End Term External evaluation of the KAZA ARISE Project

About WWF

WWF (The World Wide Fund for Nature) is an International Non-Governmental Organization that was born from a drive to conserve wildlife and wetlands in the country. Our mission is to stop the degradation of the planet’s natural environment and to build a future in which humans live in harmony with nature. In order to achieve this mission, WWF implements projects that aim to conserve the wildlife habitat, improve the livelihoods of the communities around the protected Areas. In that context, WWF Germany is looking for qualified individuals or firms to plan and conduct the End of Project Evaluation for the BMZ funded project “Global Programme Food Security and Habitat Protection in the KAZA”. This project is also called the KAZA ARISE Project.

The KAZA region in Southern Africa suffers from the intertwined issues of poverty (most live below the poverty line), the increasing impacts of climate change (prolonged and frequent droughts), natural habitat conversion and land degradation. The resilience of ecosystems is negatively impacted as are the livelihoods and food security of rural communities. Eighty percent of the people are heavily dependent upon natural resources and live largely from subsistence agriculture (shifting cultivation). The ever-increasing encroachment onto conservation areas increases the risks of human wildlife interaction. This leads to increased conflict and loss of life but also an increased likelihood of zoonotic diseases and impacts onto human health. Currently, the survival and income of rural communities are largely based on maize, a staple food with a high-water dependency and which suffers from droughts and excess water. Drought resistant crops and the benefits of agroecological approaches to conserve soil fertility and increase harvests and yields as well as the benefits of sustainable cattle production and local supply chains are not widely known or supported politically.

Expectations

The Final Evaluation should use both quantitative and qualitative methods to ascertain the status of the project towards achieving its intended outcomes and impact. Using the OECD evaluation criteria, the evaluation should also assess what factors enhanced and/or limited the achievement of project targets as well as documentation of the results achieved and recommendations/lessons learned for future projects and programming. Interviews of key stakeholders such as Community Resources Boards, conservancies, ward Development Committees, traditional leaders, civic leaders and beneficiaries involved in the project will have the opportunity to have their voices heard and will contribute to the evaluation. This will make the external evaluation credible and unbiased.

Location: Namibia (9 Conservancies in the Zambezi Region), Zambia (6 Village Action Groups in Sichifulo (Nyawa Central and Chooma), Mulobezi (Kalobe and Mabwe) and Mufunta (Litoya and Lalafuta) Game Management Areas South and West of the Kafue National Park; Zimbabwe (selected Wards in Hwange and Binga)

Objective of the Evaluation

The objective of this final evaluation’s is to provide an overall assessment of the performance and achievement of project outputs and outcome. The evaluation should focus on assessing the project intervention’s relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, coherence, sustainability and, where possible, impact. The final evaluation will cover the 28 months of the project from November 2021 to

February 2024 and all the activities carried out in the context of the project. The evaluation should also provide recommendations and lessons learned for a possible second phase of the project.

Scope of Works

The scope of work for the consultancy will include, but may not be limited to:

1. Review all relevant sources of information, such as the project documents, impact Matrices, monthly reports, annual progress reports, exit strategy, KAZA livelihood diversification strategy, Feasibility report and any other materials that the evaluator considers useful for this evidence-based assessment;
2. Develop an evaluation matrix with evaluation criteria, the related evaluation questions (and, where needed, sub-questions), the data sources required to answer the questions, the data collection, and data analysis methods. The evaluation should be based on the following five criteria of relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, impact, and sustainability as defined below;
3. Relevance: Appropriateness of the project strategy to the actual needs and priorities of the target groups/beneficiaries taking into the account the circumstances. Is the project strategy appropriate and logical and does it work directly toward attaining the objectives? Are the Assumptions still true?
4. Efficiency: Measures the outputs – qualitative and quantitative – in relation to the inputs. How well are the means/inputs and activities converted into outputs? Are the activities implemented in line with the plans? Are they implemented and the outputs delivered in a cost-efficient manner?
5. Effectiveness: Contribution of the project results to the achievement of the project objectives. To what extent are the specific objectives achieved / are likely to be achieved? What are the major factors influencing the achievement or non-achievement of the objectives?
6. Coherence: Assess how coherent the project is with other interventions within the countries, regions and with development plans including the one health frameworks. How well does the project fit with other interventions? The consultant is expected to look at both internal and external coherence.
7. Impact: The positive and negative changes produced by the project, directly or indirectly, intended or unintended. Main effects resulting from the project on the local social, economic, environmental and other development indicators. What is the project’s likely contribution to the overall objective?
8. Sustainability: Analyze to what extent the effects and results of the project are likely to last beyond its implementation period. What was put in place by the project to ensure the sustainability of the expected project outcomes? Collect lessons learned and good practices and express recommendations for the partners and stakeholders.

The evaluation must provide evidence-based information that is credible, reliable, and useful. The evaluator is expected to follow a participatory and consultative approach ensuring close engagement with the local organizations, experts, project consultants, the project team, KAZA ARISE implementation teams in all the three countries, final beneficiaries, and other key stakeholders;

1. Develop data collection tools to facilitate primary data collection from project stakeholders that include households, farmers, communities, district/sub-national and regional level through mixed methods approach.
2. Submit an inception report clarifying the methodology, work schedules, tools, sampling frames etc.
3. Prepare an evaluation report providing descriptive overviews, laying out the facts and lessons learned, providing conclusions and recommendations, and finalizing the report upon feedback from the project team.
4. Conduct a meeting with the project partners to validate the evaluation findings and recommendations. This will be conducted virtually.

Methodology

The consultant is requested to propose a methodological approach but the evaluation should at the minimum include desk research, semi-structured interviews for key informants, households, farmers, and focus groups. A inception report, a draft and final evaluation report as well as a power point presentation with key findings will also be produced. The consultant should also propose a sampling frame and sample size.

1. Desk research: should include a review of all the material and documentation developed within the project, the reports of local teams, beneficiaries and consultants, the tools created or adapted, including the monitoring and evaluation ones, etc.
2. The consultant(s) will develop tools and collect both quantitative and qualitative data using mixed methods approach- thus from the Impact Matrices, list of activities as outlined in the project proposal, number of participants, number of supports, etc.) and primary data from project stakeholders.
3. Hold a virtual preliminary meeting with at least the donor (WWF Ger) and WWF Zambia to present the methodology proposed and get input (other implementing partners may join).
4. Key Informant Interviews/Focus group discussions: The consultant(s) should carry out interviews/group discussions with the project implementing staff and all partners as well as representatives of the target groups/beneficiaries and interviews with households and farmers.

Deliverables and Time Frame

Below are deliverables and suggested timeframes;

• Submit an inception meeting report, including agreed evaluation approach, outline of the report, timeline, workplan and data collection tools etc on 16th February 2024.
• Submit the first draft report/first findings (15th March, 2024) in English of up to 30 pages, including a table of contents, a brief introduction, the objectives and the methodology, and evaluation of the project based on the criteria mentioned above (relevance, coherence, efficiency, effectiveness, impact, sustainability), observations, lessons learned and conclusions as well as a list of recommendations and appendix (e.g. acronyms, list of interviewees, ToRs, methodology, schedule, etc.).
• 1 final report in English including recommendations and a presentation to WWF (up to 30 pages) before 10th April 2024.
• 1 presentation: The consultant(s) will finally make a 1hr presentation to the project partners, reviewing the main conclusions and recommendations of the evaluation. This presentation will then be used by the project to present the results to external stakeholders

Overall, the evaluation requires 30 working days spread over the period of February to Mid-April 2024