End of Project Evaluation - Accountable and Inclusive Management of Natural Resources and Livestock Production Systems in Marsabit County at Concern Worldwide

Background and Context

The Accountable and Inclusive Management of Natural Resources and Livestock Production Systems in Marsabit County is a 21-month project implemented between January 2018 and September 2019 by Concern Worldwide funded by DFID’s Deepening Democracy Programme (DDP) under the Climate Change Governance (CCG) thematic area.

Following the passing of the Constitution of Kenya 2010, the development of policies and standards related to animal health, welfare and production, and the regulation of the veterinary profession has remained the role of the national government; while the implementation of legislation governing animal disease surveillance, the prevention and control of animal diseases and breeding, among others, has been devolved to county governments. However, despite pastoralism playing a central role in Marsabit County’s economy, the delayed enactment of policies on livestock production systems – to guide both public and private sector investments – has resulted in the lack of resources in the livestock sector. For instance, Participatory Disease Surveillance (PDS), which is a core early-warning and early-action (EW/EA) system that needs dedicated attention for livestock disease control has been under resourced. Findings from a study conducted by Concern in Marsabit show that the transition to a devolved system of government has posed significant challenges to the implementation of the Draft Veterinary Policy (2015). The understanding of PDS among the County Executives and Chief Officers in charge of livestock sector is lacking. which hinders adequate and informed planning and budgeting This has led to outright livestock losses with adverse impacts on the resilience of pastoralists especially the poor and vulnerable.

It is in this context that the Project ‘’Accountable and Inclusive Management of Natural Resources and Livestock Production Systems in Marsabit County’’ is being implemented. The project seeks to address how to protect and promote pastoralist livestock production by facilitating sustainable management of natural resources and access to affordable and reliable veterinary services. The project also seeks to mobilise community-based institutions (customary and emerging) to engage with the county government in the management of natural resources and veterinary services. In doing so, it is building the capacity of communities to participate in natural resource management, facilitating communities to map natural resources that are critical to their livelihoods, and promoting the recognition of customary natural resource management practices by the county government. Concern Worldwide and the County Government of Marsabit are jointly implementing the Project, specifically, the Departments of Environment, Water and Natural Resources and the Department of Agriculture Fisheries and Livestock Development,.

Project Outcomes and Outputs

Impact: More accountable and inclusive management of natural resources and veterinary services in Marsabit County.

Outcome: Improved citizen engagement in the sustainable management of natural resources and improved veterinary services in Marsabit County.

• Output 1: Increase capacity of customary and emerging institutions on sustainable natural use and engagement with county government for recognition and enforcement of indigenous natural use practices.
• Output 2: Support coordination and policy development for sustainable natural resource management and veterinary services at the County Level.
• Output 3: Learning and adaptation integrated into Programme management.

Evaluation Purpose and Objectives

The purpose of this evaluation is to provide an independent assessment of the project in order to identify and understand extent to which the Concern Project has achieved the expected results. Further the evaluation will focus on identifying relevant lessons learned to inform design and implementation of future Climate Change Governance projects and Concern’s programming. The specific objectives of the evaluation are to:

• Examine the logical framework to develop detailed evaluation questions
• Identify and describe the outcomes (expected and unexpected) from the project implementation.
• Establish the contribution (causal link which is either direct or indirect) of the project to the identified outcomes.
• Identify good practices and lessons learnt related to the project operational contexts, actors engaged, strategies applied in the implementation and changes observed.
• Establishing what changes occurred and contribution by the project and assess the significance and sustainability of the outcomes
• In one sentence/paragraph, state who are the key recipients and users of the evaluation. The key recipients and users of the evaluation are Concern Kenya’s management and programme managers to be able to learn from the programmes’ outcomes; Concern’s partners (county government, civil society) and community level partners to better understand and strengthen their work on natural resource management, livestock production and climate change.

Evaluation Questions

Using an Outcomes Harvesting approach, the evaluation seeks to answer the following evaluation questions. The evaluator will be free to adjust or add to these questions to ensure sufficient data is collected.

• To what extent has the Project contributed to improved citizen engagement in the sustainable management of natural resources and improved veterinary services in Marsabit County?
• To what extent has the Project contributed to more participatory government processes?
• What do the outcomes of the Project imply for how governance in strengthening programs in societies in transition should be designed?
• To what extent has the project contributed to DDP Climate Change(CC) indicators (ICF) – of strengthening county CC policies and institutional frameworks, community CC systems; strengthening capacity of citizens and county officials – and ultimately, extent to which the Project has contributed to systemic improvements in planning and decision-making on CC in Marsabit

Scope of the Evaluation

The evaluation will cover all project activities from April 2018 –June 2019 (Implementation phase)

Evaluation Approach and Methodology

This evaluation will use the Outcome Harvesting (OH) evaluation approach. The focus on the Outcome Harvesting evaluation is to interact with various categories of target actors with the aim of establishing how they have acted differently because of the project activities. The evaluator will engage the project team, local partners and target actors in identifying and documenting significant outcomes realized during the project implementation. The evaluation team will clearly describe the outcome-monitoring methodologies and clearly outline how these will used practically during data collection. Throughout the evaluation, the evaluation team will guided by the four standards of evaluation of the American Evaluation Association:

• Propriety: Ensure that the evaluation is conducted legally, ethically, and with due regard for the welfare of those involved in the evaluation, as well as those affected by its results.
• Utility: Ensure that the evaluation serves the information needs of intended users and be owned by them.
• Feasibility: Ensure that the evaluation is realistic, prudent, diplomatic, and frugal.
• Accuracy: Ensure that the evaluation reveals and conveys technically adequate information about the features that determine worth or merit of the program being evaluated
• The outcomes information will collected through:
• Reviewing the project documents including monitoring data on the outputs and outcomes and identify preliminary outcomes
• Engaging with “focal points”( project staff and county government officers)
• Conducting interviews with project team to expound on the identified outcomes and generate more significant outcomes
• Conducting interviews with project team (staff and county government officers) across 10 target wards to further discuss already harvested outcomes and further identify more outcomes. The will visit the 10 wards and hold beneficiary interviews and focus group discussions.
• Holding focus group discussions with target beneficiaries at ward level to further generate evidence on the documented outcomes
• Holding analysis workshops with project team to make sense of the identified outcomes and sample outcomes to be developed further
• Collecting stories of change using the Most Significant Change methodology. Collect at least 1 change story per ward and select 3 Most Significant Change stories that will be part of the final evaluation report.

Evaluation Outputs and Deliverables

• An inception report detailing the evaluation methodology, work plan/schedule and draft data collection tools.
• Submission of Draft Evaluation Report
• Validation Workshop of evaluation findings with project stakeholders after generating the draft evaluation report. The evaluator shall share a short presentation of outcome findings, insights into contribution pathways and feasible recommendations with the project team at least 3 days before the validation workshop.
• Final Evaluation report of no more than 20 pages (excluding executive summary, references & annexes).
• Most Significant Change Stories: At minimum of 3 - one-page Most Significant Change stories must be part of the annexes.
• Other documents/materials such as raw data files, quantitative data files, transcripts of FGDs, photographs taken, outcomes matrix, at least one change story per ward.

Management and Coordination

The consultant will also work closely with Concern’s Manager & Senior Manager Livelihoods, Senior Manager Governance & Advocacy, Area Coordinator – Marsabit, the County Government of Marsabit Departments for Environment, Water and Natural Resources and the Department for Agriculture Fisheries and Livestock Development.

Timeframe

The evaluation will take place between 20th June 2019 and 20th July 2019. The evaluator will submit the first draft of report by 25th July 2019 for review and feedback by the project team, second draft by 5th August 2019. Final report must be submitted by 15th August 2019.

Team Requirements and Qualifications

Concern seeks to engage a consultant or team of consultants with vast knowledge of outcome harvesting approach, climate change governance, natural resource management in arid and semi-arid contexts.

• Evaluation Expert
• Degree in Monitoring and Evaluation, Social Sciences or any other relevant field
• Demonstrable previous experience in conducting end of project evaluations using outcome harvesting approach
• Have vast knowledge on devolved governance, natural resource management in a pastoralist context in the arid and semi-arid areas of northern Kenya
• Strong understanding of communities and their interaction with government
• Excellent report- writing skills ( Concern will not provide editing services )
• Team player and willingness to lead the evaluation with Concern's Governance Team
• Fluency in English, Kiswahili
• Climate Change Governance Expert
• Master in Environmental Sciences , Natural Resource Management in or any other relevant field
• Demonstrable previous experience in conducting end of project evaluations using outcome harvesting approach
• Have vast knowledge on devolved governance, natural resource management in a pastoralist context in the arid and semi-arid areas of northern Kenya
• Strong understanding of communities and their interaction with government
• Excellent report- writing skills ( Concern will not provide editing services )
• Team player and willingness to lead the evaluation with Concern's Governance Team
• Fluency in English, Kiswahili