Project Evaluation Consultancy

PROJECT EVALUATION CONSULTANCY TERMS OF REFERENCE FOR CONDUCTING THE END OF PROJECT EVALUATION

UNDER THE RAPID DROUGHT EMERGENCY INTERVENTION FOR PASTORALIST IN MARSABIT COUNTY –EMERGENCY RELIEF FUND (ERF)-ERF-DMA- 0462-022

1. PROJECT BACK GROUND AND CONTEXT VSF Germany is a humanitarian and developmental international NGO, implementing projects in animal health, food security, emergency, rehabilitation, disaster preparedness, research and governance since more than a decade in the region. VSF Germany has been implementing a drought emergency response project in North Horr and Maikona districts of Marsabit County since April 2011, a 6 month project funded by UN-OCHA. The project aims at to mitigate the impact of droughts on vulnerable people in Marsabit County of Kenya, with specific focus on households in North Horr and Maikona districts of Kenya.

The Specific objective of the Rapid Drought Emergency Intervention for Pastoralist in Marsabit /Emergency Relief Fund(ERF) is to enhance immediate food security for vulnerable households and protect livelihoods from effects of drought. The project’s two main expected results are: (a), maintained access to food through income options for 1000 vulnerable households in six months; and (b), key livelihood assets protected through support to private animal health care service delivery and access to water for 1500 households in six months. The four main components of the projects are cash for work, commercial off-take/slaughter de-stocking, animal health, and water trucking targeted Balesa, Illeret, and Maikona locations in North Horr and Maikona districts respectively

ERF Project is coming to a close, and the VSF Germany is now seeking the services of a qualified and experienced consultant to lead the process of conducting an End of Project evaluation for the project.

2.AIM AND OBJECTIVES The proposed evaluation aims at achieving the following objectives:

a) To provide information on the performance of the project against key indicators and parameters. In addition, the evaluation will be expected to provide an independent assessment of the relevance, efficiency, effectiveness, and sustainability of the programme; factors affecting performance, alternative strategies and its strengths and weaknesses

b) Provide evidence-based recommendations to enable the organization to engage in effective policymaking, planning, programming, and implementation

3.SCOPE OF THE EVALUATION.
The Consultant should take into consideration the evaluation criteria of Relevance, Effectiveness, Efficiency and possibly Project Performance Rating. The criteria should include assessment of all the different components of the project including Impact and Sustainability, activities implemented or not done in reference to the indicators stated in the project log frame.

The consultant will use the proposed scale below for grading the level of achievement of the main activities projected to be implemented by the project and give a summative mean grade for all the activities evaluated and graded. The mean grade will provide a picture of the overall performance of the project.

4.EVALUATION CRITERIA Being an end evaluation, the main issues that the evaluation should address must include:

4.1 An assessment of a number of critical elements in the project approach and methodology a) Process and Design b) Impacts and Outcomes c) Overall

4.2 An assessment of the achievements of the project so far against specific criteria including (relevance, efficiency, effectiveness, impact and sustainability)

a). Relevance of the project •The extent to which the programme strategy and approach is relevant to the context and the identified needs. b) Efficiency •The proficiency and expediency by which the project’s outputs were achieved in relation to inputs utilized, including measures taken to improve implementation and maximize impact with limited resources

c) Effectiveness Extent to which the project’s stated objectives have been achieved its outcomes and purpose using the OVIs column of the Logical Framework.

e) Sustainability The degree to which the project’s beneficial outcome will continue after completion of project activities. While this is an emergency project, the sustainability will focus on the level of attainment and existence of complementary projects to ensure sustainability of the project.

f) Cross cutting issues. Particular attention should be given to project’s contribution with regard to gender, peace, conflict management, and any other cross-cutting issue

1. METHODOLOGY

The consultant will be expected to propose the most appropriate methods for delivering the objectives of this assignment. This will include but will not be restricted to review of documents (Project proposal, activity plans, project agreement, and progress reports); conduct Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) and Key Informant Interviews with project staff, beneficiaries, government and key stakeholders; hold in-depth interviews for high profile stakeholders who may not be available for the FGDs and KIIs; and project field visits to sampled areas, among others. The rating scale below will be used to create a picture of the project performance through quantification. In addition the consultant will be required to have meetings with The VSF Consortium prior to commencing the work to ensure that expectations are clearly taken into account, and will further more be requested to conduct post-evaluation debriefing sessions at the end.

Table 1: The Rating Scale IMPLEMENTATION The activity was implemented in: SCORE IMPACT/Likely Achievement A completely appropriate, efficient and timely manner 1 Completely achieved A largely appropriate, efficient and timely manner 2 Largely achieved A moderately appropriate, efficient and timely manner 3 Partially achieved an appropriate, efficient and timely manner to a very limited extent 4 Achieved to a very limited extent neither an appropriate, nor an effective or timely manner 5 Not achieved to any discernible extent Unverifiable X Unverifiable

Differences among areas of intervention, related to different constraints and problems, should be analyzed and reported for the different level of analysis.

1. TIMEFRAME The entire evaluation process should be completed within 20 days, to include transport, validation workshop and report writing, and broken down as follows: • Desk review: 2 days • Fieldwork 10 days • Data analysis and presentation 3 days • Validation workshop 1 day • Report writing 2 days • Travel days 2 days TOTAL 20 days

2. REPORTING A draft report shall be submitted one and half week after the field work. The final report, incorporating comments by the project team shall be submitted not later than two weeks after VSF comments are sent by VSF Germany’s.

3. MANAGEMENT The evaluation consultant will work with and report to the Project Manager. The field offices in North Horr, North District will provide all the needed logistical support, coordinating with government, partners, and stakeholders, informing them about the evaluation, and setting meetings.

4. TERMS AND CONDITIONS • Daily consulting rates will be negotiable, although this will be commensurate with the VSF consultancy terms and standards • The Consultant will be contracted on a VSF Germany consultancy contract, and shall be paid the consultancy fee as per the agreement between VSF Germany and the selected consultant.

5. EXPERTISE REQUIRED.

• Minimum of 10 years professional experience working in development programmes in developing countries, specifically, Kenya; with an in-depth understanding of Kenyan, its history, and subsequent impact on development. • Extensive experience in monitoring and evaluation of donor funded projects, particularly in the Kenya context • Extensive research work, preferably in the livelihood sector, with a bias towards livestock-related projects • Demonstrated experience in community development and other participatory approaches in community mobilisation and information gathering. • Deep understanding of the project lifecycle. • An understanding of operating conditions within an insecure environment • Demonstrated experience in carrying out research, baseline surveys, and evaluations specifically for UN Funded projects for a minimum 5 years. • Have excellent analytical and report writing skills • Be willing to travel extensively in the working areas of the project security situation allowing. • Be a team worker who can produce a report and presentation together with other persons involved in the evaluation. • Fluent in English (both reading and writing). • Understanding of the Kiswahili language is an added advantage • Familiarity with development programmes in Kenya • Interview/ questionnaire design skills • Strong analytical/ data analysis skills • Demonstrated experience in research report writing and data presentation • Excellent English communication skills. • Knowledge of Somali language will be desirable and an added advantage

1. APPLICATION PROCEDURE Interested and qualified candidates should submit technical and financial proposals clearly stating their day rates, Company & consultant profiles together with all the related standard application documents addressed to VSF Germany, Ngong Road, Piedmont Plaza, P.O Box 25653, 00603 Nairobi, Kenya E mail: admin_hr@vsfg.org before the close of business on the 15th of October, 2011. Given the urgency of this consultancy, applicants will be assessed on a continuous basis and may be recruited on short notice.