Final Evaluation - Terms of Reference

Citizen empowerment to improve food and nutrition security of vulnerable populations in Rolpa district 

Final Evaluation - Terms of Reference

Welthungerhilfe

1. INTRODUCTION AND CONTEXT

Deutsche Welthungerhilfe e.V. is one of the largest Non-Governmental Organizations in Germany operating in the field of Humanitarian Assistance and Development. It was established in 1962 as the German section of the “Freedom from Hunger Campaign”, one of the world’s first initiatives aimed at the eradication of hunger. Welthungerhilfe’s work is still dedicated to the following vision: all people have the right to a self-determined life in dignity and justice, free from hunger and poverty.

Welthungerhilfe (WHH) has been operational in Nepal since 2012, and it is currently managing different projects in twelve districts under seven thematic areas (sectors): Humanitarian Actions, Agriculture, Climate Reliance and Natural Resource Management, Nutrition & Health, WASH, Economic Development, Civil Society Empowerment and ICT4D. WHH works partnership with civil society in Nepal to empower socially marginalized and economically poor citizens, to strengthen their resilience and to ensure their right to adequate food and nutrition through a systems thinking approach.

The project entitled “Citizen empowerment to improve food and nutrition security of vulnerable populations in Rolpa district, Lumbini, Nepal” aims to vulnerable target population engages in behaviour change to improve its food and nutrition security and claims its right to food through active citizen participation at local level mobilizing CSOs and community groups. The project has been implemented in Rolpa district (Triveni and Runtigadhi Rural Municipalities) through the implementing partners Rural Reconstruction Nepal. The project has planned to reach 9,600 direct participants focusing on smallholder farmers, socially vulnerable and economically marginalized and poor and landless households. The project has worked with several intermediary organizations and actors, including farmers group, mother groups, local government health workers and female health workers (FCHVs), local government, youth club, private sector at community and association level.

Evaluations are an integral and standardised part of Welthungerhilfe’s efforts to improve the quality and impact of its work by ensuring continuous learning, inform decision makers and promoting accountability. 

2. EVALUATION PURPOSE

The overall purpose of the assignment is to evaluate the performance of the NPL-1078 project against its set ambitions and targets. However, specific objectives are: 

1. Determine the project results against the set targets in the logical framework 
2. Assess the performance of project-based OECD/DAC criteria 
3. To identify key lessons, good practices, issues, challenges and make recommendations for the future programming.

Besides this, the evaluation will also further assess the status of project management, project activities, integration of results, reflection of coordination, partnerships with the local government, integration and coordination among the implementing partners.

3. SCOPE OF THE EVALUATION

Welthungerhilfe has planned an external final evaluation of the project. The proposed evaluation will cover two municipalities in Rolpa district. The proposed evaluation aims at identifying project achievements, lessons learned from the success/failure of intervention, innovative approaches as well as major challenges and recommendation that can be useful for further planning and programming.

4. USERS OF THE EVALUATION

The primary users of this evaluation report are the project team (including WHH and RRN), MEAL team, WHH senior management and Welthungerhilfe Head Office. Furthermore, the evaluation results and recommendations will be informed to the secondary stakeholders such as the donor, local/federal government and sectoral development partners, if applicable.

5. EVALUATION QUESTIONS (AND CRITERIA)

The final evaluation will need to answer the following key questions as per the standard  OECD/DAC criteria: 

Relevance:

• How far were the project objectives consistent with national priorities, the needs of target groups, and donor policy?
• Do the tools and approaches applied in the project facilitate the improvement of the living conditions (hygiene, nutrition, and social protection) of disadvantaged population in the working area?  
• How relevant are the project interventions in the socio-economic context of the project areas? 
• How relevant are the project strategies and activities as perceived by the target groups and other community stakeholders?

Effectiveness:

• What are the major outputs and outcomes of this project? How is the progress in comparison to the relevant baseline and final results?
• To what extent have the intended outcomes (and use of output) been achieved? 
• To what extent have the target groups been reached? 
• To what extent have the knowledge and skills of nutrition behaviour change, including child feeding practices, agricultural practices and governance increased among the target groups, including local government?
• To what extent has the project’s MEAL system been used to adjust interventions and improve the achievement of outcomes and mitigate risks?

Efficiency:

• How efficient is the project in terms of effective utilization of the project resources, time management, cost-efficiency, and reaching target groups?
• How does the project financial management processes and procedures affect the project implementation? What are the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of the project’s implementation process?
• How efficient is the overall management set-up of the project; in other words, how suitable are the management arrangements in place? 

Sustainability:

• What is the likelihood of continuation and sustainability of project outcomes and benefits after completion of the project?
• To what extent will project achievements, results and effects be expected to continue after donor funding ends? 
• What are the major activities which is own by local government for further implementation and scale up?
• What are the major factors/areas/challenges to address for sustainability of the project?
• Describe key factors that will require attention in order to improve prospects of sustainability of project outcomes and the potential for replication of the approach?

Impact

• Is the project contributing to improve the living condition (livelihood, hygiene, nutrition and social protection) of disadvantaged population in the working area?  
• What actual difference has the project made to the participants?
• Did the project take timely measures for mitigating any emerging negative impact?
• What are the unintended result and impact demonstrated in project area by project?
• What are the recommendations for further strengthening and sustaining positive change and for mitigating any risks perceived?

Coherence

• To what extent was the intervention coherent with WHH key policies and programmes or projects – operating in the same context?
• To what extent was the intervention coherent with other actors’ key policies and programmes – including local and / or national – operating within the same context? 
• To what extent has the project engaged in stakeholder coordination, including local and national authorities? 
• How has the coordination – also with local and federal level coordination mechanisms – affected the planning and implementation of the project? 
• Which factors have restricted coordination, and which factors have supported it? Are there any coordination success factors that can be transferred to other situations?

6. EVALUATION DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY

The design of final evaluation shall adopt mix methods (both qualitative and quantitative). The purpose for mixed method is to triangulate the data/results for validation and also to provide further explanation of quantitative variables using qualitative method. The quantitative data (indicators results) to measure the effectiveness of the project will be carried out by the consultant. Likewise, the qualitative data will be collected by the consultant for project evaluation based on the above key evaluation questions. The consultant need to present the quantitative data in disaggregated form (sex, caste/ethnicity, municipalities etc) in report. The consultant will provide the detailed sampling procedure and data collection methods while submitting their technical proposal.

The consultant will propose the data collection method, tools for collecting qualitative and quantitative data based on the project logical framework and key evaluation questions. The design of questionnaires should be guided by steps to ensure data validity and reliability of the tools. The tools will be finalized in consultation and coordination with the Welthungerhilfe program and MEAL team after submission of the draft during the inception report by the consultant. The Welthungerhilfe MEAL and Program team will review and validate the tools in line to final evaluation key questionaries. After the finalization of tools and survey questionnaires, a pre-testing of the questionnaires should be done by the consulting team in one of the project areas to revise and improve the reliability of the tools.

7. Managerial arrangements/roles and responsibilities

The evaluation is commissioned to an external consultant/consulting company. The roles of Welthungerhilfe together with the implementing partner are: 

• Review of the inception report, evaluation tools (including qualitative and quantitative), methodology, sample size, etc.
• Provide coordination/support on field itinerary to the evaluator(s).
• Share project specific documents: progress reports, proposals, baseline, mid-term and monitoring data etc.
• Provides details of the participants for sample.
• Organize debriefing meetings with consultant(s) after field level data collection and provide inputs if the information is sufficient to address the evaluation questions. 
• Assign WHH MEAL team as a primary contact person to respond/address the questions/remarks.

8. Deliverables and reporting deadlines.

The following deliverables are expected to be produced by the evaluator(s):

• An inception report  ( note more than 6 pages main text) including evaluation matrix and draft survey questions (outlining the methodology, operationalization of questions and planned procedure and approach to the evaluation) in English. 
• Debriefing session and notes: De-briefing session shall be conducted with the project team after submission of first draft report including findings and recommendations with presentation. 
• Evaluation report as draft and final shall be in English language. Evaluator(s) shall submit the draft report at the latest on and half weeks after the last field mission, 35 pages maximum including executive summary, but excluding the front page, table of contents and annexes. The deadline for submission of the final report is by latest 2 weeks after the submission of the draft report. A standard outline for the evaluation report will be provided to the evaluator(s). 
• A summary of evaluation report (max 2-3 pages) with infographics. 
• The final report needs the approval of the contracting party. In case of dissent there should be documentation of the matter.
• Final sharing session: Final sharing session shall be conducted after approval of final report with power-point presentation and infographics.
• The evaluator(s) should provide a digital file with up to 10 photos of the evaluation, including photos related to the evaluation process (e.g., of group discussions, interviews, final workshop). The photos should be submitted in a JPEG or GIF format. The informed consent of the person presented is a prerequisite.
• Clean data set in excel including transcription of qualitative data.

9. Resources and available data

Project monitoring data and targeted population data and related studies are documented in the project and could be used as sources for triangulation and verification of evaluation data.  The project team will provide progress reports, learnings documents, case studies, and survey reports of baseline to the evaluator(s).

10. Time frame/schedule

The evaluation is expected to be accomplished by 10 November 2024 The assignment will be effective in action from the day of signing of awarded contract. The assignment should not exceed more than 35 working days (including preparatory work, field visit, and report preparation).

11. Confidentiality

All documents and data acquired from documents as well as during interviews and meetings are confidential and to be used solely for the purpose of the evaluation.

The deliverables as well as all material linked to the evaluation (produced by the evaluator(s) or the organization itself) is confidential and remains at all times property of the contracting party.

12. Expertise of the evaluators

The evaluators are required to have the following expertise and qualifications:

• At least Master’s degree in development studies, monitoring and evaluation or equivalent degree.
• Team leader must have +7 years of working experience in development project monitoring and evaluation using DAC criteria and mixed methods in livelihoods and nutrition governance sector.
• She/he must have prior work experience with or working for international development organizations and familiarity with development and humanitarian programmes/issues.
• Team leader must have knowledge of evaluation methods and techniques, including a thorough understanding of data collection, evaluation methodologies and design, and strong qualitative and quantitative research skills.
• The composition of the team of experts should be balanced and inclusive to enable complete coverage of the different aspects of consultancy as set out in these terms of reference.
• The team members must have more than four years of experience in similar kind of evaluation.
• The evaluation team must have good command in both writing and speaking in English languages. 
• The team has a strong track record of working flexibly to accommodate changes as the project is implemented.
• The team members (or a proportion) of the study team have a track record of previously working together and having experience in nutrition governance and food systems strengthening.

13. Technical and financial offer

Applicants have to provide the technical and financial offer.

The technical part of the offer submitted by the consultants/consulting firm should comply with the Term of Reference. It should also include a brief description of the overall design and methodology of the evaluation and a workplan/adaptations to the workplan at hand.

The financial part includes a proposed budget for the complete evaluation. It should state the fees per working day (plus the respective Tax/VAT, if applicable), the number of working days proposed and other costs.

Proof of professional registration and taxation is also required (e.g., by providing the evaluator(s) tax number).

Following are the key consideration while preparing the budget:

• All insurances are the responsibility of the evaluator(s).
• Soft copies of relevant documents will be provided by Welthungerhilfe.
• Welthungerhilfe staff will facilitate community entry.
• Laptops need to be provided by the evaluator(s).

14. Deadline for proposal

The interested and qualified consultant/ consulting firm must apply by 17:00 hours (COB) dated 5 September 2024 via email address given below (subject of the email “Final Evaluation NPL 1078”) Email: procurement.nepal@welthungerhilfe.de

The proposal should include the following documents:

1. Letter of expression of interest (EoI) signed by the main applicant.
2. Detailed technical and financial offer as stated in bullet 13 above
3. Firm profile detailing the past assignments (at least two final evaluation report as a sample copy)
4. Detailed curriculum vitae of the consultant and of all team members, if any, highlighting their areas of work and experience
5. Company registration certificate
6. Latest tax clearance certificate
7. VAT registration certificate (for both firms and individual consultants).
8. Signed supplier declaration form

Please go through the link below to download the Supplier Declaration form:

https://drive.google.com/uc?export=download&id=1mF1KsdArY4DQzogca8ZjSB3BZLmIFvyt

Please note that the selected consultant/ consulting firm should adhere with WHH data protection and other relevant policies during the assignment.

Only short-listed applicants will be contacted for further evaluation process. Welthungerhilfe Nepal reserves all the rights to reject any or all application without assigning any reasons.