Consultant for an integrated final evaluation and feasibility study At Sign of Hope

Tender Notice

Organisation Hoffnungszeichen | Sign of Hope e.V.

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

Position Consultant for an integrated final evaluation and feasibility study

Type of Contract Short-Term Consultancy

Location Home-based with field mission travel to Teso region, Eastern Uganda

Relevant languages English (required), Ateso (desirable)

Application Deadline 18.08.2024

Starting Date 09.09.2024

Project Title Multi-Actor Partnership (MAP) – Promoting sustainable agriculture and value chains among smallholder farmers in Teso, Eastern Uganda

Total Project Budget 1,300,000 EURO (to be approved)

Hoffnungszeichen | Sign of Hope e.V. (SoH) is announcing an open tender procedure for consultancy services for an integrated final evaluation and feasibility study (for continuation project) in Eastern Uganda.

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 feasibility 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 organisations.

SoH will be the private German executing agency and the contracting party, with Soroti Catholic Diocese Integrated Development Organisation (SOCADIDO)being the local implementing partner.

Improving the socio-economic situation of smallholder farmers can be supported by various measures and strategies. A decisive approach is to institutionalise, strengthen and operationalise the value chains of agricultural products for smallholder farmers in the Teso region. In this regard, SoH through its partner SOCADIDO and with the support of the BMZ has been implementing the project “Establishment and institutionalisation of a MAP platform to improve agribusiness for economic viability and improved living standards for smallholder farmers in Teso sub-region in Eastern Uganda”. Its core objectives are: 1) operationalize MAP platform and establish it within local structures, with members agreeing on a unified strategy; 2) MAP platform members confirm improved cooperation among its stakeholders; 3) targeted smallholder farmers report increased productivity from their pieces of land due to received knowledge, practical skills and improved agricultural inputs.

The project is implemented (project period is 1st Dec 2021 – 28th Feb 2025) in the Teso region initially covering 2 sub-counties in each of the 6 project sites (Kaberamaido, Kapelebyong, Katakwi, Ngora, Soroti and Soroti City). The direct beneficiaries include 10 MAP organizations and 3,600 households.

The successful implementation of the project (phase 1), which established a MAP platform called Ateker Development Foundation (ADEFO), paves the way for the second phase of the project. In the proposed second phase, the local MAP platform ADEFO will be supported to operate and function fully as a MAP and to be able to promote the value chain of agricultural products. The following four objectives are expected to drive the realisation of the long-term and overall objectives of the MAP platform ADEFO 1) to demonstrate and strengthen the activities of the MAP platform ADEFO as a local multi-stakeholder partnership; 2) to create an effective enabling environment for sustainable agribusinesses and agricultural value chains for smallholder farmers; 3) to add value to the agricultural production of smallholder farmers in rural areas of the Teso region in order to improve their socio-economic situation; and 4) to strengthen and improve the capacity of organisations directly involved in the socio-economic development of the Teso region, particularly in the agricultural sector, so that they can independently manage and operate the MAP platform ADEFO.

The target group for the project comprises 7,200 smallholder farmers (50% women) and 30 national and international, private, community and governmental organisations who are active in the different sectors.

Purpose, Objectives and Use

The purpose of the evaluation is to provide SoH and SOCADIDO with a comprehensive assessment of the present project (conducted systematically and impartially) as well as to analyse the progress towards the achievement of the project’s results and to identify risks to the sustainability of the final project results, propose actions to ensure the sustainability of the results and identify lessons learned. The study will provide concrete, credible and practical recommendations that will contribute to the organisational learning of both implementing organisations.

In a second step, the study will provide concrete and practical recommendations that will assist with the finalisation of project design elements for the follow-up project, including the log frame, risk analysis, stakeholder analysis, problem analysis, guided by the proposed objectives (see above).

The comprehensive study will verify the relevance, coherence, effectiveness, efficiency, impact and sustainability of the present project intervention and proposed project intervention.

Furthermore, 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 feasibility study,
• Review and analyse all available project design elements and draft documents related to the project concept, if necessary,
• 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,
• 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),
• 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,
• Review existing policies and structures, government development strategies as well as relevant studies and research projects that could serve as a basis for the feasibility study,
• Identify relevant project stakeholders in different sectors at various levels (local, district, regional, national and international if applicable), including local governing bodies, academia/research and industry as well as lessons learned and best practices of similar ongoing and implemented projects/ networks/ platforms relevant to the project,
• Map out and identify critical stakeholders (defined by their legal status (e.g NGO, CBO, FBO, research, academia, private market, local government, national government, INGO etc.) and their smallholder farmers engagement model) who could/would be involved in each step of agribusiness value chain to provide practical solutions to the farmers,
• Review key governmental and non-governmental stakeholders, networks and initiatives operating in the agricultural sector to identify potential overlaps or conflicts of interest and opportunities for coordination to create synergies and new collaborative partnerships, also in the light, how should the new dialogue structure overcome the lack of networking between the various existing local exchange formats
• Evaluate the current performance of the ADEFO MAP platform against the approved performance matrix (log frame, work plan etc.) with a focus on its governance and management structure; the effectiveness of its dialogue structure and sustainability model as anchored in the region, identify its strengths, opportunities, threats and weaknesses (SWOT-analysis) and make appropriate recommendations for each SWOT area,
• Provide additional practical recommendations on how the proposed MAP project can be sustainably operationalized to realize the overall goal of improving the well-being of smallholder farmers,
• Map all the essential agribusiness value chain(s) essential for smallholder farmers including key products that should be targeted to maximize the impact of the MAP platform
• Identify critical gaps in each of the mapped-out agribusiness value chains (based on recommended products to be targeted),
• Develop a detailed and clear Theory of Change demonstrating how the proposed interventions including dialogue structures will contribute to a sustainable MAP and most importantly in improving the well-being of smallholder farmers,
• Assess the proposed activities, as well as their timing and required financial resources,
• Examine the 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 the capacities of the local implementing partner need to be developed,
• Identify potential obstacles and alternatives to overcome the foreseen challenges,
• 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 and specific recommendations for the project concept with a view to planning and implementing foreseen project activities.
• Identify risks and weaknesses and make recommendations for the successful completion of the current project (phase 1),

Expected Deliverables

The study will produce the following deliverables:

• an inception report, including the proposed research methodology and data collection tools, a table of content and timeline of research activities 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

The total duration of the assignment is up to 30 working days within the period of 02.09.2024 to 11.10.2024.

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

Initial document review and preparing inception report 3 days

Sharing inception report with SoH and SOCADIDO 1 day

Data collection site visit to a project location and MAP actors interviews 15 days

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

Incorporating received feedback and finalising 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 in conducting feasibility studies, evaluations and other research projects

for Multi-Actor Partnership projects with actors coming from different sectors (private sector, research, government, civil society)

• 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
• Practical experience in setting up dialogue structures within a MAP
• Fluency in written and spoken English

Desirable:

• Experience in the relevant field
• Fluency in spoken Ateso
• Professional familiarity with the project country/region
• Practical experience of working for and/or evaluating BMZ-funded projects
• Practical experience in agricultural value chain

Academic Background

An advanced level university degree (Masters’ degree or equivalent) in social sciences, public administration, international development studies, law or relevant fields. 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 organisation or government entity regarding this evaluation.