TOR Understanding the Target Market for FarmerChat in Ethiopia by Mapping Intrahousehold and Group Phone Sharing/Access _at Digital Green, Ethiopia

1. Introduction

Digital Green is a global tech nonprofit that leverages technology and data to help smallholder farmers build prosperous and resilient communities. Since 2008, it has reached over 3.5 million farmers in Ethiopia. For more than a decade, Digital Green has partnered with the Ethiopian Government’s agricultural extension system, training over 20,400 frontline workers using video based extension channels and co-creating digital solutions. Digital Green has recently launched an AI-powered agricultural assistant, FarmerChat, that delivers real-time agricultural advisories for farmers in their own languages. The organization works to improve farm productivity and increase farmers’ incomes by facilitating critical advisory services and enhancing the efficiency of extension systems through partnerships with public, private, and civil society actors.

2. Objective of the Assignment

2.1. Overall Objective

The general objective of this assignment is to estimate and characterize the effective addressable market for FarmerChat in Ethiopia by examining patterns of mobile phone ownership, intrahousehold phone sharing, and group-based phone access among smallholder farming households.

The study will focus on understanding how farmers, particularly women who do not own mobile devices access smartphones and agricultural advisory information through vertical sharing within households and horizontal sharing through community groups such as Self-Help Groups (SHGs). It will also identify key barriers and opportunities influencing farmers’ ability to access and use digital advisory services.

2.2. Specific Objective

The specific objectives of this assignment are to:

1. Assess effective reach via phone sharing

• Determine the effective addressable market when accounting for intra-household phone sharing and group phone sharing, especially for women farmers.
• Measure the ratio of actual users to owned devices.

2. Examine access to advisory for ‘no phone’ households

• Identify the ‘bridging agents’ for ‘excluded’ farmers with no phone.
• Understand how/can information reach this group and what is the role of technology (DAs or informal peers/neighbors with smartphones).

3. Analyze digital and agricultural agency for women

• Investigate the primary barriers and enablers for women’s digital agency (can she use the app?) vs agricultural agency (can she act on the advice or influence others to act?).

3. Scope of Work

The consultant will be responsible for developing the quantitative questionnaire and programming it in ODK, as well as designing tools for qualitative Interviews and Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) to ensure they are ready for field implementation.

The consultant will be fully in charge of the data collection, quality assurance, data analysis and report writing. The data will be collected in Oromia, Central Ethiopia, South Ethiopia, and Sidama, covering 6 selected woredas and a total of 18 kebeles. This will include the quantitative household survey, qualitative interview with household members, and FGDs with women’s groups including Self-Help Groups, capturing phone ownership, sharing patterns, access to digital agricultural advisory, decision-making dynamics, and gender-specific barriers and enablers. Additionally, the consultant will ensure proper observation, documentation, data cleaning, and analysis, and deliver a comprehensive report with findings and actionable recommendations to inform the scaling of FarmerChat.

4. Methodology

4.1. Research Approach

The study will adopt a mixed-methods approach, combining quantitative and qualitative methods to understand the effective addressable market for FarmerChat in Ethiopia, with particular attention to gender dynamics and phone access.

• Quantitative Component: Household-level survey to measure phone ownership vs actual access, digital readiness, advisory use, and decision-making dynamics.
• Qualitative Component:

○ Intra-household interviews to map decision-making processes, information flow, and barriers/enablers of digital and agricultural agency.

○ Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) with women in Self-Help Groups (SHGs) and other women groups to explore horizontal phone sharing, collective use of smartphones, and access to advisory.

4.2. Sampling

The study will use purposive and stratified sampling, informed by network coverage and phone access characteristics, to ensure inclusion of diverse household types and women’s groups.

Household-Level Sampling: – Target: ~800 farmers including Head of Household and Spouses. Stratification: Households with at least one smartphone (9 per kebele), Households with only a feature phone (8 per kebele), Households with no phone access (6 per kebele).

Qualitative Sampling: Intra-Household Interviews: 24 farmers including head of household and spouses. FGDs with Women Groups including SHGs: 2 per woreda with total FGDs 12.

5. Deliverables & Timeline

Deliverable	Description	Indicative Timeline
Inception Report	A detailed report submitted. It must include: A finalized evaluation matrix linking objectives to questions, methods, and data sources. Detailed methodology, sampling strategy, and work plan/timeline. Draft data collection tools for the evaluation, including quantitative household survey, intra-household interviews, and FGDs for review.	26 March 2026
Data Collection	Field-level data collection for quantitative household surveys, intra-household interviews, and FGDs with women’s groups including Self-Help Groups across Central Ethiopia, Oromia, South Ethiopia, and Sidama, covering 6 woredas and 18 kebeles.	31 March 2026
Fieldwork Progress Update	Summary update on data collection status, initial observations, challenges encountered, and preliminary trends.	9 April 2026
Draft Findings Report	A comprehensive draft report submitted for review by the Digital Green team.	17 April 2026
Final Study Report	A comprehensive, high-quality final report incorporating feedback and Final cleaned and validated raw data.	24 April 2026

 

The Consultant Required Qualifications

The consultant must demonstrate the skills necessary to successfully complete the assignment, specifically:

Team Composition and Expertise

• A multidisciplinary team with expertise in agricultural extension, gender studies, statistics, agricultural economics and other fields relevant to smallholder farming and rural development.
• Strong understanding of digital agricultural advisory services, including mobile-based tools, and their integration into agricultural extension systems.
• Proven expertise in gender analysis, intra-household decision-making, women’s empowerment, and social inclusion, with experience in studying phone ownership, access, and sharing patterns among women and marginalized groups in rural agricultural contexts.

Technical Skills and Experience

• Extensive experience in designing and conducting quantitative household surveys, intrahousehold interviews, and FGDs, with a strong gender lens, capturing women’s access, phone-sharing patterns, and digital advisory use.
• Demonstrated capacity to analyze quantitative and qualitative data through a gender perspective, including household dynamics, intra-household and group decision-making, and advisory access, identifying barriers and enablers for women’s digital and agricultural agency.
• Proven ability to produce high-quality, gender-responsive reports

7. Client Responsibilities (Digital Green)

• Provide the consultant with all relevant information and background documents as needed.
• Review the consultant’s evaluation plan, data collection tools (quantitative survey, intrahousehold interviews, and FGDs), and methodology, and provide timely feedback prior to field deployment.
• Facilitate communication and coordination with key stakeholders including Woreda Agriculture offices, Development Agents, farmer groups, and women’s Self-Help Groups.
• Monitor the overall quality of the consultant’s work to ensure adherence to the agreed Terms of Reference (TOR).

See Also: >> Consultant: Growth Manager, Africa at Digital Green

8. Application and Instructions

8.1. Proposal Format and Content

The consultant is expected to prepare the proposal in a clear and efficient manner, providing a concise description of their capacity to meet the requirements outlined in this Terms of Reference (TOR).

Qualifications and Related Experience (General Part)

This section should outline the consultant’s background, organizational profile, and relevant experience in conducting large-scale qualitative and mixed-method evaluations in the agriculture and rural development sector. It should highlight previous work related to digital agricultural advisory tools, intra-household decision-making, women’s empowerment, and gender-inclusive research. Include details on team composition, key personnel qualifications, examples of similar studies, and client references.

Technical Approach / Work Plan (Technical Part)

This section should present a clear methodology for delivering the evaluation, including the qualitative and quantitative approaches, purposive sampling strategy for farmers and organized groups, and data collection methods (FGDs, intra-household interviews, and quantitative surveys). It should describe plans for data analysis, use of assessment tools, and a detailed work plan with timelines.

Cost Details (Cost Part)

This section should provide a transparent breakdown of all anticipated costs, including personnel, travel, data collection, analysis, reporting, and any applicable taxes. Costs should be presented clearly in Ethiopian Birr (ETB) linked to the activities described in the Technical Approach.