The Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves is issuing a RFP to improve understanding of the target consumer segments that the Alliance has identified as part of its foundation and scale-up work in Haiti. This RFP will also seek to identify barriers to consumer uptake of clean cookstoves and fuels, including the awareness, affordability, and acceptance challenges that prevent purchase and uptake. The Alliance will use this research to design demand side interventions that align with supply-side efforts to motivate Haitian households to switch to cleaner cookstoves and fuels.

This particular study will focus on Haiti, in support of the Haiti Clean Cooking Market Development Program.
The ultimate objective of the Program is to reduce negative climate, environment, economic, and health impacts from traditional cooking practices on the Haitian population, with a focus on reducing the disproportionate impacts on women and girls. This foundation building program will be executed over four years, as part of a larger anticipated ten-year initiative.
The Program’s efforts will entail a combination of sector-wide, market development activities, including: capacity-building support for government, stakeholders and clean cooking enterprises; advocacy and technical assistance to develop better policies and regulations; and support for sector coordination. The Program will also advocate for the inclusion of women and girls not only in the design of policies, but also across the clean cooking sector, to overcome historical exclusion and increase women’s economic and social empowerment. The Program will be led by the Alliance, in close collaboration with the Government of Haiti, local stakeholders, practitioners, the private sector, donors, civil society organizations, and UN agencies.

The objective of this study is to generate consumer insights from current and target customer segments that are in range of accessing clean cookstoves and fuels supply. These insights will help inform the design of demand enhancing activities in support of building a clean cookstove and fuel market in Haiti. Analysis and findings should examine each aspect of the traditional “4Ps (product, price, place and promotion) marketing mix, incorporating the influence of cultural and contextual factors throughout.

The selected firm will undertake the following activities:
1) Refinement of target consumer segments identified through Alliance desk research and in consultation with suppliers.
The Alliance and its partners in Haiti have identified urban and peri-urban charcoal users in greater Port-au-Prince, and potentially Gonaïves, Cap Haïtien, Saint-Marc, Les Cayes, and Jacmel, as the most viable consumer segments to target for transition to cleaner stoves and fuels. The selected firm will be required to examine this broad segment more closely, and make recommendations on how this population should be further segmented and studied. This should include an estimate of the market size of each segment.

2) Development of detailed profiles of the target segments and identification of demand enhancing strategies for addressing each.
Once target segments have been identified the firm will undertake primary research to understand the target consumer segment’s relationship with cookstoves and fuels as well as their motivation to and reservations about purchasing and adopting a cleaner stove or fuel. The firm should examine each “P” of the traditional 4Ps mix (product, price promotion, and place), taking into account cultural influences and other contextual factors such as location, climate, etc.:
Product: This will include identifying the key technology features favored by these segments, including those needed for making local foods, and the fuel use and preferences of the consumer segment. The practice of multiple stove and fuel use should be examined as applicable, including drivers such affordability, seasonality, etc. Additionally, best practices seen in other products which have successfully been purchased and adopted by the consumer segments should be examined, including lessons learned in driving interest to new products and improving existing products to better suit consumer needs.

Price: The team should examine costs associated with current stoves and fuels used, including changes in price and availability (including for collected fuel). This should also briefly examine different payment models used for cooking and other goods.
Place: This will include addressing how to best reach the identified consumer segments, including which distribution channels are currently used to reach these consumer groups, potential distribution channels that could be utilized for cleaner cookstoves and fuels and which business models are currently being applied successfully to reach each target segment for cookstoves and other related products.
Promotion: The firm should identify marketing and awareness raising messages, techniques and channels most effective for promoting cleaner stoves and fuels to the target segment. This should include examination of current levels of awareness and perceptions of improved cookstoves and fuels among the target segments. The firm should also study techniques that have proven efficacy with these segments for other products, and provide recommendations around messaging that could be effective for cleaner cookstoves and fuels, including testing relevant messages with consumer groups to better understand what will drive interest and demand.
The team should also examine the influences of cultural traditions and their implications for purchase and adoption of cleaner stoves and fuels. This should include changes in food taste or food preparation, perception by the family or community and household decision making dynamics. Finally, as proper use of improved cooking products is essential for both sustained adoption and to achieve the benefits sought for efficiency and emissions reductions, the research team should study the means by which these consumer segments have successfully changed behavioral patterns in the past.
Below are specific topics to be explored in the research. Please note that this list is not exhaustive, and we would be interested in hearing from applicants what additional information they think would be valuable to collect and/or analyze in order to meet the identified objectives, in particular around insight gathering to inform design of awareness raising activities.

TIMELINE
The expected date for completing a signed contract is August 30, 2018, and data collection on the household survey is roughly anticipated to begin October 18, 2018. The final analysis should be completed no later than December 31st, 2018.
DELIVERABLES
The following deliverables are expected at the end of the research period, with the exception of the project and work plan which should be delivered within ten days of the start of the study. The research team will be expected to have regular calls with the project manager throughout the project work period.
• Project and work plan, including methodologies; Interim report outlining segmentation hypothesis and segments to be targeted in primary research;
• Full consumer segmentation report with detailed data analysis and detailed profile of each of the target segments, including recommendations organized around the 4Ps (product, price, place, promotion) for most effectively targeting each consumer segment;
• Executive Summary of the consumer segmentation;
• Kick off and final meeting with local stakeholders to present plans and validate results;
• Please note that all reports should be provided in both English and French.

The consultant should start with desk research of all existing data, including studies conducted by the Alliance and others. The Alliance will provide various resources to the team for this purpose. Applicants are encouraged to review key resources in advance, including a Haiti Market Assessment released on November 1, 2016, available on the Alliance’s website at http://cleancookstoves.org/resources/529.html and the Haiti Action Plan: http://cleancookstoves.org/resources/545.html.
The firm should also plan to conduct primary research with consumers and stakeholders, which could include, but is not limited to: expert interviews, in-depth interviews with households, focus groups, ethnographies, and product demonstrations. All firms submitting proposals should specify the methodologies they plan to use to gather the required information. As mentioned, a comprehensive household survey will also be conducted as part of the baseline setting for the broader Program, so it is anticipated that additional research carried out by the firm procured under this TOR would be qualitative in nature.

APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS:
Please submit a proposal and work plan, not exceeding 15 pages, describing the following:
• Proposed timeline and approach for completing the work, including a description of overall process. The timeline should include all key deliverable dates and a plan for meeting those deadlines.
• Detailed methodologies for all aspects of the study
• Unique qualifications of the organization and its staff, such as: understanding of and experience in cookstove and fuel sector in Haiti, experience conducting market research, experience working with Haitian consumers and conducting consumer research. If the organization plans to hire any sub- contractors a letter of support from each sub-contracting organization must be provided.
• Broad overall budget, including budget for potential sub-contractors (note that indirect cost estimates may not exceed 13%)
• Outline of past experience conducting this kind of market research or analysis, including samples of previous work if applicable
• CV of researchers; It is required that the organization’s designated project manager be able to speak, read, and write fluently in both English and French and/or Creole, and it is strongly preferred that other members of the team have strong competency in both languages. It is also preferred that applicant organizations have sub- contractors or other team members with knowledge of native Haitian languages and customs.

Cliquer ici pour télécharger le dossier complet d’appel d’offres

The application should be submitted to the Alliance at haiti@cleancookstoves.org no later than August 3rd, 2018 at 11:59 pm EDT.

QUESTIONS ABOUT RFP
Questions should be sent by email to: haiti@cleancookstoves.org prior to the submission deadline. Responses will be posted to http://cleancookstoves.org/funding-opportunities/