Horn Relief
Since the end of the civil war, the economic recovery in the South Somalia has been slow, and lack of opportunities, environmental degradation, prolonged drought and disintegrated structures of civic participation have resulted in significant chronic food and livelihood insecurity affecting communities, women in particular. The situation is further intensified by the political, social and economic marginalization of the area.
Closing date: 11 Dec 2009 -- (CLOSED)
Location: Somalia
Afmadow and Hagar Districts- South Somalia
Duration: 30 days
Starting date: Immediate
Closing Date: 11th December, 2009
The objectives of the project are;
- Contribute to livelihood resilience by supporting entrepreneurship opportunities among targeted groups.
- Reduce vulnerability to food insecurity through agricultural support among targeted populations.
FINAL EVALUATION OBJECTIVES
The overall objective of this assignment is to carry out the final evaluation, soon after the end of the implementation period, to assess how adequately the project has achieved its stated objectives as well as to determine the nature and extent of impact the project has had so far on the main target communities, in terms of food and livelihood security.
The final evaluation has also to assess lessons learned and to provide practical recommendations for replication and expansion of the approach, with particular attention to achieving household food and livelihood security of target populations.
DELIVERABLES
1. Presentation of the main findings of the draft evaluation report to the project management team in Nairobi
2. Final Evaluation Report
SCOPE OF WORK
The following key issues need to be addressed by the mission. The present list however is not exhaustive and additional issues might come up during the mission.
Relevance (including coherence and the appropriateness of project objectives to the problems that it was supposed to address, and to the physical and policy environment within which it operated)
- Coherence with OFDA’s guidelines in particular in food and livelihood security, and in reaching the vulnerable groups;
- Did the main assumptions hold true and how did the project adapt (degree of flexibility and adaptability);
- Overall design strength and weaknesses, including quality and clarity of the indicators, in particular appropriateness to target primarily poor and very poor as direct beneficiaries.
- The consistency of Horn Relief’s planning and response and gender sensitive approach to programming
Efficiency (the cost, speed and management efficiency with which inputs and activities were converted into results and the quality of the results achieved)
- Day-to-day project management by Horn Relief, including budget management, preparation of project work plans, reporting;
- Project management system and its way of operation;
- Quality and reliability of monitoring system;
- Application of gender disaggregated information in the Project Cycle Management;
- Efficiency and appropriateness of the structure and the overall staffing relative to the tasks executed (including female / male share of responsibilities); gender expertise available among Horn Relief management/ staff involved with implementation
- Respect of and adherence to guidelines, rules and regulations of donors;
- Quality of training activities;
- Assessment of value of outputs for money or project costs justified by benefits, in comparison with similar projects;
- Assessment of value of the baseline survey to the project;
- Assessment of value of internal controls i.e. monitoring tools
Effectiveness (assess the contribution from the project results and how assumptions have affected the project)
- To what extent did the program reach its intended beneficiaries , and were the safeguards in place effective to assure adherence to selection criteria;
- To what extent are long term development needs likely to be met across the affected populations and areas?
- How well did the project establish improved food security and livelihood practices for vulnerable groups;
- To what extent were the skills training and agricultural interventions were completed within the planned duration?
- To what extent did assumptions hold true and how well were the mitigating measures put into use?
Impact (the effect of the project on its wider environment, and its contribution to the wider objectives summarized in the project overall objective)
- Impact of the project to alleviate food insecurity of the target population;
- Impact on their social status and the self-help potential of the target group members;
- Impact on the household food and livelihood security;
- Impact of the project on cross cutting issues such as gender and environment;
- Economic and financial analysis of the project operation.
- Measure and asses the project impact and results based on the log frame indicators and benchmarks established in the proposal.
- Occurrence of conflict/security incidents as a result of the project
- Any negative impacts (e.g. did any groups stop other potentially viable engagements to seek inclusion in projects activities? Did the project dilute any community group’s/entrepreneurs’ efforts to provide similar service?)
Sustainability (the likelihood of a continuation in the stream of benefits produced by the project)
- Can the beneficiaries continue in a sustainable way farming and skills practices they have initiated during the project;
- More generally, level of continuity of results and achievements which can be expected under ex-post project conditions;
- Adequacy of the project budget for its purpose;
- Accountability for cross cutting issues in gender and environment.
Additional tasks
In addition to the above, the final evaluation mission will specifically assess and evaluate the following issues:
- Participation of beneficiaries while designing, planning, implementing and monitoring project activities.
- The mission will also identify lessons learnt and give recommendations of general and specific nature which are useful to the Horn Relief for the planning, preparation and implementation of livelihood projects in the future.
- Unintended project impact.
METHODOLOGY
The methodology involves direct and indirect data collection, analysis and drawing conclusions/deductions. The direct data collection will be done through visits to project sites in Afmadow and Hagar districts in Lower Juba, Somalia and indirect data collection will be done through extensive literature review.
It is envisaged that the methodology used during this final evaluation will include at least the following:
1. Documentation review e.g. baseline, monitoring reports, existing data etc
2. Discussion with key project staff in Horn Relief Nairobi, HR field offices and with other stakeholders.
3. Field visits in the implementation areas.
4. Structured and semi-structured interviews with key project stakeholders and community leaders and beneficiaries holding positions in community structures/bodies and direct beneficiaries.
5. Focus group discussions and interviews with field staff and with sample beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries.
6. Observations.
7. Qualitative and Quantitative questionnaires
Evaluation phases
a) Briefing in Nairobi.
b) Refinement of methodology/design phase
c) Training of enumerators
d) Travel to field locations.
e) Field data collection.
f) Data entry and analysis, report draft and reviews.
g) Presentation of draft report
h) Presentation of final report
Stakeholders involvement and specific target group
To the extent possible, data should be collected using participatory appraisal techniques. Village leadership and women and men members of households from pastoral, agro-pastoral and other target communities should be involved in data collection.
Location and duration of the survey
The final evaluation will be conducted in the following locations and villages:
Afmadow & Hagar Districts - Target locations
No Main site Satellite villages
1 - Afmadow Afmadow
Caglibah / Jigeysta
2 - Hayo Hayo
3 - Harbole Harbole
Mido
4 - Janna Abdalla Janna Abdalla
Kamashley / Libahley
Soya
5 - Magar Yeya /Hagarsu
Jammar
Magar
6 - Hagar Nasiriya
Hagar
Qalaule
The total duration of the final evaluation will be 30 days.
Data and information collection methodology
Data will be collected from secondary sources and by direct field data collection. As noted above, field data collection should be through participatory appraisal techniques wherever possible. Data should be entered in a database from the beginning of field data collection, enabling early data elaboration and analysis.
Reporting requirements
The draft report should be submitted on 14th February 2010. The final report is expected to be ready and presented by 28th February 2010. The report should be provided in hard copy (5 copies) and soft copy. Maps and photos should be provided in soft copy (CD; DVD). The report is expected to be presented to the project management team and field team. Presentation by Power Point software or similar is recommended.
EXPERTISE REQUIRED
The external consultant should have the following qualifications and experience.
1. Post graduate degree in food security or related field.
2. At least five years of hands on experience in conducting assessments, mid term reviews and evaluations.
3. Experience as team-leader in project evaluations/mid-term reviews is essential;
4. He/she must have profound knowledge in agriculture and economic analysis of development projects;
5. He/she must be experienced in developing and implementing gender sensitive evaluation methodologies in livelihood and food security frameworks;
6. Ability to assess/review critically the project activities and results.
7. Good knowledge and experience in survey design, implementation of surveys and statistical data analysis is required;
8. Familiar with PCM and USAID/OFDA requirements for evaluations
9. Experience in the use of participatory appraisal techniques in data collection.
10. Previous work experience in Somalia and knowledge of Somali culture is essential. Experience in South Somalia is desirable.
WORK PLAN AND TIMETABLE
Phase No of Days
1 Briefing and review of material in Nairobi Kenya 2 days
2 Refinement of methodology/design phase and training of enumerators 2 days
3 Travel to Afmadow Lower Juba, Somalia 3 days
4 Meeting with project management team and field visit preparation. 1 day
5 Field data collection. 8 days
6 Travelling back to Nairobi 2 days
7 Data analysis, draft report and review 6 days
8 Presentation draft and final report 2 days
Total number of days 30 days
Horn Relief will provide logistical support and transport for field work.
Reference Code: RW_7Y4KWV-31
