Improving Food Security and Boosting Farm Income for Women Smallholder Farmers in Rwanda-IFS Project

TERMS OF REFERENCE FOR RECRUITMENT OF A CONSULTANT FOR BASELINE STUDY OF KUNGAHARA PROJECT.

1. Introduction

ActionAid Rwanda (AAR) is a Non-Governmental Organization and an Affiliate member of the ActionAid Global Federation. AAR is committed to combating poverty and working with marginalized communities. Since its inception in Rwanda in 1982, AAR has strived to achieve social justice, gender equality, and poverty eradication by empowering communities, redistributing resources, and advocating for the rights of those living in poverty and exclusion with a focus on women and girls.

To achieve this mission, AAR supports communities and advocate for food rights, women’s rights, and empowerment, and based on AAR Country Strategy Paper (CSPII) aiming at strengthening resilient livelihoods and secure climate justice. This focuses on specific issues namely:

• Access to land, resilient livelihoods, and food security,
• Agro-ecology and sustainable environment
• Access to markets and financial services

One of the outcomes to achieve priority 2 is that women smallholder farmers are able to practice agro-ecology, increase productivity, advance value chain management and are linked to financial institutions for credit to expand their businesses.

To achieve this, AAR has secured a grant from the European Union to implement a 3-year Project entitled “Improving Food Security and Boosting Farm Income for Women Smallholder Farmers in Rwanda-IFS Project”. This Project will be implemented jointly with TUBIBE AMAHORO. It will operate in Nyaruguru, Gisagara, Nyanza, Musanze and Karongi Districts and work with women cooperatives supporting women cooperatives.

In this regard, Action Aid Rwanda would like to recruit a consultant to conduct a baseline study for the Project.

2. Purpose and objectives of the Consultancy

The objective of the baseline assessment is to prepare a detailed reference database composing baseline information to guide KUNGAHARA Project’s management team in measuring its anticipated change. This baseline data will provide specific values for all indicators in the Logical Framework at the start of the project. Baseline data i) informs the establishment of realistic and achievable targets; (ii) provides a point of reference against which progress on or towards the achievement of outcomes will be assessed, monitored, and evaluated; and (iii) informs project implementation.

Specific objectives include:

• Review the Logical Framework and in particular the re-formulation of indicators, addition of new indicators, revision of target values, and data collection methods as necessary and in line with the EU result-based management guidelines.
• Proceed with data collection and provide baseline information by measuring the value for all indicators at outcome level (immediate, intermediate, and ultimate) where relevant within the corresponding target populations.
• Establish base to develop a project M&E framework to monitor project implementation and evaluation of impact throughout the lifetime of the action. This will also be an opportunity to further identify risks and assumptions which might have developed since the original evaluation and project submission.

3. Scope of Work:

The consultant will need to read the project proposal and its annexed log frame to determine the most appropriate methodology to be adopted in undertaking this assignment. However, the study will have to consider the following categories on the targets groups (TGs) who are direct project participants.

 TG1: 3,300 small-scale women farmers organized in 110 cooperatives that already have legal status with an average of at least 30 members each. In addition to the 3,300 women members of the existing cooperatives, ActionAid Rwanda and Tubibe Amahoro will encourage around 500 family members (especially men and youth) of the women in cooperative to join the capacity building programs and apply the learned practices on their family gardens. Among the additional beneficiaries the project will encourage around 100 youth to mainly focus on post-harvest handling of the production and commercialization as youth is much interested with technology practices involved in the post harvest handling. ActionAid Rwanda and its co-applicant Tubibe Amahoro already have relationships and existing experience working directly with these groups and have a real and in-depth understanding of the challenges they are facing, and the opportunities could benefit them.

TG2: Children from 55 pre-school, primary and secondary schools including students in Training and Vocational Education schools. Each of these schools has an average of 2000 students who will benefit from the School Feeding Programme that will depends on local food production to cover their nutritional needs.

TG3: 21 extension service providers (10 from target districts and 11 operating at a sector level) already in place and whose mandate is to ensure sustainable and sufficient food production and availability within households and local communities.

TG4: Four main agricultural input supply companies categorized into seeds, fertilizers, irrigation and post-harvest covering the target communities.

TG5: 85 representatives of local authorities including: 25 District-level officials from different institutions such as the Ministry of Agriculture, the Rwanda Agriculture Board and the Ministry of Gender and Family Promotion among others; 44 sector-level authorities, including one executive secretary, one land officer, one gender officer and

one operations officer for each of the 11 districts, and 16 private sector representatives already working with the local government.

4. Timeline:

The consultancy assignment is expected to be completed within four weeks from the commencement date.

5. The project indicators to be measured.

During the project design period, the consortium, defined and established a set of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that will be used to measure project success over time. The consortium also planned that the indicators measured during the baseline study will again be measured at the end of the project to identify project achievements. The expected results of the project and their corresponding indicators to be measured throughout the project implementation are included in the table below:

Project objectives and indicators

6. Deliverables of the assignment

Listed below are the main deliverables that are expected from the consultant. 

A. An inception report: The consultant will produce an inception report in which they will describes the consultant’s understanding of the Terms of References and outlines the objectives, methods, and expectations of the assignment. As part of the inception report, the consultant will include as an annex well-structured tools and instruments, which will be used for data collection, including a list of key documents that will b read for desk review, survey questionnaires, interview guidelines, and any other data collection forms. 

B. A Report of the Baseline study : The primary deliverable that will be produced by the consultant is a comprehensive baseline report, which will provide values for the measured project Key Performance Indicators. This report will include an overview of the project's objectives, the methodology used for data collection, a description of the population and the sample, a description of the study area, and detailed findings based on the data collected, anticipated risks and the proposed mitigation measures. Additional information that will be presented in the baseline report will include the following.

• Raw Data: The consultant will share the raw data collected during the baseline study, including survey responses, interview transcripts, and any other data sources.

• Data Analysis Report: The consultant will present an analysis of the collected data, including both quantitative and qualitative data. This report will include statistical summaries, data visualization, and a clear interpretation of the findings, highlighting strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and risks related to small holder women cooperatives. 

• Comparison with Benchmarks: The consultant will compare the baseline findings to relevant benchmarks or best practices in food production and women small holder cooperatives. This will help identify areas where women small holder cooperatives as well as individual women may need improvement and set realistic goals for the project. 

• Stakeholder Engagement Report: The consultant will identify and document the key stakeholders involved in the project. This report will detail their roles, interests, and levels of engagement to ensure a clear understanding of who should be involved in project activities.
• Feedback Mechanism: The consultant propose a feedback mechanism to the consortium to gather input and insights from project stakeholders on the baseline assessment process and findings. 

C. Annexes to the report will include: 

• Risk Assessment: The consultant will identify potential risks and challenges that may impact on the project's success. This should include a risk register with mitigation strategies and contingency plans.
• Documentation of Data Sources: The consultant will include a detailed list of all data sources used during the baseline study. This documentation is crucial for transparency and for future evaluations of the project.
• Presentation Materials: The consultant will prepare presentation materials, such as slides or a summary report, to communicate the baseline findings to project stakeholders, funders, and the broader community. 

7. Proposal specifications

Candidates are invited to bid on the assignment described above not later than January 19^th, 2024. Decision for contract negotiations will be taken within 10 days, based on a technical and financial assessment of the proposals as outlined below. Proposals received after this deadline will not be accepted.

Detailed technical and financial proposals must be submitted in English as one single PDF document. 

The Technical Proposal should not exceed 5 pages and should demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the tasks set forth and the candidate’s capacity to perform the assignment. The following information should be provided in the technical proposal:

• In-depth description of the candidate’s recent experience in a similar assignment.
• Description of the methodology proposed to reach the outcomes.
• Estimated days for preparation and completion of the assignment.
• Up-to-date C.V. of the Lead Consultant and his team members note more than 4pages.

The following information shall be disclosed as part of the technical proposal:

• Statement to certify that all the information provided in the candidate’s bid is, to the best of its knowledge, accurate and complete. Any misleading or false information may result in disqualification of the candidate at the sole discretion of Action Aid Rwanda.
• References
• List of previous contracts and their amounts.

The financial proposal should be submitted in Rwf with sufficient details to facilitate cost comparison and assessment. The candidate must specify the cost of:

• Consultant fees, Per diem.
• Travel/transportation.
• Other direct costs.

The financial proposal of the selected candidate will be reviewed during contract negotiations to determine the final contract price. The contract will be drawn up during the negotiation stage. 

8. Evaluation of proposals

Technical proposals will be evaluated and ranked on the basis of the assessment specified below. The technical evaluation may also include interviews with the experts named in the proposals. The results of these interviews will be factored into the final technical score of the proposals and the original ranking of the bidders will be adjusted accordingly.

The following criteria will be used to assess proposals:

The minimum pass marks to financial evaluation will be : 50/70 

9. Qualifications: 

1. The consultant(s) should possess a master's or Ph.D. degree in a relevant field such as Agriculture, agroecology, crop production, economics, agriculture marketing or a related discipline.
2. Prior experience in conducting baseline studies, impact assessments, or research related to agriculture production, cooperatives management, women empowerment and emancipation or similar areas. Copies of certificate of completion for three most similar tasks are desirable.
3. Knowledge of quantitative and qualitative research methodologies and data collection techniques.
4. Familiarity with the dynamics, challenges, and opportunities in agriculture, women cooperatives and their role in food production.
5. Strong interpersonal and communication skills to engage with women, government officials, and other stakeholders involved in the project.
6. Knowledge of ethical considerations in research, including obtaining informed consent and ensuring the privacy and safety of research participants, especially when working with women.
7. Proficiency in the relevant languages spoken by women and communities to facilitate effective communication and data collection. 

10. Reporting: 

The consultant(s) will report to the Programme Policy and Business Development Lead and coordinate closely with the Project Coordinator. 

Interested applicants should send financial and technical proposals in PDF format or Word document to actionaid.rwanda@actionaid.org not later than January 8^th, 2024, at 12h00 PM.   

Done at Kigali, 18/12/2023. 

MWANGAVU Ines,

Executive Director

Action Aid Rwanda