Project End-line assessment “Integrated Market Development Program across the oPt (IMDP)” At Oxfam

Terms of Reference (ToR)

Project End-line assessment

“Integrated Market Development Program across the oPt (IMDP)”

Project BACKGROUND

1. Project summary

DURATION: 4 years, from 1 December 2017 to 30 November 2021

COUNTRY: Occupied Palestinian Territory

Contract Holder: Oxfam OGB

Oxfam Country EA: Oxfam Novib (ONL) in Palestine.

Donors: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark/International Development Cooperation (DANIDA) and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC).

2. Intervention logic / Theory of Change

The program design draws upon Oxfam’s global and country-level experience in market development. The project’s Theory of Change (ToC) is rooted in our commitment to a rights-based and gender sensitive approach, to agency, to empowering and raising the voice of poor and vulnerable communities, and to putting women’s rights at the center of our work. Through lessons learnt, results achieved, and partnerships developed through the implementation of SDC/DANIDA programs, this program intends to be strategic, fostering local ownership, innovation, experimentation, and scale up to stimulate agricultural market systems development.

The overall goal of the IMDP program is to contribute to resilient, sustainable and equitable agricultural growth in the oPt. Its successful implementation will lead to improved agricultural production, processing, and marketing systems in the West Bank and Gaza, with a specific focus on high-value fruits (especially palm dates, stone fruits and grapes) and vegetables (especially baby vegetables) and dairy (cow) value chains. These changes will result in increased employment and income of small-scale farmers, processors, and agribusinesses engaged in the selected value chains, with opportunities for women and youth to enhance their influencing power. The program’s ToC envisages that these changes will only happen if policy impediments and production, processing, and marketing bottlenecks holding back small-scale agriculture and agribusiness development (described in the contextual analysis above) are strategically addressed.

Three strategic domains are proposed to address underlying market failures and create market opportunities, including for youth and women: (1) upgrading selected value chains through market-based interventions and facilitation. This will result in market actors, including agricultural start-ups, being able to effectively upgrade and add value to their products and services to match market demand and to increase their market share (2) fostering youth and women’s economic engagement in agriculture and key agricultural sub-sectors. The introduction and strengthening of inclusive policies and practices at critical stages across agricultural markets will result in attracting and creating more income opportunities and empowerment for women and youth. (3) promoting more conducive internal and external operating environment for agricultural sector, reducing barriers and creating opportunities.

3. Results Chain

The program’s results chain draws from the ToC described above. In line with the strategic domains enumerated above, three outcomes are proposed to enable the achievement of the program goal.

*Outcome 1:** Market-based interventions and facilitation result in improved quality and increased market share.

This program will focus both on supply and demand sides to improve the productivity of small-scale agriculture and the competitiveness and profitability of agribusinesses, including agricultural start-ups. Through market systems approach, small-scale farmers, producers, and small business owners engaged in the selected value chains will be able to respond to ‘market pull’ (i.e., demand) by being better able to supply consistent, quality products and services, according to market standards and consumer preferences – with flexibility to include product diversification and to upgrade their overall business performance. To achieve the targeting outcome of improving quality and market share, Oxfam will support strategic partners to design and implement market systems intervention strategies together with key market actors. These strategies will address critical production, processing, and marketing bottlenecks that hinder value chain performance, including for example input supply, technical know-how, and market failures related to agro-processing potential, and gender-specific barriers. Oxfam will also engage with strategic partners and business incubators/accelerators to support agricultural start-ups with promising investment plans and high growth prospects with unmet investment needs. The program will support through tailored financing modalities and business mentoring services, agricultural start-ups and producer organizations intending to initiate agricultural and agribusiness ventures. Domestic demand will be stimulated through enhancing consumer awareness, protection and closer relationship with producers and processors. Finally, to lead to the achievement of this outcome, the program will strengthen the competence of local organizations and key relevant stakeholders in market-based approaches.

*Outcome 2:* Agriculture sector and its key sub-sectors attract and create more income opportunities and empowerment for women and youth.

To enhance women’s economic empowerment and youth inclusion in agricultural and agricultural-related service value chains, the program will enable women and new entrants (youth) to the labor market to gain skills, assets and competence to establish their own enterprises or increase their employability. The program will also engage in developing pilots on gender equity and agriculture and in influencing producer organizations, SMEs, business associations, financial institutions, and government agencies, to adopt policies and practices (business models, products, services, and perceptions) that will improve the way markets work for women and youth, which in turn would improve their access to skills, resources and market opportunities. The program will also engage in or support national level policy, advocacy, campaigning and community level influencing on gender equity and agriculture.

*Outcome 3:** The internal and external operating environment become more conducive for agricultural sector, reducing barriers and creating opportunities.

This outcome focuses on fostering an enabling environment that will allow for sustainable growth within the agricultural sector to challenge impediments that remain in place due to a weak and unfavorable regulatory and policy environment and the capture of resources from Palestinian farming communities as a result of the Israeli occupation. This outcome will seek to address challenges related to both the Palestinian policy and regulatory environment as well as impediments related to the GoI policies and practices. It will build upon policy gains achieved through the SDC and DANIDA-funded programs, including LED processes. Oxfam will work with a wide range of organizations, including the FAO, and with existing networks and clusters in order to engage in policy work, direct influencing activities and technical engagement.

4. Beneficiaries

The program is expected to have a direct impact on the lives of 9,250 SSPs, including 1,850 women, engaged in the selected value chains across Gaza (Grapes, Dairy, Date Palms, Vegetables (Carrots and onions), and stone fruits (pilots) and the West Bank (Stone Fruits and Vegetables (wild cucumber, pepper and zucchini).

The interventions are directly benefitting other target groups: Consumers in the West Bank and Gaza, who will benefit from more direct relations with producers and processors, the latter allowing for increased control over production practices and quality requirements. Medium to large companies, market service providers, and institutional and government stakeholders as well as representative bodies will directly benefit through business mentoring support and/or through upgrading their policies and practices to become more gender and youth inclusive.

5. Partners:

The program is being delivered in partnership with the following implementing partners: Economic and Social Development Center (ESDC), Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UAWC), the Agricultural Development Association (PARC), the Palestinian Farmers’ Union (PFU), UCAS technology incubator (UCASTI) and GISHA. In addition, the program also envisages the involvement of ‘Level-of-Effort’ partners that have highly specialized expertise needed to implement certain program interventions and strategies, not possible to be provided by the main implementing partners (PALTRADE for example).

Objective of the Assignment

A baseline study for the IMDP project was conducted in April-May 2019 which provided baseline data for the project and documented the pre-intervention levels of the project indicators. The baseline study surveyed a sample size of 449 individuals encompassed 294 farmers from different value chains, 10 cow breeders (GS), 22 retailers and traders, 5 processing units (GS), 12 startups, 6 producer organizations, 25 agronomists, 25 women,25 technicians and 25 pioneer farmers. This sample was drawn from each value chain and from each target group to represent the total population. In addition to the above-mentioned surveys, the baseline study conducted several interviews with key stakeholders in the West Bank (WB) and Gaza Strip (GS) including project partners, private sector actors, relevant cooperatives, and Line ministries.

The objective of this assignment is to undertake an end-line study and carry out comparative analysis of baseline versus end-line. The end-line study is planned to be conducted on the same sample to examine the extent to which the project objectives have been achieved. The study will include collection and analysis of quantitative and qualitative data corresponding to the original baseline tools.

The final report should present achievements against project targets and a comparison of the end line data findings against the baseline data findings. It should highlight significant as well as important and interesting findings that might inform future, similar programs. The results of this end line study will contribute to the IMDP final evaluation at the impact & effectiveness levels. Thus, the End-line findings shall help to establish the achievement level against the planned impact indicators. The study should assess how the project contributed to the impact including key enabling and/or constraining factors that led to project achievements.

INDICATIVE PROCESS AND STEPS

The consultant is expected to perform the following tasks in order to execute the assignment:

1- Desk phase (phase 1): desk review of the project’s key documents including project proposal, intervention strategies, monitoring and evaluation framework, baseline report, baseline tools (surveys), and annual progress reports.

2- Carry out preliminary interviews with the relevant staff from Oxfam to ensure common understanding of the ToR and the expected results of the study.

3- Develop a workplan and inception report that includes strategies to collect and analyze quantitative and qualitative data against project targets and key indicators from the baseline and monitoring and evaluation framework (updated). The inception report also, should include the protocols for the enumerators & supervisors, data entry & analysis plan, and the updated data collection tools.

4- Field phase (phase 2): Upon approval of the inception report, conduct a survey of size and quality able to provide a meaningful understanding of progress toward targets and changes in the indicators being measured. Also, conduct number of FGDs and KII’s to be able to assess how the project contributed to the impact including key enabling and/or constraining factors that led to project achievements. The main purpose of the qualitative data here is to explain the quantitative data, and to assess to what extent the change between baseline and endline measurement can be attributed to the project activities.

5- Analyze and produce an end line report that presents the end line data compared to base line data and that highlights significant, important or interesting findings that inform future programming.

6- Render first draft report to Oxfam and partners for comments.

7- Finalize the report within less than a week of receiving comments.

INDICATIVE TIMETABLE

The period for the assignment is 50 calendar days starting from the date of signing the contract until the submission of final report**.**

Publication of Term of Reference**

October 7, 2021

Deadline for submission of the proposal: **

October 19, 2021

Notification of award:**

October 28, 2021

Contract signature **

October 28, 2021

The endline study Implementation:**

Oct 28, 2021 – Dec 16, 2021

Conclusion of the assignment and final delivery**

Dec 16, 2021

Deliverables

The consultant is liable for the following deliverables:

1. An inception report, including details such as methodology, work plan, updated tools, and questionnaires, FGDs guidelines and KIIs checklist and a field survey plan. (These need to be agreed with Oxfam prior to the start of field survey).
2. Draft end-line study report. This needs to be submitted according to the following procedures:

ü The consultant will prepare a draft report and share with Oxfam

ü Oxfam and key partners will feedback on draft report and the consultant then have to finalize the report based on this. Report should be comprehensive with benchmarks of all indicators set in log frame and other crosscutting issues with analysis of the results including both tables/figures and narrative. The consultant needs to submit the electronic version (i.e., Word, Power Point, and Excel).

1. Final end-line study report.
2. Survey data on MS Excel including codebook. The data should be disaggregated on men, women, and youth, this is in addition to be streamlined and consistent with the MOA, DANIDA & SDC strategies, and program MEAL Framework.
3. Effectiveness/impact dashboard
4. Transcript of qualitative data collection activities and recording.

All deliverables will be submitted in the English language with the exception of the data collection tools that should be provided in both Arabic and English. Recording of qualitative data collection activities as part of the deliverables if the participants agree to the use of recording. The report shall present the main findings of end line report and compare these findings with the baseline assessment. The period for the assignment is 50 calendar days starting from the date of signing the contract until the submission of final report.

Responsibilities of the consultant

The consultant is required to:

A. Take the responsibility for the assignment and appoint a person as the contact point with Oxfam for all the liaison and coordination.

B. Compose the study team -considering project geographical locations- that is capable to deliver the output of required quality in time and mention the team composition in his / her proposal.

C. With the support from Oxfam, make necessary appointments for the key informant interviews, mobilize participants, including direct beneficiaries (mainly social entrepreneurs, social enterprises support organizations, policy makers), for focus group discussions and visit the partners for data collection. Oxfam will provide necessary authorizations through letters to use the organization names by the consultant. All communication and coordination in the country for collecting data should be the consultant’s responsibility.

D. Manage all the logistics of field survey in coordination with Oxfam.

E. Train an adequate number of enumerators that will be recruited in cooperation with the Oxfam country team for the field survey and supervise their work (both progress and the quality).

F. Ensure that all the Consultant’s personnel are following the Code of Conduct and the policies of Oxfam and a declaration to this effect is signed by them.

G. Submit the deliverables (mentioned above) on time, and,

H. Maintain the confidentiality of all information gathered. (Prior to undertaking, the consultant will have to declare that the information gathered would not be used for a purpose other than for those stipulated in the ToR).

Responsibilities of Oxfam

As the organization commissioning the study, Oxfam will:

A. Provide all the relevant documentation and project reports for the study purpose

B. Hold the responsibility for the provision of feedback / comments for inception report, updated tools, questionnaires, and draft report, as per the agreed time frame.

C. Provide the templates for reporting and financial settlements.

D. Keep the relevant stakeholders (who are to be interviewed by the consultant) informed about the evaluation.

E. Review the timeline of evaluation and make necessary amendments in consultation with the consultant, and

F. Provide payments to the consultant as per the agreed schedule upon completion of minimum requirements.

DESIRED QUALIFICATIONS, SPECIALIZED KNOWLEDGE and expertise

Upon the conclusion of an open and competitive bidding process, Oxfam will select and commission a technically qualified independent Consultancy Firms with an efficient and effective team composition covering targeted localities in both West Bank & Gaza Strip. The Core Team should include expertise in Market System Development approaches, quantitative and qualitative monitoring and evaluation, statistics, agricultural development, and gender. The team should also include experienced enumerators and data entry personnel.

The ideal consultant will have at least 7-10 years of relevant experience. The consultant should have the following skills and competencies:

ü Proven record in the development and implementation of end-line assessments in the international development sector for economic justice programming, in particular in agricultural fresh and processed sector.

ü Good knowledge and extensive practice applying participatory approaches, qualitative and quantitative methods to monitoring and evaluation.

ü Good experience of market system development approaches, value chain and M4P approaches and in working with relevant stakeholders in both West Bank and Gaza Strip.

ü Experience of integrating gender dynamics within participatory data collection and analysis.

ü Experience in conducting field research with Palestinian communities.

ü Relevant geographical experience in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, ideally including previous work in the targeted governorates.

ü Ability to communicate fluently in English and Arabic and write reports in English

ü S/he is expected to propose efficient and effective team composition in both West Bank and the Gaza Strip taking into consideration the social, cultural, environmental, and political/security issues.

ü Ability to work with a diverse team and under pressure to produce agreed deliverables in a timely manner

Evaluation of proposals and selection process

Potential and interested firms are required to submit a comprehensive proposal describing / articulating the work requirements outlined in this ToR. Professional and language proficiency of the proposed personnel, including the field enumerators, are important to indicate in the proposal. 70% of weight will be given to technical proposal and 30% of weight will be given to financial proposal. The applicant should score minimum of 50% in the technical evaluation to be eligible for financial evaluation. All proposals will be evaluated based on internally agreed criteria as follows:

(Weight for each criterion given in percentages)

A. Experience in the development and implementation of end-line assessments in the international development sector for economic justice programming, in particular in the agricultural sector. (10%)

B. Geographical Experience (Gaza and West Bank) (10%).

C. Proposed actual number of days, timeframe, and team size (10%).

D. Proposed team / personnel which includes composition of the team and their educational qualification and experiences as articulated in the section above. With equal competences, gender-balanced teams will be favorable (30%).

E. Quality of presentation of proposal (10%).

F. Financial proposal (30%)

Terms and conditions

Payment will be on submission of Tax-exempt Invoice on delivery against milestones. All incidentals, equipment and materials, accommodation and travel required for the assignment are the responsibility of the consultant and need to be included in the financial proposal. The consultant should follow the Oxfam’s Branding policies and ensure Oxfam and donor logos are presented as per the guidelines. The consultant and his / her team in the assignment must abide by Oxfam child protection policy, code of conduct, sexual harassment policy and Oxfam’s other relevant policies. All requirements in respect of insurance including professional indemnity, worker’s compensation, public liability, superannuation and taxation, where applicable will remain, at all times, the responsibility of the consultant.