RFQ-UGA-014231: Consultancy on Baseline survey for Uganda Refugee Resilience Initiative (URRI) Program At Danish Refugee Council

TERMS OF REFERENCE FOR CONDUCTING A BASELINE SURVEY FOR THE UGANDA REFUGEE RESILIENCE INITIATIVE (URRI).

Title: Baseline survey for Uganda Refugee Resilience Initiative (URRI) Program.

Position: Consultant/Consultancy firm
Locations: Multiple locations: (Lot 1: Northwest-Nile: Yumbe, Obongi, Moyo, Lot 2: Southwest-Nile: Madi Okollo, Terego, Koboko, Lot 3: Lamwo and Adjumani and Lot 4: Kyegegwa
Duration: February 2025 – April 2025 (estimated)
Length of work: 55 working days (estimated)

Project Background

With funding from the Royal Danish Embassy – DANIDA, Danish Refugee Council and Save the Children are leading two consortia to implement a 4-year Uganda Refugee Resilience Initiative (URRI) program. Danish Refugee Council (Lead agency) in a consortium with Community Empowerment for Rural Development (CEFORD), Danchurch Aid (DCA), Promoters of Agriculture and Market Linkages (PALM Corps), Partners in Development and Center for Holistic Transformation (PICOT) are implementing in Lot 1:Yumbe, Obongi, Moyo and Lot 2: Madi Okollo, Terego, Koboko while Save the Children International (Lead agency) in consortium with World Vision Uganda (WVU), Kabarole Research Centre (KRC Uganda), AVSI Foundation, Youth Social Advocacy Team (YSAT), Uganda Network on Law Ethics and HIV/AIDS (UGANET) and Response Innovation Lab (U-RIL) are implementing in Lot 3: Lamwo and Adjumani and Lot 4: Kyegegwa

The initiative focuses on promoting inclusive, cohesive, and environmentally sustainable development targeting a population that includes 374 community-based extension workers, 1,874 farmer groups, 50,196 individual farmers, and 250,980 household members, with a significant emphasis on supporting women and youth.

While the URRI program will be implemented by two Consortia as highlighted above, there is a lot of commonalities both at results level and implementation strategy level. Against this background, the two consortia plan to jointly contract the services of a Consultant (firm/individual) to conduct a joint baseline assessment for uniform measurement of outcomes and impact.

Project result areas

URRI will deliver the following outcomes and outputs to achieve its objective:

Outcome 1: Enhanced climate adaptation and resilience for women, men and youth in refugee and host communities through inclusive climate-smart agriculture (CSA).

DRC-led Consortium (Lot 1 and 2) specific outputs

• Output 1.1: Private and public service providers trained and equipped to strengthen and expand their provision of gender transformative regenerative climate-smart agricultural extension services.
• Output 1.2: Small scale farmers (women, men and youth) in refugee-affected areas trained and supported in regenerative climate-smart agricultural practices.
• Output 1.3: Small scale farmers (women, youth and men) in refugee affected areas supported to increase their participation in regenerative CSA input and output markets.

SCI-led Consortium (Lot 3 and 4) specific outputs

• Output 1.1: Increased knowledge and skills of CSA approaches among targeted farmers and Farmer Groups
• Output 1.2: Improved saving capacity and market access for farmers and Farmer Groups.
• Output 1.3: Women, men and youth are engaged in off-farm nature-based and climate adaptive enterprises and income-generating activities.
• Output 1.4: Strengthened anticipatory capacity of communities to mitigate climate and environmental shocks which can disrupt agricultural production.

Outcome 2: Sustainable management of the environment in refugee-affected areas through inclusive interventions leading to enhanced conservation of natural resources, biodiversity, ecosystem services, and productivity

DRC-led consortium (Lot 1 and 2) specific outputs

• Output 2.1: Local governance structures, and targeted refugees and refugee-affected communities have the knowledge, skills and tools to engage in natural resource and ecosystem protection, restoration and management.
• Output 2.2: Women, men and youth in refugee-affected areas supported to engage in regenerative livelihoods activities

SCI-led Consortium (Lot 3 and 4) specific outputs

• Output 2.1: Increased knowledge on sustainable management and protection of the environment
• Output 2.2: Strengthened sustainable community structures for environmental and natural resource protection and restoration

Outcome 3: Enhanced gender equality and women’s empowerment and rights among refugees and host communities in relation to agriculture, climate change adaptation and sustainable management of the environment

DRC-led consortium (Lot 1 and 2) specific outputs

• Output 3.1: Increased involvement and participation of women and youth in leadership and decision-making processes in relation to CSA, climate change adaptation and sustainable management of environment and natural resources.
• Output 3.2: Positive social and cultural norms and practices promoted to enhance safety for women, men and youth working in agriculture and their access to SRHR /GBV information and services.

SCI-led Consortium (Lot 3 and 4) specific outputs

• Output 3.1: Increased participation of women and adolescent girls in leadership and decision-making processes in relation to CSA, and sustainable management of Environment and Natural resources.
• Output 3.2: Positive social and cultural norms and practices promoted to enhance safety for women, men and youth working in agriculture and their access to SRHR /GBV information and services.

Objective of the baseline survey.

The primary objective of the baseline survey is to establish reference data for the URRI project to effectively monitor changes of the project’s outcome, impact and output level indicators. The baseline study aims to inform and guide the project’s implementation as well as generate transferable learning for the two consortia and a wider audience, including local authorities and other policy makers. This will include capturing quantitative data for Log frame and Self-Reliance Index (SRI) indicators, as well as qualitative data on shocks, conflict resilience, business performance, income generation for women and youth, and adaptation of communities to climate change and environmental degradation.

Specific objectives of the baseline study

The specific objectives of the baseline study include:

1. To establish the baseline values of the log frame indicators on impact, outcome and output level in accordance with the two consortia (DRC and SCI) project Log frames. In particular, the study will provide a baseline for all relevant indicators (both joint and non-joint indicators for the two consortia). Refer to the Annex for detailed Results frameworks.
2. To provide context information about the project’s relevant thematic areas through qualitative interviews (e.g., focus group discussions, key informant interviews).

In addition to establishing baseline values for indicators in the Log frames, this baseline study seeks to answer the below study questions to generate useful information that is needed to inform adaptation of the proposed URRI implementation strategies and approaches for the two consortia.

Study Questions

1. What are the perceptions, knowledge, and attitudes of women, men, and youth in refugee and host communities regarding climate-smart agriculture?
2. What are the existing enablers and barriers to adoption and implementation of climate-smart, regenerative livelihood, biodiversity conservation-focused practices among women, men and youth in refugee and host communities? What lessons can be learned from existing practices to inform URRI implementation strategies? What coping mechanisms do households currently employ to manage climate-related shocks?
3. How do cultural norms, practices, and gender roles influence women’s participation and decision-making in agriculture and environmental conservation activities?
4. What are the existing enablers, safety concerns and barriers to accessing and utilization of GBV-related information and services among women, men, and youth in refugee and host communities, particularly in the context of climate-smart and regenerative livelihood, and biodiversity conservation?
5. What are the key factors influencing sustainable management of the environment in refugee-affected areas.

Study methodology

The consultant will be required to develop a robust methodology that is technically sound with appropriate sample sizes, sampling techniques and clear data collection tools that will be shared with the two Consortia leads (DRC and SCI) for approval before data collection phase. A mixed methods approach with both quantitative and qualitative methods is preferred. The tools and methods must be participatory, incorporating all aspects of quality assurance/ethical considerations, including safeguarding and informed consent/assent during data collection. The study should include approaches that are sensitive to the inclusion of all targeted groups (women, men, youth, people with disabilities (PWDs) and local leadership/community structures) and capable of generating disaggregated data. In addition, the consultant will be required to develop an indicator analysis plan/matrix in line with both result frameworks and given indicator definitions, sampling methodology and measurement criteria, specifying how each data type/information will be collected and analyzed to generate corresponding indicators’ values.

The MEAL and technical staff of DRC and SCI as well as the implementing partner organisations shall be closely involved in the implementation of the baseline survey to make sure that learnings are understood and taken up by the project team. The consultant/contractor will work collaboratively with these stakeholders by incorporating their feedback on elaborated survey tools, facilitating training for enumerators, addressing feedback on draft reports, and co-facilitating validation and dissemination workshops, among other activities.

Deliverables and timeframe

The consultant shall propose a detailed and feasible schedule within the stipulated timeframe to deliver the baseline study across the project locations. The main body of the report (draft and final version) must be limited to 45-60 pages (excluding annexes). More specifically the following shall be expected to be delivered:

1. Baseline study inception report, including baseline study plan, detailed research design including data collection tools, sampling strategy, data collection and analyses methods, key roles and responsibilities, data quality assurance, etc.
2. A comprehensive indicator analysis plan/matrix, specifying how each data type/information will be collected and analyzed to generate corresponding indicators.
3. Assessment protocol summarizing the methods and ethical procedures, including data collection tools and consent forms
4. Letter of approval from a relevant authority (national, community) documenting approval of methods and ethical procedures, obtained and forwarded to DRC and SCI points of contact.
5. Feedback meeting on baseline study inception report
6. Provide regular/weekly updates to the joint steering management committee during data collection to monitor the progress of the survey
7. Draft baseline report which contains at least the following elements: Table of Contents, Acknowledgements, Glossary, Acronyms and Abbreviations, Executive summary, Introduction/Background, Objectives, Methodology, Results/findings, Study limitations, Conclusion and Recommendations.
8. Validation and dissemination workshop with key stakeholders that will include but not limited to partners, selected district technical and political leaders, UNHCR and OPM representatives from implementing locations.
9. Final baseline study report approved by project consortium stakeholders in electronic copy.
10. Final data collection tools used.
11. Clean data sets (both quantitative and qualitative), transcriptions and meta data (electronic)

To achieve these objectives, DRC and SCI will provide the consultant with access to essential project documents, including log frame, M&E plan, and general information on the selected target groups.

Note 1: The consultant may also be required to work closely with the RSRI (Refugee Self-Reliance Index) team to design the Household Self-Reliance Index. The RSRI team where possible, will also build the capacity of the on-boarded consultant to ensure that data collection is in line with the RSRI tools to address the self-reliance index indicators.

Note 2: On submission of the final report, all tools used for collection and management of data collection processes should be submitted together with the final report. This includes the clean raw data (both qualitative and quantitative), including original field notes for in‐depth interviews and focus group discussions, as well as recorded audio material. Hence, the consultant must agree to permanently destroy all the documents and records after submission and approval of the final report and related files/records to client.

Ethical considerations

The consultant will be required (in joint coordination with the joint DRC-SCI study management committee) to submit the final research protocol and tools for review and approval from a recognised Human Research Ethics Committee before data collection. Ethical and safeguarding considerations need to be strongly considered during all stages of this assessment. including respect and confidentiality for all participants. Anonymity, privacy and data security need to be ensured particularly during data collection, analysis, storage and reporting. The consultancy team should demonstrate their commitment to children’s rights, safeguarding, ethics and participation, and these principles should be built into the assessment. All individuals involved to conduct this assignment will therefore be required to sign and comply with DRC and SCI Safeguarding policies and Code of Conduct. Furthermore, the consultant should apply gender-sensitive data collection methods which includes conducting data collection separately with women and men as well as having female enumerators engage with female stakeholders and male enumerators with male stakeholders where deemed appropriate and feasible.

Moreover, the consultant will have to know and comply with national regulations over the conduct of human-subjects research in the localities where assessment will take place (see: https://www.hhs.gov/ohrp/sites/default/files/2020-international-compilation-of- human-research-standards.pdf ) and to know and follow international guidelines and effective practices associated with research with displaced populations (see: https://ccrweb.ca/en/ethical-considerations-research ).

Timeline for key deliverables/milestones

The consultant is expected to commence work immediately considering the deliverables timelines detailed in the table below. The consultant is responsible for delivering the following by the stated due timelines.

Required skills and experience:

Academic Qualifications

The consultant(s) should have at least a master’s or higher degree in Development Studies, Statistics, Monitoring and Evaluation, Agriculture, Quantitative Economics, International Development, Environmental Sciences or other related fields.

Additional certifications or training in Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E), Gender Analysis, Climate Change Adaptation, or Sustainable Agriculture will be an added advantage.

Professional Experience and other requirements.

• At least 7-10 years of experience leading baseline or evaluations, particularly in refugee or conflict settings, where both humanitarian and development challenges intersect.
• Documented experience in leading complex mixed-method studies, preferably in the thematic areas of climate, livelihoods and measurement of self-reliance.
• Relevant subject matter knowledge and experience in climate, gender sensitivity analyses, disability analysis and self-reliance index analysis of the project and the context in which it is being delivered.
• Ability to design, manage and implement primary research in potentially challenging project environments. This may include the design of surveys, key-informant interviews, focus group and other research.
• Working experience in the districts comprising the 4 above-mentioned lots and proficiency in one or more local languages.

Technical Skills

• Proficiency in data analysis software (e.g., SPSS, STATA for quantitative data; NVivo or Atlas-ti for qualitative analysis, spatial/rasta data (GIS/Remote sensing)).
• Strong knowledge of survey design and sampling strategies, including random sampling, stratified sampling, and weighting techniques.
• Familiarity with CSA (Climate-Smart Agriculture) practices and concepts, as well as tools for assessing community resilience, environmental sustainability, and gender equality.
• Knowledge of data quality assurance techniques, ethical research practices, and safeguarding protocols, especially in vulnerable community contexts.

Note: The consultant must not have any conflict of interest with ongoing project activities of the two consortia

Supervision/management of the assignment

The study shall be overseen by a joint study management committee that will take overall oversight and supervision and approval of key deliverables. This committee shall have membership of MEAL and Consortium leads both at DRC and SCI (MEAL Lead and Consortium Manager) and representation of other consortium partners leading technical components of the URRI program. The study contractual management roles will also be jointly delivered between the two consortia leaders i.e. Save the Children International and Danish Refugee Council.

The consultant is also expected to work closely with the Partner MEAL and program staff in respective locations while in the field. The Consultancy team is entitled to consult with all relevant stakeholders pertinent to the assignment, but it is not permitted to make any commitment on behalf of DRC and SCI.

Payments for this assignment

Payments will be made upon submission of agreed deliverables and satisfactory proof of progress and verification of quality. It is expected that payment will be made in 2 tranches according to the deliverables below.

Submission and approval of inception report 40%

Final approved report with all required attachments 60%

Please find complete bidding documents in the following link: RFQ-UGA-014231 Baseline survey for Uganda Refugee Resilience Initiative (URRI) Program