Terms of Reference (TOR) – End of project evaluation for the EU-funded Project in Tanzania – Project Title – Passport to Coffee Export (PACE) 52 views1 applications

Project Consortium

Tanzania Coffee Research Institute (TACRI): Co-applicant, a government research body with a mandate to initiate, implement, promote and carry out research on coffee production, processing, quality, farming systems and husbandry of other crops associated with coffee.

Envirocare (co-applicant): is a non-profit organization working in Tanzania, primarily focused on conserving the environment and improving livelihoods in local communities with gender, human rights and community based organisation integration through a participatory approach.

Solidaridad Tanzania Country Office: an affiliate in this action and will carry out Country level implementation roles for the PACE Project.

Solidaridad Europe: an ‘affiliate’ of this action was established in 1969 in the Netherlands. Developed Max Havelaar label for sustainable supply chains in 1988, and have garnered over 50 years’ experience on sustainable supply chains throughout the globe

Project Summary

Passport to Coffee Export (‘PACE’) is a three years project funded by European Union (EU). The project is targeting approximately 22,500 coffee smallholder farmers in Mbeya, Ruvuma and Songwe regions in Tanzania.

Project Objectives

PACE’s overall objective is to promote a sustainable and inclusive sector development through a robust export oriented coffee value chain by 2024.

Project Outcomes

1. To improve productivity and enhance food and nutrition security of smallholder coffee farmers in Tanzania

2. To increase incomes for coffee farmers in Tanzania through job creation.

3. To improve export oriented coffee sector sales and incomes in Tanzania

4. To enhance sectoral value addition and marketing

Project Target Groups and Final Beneficiaries

By 2024, PACE Project is targeting to reach approximately 22,500 coffee smallholder farmers in Mbeya, Songwe and Ruvuma regions as narrated below;

• 22,500 smallholder coffee farmers with 52% being youth aged (18-35 years) and women.
• 200 factory workers from the 65 cooperatives, and 10 community processing and value addition centers (Will be supported to acquire technical skills and other best practices in order to enhance quality, reduce post-harvest waste and encourage resource efficiency and recyclicity.)
• 200 extension staff from relevant Ministries, Local Government Authority (LGA’s), TaCRI and Envirocare (Will be trained to deliver innovative agricultural practices to farmers.)

Project Intervention Logic

The proposed intervention logic underpinning this action is based on the understanding that:

1. IF the capacity of small-scale coffee farmers to adopt sustainable nutrition sensitive climate-smart strategies is strengthened;
2. IF the coffee cooperatives/groups and/or associations’ capacity to operate professionally is strengthened;
3. IF gender inclusive strategies are employed to enhance the meaningful and gainful participation of youth and women in the coffee sub-sector is strengthened; and
4. IF the private sector is developed to create access to inclusive financial and market services; – THEN, the action will improve the productivity, commercialization and competitiveness of the coffee value chain and furthermore improve the small-scale farmers’ incomes, food and nutrition security.

Project Assumptions

Our assumption is that;

1. Coffee farmers and cooperatives currently lack the capacity and technical knowledge to implement climate smart sustainable production practices and do not operate efficiently and in a transparent manner respectively;
2. Farmer capacity building and sharing best practices will lead to the adoption of recommended production practices that will make the coffee sub-sector sustainable and competitive, leading to improved productivity, improved incomes, food and nutrition security and decent jobs;
3. Women and youth gainful involvement will make the coffee supply chain vibrant and profitable;
4. Engaging with coffee buyers and consumers that have defined a sustainable sourcing strategy, through a service and demand-oriented approach, will ensure interest is garnered and orders are placed for Tanzanian coffee;
5. Communicating to consumers and buyers with the Tanzania coffee storyline and messaging will draw attention and influence the sourcing habits;
6. Financial inclusion will be improved through strengthened relationship between coffee farmers and financial institutions, impact investors;
7. Access to genuine and cost effective farm inputs will be through identification and engagement of reputable service providers to participate on the PACE project.

Purpose of the Evaluation

The purpose of this end-of-project evaluation is to assess the overall success and impact of the project upon its completion, determine whether the project’s goals and objectives were met, what outcomes were achieved, and how effectively the resources were utilized, provides valuable insights and lessons learned that can inform future projects. Specifically, the purpose for this end of project evaluation aims to:

1. Measure Impact: Assess the extent to which the project has achieved its intended outcomes and impact on the target population or area.
2. Evaluate Effectiveness: Determine the effectiveness of the strategies and activities implemented in achieving the project’s objectives (As per below ToC).
3. Assess Efficiency: Analyze how efficiently project resources (time, budget, personnel) were used in delivering the outcomes.
4. Review Relevance: Evaluate the relevance of the project’s objectives and approaches in addressing the needs of the target population or addressing the problem it was designed to solve.
5. Sustainability Assessment: Examine the sustainability of the project’s outcomes, particularly whether the benefits will continue after the project has ended.
6. Document Lessons Learned: Capture lessons learned, best practices, and challenges encountered during the project to inform future planning and implementation.
7. Accountability and Transparency: Provide accountability to stakeholders, including donors, partners, and beneficiaries, by demonstrating how the funds and resources were utilized and what was achieved.
8. Inform Future Interventions: Use the findings to improve future projects, guide strategic decisions, and refine approaches to similar challenges.

Scope of Work and Key Tasks

The End of Project Evaluation will cover the implementation period from the start of the program. This evaluation is expected toassess the effectiveness of the implementation strategy of the project in a consortium setup. This will include the implementation modalities and participation by the other consortium partners.

The evaluation will include a review of the project design and assumptions made at the beginning of the program development process. It will assess whether the results were achieved, the implementationstrategy has been optimum, and recommends areas for improvement and learning. The evaluationwill also assess whether project resources were efficiently utilized to produce planned results and whether results realized within the planned period. Lastly, the sustainability of the project willbe looked at to ensure a lasting impact.

Indicative Evaluation questions:

Relevance of the program strategy (design and focus of the program)

• To what extent are the program objectives meeting the needs of small-scale coffee farmers and their families?
• Does the program address the key bottlenecks in export-oriented coffee for the farmers?
• Are the underlying assumptions and context of the program still correct?

Effectiveness (project progress)

• To what extent has progress been made towards the planned outputs and outcomes, as defined in the program results framework? What recommendations for improvement can be made?
• Were there any unexpected positive or negative side effects and how were these dealt with by the program management?
• Are the chosen program interventions and activities effective in delivering the desired outcomes?
• To what extent was the program implementation effective (Management arrangements, work planning, finance and co-finance, project-level monitoring and evaluation systems, Stakeholder Engagement, reporting, communications)
• What factors have contributed to or hindered the achievement of intended outputs and outcomes?
• To what extent have partners in the consortium played their expected roles toward the achievement of the program goal?
• Has the consortium partnership been appropriate and effective?

Outcomes and Impact:

• How does the program contribute towards lasting change to the lives of beneficiaries with regard:
  • To improve productivity and enhance food and nutrition security of smallholder coffee farmers in Tanzania
  • To increase incomes for coffee farmers in Tanzania through job creation.
  • To improve export oriented coffee sector sales and incomes in Tanzania
  • To enhance sectoral value addition and marketing
• Has progress so far led to, or could in the future catalyse beneficial development effects (income generation, gender equality, and women’s empowerment, improved governance, etc.) that should be included in the project results framework and monitored on an annual basis for the remainder of the project?

Efficiency:

• Are the inputs identified realistic, appropriate and adequate for the achievement of the results?
• Do the actual or expected results (outputs and outcomes) justify the costs incurred? Are resources utilized effectively?
• What are the factors contributing to implementation efficiency?

Sustainability:

• Are there any remaining barriers to achieving the project objectives that require review?
• How can successful aspects of the project be further built to expand the benefits?
• What is the likelihood of continuation and sustainability of program outcomes and benefits after completion?
• What are the key factors that require attention to improve prospects of sustainability of outcomes?
• What are the important challenges the program should overcome? And to what extent are these adequately addressed?
• What are the key lessons learned based on the experiences of project implementation?

NB: The Consultants may choose to categorize the questions differently, as long as these questions are addressed.

Methodology

This evaluation requires a mixed-method approach that allows for methodological triangulation to increase the validity and credibility of data. Participatory methods shall be used to collect both qualitative and quantitative data. The key methods shall include the following but are not limited to:

• A household survey using a survey questionnaire (a representative sample of the total beneficiary population can be used)
• Focus Group Discussion (FGDs) with lead farmers and AMCOSs/farmer groups board members
• Literature review of existing documents and review of context and poverty trends including the project proposal and other documents, annual and quarterly reports, monitoring, and evaluation reports
• Field observation of the targeted project areas
• Key informant interviews (KII) with AMCOSs, farmer groups board members, Lead farmers, Extension officers, DAICOs, project partners (TACRI, Envirocare), and project management team reflection and feedback sessions with the project management team.

The final methodology to be adopted shall be discussed and agreed upon with consultants/firm during the inception meeting.

The End of Project evaluation team will first conduct a document review of project documents (i.e. Initiation Plan, ProjectDocument, Project Inception Report, Baselines, MTE report, Tracking Tools, Project Steering Committee meetingminutes, Financial and Administration guidelines used by Project Team, etc.) provided by the ProjectTeam. Outcome and output indicators from the Logical Framework and reported upon in the baseline, MTE and annual reports will be used to the extent possible. In case these indicators are not sufficientlyreported upon, data collection will need to be complemented.

The consultants will participate in an inception workshop to clarify their understanding of the objectives and methods of the end of project evaluation, producing the end of project evaluation inception report thereafter. The end of project evaluation mission will then consist of interviews and site visits to selected areas in the project areas.

Expected Outputs & Deliverables

Solidaridad and the consultant will work together to identify the study team. However, Solidaridad recommends that consultants identify one Team Leader (TL) to coordinate/conduct the comprehensive study and liaise with Solidaridad.

To collect information from the field, an adequate number of Field Enumerators (FEs) should be deployed in the facilitation of Solidaridad’s PMEL Officers. Supervision of the fieldwork and the quality (reliability and validity) of the data/information collected from the field is the primary responsibility of the TL. The TL will work closely with Solidaridad PMEL Officers and Project Team. In each step and process, consultation with the Program Manager are PMEL Officer is vital.

The consultancy/consultant team will be primarily responsible to:

1. An expression of interest (EOI) for the study, outlining the proposed methodology and process of data collection and analysis that specifies:
   1. Proposed methodology for implementation of the study, including sample sizes.
   2. A detailed timeline for the study
2. Inception report based on the work plan and EOI:
   1. Detailed methodology and evaluation matrix
   2. Draft data collection tools for all indicators to be measured in the study, standard indicators definitions agreed upon by the project should be used to develop data collection tools.
3. Presentation of methodology to Solidaridad team in an inception meeting and incorporate suggestions provided.
4. Training of enumerators (Solidaridad PMs and PMEL Officers will be part of it)
5. Draft report of the study for the feedback and comments of Solidaridad and partners involved.
6. Presentation of the main findings of the study at field level validation involving project teams, local authorities, and other stakeholders as agreed with the project team.
7. A final report in English following the Guidelines under Annex 1**.**
8. Datasets: The consultant shall submit all datasets, cleaned & raw, transcription or audio files during focus group discussions, KI, scripts for data analysis, and any form of data captured during the implementation of this assignment
9. The evaluator shall also submit a pager infographic summary of the finalized report and an Indicator Performance tracking table that indicates the general achievement since the start of the project

Coordination and cooperation with Solidaridad

The Consultant undertaking the study will work under the coordination of PMEL Officer, who will support the mobilization of respondents and offer technical backstopping. The Project team will coordinate consortium partners in ensuring that the sampled survey respondents (beneficiaries and Key informants) are sensitized and mobilized for the exercise while availing a workable itinerary and technical backstopping.

Profile of the Evaluators

The end of project evaluation team will ideally consist of independent consultants that will conduct the end of project evaluation – one teamleader (with experience and exposure to projects and evaluations in Tanzania) and local team experts.

The team must have strong combined expertise in the sectors of Certifications and Voluntary Sustainability Standards, agricultural economics, extension and education, gender, and NaturalResource Management. The successful applicant will propose a team that can provide adequate experience to conduct the assessment and that meets the following requirements:

1. Advanced degree (masters) in the area of agriculture, economics, agri-business development,social sciences, or other related disciplines;
2. At least five years of proven experience in leading and conducting similar exercises in Africa
3. Demonstrated experience in both quantitative and qualitative methods of data collection andanalysis; including survey design, implementation of surveys and statistical data analysis, and the use of participatory appraisal techniques in data collection and analysis.
4. Ability to interpret and analyze complex qualitative and quantitative data and to present findings and recommendations in a clear and concise way;
5. Strong expertise in value chains (coffee, other food crops, horticulture)
6. Knowledge and sensitivity to the political and social context of Tanzania context is an asset;

8. Application and Timeframe

Each application package should include the following:

1. An application letter addressing the selection criteria including how the firm’s/group’s previous experience matches the consultancy objectives as well as the interest for the consultancy opportunity. It should also indicate the availability of the assessment team. The letter should be no longer than two pages.
2. A brief proposal for the study with a proposed methodology and work plan (not more than 8 pages). The proposal should have a budget with breakdowns of different costs involved, to the finer detail. A budget with aggregated figures will not be accepted.
3. A sample of recently written reports for a similar assignment in the coffee sector.
4. Updated CVs for all consultants proposed to conduct the assignment including relevant work experience and qualifications.

The overall time frame of the assessment will be 30 working days, which will include inception meetings, finalizing survey methodology, training of enumerators, data collection exercise, processing of data analysis, report writing, and presenting the findings of the survey. The team undertaking the study will be fully responsible to administer the study including management of data collection.

Details will be worked out jointly with the consultant team and project staff. However, the work is expected to commence in November 20th 2024 for an estimated 30 days period.