hunger. Welthungerhilfe’s work is still dedicated to the following vision: All people have a right to a self-determined life in dignity and justice, free from hunger and poverty. WHH India operated as the Regional Office for India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh between 2007 and 2013. Since 2014, it has been functioning as the India Country Office. Welthungerhilfe India today works in priority regions across 10 states, engaging with grassroots organizations, local governments, and strategic actors at regional, national, and global levels. The focus is on integrated and scalable approaches in food systems transformation, WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene), and green skilling, with rural youth and women at the heart of everything we do.

The Ramakrishna Mission Ashrama, Narendrapur, through its specialized development wing, Lokasiksha Parishad, has been actively engaged in community development across South Bengal for over five decades. Operating through a structured rural development framework, the Parishad currently collaborates with more than 300 grassroots organizations spanning 12 districts. The primary mission of the Parishad is the holistic advancement of marginalized communities. Its core interventions encompass informal and value-based education, mother and child development, environmental promotion, healthcare and basic sanitation, livelihood enhancement, income-generation programs and vocational, distressed relief and technical skill development for the youth.

About the Project

Sundarbans is a part of the tidally active delta where the land building process is still incomplete with Ganges-Brahmaputra River system carries suspended sediment load through numerous interlacing channels, intervening islands with the elevation of less than 3 meters above msl. Agriculture forms the backbone of the economy of Sundarban, where the entire area is dependent on a single crop, the rain-fed (mostly high yielding varieties) paddy. Sundarbans, is threatened by various biophysical and social barriers, emerges as a unique case where the most vulnerable population lives in an extremely vulnerable situation with high risk of hazards which is characterized by a low level of development and lack of infrastructure, prevalence of extreme poverty and lack of health facilities. It is also under the threat of severe coastal erosion due to relative sea level rise, increase in surface air temperatures and increased intensity of cyclone.

For the project titled “Support Micro/Small entrepreneurs among particularly vulnerable communities in the Sundarbans”, Welthungerhilfe Country Office India with the funding support from SPF and an earlier phase supported by Oak Foundation and through its implementation partner Ramakrishna Mission Ashrama, Narendrapur seeks to empower socially, economically, and ecologically vulnerable communities in Sundarbans by creating a diversified basket of opportunities through supporting microenterprises in collaboration with grassroots CSOs. Through this project, in Sundarbans, a total of 1200 members from these vulnerable communities with special focus on youth and women are being trained on location specific and climate resilient trades (agri-allied and non-farm both) coupled with business and soft skills. The potential trainees will be further supported to set up micro enterprises by establishing backward and forward linkages. Based on local resources and interest of the communities, two value chains will be established and the value chain actors and communities will be further collectivized in two sustainable and resilient microenterprises in the form of registered community institutions or Farmer Producer Companies to achieve economies of scale and self-sufficiency. Overall, the project will ensure transition of targeted communities from subsistence-level livelihoods to sustainable microenterprises.

Project Participants:

1200 community members from ecologically/socially vulnerable communities, especially women who will be trained on at least 5 trades.

Two Farmer Producer Organizations will be created with at least 200 community members.

Geographical outreach of project, participants profile and other details: List of the Blocks, Panchayats in Annex-1

Objectives

Strengthen value chains, based on local resources to increase income of the targeted communities.

Facilitate the transition of targeted communities from subsistence-level livelihoods to sustainable microenterprises.

Establish an informal collaborative of grassroots CSOs to identify and foster value chains, promoting sustainable economic development in the region.

The interested agencies/Agency/Consultants can share the proposals to [contact details removed] with a copy to [contact details removed] or before 28 th September 2026 (5 PM IST).

For detailed information, please check the complete version of the RFP attached below.