Afghanistan: Mid-term evaluation of the animal health project
Mission d’Aide au Développement des Economies Rurales – Afghanistan
Country Director Tel : +93 798018616 e-mail: countrydirector@madera-afgha.org Program Manager Tel: +93 795937621 e-mail: pm.ah@madera-afgha.org
[TERMS OF REFERENCE FOR MID-TERM EVALUATION]
December 2015, Kabul – Afghanistan
House #113, Street 7, Qala-e-Fatullah, Kabul
TABLE OF CONTENT
1 Overview of MADERA ………………………………………………………………………………… 3
2 Overview of the program ……………………………………………………………………………… 3
3 Objectives and scope of the evaluation …………………………………………………………… 4
3.1 Project implementation ……………………………………………………………………………… 5
3.2 Project progress and impact (outcomes) ………………………………………………………… 5
3.3 Learning from First Half of Project and Recommendations…………………………………… 5
4 Methodologies and approaches ………………………………………………………………………. 5
4.1 Document Review ……………………………………………………………………………………… 6
4.2 Field visits ……………………………………………………………………………………………….. 6
4.3 Interviews ………………………………………………………………………………………………… 6
5 Deliverables ………………………………………………………………………………………………… 7
6 Duration and timelines …………………………………………………………………………………… 8
7 Budget ………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 9
8 Required profile of the consultant ……………………………………………………………………… 9
9 Evaluation criteria ………………………………………………………………………………………… 10
10 Auction of the offer and contract …………………………………………………………………….. 10
11 Presentation of the technical and financial offer …………………………………………………. 10
1 OVERVIEW OF MADERA
Mission d’Aide au Développement des Economies Rurales – Afghanistan (MADERA) is a French non-profit, non-governmental organisation, founded in 1988, which operates only in Afghanistan. Its actions are oriented towards empowering rural communities by building their capacities and supporting their initiatives, with the aim of giving them greater control over their own development.
MADERA implements both short-term emergency humanitarian aid and longer-term development projects, in collaboration with rural populations. These programs include the following elements:
• Community development: support to local development projects;
• Natural resource management: rangeland rehabilitation, forestry;
• Agricultural production: research and extension, support to producers’ groups, arboriculture;
• Livestock: support to veterinary services, vaccinations, animal husbandry;
• Income generating activities;
• Civil engineering: access to water, irrigation, construction and rehabilitation of infrastructure;
• Emergency distributions (food or agriculture inputs);
• Third-party monitoring.
MADERA abides by humanitarian principles, and provides assistance to people regardless of gender, religion or ethnicity. It currently employs 250 national staff in the field and 6 expatriates, and has a budget of around €3 million. MADERA is governed by a Board of 16 members, based in Paris, France.
Currently, MADERA intervenes in 2 geographic zones, covering 6 provinces:
- Central Region: Wardak and Bamyan
- Eastern Region: Kunar, Laghman, Nangarhar, Nuristan
2 OVERVIEW OF THE PROGRAM
MADERA and Relief International, two NGOs working in Afghanistan, have come together as a consortium to implement a 4 year program, funded by the European Union (EU). The Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock (MAIL) is involved at national, provincial and district level. The program aims to increase the livelihoods of the rural population of 9 provinces of Afghanistan: Nangarhar, Nimroz, Ghazni, Kapisa, Wardak, Bamyan, Laghman, Kunar and Nuristan, through the promotion of animal health services and animal health husbandry practices.
Title: Support to Animal Health and Animal Husbandry in Afghanistan
General objective of the Program:
Contribute to the improvement of rural livelihoods through food security and farming incomes, and thus, take part in the overall economic recovery of Afghanistan.
• Specific objective 1: Improve the coverage and the quality of animal health services;
• Specific objective 2: Disseminate animal husbandry best practices in order to increase the quality and quantity of animal products; In order to achieve these specific objectives, the project is divided in to 4 components with the following results to be achieved at the end of the project:
Component 1: Veterinary Field Unit (VFU) have improved their capacity to provide animal health services:
• Result 1: Maintain and extend the animal health network and improve its sustainability
• Result 2: Improve the quality of animal health services • Result 3: Strengthen the partnership between public and private animal health sectors • Result 4: Increase the demand for quality health services
Component 2: Linkage between AHSPs and farmers has been strengthened through the implementation of an efficient extension system:
• Result 1: Regularly assess farmers’ knowledge about animal health and husbandry
• Result 2: Improve the quality and relevance of extension systems
• Result 3: Train farmers through the Farmer Field School (FFS) approach
Component 3: Improve animal husbandry practices lead to better animal products • Result 1: Improve livestock’s housing conditions
• Result 2: Develop and improve feeding and nutrition of animals
• Result 3: Support the AHSPs with artificial insemination activities and raise awareness of herders Component 4: A consistent monitoring system provides recommendations and guidance all through the project
• Result 1: Design a strong monitoring and evaluation system
• Result 2: Conduct a baseline study in the targeted areas, and refine indicators of achievements
• Result 3: Conduct a mid-term evaluation and final evaluation, and an impact survey of the project
• Result 4: Conduct specific surveys based on project’s needs
3 OBJECTIVES AND SCOPE OF THE EVALUATION
The objective of the Mid-Term Evaluation is to enable MADERA and Relief International to assess the progress in the delivery of the Project outcomes and, based on this assessment, if need be, to re-orientate and/or further emphasize some aspects of the project during the remaining implementation period. The evaluation will attempt to determine, as objectively as possible, the relevance, efficiency, effectiveness, impact and sustainability of the project. The evaluation will assess the achievements of the project against its stated outcomes, including a re-examination of the relevance of the outcomes and of the project design. It will also identify significant factors that are facilitating or impeding the delivery of outcomes. Whilst a review of the past is in itself very important, the evaluation is expected to lead to recommendations and lessons learned for the future.
3.1 Project implementation
• General implementation and management of both MADERA and Relief International in terms of quality of inputs and activities, adherence to work plans and budget, major factors which have facilitated or impeded the progress of project implementation;
• Adequacy of management arrangements as well as monitoring and backstopping support given to the project by both NGOs;
• Responsiveness of project management to change in the environment in which the project operates; • Coordination between MADERA and Relief International, and with other stakeholders;
3.2 Project progress and impact (outcomes)
• Achievement, to date, of the project outcomes (indicators) as detailed in the project documents;
• Project improving on accessibility and quality of animal health services and animal Husbandry practices
• Project impact on improving awareness of farmers through two communication media: posters/leaflets & radio announcement;
• Project impact on improving animal housing conditions;
• Project impact on improving fodder production (from plowing to post harvesting);
• Sustainability of the project’s impact;
• Performance of AHSPs in different province;
3.3 Learning from First Half of Project and Recommendations
• Learn from efforts to date, as basis for exploring ways to adapt or restructure the project or institutional arrangements, if needed.
• Feedback and recommendation on role of MADERA , RI and MAIL during the mid-term implementation period The mid-term evaluation mission will also briefly review the current proposed activities of the project in order to provide perspectives and recommendations for improvement and adjustments.
4 METHODOLOGIES AND APPROACHES
The evaluator will be required to submit a proposal showing the method and tools he/she will use to undertake this evaluation. The evaluator should accomplish the task based on a valid and scientific approach of the evaluation.
Also, the evaluator will propose a chronogram for the evaluation. The evaluation will consist of three activities:
- Document review;
- Field visits;
- Interviews with individuals who are either affiliated with the project in some way or who have or might be expected to be impacted by the project.
MADERA and RI staff will be available upon request to administratively facilitate the Mid-Term Evaluation as required.
4.1 Document Review
The consultant shall familiarize himself with the project through a review of relevant documents prior to the field visits:
• Baseline survey of the project (implemented by ATR on June 2015);
• Proposal contract: proposal, budget and justification, logical framework, guidelines;
• Monthly, quarterly and interim reports; financial audit reports.
Selected documents shall be provided by email or other relevant means to the evaluator in advance of the mission and/or during the mission upon request from the evaluator.
4.2 Field visits
The evaluator will visit provinces where the project is implemented:
• In Eastern provinces (Laghman, Kunar, Nuristan, Nangarhar)
• In Central provinces (Wardak, Kapisa, Ghazni)
• In Nimroz province
The choice of the province will be done by the evaluator in accordance with MADERA and Relief International teams. The final choice of the area covered by the evaluation might change according to the security situation in the provinces.
4.3 Interviews
The evaluator will set up his plan to interview staff, stakeholders and beneficiaries of the project. Interviews will use a simple questionnaire designed to solicit feedback on opportunities and constraints in achieving project outcomes. The questionnaire will be developed by the Evaluator in consultation with the Animal Health team (mainly PM and DPM) and M&E Department and tested with an interviewee nominated by the PM before use. Interviews will be carried out face-to-face or by telephone.
Although the independent evaluator might feel free to discuss with authorities concerned all matters relevant to their assignment.
5 DELIVERABLES
The evaluator will produce the report in English language. The final report will contain a maximum of 50 pages, including annexes. He/she will also produce an executive summary of 3 or 4 pages maximum. Once the evaluation is complete, the consultant will send 2 copies of the Mid Term Evaluation Report in electronic format and physical format (paper) to the entities that have participated in this evaluation.
Based on the above objectives and methodology, the evaluation mission should provide brief, clear, conclusions and recommendations, including:
• The degree to which the project outcomes are likely to be delivered;
• Significant lessons that can be drawn from the experience of the project and its results, to date, particularly those elements that have worked well and those that have not;
• General recommendations on improving implementation for the remainder of the Operational Phase of the project;
• Recommendations on further action upon completion of the current project;
The consultant(s) will deliver the following deliverables to MADERA:
A Mid-Term report according to the following scheme:
Executive Summary
• Brief project description and context
• Purpose and expected use of the evaluation
• Objectives of the evaluation
• Summary of the evaluation methodology
• Principle findings and conclusions, especially relating to project goals / targets
• Key recommendations
• Summary of lesson learned
• Acknowledgements
• Table of contents
• List of acronyms and abbreviationsIntroduction
Context of the evaluation
Purpose of the evaluation
Audience for and use of the evaluation
Objectives of the evaluation
- Evaluation methodology, including: rational for choice of methodology, data sources, methods for data collection and analysis, participatory techniques, major limitations of the methodology
- Composition of the evaluation team, including any specific roles of team members
- Project description, including: context, underlying rationale, stakeholders and beneficiaries, conceptual model, results chain or logical framework, and project monitoring system
Findings
• Design of the project: quality and relevance
• Effectiveness (progress towards objectives and results); contribution of stakeholders; constraints or problems encountered
• Efficiency of planning and implementation
• Impact; progress towards vision and goals
• Sustainability of the project’s results; capacity built, institutional and stakeholders issues
- Conclusions: insights into the findings; reasons for achievements and failures
- Lessons and Recommendations: Recommendations (based on evidence and insights) and lessons learned that can be generalized for the next step of the project
In addition, the final report should contain at least the following annexes:
- Terms of Reference for the evaluation
- Research instruments; questionnaire, interview guide(s), etc.
- Project logical framework
- Specific monitoring data, as appropriate
- Summary tables of progress towards outputs, targets, goals – referring directly to the indicators established for these in the project log frame
- Short biography of the evaluator
- Itinerary
- List of meetings attended
- List of individuals persons interviewed and of stakeholders groups and/ or communities consulted
- Summary of field visits
- List of supporting documents reviewed
- Any other relevant material
- Major references:
• Home visit and group discussion
• AHSP documents
• Monthly reports
• AHSP strategies
• Project proposal During the planning phase, the evaluator will present his/her final work plan and a model of the evaluation report to the Evaluation Management Unit for approval.
6 DURATION AND TIMELINES
The field survey must be done at the beginning of 2016. Because of a possible harsh winter in the Central Region, the field survey can be implemented after the end of the winter season in this region.
The Final Evaluation Report must be submitted before 15th of May 2016.
7 BUDGET
The budget for the entire Mid-Term Evaluation will be provided by the consultant as part of his/her financial proposal, and should include:
- Daily rate
- International flight ticket and visa (if any)
- Per diem
- Domestic Transport:
MADERA will facilitate local transport related to the mission;
Travel has to comply with MADERA safety rules;
Move must be done by car or plane depending on security conditions defined by MADERA.
- Insurance: Insurance for disease, exceptional risks, repatriation;
- Accommodation: MADERA may propose to rent an accommodation in its own “guest house” in Afghanistan if required;
- Interpreter: MADERA will provide a translator Dari/English during the working days of the consultant;
- Logistics: Madera offers the consultant a mobile phone with a SIM card, possibly a satellite phone if the security conditions require it;
- Communications costs, however, will be borne by the consultant.
8 REQUIRED PROFILE OF THE CONSULTANT
• Advanced educational qualification in agriculture or veterinary science, development studies, M&E or related fields, or equivalent demonstrated experience,
• Demonstrated ability to reliably contribute to output- and outcome-based evaluations, both assessment and learning aspects;
• Working experience with donors such as EU is an asset and familiarity with EU reporting procedures will be appreciated;
• Experience with researching and writing on international environment and/or international development issues; experience in the design and implementation of concise program/project evaluation;
• Minimum 5 years of experience in project Evaluation;
• Excellent oral and written reporting skills and demonstrated ability to write and edit reports; • Ability to write clear and concise reports and to meet required deadlines.
• Required personal traits and qualities:
Flexibility and adaptability
Respectful to local culture and practices
Rigor with pedagogical skills
Team work and relationship building
Capacity to work in remote areas with limited resources and logistics
• Languages: Fluent in English (speaking and writing). Knowledge of Dari (Persian) and Pashto is considered as an asset.
9 EVALUATION CRITERIA
The consultant can’t have been directly involved in the design or implementation of the project. Criteria for assessment of the offer:
The proposed offers will be scored on a total of 100 points, according to the following criteria:
- Technical quality of the proposal in relation to the methodology and the work plan: 70 points
- Financial offer presented: 30 points A score of 30 points will be awarded to the lowest financial offer.
10 AUCTION OF THE OFFER AND CONTRACT
The exclusion or auction of the offer will be sent by email to applicants within the next 15 days counted from the date of the final deadline for submitting proposals.
The formalization of the contract will take place within a maximum of 20 days from the date of notification of the final decision.
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