ABOUT SPARK MICROGRANTS

Spark Microgrants believes in a world where everyone lives with dignity and determines their own positive future. Spark has pioneered a poverty alleviation model in East Africa that draws on evidence from ultra poor graduation and community-driven development approaches, known as the facilitated collective action process (FCAP). The FCAP combines a cash grant plus facilitated community meetings and trainings to catalyze improved livelihoods, stronger social cohesion, and gender and social inclusion. Spark is partnering with NGO and Government partners to scale adoption and impacts for rural communities – on their own terms. Read more about our Approach, Impact and Values on our website.

BACKGROUND

Spark Microgrants is preparing to implement a local governance and development pilot in Malawi this year. Under this pilot, villages will receive block grants of approximately USD 16,000 (MWK 28 million) to finance community-selected subprojects identified through Village Action Plans (VAPs). Villages will be responsible for directly implementing their selected subproject and usually do so through a combination of local procurement and own labor and select contracting for specialized services.

These subprojects are expected to include:

• Small-scale irrigation schemes
• Greenhouses
• Micro-enterprises (e.g., maize mills, beekeeping)
• Water points
• Livestock rearing
• Village savings and loan associations

The grant will be disbursed in two tranches, allowing communities to invest in two different projects over a two-year period. The value of each tranche is to be finalized, but has historically been set at a 60/40 split, equivalent to:

Grant 1: MWK 16.8 million

Grant 2: MWK 11.2 million

To validate whether this grant size is appropriate for the types of envisioned activities, Spark seeks to conduct a cost verification study to estimate the current market costs of implementing these types of subprojects at the village level.

SCOPE OF WORK

The objective of this assignment is to assess and validate the current costs of key village-level investments in the target districts, in order to determine whether the proposed total block grant and size of grant tranches are adequate. Using the study findings, Spark may revise the total amount of the grant and/or the amount of each tranche.

The consultant will collect recent and reliable cost data for the priority subproject types, including:

• Irrigation schemes
• Greenhouses
• Micro-enterprises
• Water points

Data should reflect realistic, village-level implementation costs, including materials, labor, and transport. The consultant will triangulate data from multiple sources, including:

• Interviews with NGOs implementing similar projects
• Consultations with communities that have recently completed similar investments
• Review of Spark’s historical project cost data in Malawi
• Quotations from suppliers, contractors, and service providers, using a range of small to larger providers
• Relevant government departments (e.g., agriculture, water, livestock)

Spark will provide recent cost data, including detailed activity budgets, for i) livestock rearing and ii) village savings and loan associations, based on its implementation experience. The consultant should include these two subproject types in their analysis but are not required to collect additional data.

Geographic Coverage

• Two target districts (Balaka and Dowa)
• Within each district, collect multiple estimates to capture cost variation (e.g., remote vs. accessible areas)

Analysis

• Provide cost ranges and averages for each subproject type, including breakdown of costs (e.g. materials, labour, specialised services)
• Highlight key cost drivers (e.g., transport, input availability, seasonality, lead times or urgency of orders)
• Identify any significant variation across and within locations
• Include cost estimates and frequency of upkeep / maintenance of each subproject type

REQUIREMENTS

• Demonstrated project management or procurement experience within rural development or infrastructure projects, including costing or budget management
• Familiarity with Malawi context is required
• Experience working with NGOs, government systems, or community-driven development programs
• Strong analytical and report-writing skills
• Experience with procurement and supply chain management preferred
• Demonstrated experience in costing rural development or infrastructure projects preferred

• Assess and validate the current costs of key village-level investments in the target districts.
• Collect recent and reliable cost data for priority subproject types (irrigation schemes, greenhouses, micro-enterprises, water points).
• Ensure data reflects realistic, village-level implementation costs, including materials, labor, and transport.
• Triangulate data from multiple sources: interviews with NGOs, consultations with communities, review of Spark’s historical project cost data, quotations from suppliers/contractors, and relevant government departments.
• Include livestock rearing and village savings and loan associations in the analysis, using provided Spark data.
• Collect cost data in two target districts (Balaka and Dowa), with multiple estimates per district to capture cost variation.
• Provide cost ranges and averages for each subproject type, with a breakdown of costs.
• Highlight key cost drivers.
• Identify significant cost variation across and within locations.
• Include cost estimates and frequency of upkeep/maintenance for each subproject type.

• Project management or procurement experience within rural development or infrastructure projects.
• Costing or budget management.
• Familiarity with Malawi context.
• Experience working with NGOs, government systems, or community-driven development programs.
• Strong analytical skills.
• Strong report-writing skills.
• Procurement and supply chain management (preferred).
• Costing rural development or infrastructure projects (preferred).

• Demonstrated project management or procurement experience within rural development or infrastructure projects, including costing or budget management.
• Familiarity with Malawi context is required.
• Experience working with NGOs, government systems, or community-driven development programs.
• Strong analytical and report-writing skills.
• Experience with procurement and supply chain management preferred.
• Demonstrated experience in costing rural development or infrastructure projects preferred.