Terms of Reference (ToR): Consultant for Evaluation of Bank Sathi Model

Terms of Reference (ToR)

Consultant for Evaluation of Bank Sathi Model

1. Background

Heifer International Nepal is a non-profit organization focused on eliminating hunger and poverty by empowering rural communities, particularly women, through livestock-based livelihoods and sustainable agriculture. By providing livestock, training, and technical support, Heifer Nepal helps families improve food security, generate income, and build sustainable communities.

In addition to its core programs, Heifer integrates financial inclusion through community-managed savings and credit, enabling farmers to access loans for agriculture, invest in value chains, and build assets. This strengthens rural economies and supports long-term sustainability. To date, Heifer has empowered over 400,000 families and supported around 300 cooperatives, providing a platform for collective growth and sustainability. 

However, many agricultural enterprises and cooperatives still struggle to access finance or investment due to gaps in operational systems, planning, and accountability. This issue is particularly acute for smallholder farmers and women-led enterprises, who are often excluded from formal financial services due to limited financial literacy, restricted outreach, and prevailing socio-cultural barriers rooted in patriarchal norms.

To address these barriers and promote women’s financial inclusion, Heifer initiated the Bank Sathi model, a grassroots initiative that builds local capacity and trust in financial systems. For this Heifer has developed 50 Bank Sathi across its project areas and has been mobilizing them equipped with technical training and a manual to mobilize them.

To assess the effectiveness and scalability of this model, Heifer now seeks to engage a qualified consultant to conduct a comprehensive evaluation.

2. Objectives

To evaluate and strengthen the Bank Sathi model by:

• Evaluating performance and effectiveness of Bank Sathi model.
• Assessing loanees and bank’s satisfaction and gathering feedback.
• Analyzing Bank Sathi mechanisms and identifying key influencing factors.
• Supporting the scalability and replication of the Bank Sathi model in new areas.

3. Scope of work

The consultant will:

• Conduct assessments and gather feedback from farmers (loanees) and partner banks through surveys or interviews to evaluate satisfaction and inform strategy and improvements.
• Analyze overall performance of Bank Sathi in helping farmers in accessing loans ranging from demand creation, document preparation, loan disbursement, monitoring of loan utilization, repayment trends and other influencing factors.
• Identify patterns or trends that may impact the success or failure of this Bank Sathi model (cost effectiveness, retention or sustainability of their income stream.
• Evaluate the scalability potential of the Bank Sathi model across new areas or groups.
• Prepare a final report highlighting key findings, key performance indicators, customer feedback and the model’s potential for future investment by summarizing the performance evaluation, strategy and actionable recommendations.

4. Deliverables

Completion Report including a comprehensive evaluation comprising:

• Number of Bank Sathi developed and trained
• Number of active Bank Sathi to date
• Reason for leaving or inactiveness
• Farmer or bank’s personnel satisfaction analysis based on structured feedback from respondents
• Number of loanees oriented
• Number of loanee applications submitted to banks
• Number of loan files approved: with total approved amount (in NPR)
• Amount disbursed and corresponding deployment status
• Number of loans monitored for utilization
• Number of borrowers actively repaying
• Loan recovery cases handled (if any)
• Service fees collected to date: or average fee per file:
• Scalability assessment and proposed strategies for improvement
• Accompanying operational and procedural guidelines
• Key insights with actionable recommendations

5. Consultant Qualifications

The consultant must meet the following qualifications:

• Master’s degree in Business Administration (MBA), Economics or a related field.
• Minimum of 5 to 10 years of proven experience in the related field.
• Strong knowledge and practical understanding of the banking sector, especially in relation to microfinance, loan repayment and recovery mechanisms.
• Demonstrated expertise in monitoring and evaluation frameworks, impact assessments and performance analysis.
• Familiarity with agriculture-based livelihoods and rural enterprise.
• Excellent report writing, analytical and presentation skills, with the ability to synthesize complex data into implementable information.

6. Duration of Assignments

The assignment will span 3 months, from the first of June 2025 to end of August 2025.

7. Heifers Input

Heifer shall provide relevant information, project documents and resources to the consultant and facilitate coordination between the consultants and concerned stakeholders/institutions as and when necessary. The Heifer shall provide logistical support (food, accommodation and transport etc. as per Heifer policy) to the consultant during the execution of consultancy service. 

The consultant will be compensated at a per-day rate, subject to applicable taxes and in accordance with Heifer’s payment policies.

8. How to Apply

Interested individuals should submit their application including below mentioned documents by 5:00 pm, 25 May 2025 to Procurement-NP@heifer.org with the subject line mentioning “Consultant for Evaluation of the Bank Sathi Model” in Nepal.

• Cover letter highlighting relevant experience and expertise
• Proposed daily fee in NPR and the total number of days required to complete the assignment
• CV 
• PAN/VAT registration certificate

Note: VAT registered vendors are encouraged to apply.

Any telephone inquiries or other inquiries would not be entertained.