NUTRITION SENSITIVE AGRICULTURE CAPACITY STRENGTHENING PROJECT END-TERM EVALUATION TERMS OF REFERENCE

SBackground 

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The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals called for ending poverty, hunger, and malnutrition globally by 2030. These goals prompted the Government of Ethiopia to design the National Nutrition Program as a multi-sectoral initiative to achieve food security. As part of this effort, the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) developed the National Nutrition-Sensitive Agriculture Strategy (NSAS), which provides guidance on integrating nutrition objectives into existing agriculture policies, programs, and investments.

The Nutrition-Sensitive Agriculture Capacity Strengthening in Ethiopia (NSA CASE) project was designed to enable the MOA to implement this national strategy effectively and to support the National Nutrition Program and the Seqota Declaration. NSA CASE is a five-year project (2019 – 2024) funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The project has provided the ministry with direct technical and financial support through a grant-under-grant approach. The project has been implemented at the federal(MOA) and in the Amhara, Oromia, and Somali regions, covering two zones and four woredas in each region.

NSA CASE has made investments to address bottlenecks within the MOA related to capacity and systems. The project identified these opportunities using the Organizational Development Assessment study conducted during the project’s inception phase. The assessment examined the MOA’s readiness to implement the NSAS.

This end-term evaluation aims to assess the achievement of the project’s four primary outcomes:

1. Increased financing for and prioritization of the implementation of the NSAS in three regions.

2. Increased capacity of MOA staff to regularly use data for decision-making related to the implementation of NSAS.

3. Improved capacity within the MOA and regional bureaus to coordinate NSA activities activities.

4. Sustained human resource capacity for nutrition-sensitive agriculture at regional, zonal, and woreda levels. 

Roles and Responsibilities of the Consultant 

The specific roles and responsibilities of the consultant are as follows:

• Review relevant project documents, including the results framework, baseline, midterm report and annual performance reports.

• Validate the sample size for the different data collection efforts and present an overall sampling strategy. 

• Develop quantitative data collection tools and review qualitative data collection tools. 

• Ensure all necessary research ethics approvals are obtained on time in coordination with Save the Children, 

• Ensure that all data collection activities are gender sensitive and respect safeguarding principles. 

• Establish data entry protocols and oversee data entry according to the agreed-upon software for both quantitative and qualitative data. 

• Provide updates on data collection progress and submit raw and clean data at the end of the evaluation to Save the Children. 

• Analyze quantitative and qualitative data.

• Develop a code book to transcribe audio-recorded data.

• Produce and submit audio and transcribed data.

• Produce and submit a draft report.

• Produce the final end-term evaluation report. 

Produce PowerPoint presentations.

Roles and Responsibilities of Save the Children 

• Assign technical staff in Save the Children, MOA regions, and woredas to coordinate the end-term evaluation process and support data collection.

• Provide project documents, including the results framework, baseline, midterm report, survey management for the NSA project and annual performance reports. 

• Provide baseline and midterm data collection tools. 

• Lead the end-term evaluation process. 

• Supervise the data collection process and provide any needed support. 

• Crosscheck audio-recorded data with transcribed data.

• Review and comment on the draft end-term evaluation report. 

• Organize the validation workshop for the end-term evaluation dissemination. 

• For Further Information Please refer to this link https://docs.google.com/document/d/1X30XgsZPzT8Q-dkcxBpgNy5agcsuBtE-/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=106079034217001464744&rtpof=true&sd=true

Required Qualifications and Experiences 

The consultant should have:

• A relevant academic background with at least a Master of Science degree or equivalent in the fields of agriculture,  rural development, nutrition, and food security or related fields and at least 10 years of relevant experience in coordinating and administering baseline, mid-term and end-term studies in the health and agriculture sector.

• Experience working with diverse stakeholders, including farmers, government agencies, non-governmental organizations and international organizations.

• Project management skills to ensure timely completion and effective coordination with stakeholders.

• Excellent synthesis and report-writing skills. Sample work and/or reference letters to prove similar activities must be attached. 

• Previous knowledge and experience in the evaluation of similar actions and scope. 

• The ability to travel to regions for primary and secondary data collection. 

Skills Required 

• Relevant skills in qualitative and quantitative research methods. 

• Familiarity with using mobile data collection tools (KoboCollect, Open Data Kit, etc.) and the ability to upload and manage cloud data as Save the Children requires. 

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to present complex information clearly and concisely.

• Proficiency in using data analysis software and statistical techniques.

• Strong project management and organizational skills.

• Ability to work independently and as part of a team.

• Knowledge of and experience in gender equality issues is highly preferred.

How To Apply

The technical proposal must be submitted via Electronic Form Email submissions should be sent to: ethiopia.bidsubm@savethechildren.org

•              Important Note: This is a sealed email inbox, and submissions will not be opened until the tender closes. Kindly refrain from sending any tender-related queries to this address, as they will not be answered.

•              Email Subject: ” Application for Nutrition Sensitive Agriculture Capacity Strengthening Project End-term Evaluation “

•              Ensure all attached documents are clearly labelled to reflect their contents.

•              Email attachments should not exceed 15MB. If necessary, please split the submission across two emails.

financial proposals should be submitted separately using sealed envelopes labelled with the title of Nutrition Sensitive Agriculture Capacity Strengthening Project End-term Evaluation. The submission should include an application as a cover letter.  Evidence of legal registration and tax payment, at least two relevant credentials from former clients. Interested applicants should submit their application to Save the Children Ethiopia Country Office Front Desk before close of business. 26th of March.