Terms of Reference- (ToR)
Impact Evaluation of project “TACKLING THE ROOT CAUSES OF CHILD LABOUR IN INDIAN SPICES SUPPLY CHAINS”
About the ChildFund India:
ChildFund India has been working with underprivileged children, youth, and families from the mostly remote, extremely backward, and hard-to-reach areas in India since 1984, with a vision to build “an India where children lead a dignified life and achieve their full potential”. It reaches nearly 7.6 million children, youth, and their families, from 3,200 communities in 85 districts across 14 states in India, through its long and short-term programs. ChildFund in India works in the rural belts of the country, now slowly expanding its focus to urban poverty where child protection issues and violence against children are more prevalent. Its programs provide comprehensive support to children from their conception until they reach 24 years of age by integrating health, nutrition, sanitation, gender equality, disability, education, skill training, livelihoods, child protection and humanitarian relief work. ChildFund’s unparalleled longstanding community presence, long-term partnership and direct implementation projects in India ensure that its holistic interventions foster an enabling environment where children can grow to their fullest potential.
Project Background:
India is one of the world’s largest producers and exporters of spices, with commodities such as cumin and chili contributing significantly to agricultural livelihoods and rural economies. However, spice-producing regions often face persistent socio economic vulnerabilities, particularly among smallholder farmers, sharecroppers, migrant workers, and agricultural labourers. These vulnerabilities adversely affect household wellbeing and expose children to multiple risks, including limited educational opportunities, poor health and child labour.
To address child labour risks in spice supply chain, ChildFund India initiated a 5-year project in 2021. The project was designed in two phases. Phase A, focused on assessment and risk identification, and Phase B, aimed at addressing the identified issues through community based interventions.
The Ofi supported project is being implemented across two locations: Rajasthan and Telangana. In Rajasthan, the project covers 51 villages across two districts, namely Jaisalmer and Barmer. Of the total 51 villages, 16 are located in Jaisalmer district and 35 in Barmer district. These villages are spread across six blocks: Bhameda, Baytu, Shiv, Jaisalmer, Fatehgarh, and Pokaran. Similarly, in the Bhadrachalam region of Telangana, the project covers 20 villages across three districts: Eluru, Mulugu, and ASR. The intervention area spans four blocks: Yetapaka, Kukunoor, Venkatapuram, and Wazeedu.
Under the project, a total of 34 Child Learning Centres (CLCs) have been established, including 23 centres in Rajasthan and 11 centres in the Bhadrachalam region. Additionally, 34 Children's Groups have been formed, through which regular soft skills sessions are being conducted to enhance children's life skills, confidence, and overall development. The project has also strengthened 30 Village Level Child Protection Committees (VLCPCs) and 30 School Management Committees (SMCs) to improve community participation and support for child protection and education. Furthermore, 28 Farmers' Groups have been formed and strengthened to promote sustainable livelihoods and agricultural practices. Youth Groups have also been established in the project areas, and members are being provided with vocational skills training to enhance their employability and livelihood opportunities.
Phase A, completed in May 2022, involved a detailed assessment of risks affecting children in spice-producing communities across cumin-growing areas of Rajasthan and chili growing regions of Telangana. The assessment covered both Ofi and non-Ofi farms and highlighted that vulnerable children were predominantly found among sharecropper and migrant worker households. The study identified several structural and socio-economic challenges contributing to child vulnerability.
The findings revealed that low household income is one of the most significant underlying causes of child labour and poor child wellbeing. Economic insecurity among farming households is driven by low agricultural productivity, rising input costs, unstable livelihoods, and inadequate access to social protection mechanisms. In situations of financial distress, children are often exposed to harmful activities including withdrawal from school, participation in labour, and reduced access to nutrition and healthcare.
In addition to poverty, inadequate access to quality education, weak awareness of child rights, gender inequality, and social discrimination affecting historically marginalized caste and tribal communities further contribute to child vulnerability. Although child labour is prohibited under Indian law and child protection remains a national priority, implementation challenges and socio-economic barriers continue to place children at risk, particularly in remote agricultural communities.
The assessment further highlighted that poor resilience to external shocks, including health emergencies and livelihood disruptions, significantly impacts children’s well-being. Limited awareness of available government welfare schemes, inadequate occupational safety practices, and poor sanitation and nutrition conditions further deepen household vulnerability. To respond to these challenges, the project’s Phase B strategy focuses on establishing child-friendly communities in cumin and chili supply chains by addressing both immediate risks and root causes of child labour. Under the project ‘Tackling the root causes of child labour in India spices supply chains’, the holistic approach was adopted to combine awareness generation, livelihood strengthening, access to education, child labour monitoring and remediation, community engagement, and collaboration with industry and government stakeholders.
In the second phase, the project focused on strengthening the ecosystem for child protection and education by supporting children at the school level, facilitating the re enrolment of out-of-school children into formal education, and providing remedial classes to bridge learning gaps and enhance their academic skills. Simultaneously, the project strengthened mechanisms to address child labour issues and created opportunities to link vulnerable children and their families with various government social protection schemes. The project also focused on developing a support system that actively involved local government institutions and mechanisms in addressing child labour issues at the community level. In addition, various stakeholders involved in the spice supply chain were engaged in project activities to sensitize them to child labour concerns and strengthen their understanding of the systems established to support vulnerable communities.
Under the above-mentioned context, ChildFund India is proposing to undertake an Impact Evaluation of the project titled “Tackling the Root Causes of Child Labour in India Spices Supply Chains.” The evaluation seeks to assess the effectiveness, relevance, outcomes, and sustainability of project interventions in addressing the root causes of child labour, strengthening protective ecosystems, improving access to education, and enhancing community resilience. It will also generate evidence and learning to inform future programming, policy engagement, and scalable approaches for reducing child labour risks within spice supply chains in India.
Purpose of the Assignment
The purpose of this assignment is to undertake an independent impact evaluation of the project "Tackling the Root Causes of Child Labour in India Spices Supply Chains" to assess the effectiveness, relevance, outcomes, and sustainability of the interventions implemented under the project. The evaluation seeks to generate evidence on the extent to which the project has contributed to addressing the root causes of child labour in spice-producing communities, particularly among vulnerable farming households, sharecroppers, and migrant worker households.The assignment will assess the project's contribution toward improving children's access to education, facilitating the re-enrolment of out-of-school children, strengthening remedial learning support, and enhancing child protection systems at community and institutional levels. It will also examine the effectiveness of mechanisms established for identifying, preventing, monitoring, and responding to child labour risks, including the engagement of local governance structures, frontline institutions, and community-based protection systems.
The assignment will also evaluate the level of participation and ownership among key stakeholders, including children, families, schools, community institutions, local government systems, supply chain actors, and implementing partners, to understand how far the project has contributed to building a supportive ecosystem for vulnerable communities.
In addition, the evaluation will document key achievements, challenges, lessons learned, and good practices emerging from project implementation, and identify factors that influenced outcomes. The findings will provide evidence-based recommendations to inform future programming, policy engagement, scale-up strategies, and sustainability planning for child labour prevention interventions in agricultural supply chains.
Briefly, the endline evaluation will address the followings:
- Assess the extent to which the project achieved its intended outcomes and objectives.
- Measure changes since the baseline assessment.
- Evaluate the project's effectiveness in addressing root causes of child labour.
- Assess relevance, efficiency, sustainability, coherence, and impact.
- Generate evidence-based recommendations for future programming and scaling.
- Document lessons learned and promising practices.
How to Apply:
The deadline for the applications is 30th July 2026 Only the shortlisted agencies will be contacted for the final presentation before the screening committee. For further information, please contact us at the above email.
Please do mention reference number in your proposal i.e. PRA/CFI/DEL/2026-27/038
For detailed information, please check the complete version of the RFP attached below.