Terms of Reference for Final Evaluation of the Sweet Potatoes for Prosperity Project

1. Background.......................................................................................................................2

2. Objectives and Evaluation Questions...............................................................................6

3. Approach and Methodology..............................................................................................7

4. Expected Deliverables and Timeline.................................................................................9

5. Management and Implementation Responsibilities........................................................11

6. Farm Africa Evaluation Principles...................................................................................12

7. Qualifications and Required Competencies....................................................................13

8. Submission of Proposals................................................................................................14

List of Acronyms Used:

Acronym Full ExpansionCV Curriculum VitaeLLF Linear Log frameMEL Monitoring, Evaluation and LearningMLP Monitoring and Learning PlanMS MicrosoftMTR Mid-term Review

DAC Office of Economic Cooperation and Development – Development Assistance Committee

OFSP Orange Flesh Sweet PotatoPCM Production Centre ManagerPPR Project Performance ReviewSOSPPA Soroti Sweet Potato Producers and Processors associationToR Terms of ReferenceUGX Ugandan Shillings

1. Background

About Farm AfricaFarm Africa is an innovative charity that reduces poverty in rural eastern Africa by helping farmers grow more, sell more and sell for more: we help farmers to not only boost yields, but also gain access to markets, and add value to their produce. We place a high priority on environmental sustainability and develop approaches that help farmers to improve their yields and incomes without degrading their natural resources. Our programmes vary hugely, ranging from helping crops farmers to boost harvests, livestock keepers to improve animal health, and forest coffee growers to reach export markets, but core to all of them is a focus on the financial sustainability of the farmers’ businesses and environmental sustainability.

Project Context and NeedTeso sub-region is in north-eastern Uganda where poverty and malnutrition are widespread. Although there is a trend of poverty decline across the country, it remains stubbornly high in Teso, with 53% of the population living below the poverty line of $1.90 per day, compared to the national average of 20%. Poverty is acute in rural areas where the vast majority of households rely on farming for subsistence and income.

Vitamin A deficiency (VAD) in Uganda is high – approximately 38% of children under five, and 36% of women under 45 suffer from it. Vitamin A deficiency (VAD) is the leading cause of preventable blindness in children and increases the risk of disease and death from severe infections. Sweet potatoes are a popular food in Uganda, grown and consumed by 44% of households. Traditional white-fleshed varieties have limited nutritional benefits, however many varieties of orange-fleshed sweet potatoes (OFSP) contain high levels of Vitamin A.

The soil and weather conditions in Teso are well suited to growing OFSP, meaning that it has now become one of the key production areas in Uganda. In response to an increase in production levels, Soroti Sweet Potato Producers Association (SOSPPA) was established in 2008 with over 2,000 members across five districts of Teso. SOSPPA works in close collaboration with Harvest Plus on vine production and replication for the most nutritious varieties. They had the potential to reach a further 1,500 farmers who are already in engaged in Harvest Plus’s programme.

The majority of farmers are not aware that for nine months each year there is usually sufficient rainfall to support continuous production of OFSP. As a result almost all farmers plant and harvest in-line with the bimodal rainfall pattern leading to peaks and troughs in production levels, and a glut during peak harvest times. By introducing staggered production methods we can help farmers provide a consistent supply to major buyers and benefit from ‘off season’ prices.

Fresh OFSP harvested and stored using traditional methods are extremely perishable, which gives farmers little time to sell or process them before they spoil. OFSP can be turned into small chips that are then dried and can be stored, under optimal conditions, for up to three months. However, harvesting and processing needs to take place within a single day, and farmers have limited access to facilities to dry their chips. The resulting high levels of post-harvest losses mean that only around one third of OFSP make it to market.

OFSP chips can be sold in bulk for a good price to millers who then turn them into vitamin A-rich flour which is combined with traditional wheat flour to make nutritionally-enhanced baked

goods. A rapid assessment including stakeholder interviews indicated that there was a clear opportunity in Teso sub-region to help OFSP farmers increase sales and income by helping them reduce on-farm post-harvest losses, and improve access to processing and storage facilities.

SOSPPA lacked the resources and expertise to equip and run the existing production centres or new ones, in a way that would provide maximum farmer benefits and to expand their reach. SOSPPA were also struggling to secure ongoing agreements with millers to supply OFSP chips as production levels are limited and seasonal, and demand is year round.

Project LogicTo improve livelihoods and incomes of farmers in the Teso sub-region through developing the production and marketing of OFSP by:

Increasing the quantity and regularity of quality OFSP available for sale through improved planting, harvesting and post-harvest management practices

Increasing income generated from OFSP through developing processing and marketing channels

Project ActivitiesObjective 1: Increase the quantity and regularity of quality OFSP available for sale through improved planting, harvesting and post-harvest management practices

Using a training of trainers model, we supported four SOSPPA staff members to train 16 groups of OFSP farmers (total 400, 43% women) participating in Harvest Plus’ programme during the first year of the project. Farm Africa developed two training modules; on staggered planting, optimal harvesting techniques and post-harvest handling to assure high-quality produce and on-farm storage. SOSPPA were supported to deliver this training to farmers. Farmers received training at local demonstration plots within their groups.

OFSP harvested by traditional methods is extremely perishable leading to high levels of post-harvest losses at the farm level. Therefore, farmers were trained in optimal harvesting and post-harvest methodologies that increase the time available to process or sell produce before it spoils, a fraction of farmers were supported with drying and storage materials thus reducing post-harvest losses.

SOSPPA were supported to scale up training activities to assist more of their members to extend their harvesting seasons and reduce post-harvest losses. Interested farmers were recruited through awareness-raising events in Serere and neighbouring districts. We worked with SOSPPA to ensure farmers could access high-quality seed vines for OFSP through a vine-multiplication partnership with Harvest Plus. In total, 1,000 farmers were trained.

Objective 2: Develop and strengthen OFSP processing and marketing channels for farmers in Serere district and across Teso sub-region

SOSPPA already had four basic production centres in Serere district where member farmers can use a mechanised chipping machine to turn fresh OFSP into small chips. Once chipped, OFSP can be dried using simple solar driers and stored for up to three months. SOSPPA also had a large storage warehouse available for farmers to collectively store dried OFSP chips. As part of the project, we linked 400 farmers from Ngora and Nyero in Kumi to

SOSPPA which enabled them to access the SOSPPA processing facilities, as well as other services including training and marketing support.

We worked with SOSPPA to improve the processing services that they offered members. We supported SOSPPA to upgrade the existing basic production centre in Kyere and increase its capacity to serve more farmers including the new members. one new solar drier was provided to the production centre to overcome the existing bottleneck in the chip drying capacity, and a production centre manager (PCM) was employed and trained. In particular, the PCM worked with farmers to co-ordinate planting and harvesting over a longer period of time each year to enable the processing centre to service as many farmers as possible and produce a regular flow of OFSP chips for bulking and onward sale. It was envisaged that by the end of the project, SOSPPA would generate sufficient revenue from OFSP sales and membership fees to pay the PCM on a performance basis.

SOSPPA’s organisational capacity was strengthened to provide post-harvest handling and marketing support. We worked with SOSPPA to develop a business plan and identify an appropriate means of paying farmers promptly upon receipt of produce to maintain a regular supply of fresh OFSP to the warehouse. We also build SOSPPA’s capacity in governance, financial management and business skills.

We supported SOSPPA to identify markets for the OFSP, we tried to negotiate supply agreements with commercial buyers, but did not succeed signing any agreements with them since the buyers fear committing themselves and the OFSP market for value added products are not yet well developed.

Stakeholders and partners SOSPPA: Direct implementing partner - the umbrella organisation responsible for

mobilising the farmers into groups, training them, managing the resources, structures, assets, and supporting farmers in market access.

Local government: To give technical and administrative support to the association and farmer groups during and after the implementation phase of the project. Support sustainability of the project impacts among the association and farmers.

Harvest plus: Support access to clean vine seed

2. Objectives and Evaluation Questions

Farm Africa is commissioning a final evaluation in order to provide a detailed assessment of the situation in the project implementation areas. The indicative budget for the evaluation is 30,000,000 UGX and following the approval of an inception report, the field work and report writing will take place between November & December 2019.

The final evaluation will have three main purposes: To collect the remaining endline values for relevant indicators to ensure the

completion of Farm Africa’s Monitoring and Learning Plan for this project. To review the performance of the project, both overall, and by each objective, in

relation to the OECD-DAC criteria, namely:o Relevance: To what extent did the project meet the needs of the targeted

beneficiaries?o Efficiency: Were the financial resources and other inputs used efficiently to

achieve outputs? o Effectiveness: Have the planned objectives been achieved and to what

extent can this be attributed to the project?o Impact: What has happened among the beneficiary community as a result of

the project, including both intended and unintended effects?o Sustainability: To what extent will the project continue to have an impact

beyond project close? To capture learnings and lessons learnt from the project, both in terms of success

and best practice, but also project failures to help inform future project design and/or scaling-up strategies.

3. Approach and Methodology

The project implements a routine monitoring system based on a Linear Log Frame (LLF) approach and corresponding monitoring and learning plan (MLP) to collect data against key impact and outcome indicators. These documents have been attached as Annexes. The external evaluator will be expected to capture primary data against the following indicator values, more details of which are in the MLP and LLF:

Impact Indicators 1 and 2 Outcome Indicators 1.A, 1.B, 1.C, 1.D, 1.E, 2.A, 2.B, 2.E from farmers via a farmer

survey, and 2.C, 2.D, 2.F from SOSPPA records.

The consultant will be given access to secondary data against all other indicators to ensure a comprehensive evaluation.

The consultant is expected to employ a mixed-methods approach, using a variety of data collection and analysis techniques for both quantitative and qualitative data in the endline study. This will include, at a minimum:

Document and systems review: Review of existing documentation, including: updated monitoring and learning plans (MLP), project log frame, community feedback reports, midterm review data, the baseline report, interim and annual reports. This will enable the consultant to be able to assess the performance of the entire project. Relevant literature such as national policies, government reports, academic papers, etc. should also be reviewed to ensure: 1) that the report covers trends in production, markets and the policy environment and 2) that recommendations are well-informed and contextualised. SOSPPA records will provide data against indicators 2.C, 2.D, and 2.F, and these shall be made available to the successful applicant; the consultants should also seek to gather more data from SOSPPA during sessions with them, as they see fit.

Farmer survey: Household structured survey questionnaires with a representative, random sample of the target population (1,021 farmers). The sample must contain at least 30% of the target population and be representative of the male and female proportions in the target population. The survey will build on baseline, midterm review (MTR) and ongoing monitoring data, and will quantitatively assess outcomes. Farm Africa conducted sampling at the baseline and midterm; 309 and 278 farmers were interviewed, respectively. Different samples were used each time. However, two groups have since dropped out of the project (60 farmers). Currently, there are 1,021 farmers. The consultant will be responsible for designing an appropriate sampling technique for adjusting to this reduction in sample size. It is recommended that a digital data collection app such as ODK Collect or Kobo Toolbox is used. From past surveys, each enumerator can effectively collect data from eight farmers in a day. Data collection is expected to be done within approximately five working days.

Focus Group Discussions: With target groups and other stakeholders to assess implementation experiences and effectiveness, document successes, challenges and lessons learned, and develop recommendations for improvement.

Key Informant Interviews: Consultations with key project stakeholders, including field staff and partners. Guidance on appropriate stakeholders will be provided by

field and Country Office staff. These should be used to understand implementation experiences, successes, challenges, lessons learnt and recommendations.

Farm Africa will provide survey tool in MS Word format for capturing farmer level data as used in the baseline and MTR for adaptation by the consultant. All other data collection tools will be provided by the consultant. The methodology should disaggregate the data by location, age category and gender as appropriate, and build gender analysis into the study. Specific data will be collected from the partner SOSSPA to study the progress in marketing OFSP. Additional data for the partner capacity development will be collected by Farm Africa via an organisational capacity assessment tool (OCAT) and incorporated in the consultant’s final report.

4. Expected Deliverables and Timeline

All written documentation is to be submitted in English using Microsoft Word in soft copy. The main body of all reports should be written in simple, non-technical language, with any technical material to be presented in Appendices. All reports should be in keeping with Farm Africa’s ‘Style Guidelines’ that will be made available to the successful applicant. All primary data collected and analysis conducted for the purpose of the study will remain the property of Farm Africa and must be submitted electronically and in a clear and comprehensible format, preferably in Excel; further detail below.

We anticipate that the contracted work will take up to 63 working days, however the consultant must submit the following deliverables outlined below. Submitted proposals should illustrate days allocated and proposed deadlines for each stage of the process.

The consultant will provide the following deliverables to the evaluation manager within the timeframe stated:

1. Inception Report: A detailed report for the consultants’ proposed approach will be submitted for approval by the 03 October 2019. This will provide detailed description of the methodology and tools, research questions, revised budget with a breakdown of costs, and a detailed work plan for the entire exercise. Any draft data collection tools will also be submitted for review at this stage. A report template will be provided by Farm Africa.

2. Revised Inception Report: Farm Africa will provide feedback which must be incorporated in a revised inception report for submission to Farm Africa for approval by the 15 October 2019.

3. Draft Report: A draft report will be submitted by the consultant to Farm Africa for approval by the 22 November 2019. A report template will be provided by Farm Africa covering the study approach, study methodology, and analysis methodology, main findings, and project recommendations. Any data collection tools should be included as Appendices. Any raw data sets, cleaned data sets, syntax files, and data analysis outputs should also be submitted at this stage. Raw and cleaned data must be submitted in MS Excel format. Other data can be submitted in other software formats, however clear workings must be supplied; please confirm with Farm Africa prior to contract signature the format you intend to supply the data in.

4. Draft Presentation: A presentation template based on the evaluation report will be provided by Farm Africa for completion by the consultant. The consultant will present preliminary findings for discussion at a (remote) 0.5 days’ stakeholders’ workshop (approx. 25 November 2020). Farm Africa will provide guidance on the workshop format. Following the workshop, the consultant should submit a brief report that captures both written and oral feedback from stakeholders, and whether or not the feedback will be incorporated into the final report, to the evaluation manager. A revised presentation will be submitted with the final report to reflect feedback and changes to the final report by 6 December 2020.

5. Final Report: Farm Africa will provide feedback on the draft report, which must be incorporated into the final report. A final report should be submitted by 13 December 2019. This process will continue until Farm Africa is satisfied with the final report. Any revisions to data sets and analysis etc. must be re-submitted. Once endline values have been finalised the consultant will be expected to enter these into the Farm Africa Monitoring and Learning Plan document. Any data collection tools and sampling frames used should be included as Annexes to the Final Report.

6. Updating of Monitoring and Learning Plan (MLP): Candidates are expected to update the MLP to be inclusive of end line figures against project indicators.

7.

5. Management and Implementation Responsibilities

The consultant will report directly to the evaluation manager, the Project Coordinator (PC). However, s/he will also be expected work closely with the Programme Manager (PM) and an HQ MEL Officer. Any proposed changes to the personnel listed in the application must be approved by Farm Africa.

Farm Africa will provide: Guidance and technical support as required throughout the research; Copies of all key background resources identified; A template of Farm Africa’s farmer survey in MS Word format; Provision of data collection devices (smartphones or tablets) Guidance to the consultant on the project locations and structures to ease data

collection; Comments and feedback on, and approval of, all deliverables within agreed timeline; Vehicles, fuel and drivers for data collection.

The consultant will be responsible for: Developing the detailed methodology and adapting data collection tools; Conducting all data collection, including recruitment, training and payment of

enumerators as well as all field logistics involved; Analysis of data and reporting in a clear and accessible format; Regular progress reporting to the evaluation manager, including responding to any

comments or technical inputs; Seeking comments and feedback from Farm Africa, through the evaluation manager,

in sufficient time to discuss and incorporate these into the final report; Production of the deliverables in accordance with details provided in section 4; Transport to/from Soroti and any living/accommodation expenses incurred Their own work permit or visa (if required) to conduct the work; Obtaining the relevant permissions for conducting the research (if required).

6. Farm Africa Evaluation Principles

Farm Africa follows five basic principles of sound evaluation practice and the consultant is expected to adhere to these throughout the evaluation process. These are:

1. Confidentiality and informed consent – all data collected during the evaluation will be treated as confidential and cannot be shared outside of Farm Africa. All respondents must be advised as such and always given the opportunity not to participate, or to terminate or pause the interview at any time. The purpose of the study should also be clearly explained before commencing any interviews. Data collection must conform to Farm Africa’s minimum standards on Informed Consent, which will be shared with the successful consultant.

2. Independence and impartiality – Farm Africa is committed to impartial and objective evaluation of our projects. All evaluation findings and conclusions must be grounded in evidence. Researchers are expected to design data collection tools and systems that mitigate as far as possible against potential sources of bias.

3. Credibility – Farm Africa is committed to learning based on credible evidence. The credibility of evaluations depends on the professional expertise and independence of evaluators and full transparency in the methods and process followed. Evaluations should clearly distinguish between findings and recommendations, with the former clearly supported by sound evidence. Methodologies should be explained in sufficient detail to allow replication, and evidence of failures should be reported as well as of successes.

4. Participation – the views and experiences of beneficiary households, groups and partners should form an integral part of all evaluations.

5. Openness – To maximise the learning potential of the evaluation process, Farm Africa may publish full evaluation reports or excerpts from them or may otherwise share them with interested parties.

7. Qualifications and Required Competencies

Applications from individuals or teams are welcome and will be assessed on their ability to demonstrate the following qualifications and competencies:

Essential Extensive experience in carrying out baseline studies and final evaluations, with a

focus on markets and value-chain projects and livelihood projects Experience conducting studies in Uganda Demonstrable academic and practical experience in qualitative and quantitative

research methodology Strong analytical, facilitation and communication skills Excellent reporting and presentation skills Fluency in spoken and written English A Master’s degree in Agriculture, Economics, Statistics, Mathematics, Research

Design, or relevant subject Quantitative analysis skills in at least one statistical software (e.g. MS Excel, STATA,

R, SPSS).

Desirable Understanding of the OFSP market and value chain Fluency in Ateso Experience conducting data analysis in Microsoft Excel

Where applicants fail to meet any of the above criteria, for example, fluency in Ateso or experience in agricultural livelihoods, the proposal should state how they expect to overcome this e.g. additional team members, translation services etc.

8. Submission of Proposals

Interested consultants or firms are requested to submit:

1. A full technical and financial proposal (template for adaptation attached in Annex A and B). Please provide as much detail as possible, however at a minimum please clearly distinguish between consultancy costs and expenses, and detail any expenses that you will require Farm Africa to pay directly.

2. Copies of all relevant Curriculum Vitae (CVs). Only CVs for the specific individuals that will form the proposed evaluation team should be included.

3. A sample of a baseline or evaluation report for a similar project completed within the last 24 months (this will be treated as confidential and only used for the purposes of quality assurance). Please only submit reports where the authors were the same as or inclusive of individuals named in the proposal team.

4. Contact details for two references (including one from your last client/employer).5. Licences required to carry out the research (if applicable).

All documents must be submitted by email to our ‘sealed’ email address tenders@farmafrica.org by 6th September 2019 6pm East Africa Time. The email subject line should clearly indicate ‘Bid for the Sweet potato for prosperity External Evaluator Consultancy’.

Scoring of the ProposalsThe technical element of the proposal will be scored out of 100% as follows:

Weighting Technical Criteria

40% Understanding of the TOR, including project scope and expected scope of the endline study

10% Understanding of the project

10% Understanding of the evaluation objectives

20% Appropriateness and justification for the overarching evaluation design1 to the TOR, including understanding of evaluating against DAC criteria

20% Methodology

10%

Appropriateness of quantitative methodologies (the farmer survey; SOSPPA records; etc.)(techniques, sampling (if appropriate), analysis methodologies outlined, and justification for each)

10%

Appropriateness of qualitative methodologies (FGDs; Document reviews; KIIs; etc.)(techniques, sampling, analysis methodologies outlined and justification for each)

10% Comprehensive and feasible work-plan

20% Experience of the consultants involved (in particular with regards to the 1 How appropriate the methodologies (including sampling) chosen are; How triangulation of data sources will be used for verification purposes; How qual. and quant. data will be brought together for enhanced interpretation of results; How assessment against the DAC criteria will be evidence-based and context-specific, and what tailored questions consultants use to structure DAC assessment; Clear justifications and rationale given for all of the aforementioned.

required qualifications and competencies outlined in the ToR)

10% Quality of sample report submitted

Only proposals where the technical elements scores of 70% or more will proceed to the financial evaluation stage. The financial element of the proposal will be scored out of 100%. We ask you to please quote in Uganda currency in today’s prices. Inflation can be accounted for in subsequent purchase orders. The financial proposals will be scored as follows:

Weighting Financial Criteria20% Does the budget match the technical proposal?

10%Are the Total number of days and the Total number of units for each item appropriate to the work outlined in the proposal?This is column E in the financial proposal

15% Are the consultants’ daily rates sensible?This is column F in the financial proposal template.

15% Are the unit prices for consultant expenses sensible?This is column F in the financial proposal template.

40%Total Costs: Financial Proposals will be assessed for their financial competitiveness, with lower priced bids scoring more favourably. Our indicative budget for the endline study is 30,000,000 UGX – including expenses paid directly by Farm Africa.

Following the technical and financial evaluation, scores will be combined in accordance with the following weights: Technical Score (75%); Financial Score (25%). It is anticipated that the successful applicant will be notified during the week commencing 16th September 2019.

Annex A: Technical proposal

Annex B: Financial proposal

Annex C: Linear log frame (LLF)

Annex D: Monitoring and Learning Plan (MLP)

Annex E: Project Proposal