RFP-Longitudinal Study to Assess Impact of Organic Cotton Farming on Farm Incomes, Environment & Cotton Productivity

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RFP - Longitudinal Study to Assess the Impact of Organic Cotton Farming on Farm Incomes, Environment and Cotton Productivity

About the Organization:

The Aga Khan Foundation brings together human, financial and technical resources to address some of the challenges faced by the poorest and most marginalised communities in the world.  Special emphasis is placed on investing in human potential, expanding opportunity and improving the overall quality of life, especially for women and girls.

Background:

Since 2015, the Foundation has been supporting the implementation of an organic cotton farming programme in three districts of the Nimar region in Madhya Pradesh, where cotton is a major crop and a key source of income for the predominant tribal community. The programme, which is now in Phase 2, after completion of a five-year Phase 1, is funded by the Laudes Foundation, and is implemented by the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (India).

The key objectives of Phase 2 are:

• Build on the knowledge and experience of the first phase of organic farming through deepening, diversifying, and scaling up the organic farming initiative in the Nimar region.
• Strengthening farmers’ institutions and collectives to lead interventions on promoting sustainable farming practices and facilitate access to remunerative markets for organic production.

Phase 2 implementation builds on the experiences of the first phase of implementation and more specifically on the following learnings:

• Organic farming practices have found widespread acceptance among small and marginal farmers in the area
• Farmers who could afford additional facilities such as access to irrigation resources and an adequate amount of organic inputs have received better results than farmers who were solely dependent on rainwater and had inadequate inputs for producing organic manure and pesticides

With the objective of generating evidence to assess the impact of organic cotton farming on farm incomes, wider environmental impact on water, soil health, improved biodiversity, reduced carbon emissions, impact on cotton productivity and quality of life of farming households practicing organic cotton farming, the Aga Khan Foundation is proposing to support a longitudinal study (including data from the 2021, 2022 and 2023 cropping cycles). The study therefore proposes an assessment of impact across three farming cohorts:

• Farmers growing organic cotton (non-BT seed and following the full organic farming protocol)
• Farmers using BT cotton seed but practicing organic farming practices (e.g., bio-inputs)
• Farmers using BT cotton seed and using chemical inputs (fertilizers and pesticides)

Objective of the assignment:

The key objectives of the study are:

• Assess the comparative impact of organic and conventional cotton farming, in terms of farm incomes, cotton productivity, environmental impact (water, soil, carbon emissions) and the overall quality of life of cotton farming families in the Nimar region.
• Identify the key determinants of cotton productivity (e.g., seed quality, access to irrigation, soil type/ soil health, access to other inputs ) and the contribution of these key determinants to the productivity of organic cotton and conventional cotton.

Scope of Work:

The scope of work for the assignment will focus on the following:

• Finalization of the three farming cohorts for data collection across the three years (2021, 2022, 2023).
• Finalization of the indicators and the process for collecting data for each of these indicators. The indicators will include those related to farm inputs (e.g., seed, water, fertilizers (chemical and biofertilizers), pesticides (chemical and bio-pesticides), soil health, environmental impact, income from cotton farming, quality of life of farming households, gender impact, including impact on women labour and the health of farming households.
• Mapping of primary and secondary data collection sources. Secondary data collection could include a review of research plots established by KVKs/ agriculture universities in the area.
• Comparative analysis of BT and non-BT cotton farms with respect to pesticide and chemical fertilizer consumption, water use, labour requirement, cotton productivity and incomes earned from cotton.
• Comparative analysis of organic and BT cotton plots on soil health (e.g., soil fertility, carbon content, soil moisture, porosity etc.).

Proposed Methodology:

• This consultancy will contribute to knowledge generation on organic farming with a special focus on cotton, contributing to policy dialogue for a more conducive policy environment supporting organic cotton cultivation.
• The consultancy will begin with a review of all available information and documents, including what is generated by the project MIS, survey data, and/or information collected/generated during the first phase of the project and concurrent monitoring/ reporting in the second phase. This will also include a review of progress reports and discussions with key stakeholders.
• This will be followed by the design of the study and the finalization of indicators to be assessed. This part of the study will also include the finalization of the farmer cohorts to be tracked across the three years.
• The AKRSP (I) project team will provide all the support in establishing the research demo plots under various input conditions as per suggestions given by the consultant and data collection will be carried out by the project team under the guidance of the study leaders. The AKRSP(I) project team will also provide access to the farmers field book/data maintained by the project team as part of the organic cotton project.

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