Baseline Study At Sign of Hope

Organisation Hoffnungszeichen | Sign of Hope e.V.

www.hoffnungszeichen.de, www.sign-of-hope.org

Type of Contract – Short-Term Consultancy

Location – Home-based with field mission travel to Mirab Abaya Woreda, Gamo Zone, Ethiopia

Relevant languages – Amharic & English (required)

Application Deadline – April 12, 2024

Starting Date – May 6, 2024

Project Title – Innovation-driven climate-smart agriculture for sustainable food security and climate resilience in Woreda Arba Minch Zuria, Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region (I – CARE)

Total Project Budget – 1,167,909 in EURO

Hoffnungszeichen | Sign of Hope e.V. (SoH) is announcing an open tender procedure for consultancy services for a baseline study in Ethiopia.

Background and Organisational Setting

SoH is a Christian motivated organisation for Human Rights, Humanitarian Assistance and Development Cooperation. From its base in Constance, Germany, SoH is committed to helping those in distress and exploited people worldwide.

This baseline study is commissioned, prior to project implementation, under the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) budget for development projects run by private organizations.

SoH will be the private German executing agency and the contracting party, with SCORE being the local implementing partner.

SCORE has been working closely with SoH on various emergency and development projects since 2016. The partnership started with an emergency drought response project in Woreda Arba Minch Zuria, which focused on food aid and livestock restocking. A milestone was a three-year humanitarian capacity building project funded by SKALA Initiative, which was successfully completed in 2021.

In the area of development cooperation, the construction and equipping of a health centre in the middle of five kebeles in Woreda Hamer was supported as well as the main activities for the SEWOH food security project (P3687- ended in 2023). A comprehensive partner analysis, which assessed SCORE’s capacity to implement and manage humanitarian and development projects, underlined SCORE’s role as a strategic partner. SCORE’s approach to planning, implementing and closing projects is of a high standard.

The planned project interventions will complement the BMZ project P3687 completed in 2023 regarding water user committees, nutrition in schools, Income Generative Activities (IGA) and women’s self-help groups in Kebele Fetele Doronje, Yaykie and Kolla Barenna. Furthermore, the approach of changes agents and model farmers will be implemented as a new project component.

The Direct target groups are 11,733 people which includes 25 Savings Self-Help Groups (SSHGs – a total of 500 people- 100% female), eight existing Early Warning Committees (a total of 60 people- at least 50% female), two schools (a total of 888 children- at least 45% girls) and eight cluster associations (a total of 75 people- at least 75% female) are considered institutional direct target groups. The members of the SSHGs, Conservation Agriculture Change Agents*,* model farmers, teachers, the members of the early warning committees as well as the cooperative supporting the establishment of individual small businesses will act as multipliers and share their knowledge with and support the direct beneficiaries.

Baseline Study Objectives

The purpose of the baseline study is to provide SoH with a sound basis for developing a complete project concept, by identifying project prerequisites, opportunities and risks. This process includes an assessment of the baseline of the proposed project intervention to assess if it can plausibly achieve planned objectives given existing contextual realities.

This comprehensive study will verify relevance, coherence, effectiveness, efficiency, impact and sustainability of the proposed project intervention. The study will provide concrete and practical recommendations that will assist with the finalisation of project design elements, including the log-frame, risk analysis, problem analysis and relevance of the proposed project intervention, stakeholder analysis, among others.

The study will support the project quality assurance measures implemented by SoH and contribute to the decision-making process regarding the funding of the proposed project activities.

Duties and Responsibilities

The selected Consultant will work in close cooperation with the responsible SoH Officer and the local implementing partner.

The duties and responsibilities of the consultant will include:

• Develop a work plan outlining the proposed research methodology, geographical coverage, and schedule to conduct the baseline study,
• Carry out a project site visit to the project location to conduct research, collect data and establish contact with the local implementing partner, potential beneficiaries and relevant project stakeholders,
• Review existing policies and structures, government development strategies as well as relevant studies and research projects that could serve as a basis for the baseline study,
• Identify relevant project stakeholders at various levels (local, district and national if applicable), including local governing bodies, academia and industry as well as lessons learned and best practises of similar on-going and implemented projects relevant to the project,
• Evaluate all available data and sources providing background information on identified issues, the problem analysis as well as the selected intervention to address identified needs (baseline data with focus on the qualitative analysis),
• Assess the proposed activities, as well as their timing and required financial resources.
• Examine institutional, technical, staffing and financial capacities of the selected implementing partner, as well as its relationship with the target group. Based on the findings, determine if there are areas in which capacities of the local implementing partner need to be developed,
• Review main governmental and non-governmental stakeholders with a purpose to see if there is a potential overlap or conflict of interest as well as opportunities for coordination with the aim of creating synergies and new cooperation partnerships,
• Examine the identified target group, its needs and role in the broader social context as well as the relevance of the planned project activities for addressing their needs,
• Identify potential obstacles and alternatives to overcome the foreseen challenges,
• Review and analyse all available project design elements and draft documents related to the project concept, if necessary,
• Critically review the planned project in terms of OECD/DAC criteria of relevance, coherence, effectiveness, efficiency, impact and sustainability (please see www.oecd.org/development/evaluation/daccriteriaforevaluatingdevelopmentassistance.htm),
• Prepare a report containing the findings on the above items, specific recommendations for the project concept with a view to planning and implementing foreseen project activities.

Expected Deliverables

The study will produce the following deliverables:

• a baseline study outline, including the proposed methodology and data collection tools, table of content and a timeline of research activities (inception report) prior to the site visit to the project location,
• a summary containing a brief overview and the main findings of the study,
• a comprehensive report of a maximum of 30 pages with practical recommendations and relevant annexes,
• a review of the main project design elements and provision of concrete recommendations for improvement,
• an analysis of the institutional structure required for project implementation, stipulating the roles and responsibilities of staff members involved, a detailed problem analysis, a stakeholder analysis, a revision of the target group, an analysis of the potential risks and recommendations on how to mitigate these risks, a schedule of project activities, a financial plan (planning budget), a detailed project log-frame with SMART indicators for the project objective and results listing related activities and required resources,
• a “Do-no-harm analysis” including recommendations on how to mitigate potential harm and conflict situations that can potentially arise during or as a result of the project activities
• a Gender mainstreaming analysis identifying potential risks and recommendations to ensure gender equality in all aspects of the project design and implementation.

A template will be provided to serve as a guide and suggested structure for the final report.

Process/Timeframe

A total duration of the assignment is up to 20 working days within the period of 06/05/2024 to 31/05/2024.

A planning meeting with SCORE, handover of relevant documents 1 day

Initial document review and preparing inception report 3 days

Sharing inception report with SoH and SCORE 1 day

Data collection site visit to a project location 5 days

Data analysis, draft report with annexes, presenting to SoH 5 days

Incorporating received feedback and finalizing the report 5 days

Qualifications and Experience

Essential:

• Minimum of 5 years of project evaluation and/or implementation experience in the result-based management framework
• Proven experience of conducting baseline studies, evaluations and other research projects
• Technical and methodological knowledge to conduct research projects and formulate conclusions based on a solid methodology, assessing projects for relevance, coherence, effectiveness, efficiency, impact and sustainability of projects
• Experience working with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and partnered projects
• Fluency in written and spoken English and Amharic.

Desirable:

• Experience in the relevant field
• Project Area Local Language (‘Gamogna”)
• Professional familiarity with the project country/region
• Practical experience of working for and/or evaluating BMZ-funded projects

Academic Background

An advanced level university degree (Masters’ degree or equivalent) in social sciences, public administration, international development studies, law and/or Relevant related field. A first-level university degree in combination with additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted.

The consultant is to be independent and impartial with no liabilities to any other organization or government entity regarding this evaluation.