1) Evaluation Facts
Project Title: Program for Economic Reintegration and Livelihood Enhancement (PEARL)
Timing of Evaluation: 15th October – 15th November, 2015
Evaluation Owner: Danish Refugee Council, South Sudan
Evaluation Manager: Monitoring & Evaluation Coordinator
Evaluation Team: Evaluation Consultant, M&E Coordinator, Team Leader (Aweil), Fppd Security & Livelihood Coordinator, Enumerators
Type of evaluation: End of Project Evaluation
Evaluation Trigger: The PEARL project has commitment to conduct the evaluation at the end of project.
2) Objectives of the Evaluation
The overall objective of the end project evaluation is to assess the degree to which PEARL project has attained the objectives and results as outlined in Grants agreement. The evaluation will particularly emphasize on evaluation criteria of OECD DAC i.e. relevance/appropriateness, effectiveness, efficiency, impact and sustainability of the interventions and extract the lessons/recommendations to enhance the quality of future food security and livelihood program in South Sudan.
The main focus of the evaluation will be “To measure the extent to which the targeted household have improved standard of living through shortened hunger gap, increased household income and savings”
The specific objectives of the evaluation include;
The targeted farmer groups assisted through farming inputs, extension services and animal traction have increased crop and seeds production.
The targeted household provided with training in business management skills resulted in increase and diversified income.
The targeted household and local population have improved access to the financial services ensuring sustainability of IGAs.
3) Intended use of the Evaluation findings and recommendations
The findings/recommendations from evaluation will be used at field level in order to inform future planning and designing of similar interventions with improved version as well as can be beneficial at the HQ level both in terms of relevance of recommendations and follow up on evaluation methodologies for similar projects in other country operations.
The evaluation findings will be presented to senior management in country with relevant staff, with concern donors and other related food cluster group through email and lesson learned not along with final report with HQ.
4) Context and background to the project
Food insecurity is one of the most persistent and pervasive challenges faced by families in South Sudan. Whereas the southern states show increased production, open borders and greater access to food, the northern border states with Sudan are among the worst effected by decreased food stocks, inflationary prices, closed borders, continued conflict and crop loss due to flooding. The situation in Northern Bahr el Ghazal state is no exception; the “South Sudan Food Security Update, 26 September 20121 indicates that Aweil North conditions are considered at crisis levels of Level 3 for the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC3) while other counties are stressed (IPC 2). Data provided by the Food Security and Livelihoods Cluster as of September 2012 estimates that Aweil East and North suffer the highest rates of food insecurity and Aweil North hosts approximately 11,000 IDPs. Northern Bahr el Ghazal is also the host to more than 456,000 returning refugees that stress the capacity of local institutions and government to support the increased population. Food insecurity and poverty in Aweil Centre are deeply intertwined with lack of basic access to markets and services caused by poor infrastructure and isolation resulting from few roads.
Danish Refugee Council (DRC) has been implementing the European Commission funded Program for Economic Reintegration and Livelihoods Enhancement (PEARL) project in NBeG since February 2013. PEARL is a European Commission Special program for rural development and food security which is part of the wider efforts geared towards contributing to sustainable, pro-poor development and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The PEARL project will formally end on the 30th of November 2015. DRC plans to conduct a final end of project evaluation of the PEARL project between mid-October and the end of November 2015.
The overall objective of PEARL has been to contribute to rural economic reintegration and sustainable livelihood recovery for IDPs/returnees and vulnerable host populations in Aweil Centre and Aweil North Counties in Northern Bahr El Ghazal State in South Sudan.
Specifically PEARL has aimed:
To improve food security among conflict-affected target populations
To develop sustainable income sources and facilitate access to financial services to rebuild livelihoods of conflict affected population
PEARL project has built on foundations established by the original Relief and Rehabilitation Program initiatives in the mid-2000s while consolidating the gains made under the previous Food Security Thematic Program (FSTP) in Aweil Centre and the Farmer Field School and capacity building programs under the DANIDA-funded project, “Community Driven Development for the Peaceful Reintegration and Support of Conflict Affected People, Jan – Dec 2012”.
5) Scope of the evaluation
Time frame: 15th October, 2015 to 15th November, 2015
Thematic areas: Food Security and Livelihood, Income Generating Activities
Geographical areas: Aweil Centre and Aweil North, Northern Bahr el Ghazal (NBeG) State
Develop Inception report/Response to ToRs and present for review and approval.
Develop primary methodology of the survey, data collection tools, sampling and analysis instruments and present for review and approval.
Facilitate an expert/stakeholder review of the tools and methodology proposed for the survey in Aweil NBeG state.
Revise the tools and methodology proposed for the survey based on feedback from the expert/stakeholder review.
Train data collectors from DRC staff and government extension staff on use of data collection tools.
Lead the data collection exercise with participation of DRC staff and government extension staff.
Perform data analysis.
Generate and present the draft final evaluation report for expert/stakeholder review and input in Aweil NBeG state. To check the factual basis of the evaluation, and to discuss the draft findings, conclusions and recommendations.
Incorporate stakeholder/expert comments and submit final report.
Present the final evaluation report to DRC.
6) Evaluation Criteria
The End Project Evaluation of PEARL project will use those of the OECD DAC evaluation criteria for humanitarian emergencies (as described in Beck 2006) that are assess to be relevant for the objective of EPE, which includes.
Relevance/Appropriateness
Effectiveness
Efficiency
Impact
Sustainability (Although the OECD DAC does not mention sustainability criteria, but the thematic area of FSL implemented by the project requires subject criteria to be included.)
In addition, the following DRC Operational Principles relevant to the project should be taken into account:
Protection: The DRC’s activities improve, rather than undermine, the protection of people.
Emergency Preparedness and Response: The DRC responds timely, effectively and comprehensively to humanitarian emergencies where the DRC is present.
7) Key evaluation questions
Relevance/Appropriateness
How relevant/appropriate is the project approach? (Farmer Field Schools, Seed Grower Groups, Village Savings and Loan Association, Value Chain, Cross learning opportunities, Income Generating Activity, and Market Linkages).
Effectiveness
Are the project progress according to the envisaged targets/objectives and how far the project achieved the outcome indicators?
Efficiency
How far funding, staff, time and other resources contributing to or hindering the achievement of the results?
Is ‘Value for money’ achieved?
Impact
What difference is expected in the lives of those targeted as compare to the baseline?
How does the project engage with poorest of the poor and vulnerable communities?
Sustainability
What are the prospects for the benefits of the project to be sustained after the interventions are over?
Does the project define the exit strategy?
8) Evaluation deliverables
i) Agreed study design and tools.
ii) An agreed and peer-reviewed (other NGOs, FAO and Governmental stakeholders) final project evaluation report.
iii) Presentation of evaluation findings and recommendations: The evaluator will present the evaluation findings and the recommendation to a group of participants from DRC senior management and relevant implementing managers/coordinators.
Final Report: The evaluator(s) will produce/submit a report in hard and soft form (of no more than 30 pages plus annexes, in Microsoft Word). The report should include:
Basic Information (1 page)
Executive Summary (2 - 3 page)
Introduction/Background of the project (2 pages)
Evaluation methodology
Findings from the evaluation in relation to the Section-7 above
Summary of recommendations/lessons (Specific, simple and doable recommendations)
Annexes - Evaluation ToRs, Evaluation schedule, List of persons interviewed and sites visited, Documents consulted, Data collection tools and detailed analysis
Data Tables, Graphical representation, List of areas visited, Questionnaires, List of people met Program. List of community people met/interviewed (will ensure maintain Gender balance).
List of any other stakeholders including government, donors other implementing agencies in same area of DRC as relevant to the evaluation.
9) Recommended documentation for Review
Revised project proposal (including the original proposal)
Revised log frame (including the original log frame)
Monitoring data and analysis of that data
Project Narrative and Financial Reports (Interim and Annual Reports)
EC Technical Advisor Monitoring Reports
Baseline report
Mid-term evaluation report.
Project assessment and monitoring reports e.g. Household dietary diversity survey report, FFS assessment report, IGA assessment reports.
Annual Review documents.
10) Expertise Required (qualifications and competencies)
The team of consultant or consultancy firm will be expected to present the following qualifications and competencies:
i) A minimum of master’s degrees in the fields of agriculture, demography, development studies, and statistics, etc.
ii) At least 5 years’ experience in conducting research and evaluation of agriculture and livelihoods related programs, with specific emphasis on measuring smallholder agricultural productivity and household income.
iii) Comprehensive knowledge of South Sudan’s agriculture and development context.
iv) Experience of conducting similar studies in South Sudan or similar contexts (including EC funded LRRD projects).
v) Ability to interpret and analyse complex qualitative and quantitate data and to present finding and recommendations in a clear and concise way
vi) Demonstrated ability to produce high quality reports and publications.
vii) Excellent inter-personal communication including experience of facilitation and presentation.
viii) Ability to work under pressure and to meet deadlines.
ix) Knowledge and sensitivity to political and social contexts of South Sudanese communities.
11) Submission of Proposal
All expressions of interest should include the following:
i. Cover Letter: A short (maximum three pages) letter addressing the evaluation criteria.
ii. Technical proposal detailing
How the consultant/firm understands of the scope of work and evaluation objectives.
A detailed methodology of how the assignment will be conducted and within a period not exceeding 30 days
A work plan outlining the scheduling of major activities.
A profile indicating the consultants/firm’s experience in the assignments of similar nature.
Curriculum vitae of team leader and technical experts.
iii. Financial Proposal detailing
Financial proposal with itemized budgets and explanation notes.
Accompanying documents, technical and financial proposals should be submitted through email to: m&e.coord@drc-ssudan.org
Deadline for submission of proposal is 31st August, 2015 1700 hrs (Juba South Sudan Time).
HOW TO APPLY:
Apply here
