CALL FOR CONSULTANCY
CARE Ethiopia is a non-political, non-religious and independent humanitarian organization working in collaboration with various stakeholders to fight against poverty and support vulnerable community group. CARE Ethiopia’s mission is to work with poor women and men, boys and girls, communities and institutions, to have a significant impact on the underlying causes of poverty in Ethiopia.
CARE is currently seeking consultants to serve on a mid-term evaluation team for the Feed the Future Ethiopia – Livelihoods for Resilience Activity (hereafter Livelihoods for Resilience). The evaluation will take place approximately during the months of May-June, 2019. Team members are needed for a range of technical competencies.
I. INTRODUCTION
Livelihoods for Resilience is part of the U.S. Government’s global hunger and food security initiative designed to reduce food insecurity and increase resilience for households under the government of Ethiopia’s Productive Safety Net Program (PSNP 4). It is a five-year activity (2016-2021) that complements and supports the safety net program along three pathways: (1) crop and livestock, (2) off-farm livelihoods, and (3) employment in 27 woredas of Amhara, SNNP, and Tigray regions. The activity aims to enable 97,900 chronically food insecure households to graduate with resilience from the PSNP. Livelihoods for Resilience is implemented by a consortium of five partners under the leadership of CARE. Implementing partners include the Relief Society of Tigray (REST), the Organization for Rehabilitation and Development in Amhara (ORDA), and Agri-Service Ethiopia (ASE). SNV-USA serves as a technical partner for market systems development and agricultural extension.
The Livelihood for Resilience mid-term performance evaluation will provide information on progress towards planned results, effectiveness of project strategies and methods, effectiveness of established collaboration/ coordination mechanisms, and the working relationship among the implementing partners and stakeholders. The evaluation will also identify key lessons learned (both positive and negative) to inform the project’s implementation in its remaining years.
II. PROJECT STRATEGIES
Livelihoods for Resilience follows a comprehensive causal model in promoting food security and resilience for PSNP clients and communities. Specific approaches include:
Village Economic and Social Associations - VESAs serve as an entry point for financial literacy and business skill trainings, exposure to agricultural technologies, and linkages to microfinance and input/output markets. VESAs also serve as a platform for building understanding of improved nutritional practices and climate change adaptation, both of which are critical to resilience.
Tailored financial services - Households start with savings and small loans through their VESAs, for small, low-risk investments. Financial literacy and business skills training provide the foundation for larger loans from formal financial institutions. The project uses a loan guarantee fund to subsidize added risk to lenders.
Livelihood pathways – The project provides tailored technical support to clients—including women, men and youth—along three livelihood pathways:
· Crop and livestock pathway: technical support for nutrition-sensitive and climate-smart crop and livestock production and value chain/market systems strengthening.
· Off-farm activities: the project will builds entrepreneurship skills of women and youth to enable them to manage their own businesses.
· Wage employment: a work readiness training to build life skills and increase the employability of PSNP youth.
Inclusive market systems - The project supports an enabling environment for resilient livelihoods including the establishment of agro-dealers to serve as retailers for agricultural inputs and livestock feed, strengthening marketing groups and cooperatives, and facilitating market linkages.
Gender equity and women’s empowerment - Use of the Social Analysis and Action tool to identify and act against harmful norms around gender roles, household workload, etc. The project also engages male role models exemplifying progressive behaviors.
PSNP 4 linkages and collaboration - Coordinate closely with PSNP4 implementers at all levels to ensure synergy and provide support and facilitate joint learning. Collaborate with other organizations and projects, leveraging each other’s resources to enhance or replicate impact.
Learning and adaptive management – Be flexible and responsive to opportunities and constraints that will inevitably arise. Manage a learning agenda, with joint initiatives for testing new approaches or technologies while generating sound data and enabling informed decisions.
III. PURPOSE AND USE OF THE EVALUATION
The main purpose of this mid-term performance evaluation is to provide the project team, concerned external stakeholders, and USAID with an objective assessment of project progress towards achieving its objectives, the effectiveness of project technical and financial management, appropriateness of staffing and partnership structures, and any key learning and challenges faced. The findings and recommendations are expected to inform management decision-making processes and improve performance towards the achievement of all expected outputs and outcomes. Specifically, the evaluation will:
1. Assess the extent to which planned results (both the quantitative and qualitative) of the project have been achieved vis-à-vis the project objectives and goal;
2. Assess the effectiveness of the project’s approaches during implementation towards achievement of its objectives and key results;
3. Assess whether the project activities are replicable and its outcomes sustainable;
4. Identify lessons learned and challenges and make clear, explicit and actionable recommendations to improve project performance and strategies.
IV. EVALUATION DESIGN AND METHODS
A recommended evaluation design and data collection methods are suggested below. The evaluation strategy and data collection methodologies should include mixed approaches for better triangulation and validation of findings. All data collected and presented in the evaluation report must be disaggregated, as appropriate, by gender and region.
a) Evaluation Design
The MTE will be led by an external team but will be participatory in nature, with project team members making ample contributions to development of research questions, analysis of data and formulation of guiding recommendations.
b) Data Sources and Collection Methods
The evaluation team will be responsible for proposing an appropriate evaluation design and data collection methods. The team should consider mapping the research questions against the quantitative and qualitative data in a matrix/table to show how each research question will be answered. Datacollection methods should include a review of internal assessment reports, tabular data from household database, quarterly tabular reports to the donor and other secondary data. In addition, qualitative data will be collected through:
· Key Informant Interviews
· Focus Group Discussions (FGDs)
· Field visits and observation
The MTE team should visit each of the four operational areas in the three regions and at least two representative woredas per area.
c) Data analysis plan
The evaluation team is expected to propose a sound data analysis plan which ensures triangulation of information from all sources and presentation of findings and conclusions appropriate for the evidence collected, i.e. avoiding unsupported generalizations based on anecdotal or contextually specific data.
V. TEAM COMPOSITION
The evaluation team shall consist of three international expert consultants and two-three high level Ethiopian experts. One of the international experts will have the role of team leader. The international experts should be senior-level evaluation analysts each specialized in one of the core technical areas, including but not limited to: the three livelihoods pathways, micro-finance, women’s empowerment, climate change adaptation and resilience, etc. International experts must be fluent in English and have strong writing skills. The Ethiopian experts should have experience evaluating food security programming in Ethiopia and each have technical expertise in a core area not covered by the international experts. The Ethiopian experts should also be proficient in English and Amharic. Other team members (e.g. interpreters) will be added as necessary. As a whole, the team should have the skills and experience necessary for assessing all key dimensions of the project including technical areas (agriculture, agribusiness, financial inclusion, nutrition, climate change adaptation and gender) and operational areas (management, partnerships, staffing, reporting systems, M&E, etc.).
Experts needed in this consultancy are:-
· Gender
· Livelihoods
· Resilience
· Nutrition
· Financial Inclusion
VI. EVALUATION SCHEDULE
The maximum time period for undertaking this evaluation is 65 working days, of which at least 30 working days should be spent in Ethiopia. Different team members may have shorter contracts but the team leader will need to be engaged from start to finish. Start date will be approximately May 1, 2019. The evaluation team is expected to work six days a week, although a seven-day work week can be negotiated. The team is required to travel to selected areas in each region where program activities are being implemented. At least 50% of the consultants’ time will be spent outside Addis Ababa to conduct interviews with project staff, government and other partners, and project beneficiaries.
The evaluation team will prepare an exit briefing and presentation of the findings, which it will deliver to the project’s senior management before the consultants depart Ethiopia.
Timeframe
The tasks are expected to be completed during the period May – June, 2019. The consultant will provide up to 45 days of work.
Payment Terms
The payment would be subject to taxation as per the Government of Ethiopia’s regulations.
Minimum Qualification and experience:
For this consultancy service, an appropriate candidate will have:
· fluency in spoken and written English and one or more national languages.
· experience in program evaluation in Ethiopia.
· significant expertise in one or more of: agriculture, micro-enterprise, youth livelihoods, micro-finance, women’s empowerment, climate change adaptation, nutrition, and/or resilience.
The Consultant must be based in Addis Ababa and must be legally allowed to work in Ethiopia. (Having a valid work permit/business license)