Terms of Reference for EDRF III Endline Evalution at Hand in Hand Eastern Africa (HiH EA)

Project Description

Enterprise Development for Rural Families in Kenya Phase III (EDRF III) is a project funded by Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA), Hand in Hand International (HiHI); and is implemented by Hand in Hand Eastern Africa (HiHEA) through its five (5) branches (Nakuru East, Nakuru West, Nyahururu, Tala and Machakos). The project covers seven (7) counties of Baringo, Nakuru, Nyandarua, Kajiado, Laikipia, Machakos and Makueni and focuses on building the capacity of poor rural and peri-urban people to unlock their potential and capitalize on economic opportunities through supporting the development of profitable and sustainable enterprises. This is anticipated to contribute to poverty reduction of 26,520 members by creating or enhancing 18,564 enterprises and creating 24,133 jobs by addressing four key problems hindering enterprise development: 1) lack of information for enterprise development; 2) lack of entrepreneurial skills; 3) lack of market access; and 4) lack of access to financial services. The goal is to support the development of profitable, sustainable enterprises in rural and peri-urban areas, targeting marginalized women (80%), youth (30%) and vulnerable men. The project implementation period runs from October 2018 to October 2022.

The Assignment: Endline Evaluation

Purpose of the Evaluation

HIH EA is commissioning an End line evaluation to assess the project progress against the OECD DAC Evaluation criteria of relevance, coherence, effectiveness, efficiency, impact and sustainability. This evaluation also seeks to compile, consolidate, analyze and synthesize existing and new project data to assess the extent to which the project has delivered the outputs and achieved the desired outcomes. The evaluation also aims at highlighting the best practices, key lessons and performance of the EDRF III project, with a view to informing future strategic and operational decisions.

Objectives of the End line evaluation

1. To assess the relevance of the project design, in terms of meeting the needs and priorities of the beneficiaries.
2. To assess the coherence of the project design, in terms of coordination with, or avoiding duplication of, other efforts in the area.
3. To assess how well the project has achieved its outcomes.
4. To assess whether the project delivered and achieved outcomes within agreed budget and schedule.
5. To assess the project’s direct and indirect benefits, and if any, unintended positive and negative consequences brought about by the project.
6. To assess the extent to which benefits delivered by the project are likely to last post-project.
7. To assess the contribution of Technical Assistance to improved capacity among HIH EA staff on market access, gender, climate resilience, Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) aspects.
8. To assess the adaptive and responsiveness of the organization, donor, project teams and communities to weather shocks of pandemics such as Covid-19, and recommend relevant adaptive management strategies.
9. To assess the extent upon which the midline recommendations were implemented
10. To assess how the project has contributed towards change in gender and youth dynamics within households and communities in the project focus areas.
11. To assess appropriateness of the implementation strategies and give recommendations to inform future similar projects.
12. To document lessons learnt/knowledge generated and best practices that can be replicated to future similar projects. Also, assess what should have been done differently and should be avoided in such similar projects in future.

Approach and Methodology

The methodology chosen should demonstrate attention to impartiality and reduction of bias by relying on mixed methods approach (quantitative, qualitative, participatory etc.) and different primary and secondary data sources that are systematically triangulated. The evaluation must also be structured around the OECD DAC criteria for evaluation (specifically: Relevance, Coherence, Effectiveness, Efficiency, Impact and Sustainability), since the evaluation is summative. The evaluator must ensure all relevant project indicators are addressed comparably between baseline and end line. The consultant will be required to provide calculations/analytical frameworks on how they will measure change between baseline, midline and end line.

Ethical Considerations

The evaluation must conform to International ethical guidelines for research and evaluations. Accordingly, the selected evaluation firm will be responsible for safeguarding and ensuring ethics at all stages of the evaluation process. The evaluation firm will be responsible for managing any potential ethical risks and issues and must put in place processes and systems to identify, report and resolve any ethical issues that might arise during the implementation of the evaluation.

Deliverables

HIH EA is seeking for an independent evaluator firm to undertake this assignment who will design the study and prepare the data collection tools. The evaluator will clean, analyze, visualize, and write a comparable (baseline, midline and end line) report, drawing on insights from both the qualitative and the quantitative datasets. HIH EA will provide all technical documents necessary to ensure the assignment is completed successfully, including the project proposal narrative, baseline & midline survey reports, logic model, and MEL Plan; a survey template with our standard indicator questions and answer options; and the HiH EA evaluation report template. The data collection tools prepared by the consultant must align with the definitions provided in the MEL Plan, and should make reference to the tools used at baseline and midline evaluations.

Role of the Consultant

The consultant will be required to undertake at a minimum the following;

1. Desk review of the project documents to understand the design
2. Develop the sample design for the end line survey and any qualitative data collection
3. Design/adapt/refine (as appropriate) the end line data collection tools – both quantitative and qualitative. The indicator data will be disaggregated appropriately into gender, age, and whether a beneficiary is a start-up, carry-over or extension.
4. Conduct a pre-test of the tools and finalize, incorporating changes
5. Identify and train the field supervisors and enumerators
6. Plan the field work logistics
7. Prepare survey implementation and questionnaire user guide documentation e.g. enumerator supervision manuals, etc.
8. Supervise survey implementation and ensure quality control
9. Clean and analyze all datasets
10. Document success stories
11.  Assess the project’s initiatives contributions to outcomes against Hand in Hand’s theory of change
12. Write an end line evaluation report, compiling the findings of both qualitative and quantitative datasets, and using the HiH evaluation report template provided.
13. Submit raw, cleaned, and worked datasets to HiH in .xlsx or .csv format
14. Submit the report for review and feedback
15. Hold a validation workshop
16. Incorporate feedback from HIHEA, HiH SWE, HIHI and SIDA.
17. Submit a final report

Consultants Requirements

HiH EA requests consultants to submit proposals to respond to this Terms of Reference as outlined above. We expect the consultancy firm to demonstrate the skills and experience outlined below (or equivalent):
The lead consultant must have a background (atleast a Masters degree) in Social sciences, Project management, Community development, Monitoring and Evaluation, Statistics, Agricultural Economics or related field.
The lead consultant should have a minimum of 10 years’ experience in field research and monitoring and evaluation of community development projects.

1. Gender expert must have a background (atleast a University degree) with atleast 5 years of professional experience in areas of gender equality, gender mainstreaming, youth and women empowerment and related disciplines.
2. The lead consultant and his team should demonstrate evidence of past relevant evaluation assignments in rural and peri-urban areas of Kenya (share sample reports).
3. Proven track record in analytical report writing
4. Proven track record on working with digital data collection approaches
5. Proven capacity to assess unintended consequences of a project particularly for women participants
6. Strong understanding and capacity to undertake gender analysis in rural areas
7. Experience of field work and data collection at household level in rural areas of Kenya
8. Operational capacity, understands the Kenyan and Eastern Africa contexts
9. Solid understanding of agriculture, small, medium and micro enterprises, economics, monitoring and evaluation and value chains.

The proposal should include the following:

1. A detailed explanation of understanding the Terms of Reference (max. 2 pages)
2. A short outline of evaluation approach, research design and methodology for the Evaluation. Max. 3 pages.
3. A proposed process and time frame for the Evaluation setting out the phases, the number of consultants and the number of days. Max. 2 pages.
4. The anticipated challenges and dependencies likely to affect the implementation of the Evaluation and how these should be addressed. Max. 1 page.
5. A description of how to ensure data quality throughout the process/assignment. Max. 1 page.
6. A description of how gender will be mainstreamed throughout the evaluation questions with consideration of how the perspectives of men, women and youths will be sought in the evaluation process. Max 1 page.
7. A narration of how ethical issues will be mitigated/safeguarded throughout the evaluation process. Max 1 page.
8. A summary of the most relevant skills and experience of the proposed lead consultant and the consultant(s) together with her/his CV showing relevant previous assignments and clients. (Annex CVs separately). Max 2 pages per CV.
9. A detailed fee quote and rationale for the consultants and an estimate for the operational costs. Max. 1 page.

Budget and Payment

The consultancy firm will provide a detailed budget, with a breakdown of the consultants’ fees and logistical expenses. The terms of payment will be negotiated upon signing of the contract.

Award Criteria

The evaluation of the quotations will be based on the best value for money, weighing up technical quality (the methodology and the CVs of the consultants).

Assessment of CV’s

The assessment of the CV’s will be reviewed of the appropriateness of the proposed consultants based on their stated skills and experiences as well as additional criteria outlined above.

Appointment

Shortlisted applicants will be called for an interview (physical/virtual] and may be requested to submit samples of work.

Management of Consultant(s)

The appointed consultant will be managed by Hand in Hand Eastern Africa. The consultant will make themselves available for weekly coordination meetings with HiH EA throughout the duration of the contract, until the final report is delivered and signed off.

Timeline and Deliverables