WaterCredit: Scaling WaterCredit for Safe Water Access and the Dignity ofa Toilet Among the Poor – Indonesia Baseline Study

July 2016

Introduction

Together with a donor, Water.org is implementing a four year initiative,from August 2015 – July 2019, to expand WaterCredit activities and reach anestimated 1,000,000 people with safe water and/or sanitation (~300,000 fromIndonesia and ~700,000 from India).

 
In Indonesia, Water.org has identified five local organizations todevelop sustainable financial products that empower those at the Base of thePyramid to invest in their own water and sanitation needs. This includes theconstruction of water improvements and/or toilets within their homes andcommunities. Water.org’s Indonesian partner network will disburse an estimated 40,000loans to finance improved access to reliable water and sanitation services.This improved access is aimed to reduce people’s vulnerability to water- andsanitation-related diseases and the amount of time they typically spendcollecting water. Water.org will also support local organizations in conductingeducation campaigns and build awareness of critical hygiene practices, enablingsustainable improvements in community health and well-being.

 
This document outlines the research design and scope of work anticipatedfor this assignment for to conduct a baseline study among the five microfinancepartners’ program areas.

 

Aim of Study – Goals and Objectives

The overall purpose of theInitiative is to expand WaterCredit programming to improve people’s livesthrough the construction of household water and sanitation improvements andhygiene education.  The aim of thisresearch is to:

1)     Conducta baseline and end-line study to understand the Initiative’s immediate impactin each of the targeted three countries. 

2)     Incorporatefindings into future practice.

 
The overall household impactresearch objectives are as followed:

1)      Measure sustainability, usersatisfaction and usage of household-level water and sanitation improvements.

a.      Thepercentage of the improvements that are functioning.

b.     Thefrequency and percentage of breakdowns, if any.

c.      Commonreasons of breakdowns and how households respond to that

d.     Theamounts of time people spend using these facilities vs. time spent usingprevious improved and unimproved water and sanitation sources.

e.     Theuse of water within and outside the household, whether for profitable orpersonal purposes.

f.       Thelevel of user satisfaction of the improvement.

g.      Waterquantity and availability.

h.     Waterquality (self-reported or objectively measured).

i.        Thepercentage of people reached that use these facilities as primary householdsources for potable water and improved sanitation.

j.       Thepercentage of people reached that use these facilities as secondary householdsources for potable water and improved sanitation.

k.      Thechange in people’s behavior in terms of paying for use of water services andthe amount paid as a percentage of household income

l.        Percent of people who gain access to improvedWSS solutions participate in hygiene education efforts that include training onwater quality issues and steps for mitigation

m.   The percent of WaterCredit clients taking out aloan for water solutions report an improvement in the quality of drinking water

n.     The percent of families who take out a loan forwater solutions report using it as the primary source of water for the home.This includes household chores such as washing and cleaning

o.     Among households practicing open defecationprior to intervention, the rate that open defecation decreases for all familymembers, and the percent for women between the pre and post intervention period

 
2)      Assess client experience withWaterCredit.

a.      Theclient’s user experience and satisfaction level with WaterCredit, including repayments, loan process,technical assistance and ease of repayment. 

b.     Thepercentage of clients that used water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) loans forWASH improvements.

 
3)      Measure householdsocio-economic, health changes, and generation of positive externalities overtime (baseline, end-line, and post-line).

a.      Changesin household income/expenditures from time saving

b.     Changesin household hygiene behaviors and health, disaggregated among children underthe age of five.

 
4)      Measure gender dynamic changesover time within the framework of objectives 1, 2 and 3.

a.      Womenand men’s water/sanitation use and satisfaction.

b.     Womenand men’s views on the safety of access to water supplies or sanitationfacilities.

c.      Householdtime use changes by gender and age before versus after improvements.   

d.     Genderedsocio-economic and health changes from improved water/sanitation.

e.     Womenand men’s participation in the decision-making process (e.g. decision to takeout a loan, selecting type of improvement, how the improvement is built andmonitored, etc.).

f.       Percent of female household members that reportfeeling safer as a result of having a sanitation facility (e.g., toilet) athome or in close proximity

g.      Percent of female household members that reportfeeling more dignified as a result of having a sanitation facility (e.g.,toilet) at home or in close proximity

h.     Percent of female WaterCredit clients and theirfamilies that report spending an average of less than 30 minutes a per daycollecting water

 

Methodologyfor the baseline study

Water.org currently has a household survey instrument used regularly inhousehold data collection. The Consultant will work with Water.org to adapt the household survey instrument tosuit the purpose of this study.

 
The total numberof household surveys to administer is around 2,833.  This assumes a 95% confidence level and 2%margin of error, and 80% loan uptake rate (see Table 1 for breakdown of MFIpartners).  The number of surveys needsto be representative at the country level with the same confidence level andmargin of error. 

 
Whilerepresentative statistics at the country level is mandatory, Water.org wouldfavor proposals that include a methodology that could produce statistics thatare representative at the individual partner as well.  The margin of error at the partner levelcould be increased at, while maintaining the 2% at the country level. The proportionalsize of the each partner’s program (see Table 1) would need to be considered.Water.org encourages proposals to include an approach to produce partner levelrepresentative statistics.

 
In summary, themethodology will be finalized with the Consultant, but is anticipated tocontain the following: 

 
Timing

·        Household-levelbaseline survey will be administered in accordance with the timeline below anddependent on when interviews can be scheduled with the MFI partners.

Location:

·        Thesurveys will be conducted in the locations listed in Table 1.   Theconsultant will need to work with the MFI to ensure the loans have not yet beendisbursed in the study areas.

 
Survey Questionnaire:

·        Thequestionnaire will cover topics listed in the research’s objectives and willprimarily be closed ended (i.e. multiple choice, single word response) forquantitative analysis.

·        Thequestionnaire takes approximately one hour to complete per interview.

·        Water.orgwill view favorably data collection using electronic devices. Together with mWater, Water.org hasrecently developed an intuitive and free data collection platform hosted at http://portal.mwater.co (see “Forms” tab on top).

Householdsselection:

·        Thehousehold survey will be conducted with existing MFI clients

·        Potentialvillages can be selected using village-level data from the Badan PusatStatistik (to be provided by Water.org[1])

·        Householdsfrom these villages will then be randomly selected from MFI’s WaterCrediteligible client lists.

 
Consultant Responsibilities:

The Consultantwill be responsible, but not limited, to the following (also see Key Deliverables and Dates under Work Plansection below):

·        Finalizethe research design/ methodology and household survey and the study sites (needs to be approved byWater.Org).

·        Update,translate , and pre-test survey instruments, as necessary, to fit purpose of impactevaluation from English to Bahasa Indonesia.

·        Workwith Water.Org to develop common criteria for evaluating the water/sanitationimprovement for all enumerators to use.

·        Trainresearch team and enumerators as necessary and on digital data collectiondevice and platform.

·        Ensurethat trained enumerators are available throughout the entire period ofengagement as intervention implementation is on a rolling basis.

·        Workwith Water.org and MFI partners to identify respondents’ location and conductinterviews.

·        Cleanand validate all interview data and deliver the raw data to Water.Org inapproved format and coded responses.

·        Usinga statistical analysis package, analyze baseline with eye towards assignmentobjectives.

·        Deliverbaseline study report(s) on, but not limited to, descriptive statistics, basicregression analyses, and statistical inferences.  Report deliverables include a fullcountry-level report with an executive summary, and additional individualpartner summary reports (not more than 6 pages per MFI report).

·        Thedata itself will also be submitted to Water.Org. The consultant will not holdany rights to copy, publish or otherwise use data collected for the purpose ofthis analysis.

 

Request for Proposals

Througha bidding and proposal process, Water.org will select a reputable researchinstitution to conduct the baseline survey and consequent data collection.

Key dates & deliverables:

Water.org understands thatactivities and timelines per activity may change accordingly with theConsultant’s proposal and in accordance with the partner MFI timelines; howeveran approximate expected time requirement and key activities are as follows:

 

| KEY DATES AND DELIVERABLES

|
 
|
| Consultant’s Proposal to Water.org

| 15 August 2016

|
| Finalize Agreement with selected consultant

| 25 August 2016

|
| ENGAGEMENT BEGINS

| 29 August 2016

|
| Finalize the research design/methodology and baseline survey instrument and complete translation of survey instrument. Includes Water.org review period.

| 26 September 2016

|
| Submit finalized research design/methodology and household baseline survey to Water.org; include observation criteria enumerators will use to evaluate the water and sanitation improvements. Questionnaire pre-tested and enumerators trained, relevant staff trained on digital data collection device.

|  15 October 2016

|
| Data collection phase

| 15 October –  February 2017

|
| Submit first draft of the report s, including executive summary, and raw data to Water.org

| 3 April 2017

|
| Comment from Water.org

| 17 April  2017

|
| Submit second draft of reports based on Water.org comments

| 25 April 2017

|
| Final draft of report due to Water.Org

| 8 May 2017

|

Budget

Aproposed budget shall be included with the Consultant’s submission, and thefinal budget approval shall be fixed and not subject to negotiation. Themaximum budget for this contract is USD 55,000. A sample budget template isprovided below.  The Consultant shall provide budget information either inthis format, or in a manner that includes similar details.  All amountsshall be presented in USD and IDR.  Budget notes are encouraged. Pleaseseparate the budget for each study design. Depending on budget availability andfeasibility, Water.org reserves the right to implement the additionalcomponent.

 

|   ACTIVITY

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 MinimumApplicant Qualifications / Skills:

Applicantsmay be individuals, groups of individuals with a designated team lead, orfirms. Applicants must have at a minimum the following qualifications:

1.      Proposed staffing plan includes atleast one native or fluent English speaker as lead writer.

2.      Proposed staffing plan includes asufficient number of qualified enumerators to collect the household surveys inthe partner geographies.

3.      Demonstrated experience and familiaritywith the WaSH and/or microfinance sector.

4.      Demonstrated experience with conductinghousehold surveys.

ProposalSubmission / Contact:

Proposalmust include a narrative, timeline, budget, and the CVs of the lead evaluatorand evaluation team.  The narrative shouldinclude the enumerator staffing plans that show how the enumerators will beorganized and dispersed to conduct the interviews. Please submit proposals nolater than 15 August 2016 to:

 

 
Ms. PrittaBasuki

Water.orgOfficer – Indonesia

[email protected]

 
AND

 
Ms. HeatherArney

SeniorManager of Monitoring and Evaluation

[email protected]

 

Table 1: Distribution of survey respondents

 *Actual locations maydiffer after discussion with MFIs.

| MFI Partner

| Program status

| Number of projected loans

| Percent of total loans

| Possible branches / geography for baseline

|
| Koperasi Karya Usaha Mandiri (KUM)

| Pilot phase, roll out end of August 2016

| 5,000

| 23%

| Bogor, Sukabumi, Cianjur, and other related and nearby area around Bogor Regency (Kabupaten)

|
| Baytul Ikhtiyar Cooperatives (BAIK)

| Pilot phase, roll out in October 2016

| 10,020

| 25%

| Bogor, Sukabumi, Cianjur, and other related and nearby area around Bogor Regency (Kabupaten)

|
| BPRS Bhakti Sumekar (BBS)

| In pilot preparation, roll out by early 2017

| 6,000

| 12%

| Sumenep, Lenteng, Bluto, Ambunten, Guluk-guluk, Dungkek, Pasongsongan, Pragaan, Kalianget, Sapeken, Bangkal Kas and Legung Kas, Pulau Masalembu, Manding, Dasuk, Ganding, Saronggi, Batuputih, Gapura and Rubaru

|
| BMT NU Gapura

| In pilot, roll out in April 2017

| 9,075

| 15%

| Sumenep, Pasuruan, , Probolinggo, Situbondo, Jember, Banyuwangi

|
| Harta Insan Kharimah Group (HIK)

| In program design, pilot expected to start rolling-out in March 2017 at the latest.

| 10,000

| 25%

| Bandung, Solo, Jogjakarta jabodetabek, malang

|
| Total

|
 
| 40,095

| 100%

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|

Annex A: Example Full Report Outline – keep under30 pages.

I.                   Executive summary with background and keyfindings

II.                 Methods (including sampling frame and samplingprocess)

III.               Field challenges and responses

IV.               Data analysis

V.                 Results

VI.               Conclusions

VII.             Limitations

[1]The Consultant will work with the MFI to determine which villages have higherpotential demand for WaterCredit loans. The PODES village-level data can beused to help estimate potential demand.