Partner for Nigeria Nestlé Cocoa Plan Monitoring and Evaluation

Stichting Rainforest Alliance seeks a local partner for the Nigeria Nestlé Cocoa Plan Monitoring and Evaluation. This role involves data collection, supervision of enumerators, and coordination with the Rainforest Alliance and Nestlé teams in Ondo and Cross River, Nigeria. The commitment is 25-30 days from May to December 2026, focusing on sustainable cocoa practices and project monitoring.
Request for Proposals
Partnership Opportunity for the Rainforest Alliance
The Rainforest Alliance is seeking a Partner for Nigeria Nestlé Cocoa Plan Monitoring and Evaluation





Summary Information
Department: Data Management and Intelligence, Products
Location(s): Nigeria (Ondo, Cross River)
Commitment: 25 - 30 days of work
Desired start date and duration: From May to December 2026
Under direction of: Supply Chain and Project M&E, Senior Associate
OPPORTUNITY Summary
About the Rainforest Alliance

The Rainforest Alliance (RA) is a global organization working in the field of sustainability at the intersection of business, agriculture, and forests. Our aim is to make responsible business the new normal so that people and nature can thrive together. Our alliance spans 70 countries and includes farmers and forest communities, companies, governments, civil society, and millions of individuals. Together we work to protect forests, improve the livelihoods of farmers and forest communities, promote their human rights, and help them mitigate and adapt to the climate crisis.



Overview

The Rainforest Alliance and Nestlé collaborate in several cocoa origins to conduct monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of the Nestlé Cocoa Plan (NCP) in Nestlé’s cocoa supply chain. In Nigeria, Nestlé implements sustainable cocoa projects focusing on best agricultural practices, farm economics, regenerative agriculture, and carbon footprint (using the Cool Farm Perennial).



The Rainforest Alliance is looking for a local partner to conduct M&E of key project indicators on a sample of cocoa farmers in the project locations. The samples are selected using the random sampling method (prepared by RA).



The M&E surveys contain questions based on the themes above, plus, basic questions about farm conditions, household demographics, and qualitative questions. The survey questionnaires are prepared in English (from RA). The M&E survey uses a digital data collection tool (Koltitrace application) developed by Koltiva. Minor modifications will be made to adjust survey questions based on the Nigeria project activities and cocoa cultivation context.



The M&E partner will develop and coordinate the workplan and implementation progress with RA and Nestlé team.



Main Objectives

The M&E partner supports RA in implementing the M&E campaign by performing data collection and revision activities in Nigeria (Ondo, Cross River), including campaign preparation, survey application testing, data collection, data entry, data quality control, and evidence collection at the field level. In addition, the local M&E partner provides input for the preparation of M&E reports and findings based on field observations.



SCOPE OF WORK
M&E Partner Services at a minimum must include:

Lead Enumerator – 1 lead appointed



Supervise enumerators (enums) in field data collection & ensure compliance with M&E guidelines.
Ensure high-quality data collection & entry with high consistency & accuracy.
Play a role as a co-trainer to train enumerators on data collection tools & methods.
Coordinate logistics & schedules for fieldwork with RA & Nestlé.
Report & record any issues on the ground impacting the project within 24 hours.
Communicate & update weekly about the progress, challenges, & way forwards to RA.
Manage & be responsible for data cleaning within the team, & data review under the supervision of RA.
Maintain good relationships & coordination with local stakeholders & community leaders.
Ensuring informed consent, confidentiality, & respecting cultural sensitivities.
Need to be available to join in the field for data collection at least 10 - 20% of the sample size if necessity dictates, especially accompanying less experienced enumerators in their first surveys.
Organize field evidence (such as progress trackers & others) in the cloud (SharePoint, links & access from RA).
Responsible for informing RA if there’s a change in the team members (If any change, RA must be informed at least 3 days before the change is applied & the change can only be applied once RA has approved).[1]
Ensure proper logistics such as transport, accommodation, & field allowance for enums traveling as per the approved budget proposal.

Enumerators



Conduct farmer surveys & collect data, information, farm observations, & field evidence for each farmer interviewed. Ensure accurate & complete data entry, & revision using digital data collection tool (Koltitrace application).
Responsible for data accuracy & quality until the clean dataset is approved by RA &/or Nestlé.
Responsible for immediately informing the lead enum if they are unable to complete their work so that a replacement can be made.

The role of the Lead Enum & Enums must not overlap, meaning that one person can only perform one role in the campaign.



Timeline:


Campaign Preparation




Data Collection & Revision




Data Review & Validation




Data Summary Report




May – July 2026




Aug – Sept 2026




Aug – Oct 2026




Oct – Dec 2026





The M&E partner must perform the following:



Campaign preparation



Review the questionnaire survey & other training materials to be updated in Nigeria context.
Prepare compatible & sufficient devices for the data collection (must follow the device requirements provided by Koltiva).[2]
Lead enum must distribute the training materials & guidance (printout & softcopy) to ensure enums read them carefully & utilize them optimally.
Lead enum must perform a data quality control role (data review before submission to RA & Nestlé is mandatory).
M&E partner (lead enum & enums) must attend the KoltiTrace app usage training provided by the Koltiva team (2 days, 2-3 hours/day). Team members must arrive to survey training with full comprehension & working knowledge of the KoltiTrace app. The lead enum must ensure that all enums understand the KoltiTrace app usage
Lead enum & all enums must conduct the KoltiTrace application testing at least one week before the survey training to familiarize themselves with the application & submit the survey app testing report to RA.
Lead enum must review the survey guidance & training materials under the supervision of RA & Nestlé at least 3 weeks before the onsite training.
Lead enum must submit a detailed workplan with the expected timeline (with start & end date) of data collection, including the expected number of surveys/day, name of the enums allocated to each region &/or coop & an estimation of when each survey will be submitted for RA revision after collection & M&E Partner review.
M&E partner team must build strong coordination with farmers & arrange the interview schedule with the farmers independently or with field technician support, maintaining the progress tracker of field visits scheduled/completed updated.
M&E partner must ensure that RA is included in any communication with Nestlé & vendors. All M&E partner team members must fully participate in an onsite 5-days survey training with RA & Nestlé, including a cocoa farm visit. During training, all parties can review & interview techniques to communicate with cocoa farmers most effectively.
lead enum must prepare training logistics for all training participants, such as training venues, transportation, meals, print out training materials, & training kits. The arrangement of training venues must be agreed with RA.

Data collection & data review



M&E partner/lead enum must prepare a farm visitation schedule for the data collection period, maintain a “progress tracker” detailing farms visited each day, & report the data collection progress to RA weekly. The progress tracker is required to be kept up to date. The Nestlé team will assist in logistics of visitation & introduction to farm groups &
Enums conduct interviews with approximately 24 farmers. RA recommends the partner to create a team of 2 enums who can travel The team should be led by a project supervisor or “lead enum”. Each farm survey takes about 1.5-2.5 hours (data collection), & 2-3 hours (data review & input), so one enum can complete up to 3-4 surveys per day (depending on travel distances, weather, & other factors).




Country




Supplier




Region/ State




# Coops




IAP/NCP




Total sample




NIGERIA




3




Ondo, Cross River




5 coops




NCP only




120




Total country sample




120






Data collection will be conducted on a digital application (Koltitrace). During data collection, the lead enum must ensure consistent understanding among enums on the questionnaire interpretation & perform a “real-time” quality check review & verify of the raw data collected by the enums in order to spot & correct errors & inconsistencies. This review should be conducted at least once a week, using a data review method approved by RA, before data is reviewed by RA.[3]
Enums must make any needed corrections directly on the KoltiTrace app before submitting the data.
Data collection & data review must be carried out simultaneously on a regional basis (as defined in the sample).
During data collection, lead enum must be able to accompany & assist the enums to report any technical problem independently to Koltiva (helpdesk service) regularly (with RA copied). And as required, provide the necessary information (such as evidence, backup database, account details, etc.) to RA to resolve the issues.
M&E partner (lead enum & all enums) must be able to have weekly catch-up calls during data collection & until data revision is completed, to be scheduled with RA, to have an update on the progress of data collection by coop/region & assist on data review/correction process.
Once the clean data is submitted, RA will perform a quality check review & send back any survey that still presents any error or inconsistency for a final round of corrections to be completed by the M&E partner. The enums have to be available to make any corrections needed directly on the Koltitrace application.
Enums & lead enum are responsible for the accuracy of the data & must ensure that corrections & synchronization on the Koltitrace application are done properly, & in a timely manner.
Enums must collect the field evidence based on the list provided by RA & share it with RA. The lead enum is responsible for organizing the field evidence in the online cloud (SharePoint).5




Reporting


Lead Enum must submit a report of findings based on the general field observations6, as specified by RA (see Annex C).
RA will conduct all data analysis, but lead enum must be available to provide clarification, field observations, & insights requested by RA. Lead enum should respond to such requests within max 48 hours (for some requests, more time may be needed to investigate, but the enum should at least respond confirming what they are doing about the request within 48 hours).
Lead Enum must provide inputs for the preparation of any other monitoring & evaluation report & /or findings
Provide secondary references (as available) related to the project (for example, benchmarks for cocoa yield & farmer household income).6
Deliverables

Milestone




Deliverables




Measurement




Timeframe




Workplan prepared.




Workplan is submitted & approved by RA & Nestlé.






Lead Enum to prepare & propose the workplan & logistic plan to RA that includes, but not limited to, the following


Expected timeline of data collection by coop/village (with start & end date)
Expected number of surveys/days
Name of the enums allocated to each region &/or coop
Logistic plans include transportation, accommodation, meals, training venue, & farmer’s souvenir (if applicable)
Resource plan setting out how they will ensure the project is fully staffed, & contingency arrangements in case staff members are unavailable


General version to be submitted with the proposal (no later than 30 April)






Risk Register






This should be provided with the proposal & updated throughout the project. It should set out potential risks such as weather disruptions, farmer availability, access constraints, application issues, or enum turnover, & how the M&E partner plans to address them.




To be submitted with proposal (No later than 30 April)




Data review process approved.




Data review process that will be implemented weekly by the M&E Partner is submitted & approved by RA.






Lead Enum to prepare & propose a data review process to RA that will be performed weekly & includes, but not limited to, the following:


Data completeness check: ensure all applicable fields have been completed by enums
Data accuracy check: ensure the data input is correct, within the expected metrics & in the correct units of measurement
Data consistency check: ensure data is consistent across similar indicators throughout the survey
Outlier identification: ensure all data outside expected ranges are flagged for further inspection
Expected correction time in the Koltitrace application


To be submitted with proposal. (No later than 30 April)




M&E campaign online kick-off meeting with RA/Nestlé/vendor attended




M&E campaign kick-off meeting is attended by the Lead enum



Present the approved workplan, logistic plan, & data review process.




In the meeting, Lead enum is expected to share details on how they will implement the approved workplan & complete the M&E campaign objective.






1 day (1 hour)



Mid-June




KoltiTrace application usage training (online)attended.




KoltiTrace app usage training (online) is attended by all M&E partner team.




All M&E partner team must practice & be familiar with the KoltiTrace application.






1 day (3 hours)



Begin-July




Survey application in Koltitrace (independently) tested.




Survey app is tested, & testing report is submitted to RA.




Lead enum & enums must test the survey application functionality, user accounts, questions, & proper translations (if applicable) based on the number of testing samples which are provided by RA.



In case of any issues related to the application, the lead enum has to consolidate, manage, & report to RA & Koltiva.




2 (3 hours/day) days (Mid-July)




M&E survey training is attended (on-site in Accrue)




M&E training is fully attended by all M&E partner members.




Lead enum needs to print out the survey guidance & support documents for all participants in the training.



All M&E partner team members must fully attend the onsite training conducted by RA.




August 3 - 7




Test surveys submitted & reviewed by M&E Partner & approved by RA




Each enum must submit one test survey, based on a prompt provided by RA, to be reviewed by the M&E Partner & RA.




Each enum must submit a test survey in order to check if enums are properly interpreting all questions & inputting data using the correct units of measurements & conversion rates (when applicable).



Lead enum must review these test surveys, identify & address possible mistakes with each enum, & then submit all test surveys for RA revision.



This must be completed before enums go to the field for data collection.




August 10






Field visit tracker prepared & progress reported.



Field data & evidence fully collected.






Field visit tracker is submitted & the progress daily reported to RA.



Field data & evidence are collected & submitted to RA weekly.






After sample definition, the workplan & progress tracker must be updated to include an estimated date of when each survey (including farmer’s name, coop, village, & address) will be completed, reviewed by M&E Partner & submitted for RA revision.



The tracker must be updated daily to reflect data collection & review progress.



All the participants (lead enum & enums) of the survey training must remain in the project until the data is approved by RA & Nestlé.



If lead enum needs to replace any of the personnel named in the workplan, the lead enum immediately provides a replacement acceptable to RA at least 1 week in advance, with comparable or better qualifications.



Data must be collected, completed, & cleaned, under the supervision of RA.




August 3







8 - 10 days



Mid- to End-August




Raw data review & data quality control completed




Data revision is done by enums who collected that data & corrected on the KoltiTrace app (under the supervision of the lead enum & RA), & the clean data is submitted (sync in KoltiTrace) to RA weekly & must follow RA guidance.



The clean data must be approved by RA &/or Nestlé.




The data review must be fully performed by the lead enum, (if applicable), using the approved Data Review process, before submission to RA.



The data review will be conducted by RA after confirmation that M&E Partner revision is completed. The lead enum must review the feedback provided by RA & perform further correction if necessary.



The data correction (if any) must be corrected through the KoltiTrace app & by the enum who collected that data.




Mid-August – September 30




Insight & field observations report preparation.




Insight & field observations report preparation based on the data analysis/visualization from RA.




Insight & field observation report based on the data visualization provided by RA.



Final report on the overall campaign.




September - November



2026






General terms and conditions for Request for proposal
Proposals &/or any additional information received after the submission time & date are subject to rejection by RA. Incomplete proposals may be rejected by RA at its discretion.
The Rainforest Alliance reserves the right to request additional information at any time during the procurement process.
RA is at liberty to make multiple or no selections as part of the proposal process. RA also reserves the right to cancel the procurement.
All proposal costs shall be borne by the applicant & will not be reimbursed by RA.
Selection Criteria

Following requirements for:

Lead Enum (1 personnel)


Experience in project M&E, including farmer interviews for more than five years.
Experience with the cocoa sector or at least has an agriculture/forestry
Excellent English & local languages skills.
Strong project management & leadership skills. Experience with farmer surveys, data entry, & digital data collection tools.
25 – 30 working days working time availability (May – December 2026).

Enums (~5 personnel)



Experience in farmer surveys, data entry, & digital data collection tools (preferred).
Experience with the cocoa sector or at least has an agriculture/forestry
Ability to travel independently in the countryside.
Ability to communicate in local languages for relevant regions in addition to English.
Ability to remain available throughout the project - from training phase until end of revision phase.
15- 20 working days working time availability (July – September 2026).
Proposal Process and Format

Please send the following documentation no later than April 30th, 2026, interested parties should apply to Rainforest Alliance rkonan@ra.org & lhiggs@ra.org & include the following:



Letter of introduction describing experience in farm data collection, time availability, & method of organization &
CVs of each team
Budget proposal (including the cost for logistics & venue (in-class training) for M&E survey training). This should include the daily rate & number of days allocated for each project team member, as well as a breakdown of all direct / operational costs (accommodation, transport).

Thank you for your interest in working with The Rainforest Alliance



List of appendices:

[1] RA expects the same number of team members will carry out the work from the start until finish and they have same capability although there’s a change on the formation. All enumerators who collect data in the field are required to attend the full RA training before collection begins.



[2] For specification details see Annex A.



[3] RA to provide the tool (or alternative guidance) and train the lead enumerator in its use.



5 See Annex B for the detailed information.



6 See Annex C for the detailed information.