PROJECT TERMINAL EVALUATION CONSULTANT

Agroforestry for People, Peace and Prosperity Project is a Korean Forest Service (KFS) ODA financed project, which is implemented by Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) Ethiopia Country Office in partnership with local partner, the Environment and Coffee Forest Forum (ECFF), and respective line national and sub-national government institutions.  KFS Agroforestry project is implemented within two adjacent Woredas namely Gelana in West-Guji Zone of Oromia regional state and Kochore in Gedeo Zone of the South Ethiopia regional state.

The overall objective of the project is to restore the forest ecosystem and create a stable source of income for local communities by promoting restoration of 1,000 ha of forest and coffee agroforestry landscapes and integrated coffee business.

The specific objectives are to:

• Restore degraded forests and coffee agroforestry landscapes through afforestation/ reforestation, enrichment planting, capacity building and participation of government and community partners.
• Improve coffee quality through improved production practices, processing, and handling.
• Improve coffee cooperatives competences through capacity building training and market linkage; and increase access to water and electricity to improve efficiency.

OBJECTIVES OF THE ASSIGNMENT

Purpose and scope of the evaluation

• The main purpose of the evaluation is to assess the achievement of project objectives, outcomes, outputs and identity the factors that have contributed towards the achievement of the results as well as factors that have impeded the progress of the project.
• The consultant shall assess the relevance, sustainability, efficiency, effectiveness and impacts/changes of the project. Finally, the evaluation shall present recommendations, lessons and learnings that serve as an input for future consolidation and upscaling the project to similar and potential areas. The consultant shall assess and compare changes against the baseline study.

Evaluation assignment and focus areas

The consultant shall assess the achievement of the project objectives, relevance, efficiency, effectiveness, impacts /changes, lessons and sustainability of project interventions and results. Accordingly, the consultant shall consider the following guiding questions and aspects but not limited to these:

• Project relevance and contributions.
• To what extend does the project align with the government development strategies, objectives and plans.
• To what extent the project contributes to (FLR) Forest Landscape Restorations, NDC, climate change mitigation and adaptation?
• To what extent does the project align with local stakeholders and beneficiaries needs?
• Does the project align and contribute to international strategies, initiatives and commitments including KFS, GGGI, SDGs, NDC.

Effectiveness

• To what extent has the project outputs/outcomes been delivered and achieved as intended?
• How effective the project strategies, approach and tools used in the implementation of the project?
• How effective has the project been in responding and adapting to the changing conditions and needs during implementation?
• To what extent did the project coordination and monitoring mechanism contribute to meeting project objectives and results including stakeholder engagement and mitigating risks?

Efficiency

• To what extent the process has been efficient in achieving results, the actual or expected results, does the resources effectively utilized?
• What were the factors contributed to implementation efficiency? were there more efficient ways and means of delivering more and better results (outputs and outcomes) with the available inputs?
• How efficient were the management and accountability structures of the project including financial management process and procedures?
• What are the project key lessons and learning points for future considerations and upscale project.

Sustainability

• Does project implementation modality, measures and approach enhance sustainability of project outcomes and outputs? What are contributing factors and constraints?
• To what extent are the project outcomes and benefits continuing and sustainability after completion of the project?
• How has the project capacities building interventions contributed to enhance implementing partners’ capacity and sustainability?
• How is the sustainability of project outcomes and potentials for replication and upscaling?
• Impacts /changes
• Considering project short implementation period, to what extent does the project have brought impacts /changes on forest and agroforestry restorations, coffee management and processing?
• To what extent does the project capacity building interventions enable partners to enhance restorations, coffee processing efficiency and behavior changes?
• Does the project have resulted in unexpected negative impacts or spillover effects?
• Key lessons, case studies, learnings and recommendations for future consolidation and upscaling the project approach to similar potential areas
• The consultant presents the recommendations for similar support in future, which provide comprehensive proposals for future interventions based on the current project implementation and evaluation findings. The learnings, case studies and lessons from this evaluation should feed into plans for expansion and scale-up of this project. Learning will also be applied to inform other projects and program across the network. The evaluation should be strongly focused on recommendations for improvement relating to the central questions mentioned above and in particular – if and how activities could be adapted to better meet the needs of the project objectives and target beneficiaries.

 Evaluation Methodology and Scope

• The evaluation shall apply qualitative and quantitative methodologies. The methodology shall include key informant interviews and/or focus groups with a representative selection from the target groups including beneficiaries, stakeholder meetings with line and relevant national and sub-national stakeholders. Moreover, it shall also use existing qualitative data, desk review of the relevant project documents and assess project achievement against the set targets.
• The evaluation shall include field assessment and observations on the ground in the project target areas. The selected communities and sites shall be from both project implementation regions specifically Gelana and Kochore woredas/ districts.
• The proposed methodologies include the following, however as appropriate, the consultant may suggest additional and relevant methodology but requires prior consent with the client.

• Desk Review: The evaluator should review project and related documents. This could include, but is not restricted to project proposal, Project Baseline, annual and quarterly reports, studies, trainings and communications and publications. Moreover, the consultant will review other relevant documents and secondary sources.
• Focus Group discussions and KII: The consultant will employ and conduct (FGDs) focus group discussions and (KII) Key informant interviews to assess forest and agroforestry restorations, cooperatives, coffee infrastructures, processing and management, benefits and related aspects. FDGs include different social groups such as men, women, youth and disadvantages social groups to assess their perspective, views and responses about projects aspects
• Participatory MEL exercises: the consultant will employe PMEL methods and exercises to assess stakeholders’ understanding, engagements, collaboration and learnings on project implantation and interventions. 
• Stakeholder meetings: the consultant will conduct meetings with relevant and line national and sub national government stakeholders especially at project intervention zones and woredas.
• Field assessment and observations: The consultant shall conduct field assessment and observations to assess forest and agroforestry restorations, infrastructures and changes on the ground at respective sites.
• The consultant can propose additional methods as appropriate: in consultation with GGGI, the consultant can employ additional methods, which would have added values and inputs for the evaluation mission
• Develop evaluation technical proposal including approach and data collection tools / methods: this should include Detailed timeline and work plan, any proposed changes to the scope of the evaluation, Key interview questions, proposed sampling framework, proposed stakeholders to be consulted, data collection and evaluation tools and so on.
• Inception Report: The consultant shall develop and submit inception report including action plans and present to GGGI  before conducting the evaluation.

EXPERTISE REQUIRED

The consultant selected is expected to meet the following requirements:

• At least MSc or MA Degree from recognized universities with relevant practical experiences in relation to the assignment
• At least 10 years work experience in project evaluations related to forestry / agroforestry or a similar nature, including design and use of relevant data collection and analytical methods and evaluation approaches.
• Effectively engaging stakeholders from governments, CBOs, communities and non-government or private sector organizations
• Strong communication skills, including proven ability to write clear and concise evaluation reports, and present evaluation findings/recommendations to professionals experienced in the subject matter and stakeholders.
• Previous experience with results‐based monitoring and evaluation methodologies is a requirement.
• Technical knowledge in the targeted focal area(s) forestry and agroforestry landscapes restoration and management, coffee management, processing, & infrastructures, PFM and integrated approach    climate change adaptation and mitigation and so on
• Knowledge of data analysis and presentation 
• Fluency in English is a requirement.

Source: https://careers.gggi.org/vacancy/ethiopia-project-terminal-evaluation-individual-consultant-562229.html