Terms of Reference: End of Year 1, Evaluation Creating Shared Value in the Maize Value Chain (CSV-Maize) Project at Solidaridad Eastern & Central Africa Expertise Centre (SECAEC)

The consultancy/consultant team will be primarily responsible for:

• Development/design of end-of-year monitoring and evaluation tools, including questionnaires for HH survey and checklist and tools for group interaction, including FGD with target beneficiaries at village levels.
• Share the study design, including process, methods, and questionnaires/checklist, with the project team, collect feedback, and finalize the study design.
• Pre‐test questionnaires and other tools in one of the project sites.
• Submit an inception report.
• Debrief/discuss with the project team about the effectiveness of the questionnaire, checklists, and other tools used in the pre‐test, collect feedback and finalize them.
• Orient, train, and supervise the enumerators.
• Carry out fieldwork together with enumerators.
• Ensure the quality of information collected from fields, cross-check with the validity of information collected, and verify/revise where needed.
• Update the progress of the study on a weekly basis to the Project Officer.
• Analyze data and prepare quality reports.
• Give a presentation of the draft report to Solidaridad, and;
• Submit a final report (a compiled version of the report ‐ both hard copy and electronic version in word format) to the project after incorporating the feedback and suggestions from Solidaridad and CGA.

Deliverables:

• An expression of interest (EOI) for the Monitoring and Evaluation, outlining a detailed methodology for implementation of the survey, including proposed sample sizes;
• An evaluation design methodology that satisfactorily demonstrates how the end-of-year monitoring and evaluation will be evaluated;
• A work plan for the evaluation exercise;
• A presentation of survey methodology to project team in an inception meeting and later incorporate suggestions in the final inception report.
• An inception report demonstrating understanding of the assignment within one week from the start of the assignment;
• Tools for the evaluation exercise;
• Draft report for feedback and comments from Solidaridad and partners involved;
• A well-written project evaluation report of not more than 30 pages on EYP addressing the objectives of the assignment within 30 days of the assignment. (Outline of the report to be shared with the successful consultant);
• A power point Presentation on the main findings of the study for validation involving project teams and other stakeholders as agreed with the project team.

Technical SUPPORT

The successful consultant will work under the supervision of the Project Manager with technical support from the Project and M & E Officers. The Project Officer will support the process through the provision of information and linkages to project beneficiaries and stakeholders at the sub-county and community levels.

Expert/Consultant’s Profile:

Consultancy firms/companies with verifiable research work in the cereals value chains and who fulfill the following requirements are encouraged to express their interests.

Academic Qualifications

• Relevant degree(s) in social sciences, Agriculture, or development studies

Professional Qualifications

• Experience in results-based monitoring and evaluation;
• Ability to design and plan evaluation approaches and research methodologies, including quantitative and qualitative research methods.
• Experience in designing and conducting impact evaluation using experimental or quasi-experimental techniques;
• Statistical analysis skills and strong proficiency with data analysis packages.
• Proven experience in conducting end-of-project monitoring and evaluations, impact studies, and evaluations, preferably on the cereals industry in Kenya.
• Relevant subject matter knowledge and experience, such as Research experience with maize farmers, is an added advantage.
• Must have appropriate county knowledge/experience, including an understanding of the context of the project impact areas;
• Excellent communication and written skills in English and Swahili.