RFP - Knowledge and Learning Partner

AgriNext Alliance

Terms of Reference

Knowledge and Learning Partner

Engagement Period: 2026–2029 (3 years) | Document Date: September 2026

1. Background and Context

India's agricultural sector employs nearly half the national workforce, yet farm income growth has averaged only 3% annually over the past two decades. Smallholder farmers, who make up 86% of the farming population, capture as little as 25% of the final retail price of what they produce, and remain constrained by fragmented access to advisory services, limited means to verify crop quality, and weak linkages to markets that reward quality. These constraints are especially acute for women, who comprise 42%% of the agricultural labour force but hold only 14% of formal land-asset ownership and remain under-represented in extension systems.

Building on the proven results of Project E-Mircha, which combined digital advisory, partner-led market access, and quality assurance services for over 500,000 smallholder farmers across Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, Digital Green India (DGI) has established the AgriNext Alliance, a multi-partner initiative to scale a FarmerChat-led advisory and service model to 5 million smallholder farmers across Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, and at least one additional state over a three-year period (2026–2029).

The Initiative is governed by a Core Council comprising DGI, and key co-funders, and brings together funding partners, implementation partners, technical institutions, and government departments around a shared theory of change: that aligning reliable digital advisory with verified service and market pathways creates a reinforcing cycle of improved farming practices, resilience, and income.

As the Initiative scales, effective coordination across this diverse partner base, systematic capture and dissemination of learning and deliberate management of the implementation partner network are essential to the program's success. DGI is therefore seeking to engage a partner to support these functions on behalf of the Core Council and the Alliance secretariat. The Partner will, in effect, staff and operate this secretariat function on DGI’s behalf.

2. Purpose and Objectives of the Assignment

The AgriNext Alliance is a partnership initiative led by Digital Green India to scale a FarmerChat-led digital advisory and service model to 5 million Indian smallholder farmers, spanning Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, and one additional state (subject to partner alignment), across high-value crops including horticulture, cereals, and pulses. The Initiative targets onboarding 5 million farmers (at least 45% women), with 30% of active users accessing at least one priority service pathway, 60% adopting at least one recommended agricultural practice, and an average 20% increase in farmer income over three years for those adopting practices alongside a service pathway.

DGI invites the engagement of a Knowledge and Learning Partner to support the AgriNext Alliance, working closely with the DGI core team, the Core Council, and initiative partners to ensure coordinated delivery, high-quality knowledge outputs and an actively managed partner ecosystem.

The specific objectives of the assignment are to:

Provide secretariat support to the Alliance Core Council, ensuring timely, reliable reporting and follow-through on Council decisions;

Develop knowledge products and convenings that build the visibility, thought leadership, and credibility of the initiative and its outcomes

Support the expansion and active management of a network of implementation partners (government, technical institutions, and service providers) that enable service delivery in each state

3. Desired experience and qualifications

The Knowledge and Learning Partner is expected to bring:

Proven delivery experience: A demonstrated track record of successfully delivering comparable secretariat, knowledge management, or partnership-development mandates for multi-stakeholder programs or alliances, ideally within agriculture, rural livelihoods, or international development.

Established ecosystem and partner relationships: Existing relationships with, or credible access to, government departments, technical institutions (e.g. Krishi Vigyan Kendras, State Agricultural Universities), and service providers relevant to the initiative's implementation geographies.

A well-connected funder network: Demonstrated relationships with domestic and international philanthropic, catalytic, and institutional funders.

Working proficiency in project-state languages: Fluency in English is required; working proficiency in Telugu, Marathi, and/or Hindi will be an added advantage given the initiative's operating geographies.

Additional desirable capabilities include experience producing donor-facing knowledge products (case studies, opinion pieces, multimedia impact stories), and experience organising and facilitating multi-stakeholder convenings and governance meetings.

Eligibility Criteria

Legal status: The bidder must be a for-profit commercial entity duly incorporated/registered under applicable Indian laws. The bidder must hold all applicable statutory registrations, licences and tax registrations required for carrying out the activities under this TOR

Consortium bids: Consortium bids shall not be permitted where any consortium member is an NGO, society, charitable trust, Section 8 company or other not-for-profit entity. All consortium members must meet the legal-status requirements above and the consortium arrangement must not result in any transfer of foreign contribution by DGI to another association/person in contravention of applicable FCRA provision.

Conflict of interest: Bidders must disclose any existing financial, governance, or advisory relationship with Core Council members or competing alliances that could constitute a conflict of interest.

Exclusions: As this engagement will be funded from foreign contribution and is structured as a procurement of professional/programme services, the engagement is not intended to constitute a grant, sub-grant, sub-award or transfer of foreign contribution. Accordingly, entities established or operating as non-profit organisations, including NGOs, societies, charitable trusts, Section 8 companies or other not-for-profit entities, will not be eligible to participate as bidders.

4. Submission Requirements

Interested parties are requested to submit:

A technical proposal describing the proposed approach to each of the four workstreams, staffing plan, and relevant prior experience;

A financial proposal covering the three-year engagement period, with an indicative annual breakdown;

CVs of key personnel proposed for the engagement;

References or examples of comparable prior engagements.

A statement of proposed team composition, base location, and language capabilities relevant to the initiative geographies.

DGI will evaluate submissions against the required experience and qualifications set out in Section 4, and against the overall fit of the proposed approach with the initiative's objectives and workstreams.

Proposal submission deadline: September 23rd 2026.

Email ID for proposal submission: [contact details removed]

Budget ceiling : The budget is not being disclosed at this stage. Bidders are requested to submit a detailed financial proposal based on the scope of work, deliverables, timelines, and requirements specified in this RFP.

PS: Bidders should be asked to hold their financial proposal valid for fifteen (15) days from the submission deadline.

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