SOLIDARIDAD WEST AFRICA Consultancy Services Terms of Reference (TOR) Endline Evaluation Cocoa Value Chain Development Programme (COVADEP)

1.    Background

Solidaridad West Africa (SWA) is a not-for-profit organization based in Accra, Ghana. Established in 2005, SWA is part of the Solidaridad Network, a Dutch based development organization operating in five continents through nine Regional Expertise Centres. With its network secretariat in The Netherlands, Solidaridad has over 45 years of global experience working in the development of profitable supply chains, creating sustainable businesses and livelihoods. Our specific interventions are aimed at improving the livelihoods of producers and their communities by providing technical assistance and promoting capacity development for producers and workers, ensuring continual improvement for sustainable production, promoting voluntary sustainable standards, facilitating credit and input access for small and medium enterprises, stimulating Public Private Partnerships, facilitating the negotiating position of producers and workers in the supply chain and lastly facilitating market opportunities for small and medium scale producers and worker.

About COVADEP

The Cocoa Value Chain Development Programme (COVADEP 2019-2023) is an effort to reduce poverty through increased resilience/competitiveness of the Liberian cocoa sector and improved cocoa farmer livelihoods/food security. COVADEP is primarily funded by the European Union and was implemented by Solidaridad West Africa Liberia (SWA-L). The project core counties include Grand Gedeh and River Gee. The overall objective of the project is to create a vibrant, competitive and profitable cocoa economy driven primarily by farmer organizations and private cocoa supply chains within a robust national regulatory and institutional framework. The program has five (5) expected result areas:

Result 1: Knowledge, skills and capacity of smallholder cocoa producers for efficient production and improved livelihoods in Liberia.

Result 2: Cocoa sector public institution, regulatory and policy frameworks in Liberia.

Result 3: Set up and promote farmer’s groups and cooperatives for sustained delivery of cocoa intensification, rehabilitation and diversification services to farmers/communities in Liberia.

Result 4: Cocoa bean value addition through investment incentives and the setup of incubation centres for entrepreneurship in Liberia.

Result 5: Market-oriented demand for sustainably produced and/or certified cocoa in Liberia.

Key Indicators to be measured.

Indicator No	Indicator
I1.1	% increase in the volume of cocoa exported
I2.1	% increase in incomes of cocoa farmers
I3.1	% of households reporting food shortage in the last 12 months
I4.1	% of households reporting dietary diversification (consuming different foods and food groups) in the last 12 months
O1.1	% of farmers in the project intervention areas with increased productivity
O1.2	% of farmers in the project intervention areas applying Good Agricultural Practices
O1.3	# of hectares of cocoa on fallow farmland under Good Agricultural Practices
O2.1	% of beneficiaries aware of the regulatory and policy framework
O3.1	% of farmers using VSLA savings for investment in cocoa farming, processing, aggregation/trading or related activities in the project intervention areas
O4.1	Amount (LRD/USD) gained from value added cocoa by beneficiaries
O4.2	# of beneficiary private companies, individuals, or groups producing processed cocoa beans
O5.1	Volume of certified cocoa produced in the project intervention areas for export
O5.2	% of farmers prepared to produce certified cocoa beans in the project intervention areas for export

SWA-L is therefore looking for a consultant (individual/agency) to conduct The Endline Evaluation for the project. The intervention areas for COVADEP focused on Grand Gedeh and River Gee counties including the sub counties of Nimba, Lofa, and Bong. The consultant will work closely with the SWA PMEL and COVADEP Programme Manager during the consultancy period (Logframe and other related documents to be shared upon signing of contract and NDA).

To date, 3,329 cocoa farmers from 100 communities in River Gee and Grand Gedeh counties have been trained on cocoa production in our Farmer’s Field Schools (FFS) and most of them have been provided with hybrid cocoa seedlings. In addition, 100 FFS facilitators have been trained to provide training  to farmers through the FFS. 150 VSLAs has been established in 100 communities, in addition to two Business Incubation Centers (BICs). One cocoa Cooperative in River Gee was taken through the Rainforest Alliance Certification and two (2) Liberian owned value addition companies were supported during programme implementation.

1.    Scope of the assignment

 

SWA-L aims to assess the extent of achievement of the targets for the project and draw out lessons for future programming. The evaluation will include a review of the project design and assumptions made at the beginning of the project. It will assess the implementation strategy, its impact and recommend areas for which a new program could leverage. The consultant will be required to:

1. Estimate a representative sample and design appropriate methodologies and sampling approaches that will determine  the results of the impact and outcome indicators as inscribed in the Logframe.
   1. Develop relevant instruments (i.e. interview guides for FGDs and KIIs and Individual Surveys) for various beneficiaries (i.e. farmers, vendors, partners, and other relevant stakeholders) to help answer the evaluation questions.
   1. Train enumerators and field workers.
   1. Conduct focus group discussions and key informant interviews with stakeholders in the programme locations to  complement quantitative data.
   1. Conduct in-depth data analysis to answer the research questions.
   1. Produce report detailing key findings, challenges, success, and recommendations based on country and/or  program or commodity lines.

The following research questions must be answered after the evaluation:

Relevance:

• Did the project (as articulated in the results framework, indicators, assumptions, program design and project activities) respond to the needs of the targeted beneficiaries and the Liberian socio-economic context?
• How well aligned were the project strategy and activities with the Government of Liberia cocoa development strategy? How well was it aligned with other donors’ interventions?
• Is there clarity among the various stakeholders (Solidaridad, the SMEs/CCDs, FBOs, smallholder cocoa farmers, LACRA, MoA, financial institutions, impact investors, LBCs, etc.) on what is to be achieved under COVADEP in the short, medium and long term? In other words, are all stakeholders aligned with respect to what success looks like, individually and as a collective?
• What capabilities/capacities do the various stakeholders have that will ensure the successful implementation of the programme?

• What are the global, national and local contextual factors (political, regulatory, legal, economic, financial, social, cultural, technological, and environmental) that have impeded the attainment of the programme objective?

• What are the changes in these contextual factors that may impact programme implementation positively or negatively during the  remaining life of the programme?

Coherence:

• What government policies for the agricultural sector in general, and the cocoa sub-sector in particular create barriers or facilitate the attainment of programme objectives?
• What other interventions exist in the cocoa sector which are funded by other donors or private companies such as cocoa bean  traders, Licensed buying companies etc.?
• What efforts are being made to ensure that the programme aligns with other cocoa programmes currently being implemented  by Solidaridad and other actors?
• What are the synergies between the programme and other interventions in the cocoa sector being implemented by Solidaridad and other actors?
• What are the strategies being adopted to ensure that stakeholders benefit from these synergies?

Effectiveness:

• To what extent did the project activities (general awareness, basic and dedicated training) contribute to changing the  cocoa production system?
• To what extent did the project achieve its indicator targets?
• What internal and external factors (both positive and negative) influenced the ability of the project to meet expected results and targets?
• What were the weaknesses in project design and implementation and how can they be addressed in a future project?
• To what extent do beneficiaries recollect the lessons during video training?
• Were beneficiaries at all levels (farmers, farmers’ organizations, Private sector organizations, CBOs, satisfied with the projects?

Efficiency:

• Were the financial resources used efficiently to achieve project outputs?
• How well did beneficiaries (individuals, communities, and private companies) utilize resources to implement sub- projects?
• Did the actual or expected results (outputs and outcomes) justify the costs incurred? Were resources effectively utilized?
• Were the outputs efficient in achieving the intended outcomes (and impact)?

Sustainability:

• What are the capacities – knowledge and skills developed among project targets and beneficiaries that will enhance  the development of the cocoa sector?
• How likely will the project results (increased climate knowledge, sub-projects) be sustained after the project completion?
• How likely will project beneficiaries continue implementing climate smart practices?
• To what extent can the results achieved be scaled?
• What are the project exit strategies and approaches?

Lessons:

• What are the key lessons from the program implementation?
• What key successes should be replicated?
• Should there be a similar program, what could be done differently?

2.    Deliverables

The following deliverables and timelines will be expected from the consultant.

No.	Deliverable	Expected Timeline
1.	Inception report containing relevant questionnaires and sample estimates specifying methodologies for assignment	5 days after contract
2.	Enumerator training report	3 days after training
3.	Raw data (quantitative data, FGDs, KIIs) from the field	4 days after data collection
4.	First Draft report for discussions	10days after deliverable 3
5.	Final draft report,  Cleaned data sets generated and all R, Stata or SPSS analysis scripts	7 days after deliverable 4 including
6.	Power point presentation highlighting main findings, lessons learned and recommendations	3 days after deliverable 5
7.	Finalized report and a one pager infographic summary of finalized report	5 days after deliverable 6

The draft and /or final report (50pps MAX) should comprise, but not limited to:

1. Executive Summary
2. Introduction
3. Background to the study (context) must include profiles of the participants
4. Research purpose
5. Materials and methods
6. Results and discussions (including info-graphs and other visual presentations)
   1. Relevance
   1. Effectiveness
   1. Efficiency
   1. Sustainability
   1. Lessons
   1. Indicator’s matrix/matrices?
7. Conclusions
8. Recommendations and policy implications
9. Concept note (that gleans all lessons for future programming)

3.    Methodology

The consultant(s) is expected to use a variety of methods to process and analyze the data. Desk review of current literature is encouraged as much as possible to enrich the report. Econometric analysis is also allowed once this will be supported by appropriate qualitative discussions for all readers. Where necessary, the consultant will have to engage project stakeholders (i.e. Local leaders, farmers, farmer associations, private sector companies, relevant government ministries and agencies and SMEs (if any) for data triangulation. Data collection must be digital.

4.    Schedule

The activity would be carried out within 35 effective workdays within the period starting from 8^th December to 18^th January 2023 – taking into consideration, the impending holidays.

5.    Qualification and Experience of the Consultant(s)

The consultant(s) for the assignment must demonstrate full competence in implementing the scope of work and experience in conducting and completing surveys, report writing and possess  advanced degrees in development economics, agricultural economics, agribusiness, and relevant industry background.

Desired competencies include:

• At least, a Master’s degree in agriculture economics/agribusiness, statistics, economics  or a relevant post graduate qualification.
• Proficient in the use of R, Stata, NVIVO and/or SPSS. We will require the Stata scripts used for analysis.
• Excellent analytical and report writing skills.
• Experience in qualitative and quantitative research methods.
• Demonstrated capacity in data processing and analysis to generate frequencies and some e statistical and econometric results.
• Excellent English language skills (with proven grammatical writing ability).
• Experience in working in the cocoa sector of Liberia.
• Understanding of cocoa and cocoa related issues.

6.    Confidentiality Statement

All data and information received from Solidaridad, its project beneficiaries and other stakeholders for the purposes of this assignment are to be treated confidentially and only be used in the execution of this assignment. All intellectual property rights arising from the execution of this Terms of Reference shall be assigned to Solidaridad. The contents of written materials obtained  and used in this assignment may not be disclosed to any third parties without the expressed advance written authorization of Solidaridad.

7.    Submission of proposal

Interested consultants/firms should submit a proposal that include narrative and budget in English  to:

consultantsswalib@solidaridadnetwork.org 

cc copy: marvin.samuel@solidaridadnetwork.org, Anthony.dahn@solidaridadnetwork.org, alex.mccargo@solidaridadnetwork.org

Please state in the subject line: Proposal – “COVADEP End of Project Evaluation”. The closing date for the submission of proposal is Wednesday, December 06, 2023 at 5:00 PM.