Three Evaluations of a 5-year McGovern-Dole Project in Malawi 253 views2 applications

Three Evaluations of a 5-year McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Project in Malawi

Implementer: Nascent Solutions Inc. (Nascent)

Funder: United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)

Location: Central and Southern regions of Malawi

Duration: Three evaluations – baseline (around Feb – July 2020), midterm (around Feb – July 2022), and final (around Feb – July 2024). A mix of remote-based and field-based work in Malawi required.

Purpose of this Terms of Reference (ToR): To introduce and solicit bids for three evaluations (baseline survey, midterm evaluation, final evaluation) for the McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Project in Malawi. At this stage, Nascent intends to choose a single firm to perform all three evaluations. However, the evaluations will be contracted one at a time to the winning firm.

Project Description

This is a five-year project funded under USDA’s McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program. Implemented by Nascent, the project is designed to improve the literacy of school-age children through improved literacy instruction, student attentiveness, and student attendance. Secondarily, the project intends to increase the use of positive health and dietary practices. The project runs from October 2019 to September 2024.

The staple activity is the provision of a daily lunch and periodic take-home rations using food commodities provided by USDA. Concurrently, Nascent will seek to improve:

· Quality of literacy instruction, through more consistent teacher attendance, better teaching and learning materials, and training of teachers and administrators;

· Student attentiveness, through extracurricular activities, and the daily lunch program;

· Student attendance, through school infrastructure improvements, enrollment outreaches, an increased community understanding of education benefits, and reducing health related absences;

· Use of positive health and dietary practices, through increased knowledge of hygiene, safe food preparation, and nutrition, as well as increased access to clean water and sanitation, preventative health interventions, and safe food preparation and storage items.

· The environment in which schools operate, through enhancing the capacity of local government and civil society, as well as local education- and nutrition-related policies and financing.

The project will benefit nearly 500,000 students and their families, teachers, administrators, civil servants, parent-teacher association members, and others associated with 106 schools in the Central and Southern regions of Malawi. In-country partners include World Vision Malawi, Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (LUANAR), the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, Ministry of Health and Population, and Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development. International partners include Kansas State University in the US.

Purpose and Use

The evaluations will inform Nascent, USDA, implementation partners, and stakeholders of the project’s impact and progress. Nascent will use the evaluations to scrutinize its successes, shortcomings and risks, reassess its theory of change, and emphasize the most viable sustainability paths to stakeholders.

Profile of Evaluation Team

Evaluators are welcome to assemble a team as they see fit (not including field level data collectors, who will be recruited separately). Their skills should be complementary, with one identified as the Team Lead, who will bear responsibility for all work products and processes. Firms and groups of independent consultants are welcome to apply. Combined, the team should have the following skills and attributes:

• Demonstrated experience leading complex outcome and impact evaluations.
• Demonstrated expertise in study design, statistical analysis and sampling, development of data collection tools, questionnaire design, data collection (including mobile), conducting interviews, data analysis, and report writing; Experience in data processing and analysis using statistical software, including analyzing complex (multi-stage cluster samples) surveys.
• Experience using propensity score matching, principal component analysis, and difference-in-differences analysis techniques.
• Demonstrated experience in using qualitative evaluation methods such as focus group discussions and key informant interviews.
• Demonstrated experience in training and managing field data collectors.
• Subject matter expertise in literacy, education, and nutrition.
• Strong teamwork ability across cultures and time zones.
• An ability to effectively and respectfully communicate with a variety of stakeholders, ranging from young students to government officials.
• Experience using local data collectors, and involving project stakeholders in the evaluation.
• Experience with EGRA, Stallings Classroom Observation system, and dietary diversity surveys.
• Experience with USDA McGovern-Dole projects.
• Experience in Malawi or the region.
• High proficiency in written and verbal English.