Georgia: FINAL EVALUATION CONSULTANT

ASSIGNMENT PURPOSE

CARE is completing a four-year Cooperation for Rural Prosperity in Georgia project funded by the European Union through the European Neighborhood Programme for Agriculture and Rural Development (ENPARD-Georgia) and by the Austrian Development Agency. The purpose of this consultancy is to conduct a final evaluation in order to evaluate the impact of the project.

CONTEXT

Most Georgian farmers are smallholders working on less than a hectare, often divided into separate micro-plots. Fragmentation and resulting tiny outputs reduce access of these farmers to both input and output markets and limits options, since large-scale processors and marketers are not interested. With limited ability to achieve economies of scale, farmers have little incentive to raise production or increase quality. Most farmers also lack improved farming methods to do so. Other barriers are limited access to services and finance, weak infrastructure, unfavorable policies and lack of entrepreneurship. Many farmers also fear losing state anti-poverty subsidies (“social assistance”) if they produce more. Rural poverty and low food-production will be addressed through identifying, testing and validating new models of cooperative groups that have the capacity to generate additional revenue for their members and are linked to wider networks of service providers. The project provides basic support for business planning to more than 60 cooperatives and intensified support, including grants, to at least 43 farmer groups. Ultimately, 30 cooperatives with an estimated 600 members will be successful and generate stable and increased income to their members as a result of improved cooperation. Another target group is the Georgian Farmers Association (GFA), a 2nd level entity to represent and support farmer groups, whose capacities to represent and advocate for an enabling policy framework for smallholder farmers will be enhanced.

Overall objective: Sustained increase of food production and rural poverty reduction in Georgia.
Specific objective: Business-oriented smallholder farmer groups within a sustainable support framework cooperate and compete well in markets.

PROJECT LOCATION

The project is being implemented in 9 municipalities of Western Georgia, specifically Khobi, Senaki, Abasha and Martvili (Samegrelo region), Lanckhuti, Ozurgeti and Chokhatauri (Guria region), Tsageri and Lentekhi (Racha-Lechkhumi and Lower Svaneti region). The actions related to the support to the Georgian Farmers’ Association have taken place mainly in Tbilisi.

OVERALL TASKS

An external evaluation will be commissioned to review impact, outcomes and results at the end of the project, and to capture lessons learned and any best practices. The evaluation must follow the five evaluation criteria endorsed by the OECD-DAC (relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, sustainability and impact).

Using participatory processes and ensuring inputs from beneficiaries, partners, stakeholders and staff, the evaluation will assess the project achievements and will specifically assess achievements of key expected results areas:

• Capacity building:

Agricultural cooperatives supported by the project have greater capacity to i) produce agricultural products, ii) operate and plan an agro-business, iii) find markets and buyers, iv) establish fruitful relationships with various stakeholders, v) access to sources of finance, and as a result, increase incomes.

Thanks to the increased capacities within GFA, governance and representativeness, access to funds and provision of services to farmers members have been improved, determining the financial and organizational sustainability of this organization.

• Empowerment:

Agricultural cooperative and members of GFA are empowered to make informed choices regarding production, markets and access to funding.

• Advocacy:

Increased awareness on legislation affecting farmers and farming, by members of the cooperatives and members of GFA. Increased capacities and participation of beneficiary cooperatives and farmers in advocacy actions.

• Monitoring, learning and evaluation:

Project lessons, results and impacts are effectively captured and inform future planning.

The evaluation will refer to baseline data, capture lessons learned, and provide practical recommendations for future programming. The results of the evaluation will be disseminated widely to stakeholders in English and Georgian and in formats for different audiences.

The consultant is responsible for designing final evaluation tools, planning and leading data collection through interviews with project beneficiaries, partners, and stakeholders, and writing the comprehensive report with informed findings and recommendations. The consultant is responsible for the production of a quality output, including where CARE staff or others contribute to the process. The endline survey on target population and focus groups with cooperatives will be implemented by ISET, one of the implementing partners with proven experience and capacities in the field. The methodology and questionnaires designed by ISET in cooperation with CARE should be reviewed and approved by the consultant. ISET will also produce a report containing main conclusions from the endline survey, together with comparison between the endline and baseline data, which can be used as a main reference for the development of the final evaluation report. Other data collection systems such as the endline of the direct beneficiary survey, whose implementation will be led by CARE M&E Coordinator, shall also count on the feedback and approval from the consultant. Besides, other additional tools can be suggested by the consultant for the evaluation of the support to the cooperatives. The consultant should also define the tools required for the evaluation of the project components related to strengthening the Georgian Farmers Association.

Project staff, will support the design of evaluation tools and facilitate in organizing the data collection process, meetings with project partners and key stakeholders in order to ensure smooth implementation.

SPECIFIC TASKS

1) Consult with project staff and CARE senior management team in the process of developing evaluation tool in order to determine an appropriate tool which suits the knowledge and experience of project stakeholders.

2) Work with ISET on reviewing and consolidate the existing methodology and questionnaires for the endline survey. Provide guidance and support as necessary to ensure the quality of the data collection.

3) Work with project team to conduct semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions, and key informant interviews with target beneficiaries including members of cooperatives, members and management of GFA, personnel from Information and Consultation Centers (ICCs), as well as management from Agricultural Cooperatives Development Agency (ACDA), key respondent from MoA and other ENPARD implementers.

4) Analyze and interpret collected information/data and formulate a set of recommendations.

5) Consult the findings and set of recommendation with CARE Senior Management Team and project team.

6) Write the draft report and submit to Project Director, Program Officer and Mission Director for reviewing.

7) Validate findings with CARE Senior Management Team, project staff, and project partners and finalize the draft report.

Outputs and deliverables: A report in English including: A final evaluation report,summary of key findings and recommendation in 5 pages, and relevant narrative or statistical annexes as required.

ARRANGEMENTS & RESOURCES

The Consultant is required to:

• Provide his/her own computer and work from CARE’s Country Office as required. Note: wireless internet access is available in all CARE offices;
• Adhere to CARE’s policies and instructions regarding travel, information technology, human resources, personal behaviour and finance while undertaking this assignment.
• CARE will arrange travel, accommodation and allowances during the trips in the field.
• CARE will cover the expenses of having the report translated into Georgian. In case the consultant is proficient in Georgian, a final revision of the Georgian translation by the consultant will be included in the activities of the consultancy.

REPORTING

The Consultant will report directly to the Project Director and the Program Officer, CARE’s principal contacts for this consultancy.

SELECTION CRITERIA

• Relevant skills and previous research, monitoring & evaluation experience
• Proven track-record in independent research and methodological rigor
• Appropriateness of proposed methodology and its correspondence to these Terms of Reference
• Attention given to gender considerations and the specific needs of women, men, boys and girls
• Value for money and demonstrated cost effectiveness
• High data collection capacity, with strong analytical skills
• Strong/in depth knowledge of qualitative and quantitative techniques, including – for example – proportional piling and/or contribution to change and/or MSC approaches
• Excellent facilitation and presentation skills
• Excellent report writing skills, including ability to write clear and well-argued reports
• Excellent communication and influencing skills, with emphasis on diplomacy
• Excellent level of written and spoken English
• The capacity and willingness to be extremely flexible
• The willingness to cooperate with all project partners
• Experience or knowledge of working and living in relevant regions/contexts
• Politically and culturally sensitive with qualities of patience, tact and diplomacy
• Knowledge of Georgia and Georgian language will be considered positively

The application shall contain the following information:

1. A one page summary indicating the contact information of the candidate and the total remuneration, detailing fees per day and the expected number of days
2. A profile/curriculum outlining the competences relevant to the tasks described above (maximum three pages)
3. A comprehensive plan and timeframe of the activities as related to these terms of reference outlining strategy, approach and milestones, defining a working system for the proper implementation of the tasks and deliverables. This plan should include a table listing the expected number of days of work per task and deliverable (maximum three pages)

Deadline for submission
Interested parties are invited to submit an application in accordance with these instructions to the email addresses below up to Tuesday, October 9, 2017 at 18:00 (Georgian time). Please indicate in the subject: Final Evaluation – ENPARD Coops

Contact details
Silvia Sanjuan, Project Director: Silvia.Sanjuan@care.org
Natia Katsia, M&E Coordinator: Natia.Katsia@care.org