Consultancy for Mid-term evaluation of HortInvest Feb-March 2020

Kigali, Rwanda

Part-time

Contract type: Consultancy contract

Company Description

Background

In January 2018, SNV signed a 4 year agreement with the Embassy of the Royal Kingdom of the Netherlands for the Investing in Horticulture Development in Rwanda Project (HortInvest). Comprised of 5 implementing partners with SNV as the consortium lead; the project implementing parters are; Holland Green-Tech; Wageningen University; Centre for Development Innovation (WCDI), Agriterra;The Sustainable Trade Initiative (IDH).

The HortInvest Project contributes towards the attainment of the mission of the National Horticulture Policy in terms of fast economic growth and rapid reduction in poverty and malnutrition in Rwanda.  The HortInvest Project also furthers the objectives of the Rwanda-Dutch bilateral programme aimed at enhanced food security and private sector development. The expected impact will be primarily noticeable in the six target districts in North-West Rwanda (Rubavu, Karongi, Muhanga, Ngororero, Rutsiro, and Nyabihu).

The HortInvest Project is strongly aligned with GoR Agriculture Policies and Strategies. Its design follows the 4 outcomes of the Rwandan National Horticulture Policy which are:

1.      National horticulture production and in the efficiency of production.

2.      The value which is added domestically within the horticulture sector and in the efficiency of such value adding.

3.      Accelerated growth in net export earnings from trade in fresh and processed horticultural produce, thereby easing the foreign exchange constraint on national economic growth.

4.      Rapid increase in the access of poor households to fruits and vegetables coupled with rapid improvement in the nutritional efficiency of fruit and vegetable use within poor households.

Job Description

Purpose and objectives

This midterm evaluation ( MTE)  will look back in order to look forward and comes up with receommendations for the rest of the Hortinvest period.

The focus of the MTR will be on:

·       Assessment of progress towards results.

·       Identification of operational good practices and challenges in order to make recommendations for any needed improvements (project management, finance, HR, field management, communications and M&E).

·       Monitoring of implementation and adaptive management to improve outcomes.

·       Early identification of risks to sustainability.

The MTR approach should be:

·       Practical, based on existing data and information as well as primary data collection.

·       Able to balance the capture of good practices and achievements as well as constructive guidance for any needed improvements.

·       Focused towards supportive, practical recommendations based on the project context and within the projects sphere of influence.

·       Participatory and collaborative; opening opportunities for discussion and strategic change in the project, as needed.

The key results expected of the MTE are:

An assessment of the status of the first 2.5 years of the project, of which the first seven months of inception phase followed by project implementation, regarding:

1.    Review of project progress so far including progress against project indicators, review of project theory of change,

2.    Identification of adaptive management decisions implemented, integration of cross-cutting themes

3.    Analysis of project implementation to date in relation to early identification of approaches and techniques in place that will result in sustainability and achieve the intended impact.

4.    Recommendations and proposed adjustments of the assumptions, the risk analysis, the theory of Change (ToC), intervention strategies and the project targets. As far as possible, recommendations are:

• Tested in terms of utility, feasibility and conditions of success.

• Detailed in terms of the time frame and target group.

• Taking into account the resources and ability that HortInvest has, to make changes.

It is key as well that some attention will be given on the system changes Hortinvest would have liked to influence and how this could be improved in the last phase.

SCOPE OF WORK

 The consultancy team/consultant  will do the following activities and deliver the following outputs:

Intake and Exchange with the MTE team – Approved Minutes of the Intake

Have thorough taks with the MTE team in order to set the boudaries and make the expectations clear for the deliverables.

Secundary data gathering – Short Document

–          Review existing reports: project proposal, annual reports, baseline reports, upscaling strategy, business case assessments, plans and reviews, etc.

–          Analyse the MEL system and the data provided by the system

Primary Data gathering – Data stored in a data base which is shared with SNV

–           HortInvest staff interview

–          Stakeholders interview including consortium partners, EKN, external advisors, relevant external organisations as NAEB

–           Stakeholders interview  of at least 7 of the running business cases

–          Interview with small and medium sized entrepreneurial farmers involved in the business cases.

–          Interviews with leaders of cooperatives that are benefitting from the project’s cooperative development trajectory

–          Interviews with leaders and health workers in communities where HortInvest is implementing activities to address malnutrition

–          Interview stakeholders in activities of HortInvest to improve the enabling environment for horticultiure sector development, such as members of the Rwanda Horticulture Working group and the Rwanda Potato Stakeholder Platform

–          Field visits to at least 5 of the business cases and innovation projects.

Processing and Analysing – Data processing system which is effective

The project will undertake field data-gathering for this MTE before the consultancy begins.  Data will be gathered against all project indicators.  The project will collect and clean the data.  Data will be presented to the consultant for analysis and processing.  It is expected that the consultant will spot check data quality with some field visits as part of data processing.

Use an efficient data processing system in order to make a good analysis Reporting and Validation – PPT , Draft Report and Final

Report, Minutes of the Validation Meetings

–          Present with a PTT the initial findings of the MTR to the Project Management Committee and the Project Management Team and  the results to the immediate project stakeholders (End of February 2020)

–          Draft and final report (ready by end of March 2020).

–          Any other work the consultancy team deems necessary for a mid-term evaluation. ( Please, specify)

The assignment will take 25 person-days, including preparations, interviews, visits, and reporting, and should take place in the months of February and March 2020.

Qualifications

HortInvest requests qualified consultants to submit a proposal for undertaking this MTR. This proposal should contain:

1.      CV of the lead consultant and other CVs of his/her team

2.      Understanding of the MTE assignement

3.      Methodology proposed

4.      A draft work-plan, including timelines

5.      A budget

The Consultancy team/ consultant should have:

·       A solid track record of earlier project (mid-term) evaluations.

·       Working experience in East Africa, preferably in Rwanda.

·       Good knowledge of the horticulture sector of Rwanda.

·       An understanding of private sector development in developing countries.

·       An understanding of malnutrition,  the issues that cause malnutrition and related impact.

·       An understanding of multi stakeholder processes and/or public private partnerships.

·       An understanding of Food and Nutrion Systems;

·       Knowledge on gender, youth and climate change

·       An understanding of project management

·       Skills/Capacity to conduct interviews, focus group discussions, process and analyse of data.

Additional Information

ANTICIPATED PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE AND LOCATION

The assignment will take 25 person-days, including preparations, interviews, visits, and reporting, and should take place in the months of February and March 2020. six target districts in North-West Rwanda (Rubavu, Karongi, Muhanga, Ngororero, Rutsiro, and Nyabihu are targeted for this Mid-Term evaluation.

SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS

Proposals must be received not later than January 8, 2020, by 5:00 PM Kigali, Rwanda time. Proposals received after the specified time and date will be considered late and will be considered only at the discretion of SNV.

Proposals received in response to this RFP must be priced in Rwandan Francs, including VAT. Please, reference the RFP number in any response to this RFP.

Applicants are responsible for ensuring that their proposals are received by SNV by the instructions, terms, and conditions described in this RFP.  Please note that if there are significant deficiencies regarding responsiveness to the requirements of this RFP, an offer may be deemed “non-responsive” and thereby disqualified from consideration. Failure to adhere with instructions described in this RFP may also lead to disqualification of a proposal from consideration.  SNV reserves the right to waive immaterial deficiencies at its discretion.  Only successful applicants will be contacted.

PROPOSAL REQUIREMENTS

Proposals should include submission of a technical proposal and a detailed cost proposal. Proposals must remain valid for at least sixty (60) days. To be considered, bidders must provide the following in English:

I.               Technical Proposal

   Technical proposals should include the following:

A.       Organizational Information, including:

1.      Organization’s legal name

2.      Contact name

3.      Contact person’s position

4.      E-mail address

5.      Telephone number

B.       Description of Methodology: Not to exceed 3 pages narrative on the service provider’s methodology for executing the Proposed Approach/Objectives/SOW/Deliverables as described above.

C.       Timeline: A detailed timeline required to complete the project.

D.       Capability Statement: Not to exceed 2  pages narrative on the applicant’s capabilities to perform the scope of work indicating past experience. The service provider may include as an annexe brief descriptions of previous projects implemented.

E.       References: A minimum of three client references worked within the past two years on an activity that is similar to this Scope of Work. Include the contact information: company or organization, name, phone number and email.

F.        Staffing: Names, CVs (not to exceed 2 pages each), and 2-3 sentence bios for proposed staff.

                Cost Proposal

The detailed fixed price cost proposal should be accompanied by a budget narrative that clearly describes how the budgeted amounts are calculated:

A.     A brief narrative explanation and justification for each line item must be included in a separate section entitled “budget narrative” and include data to support total price budgeted and/or methodologies to support budgeted amounts. The budget narrative serves as justification for each cost included in a budget; should be presented in such a way as to be easily referenced from the budget, and should provide sufficient information so that SNV may review a proposed budget for reasonableness.  All prices must be in accordance with the organization’s standard practices and policies.

B.      Budgets must be sufficiently detailed to demonstrate reasonableness and completeness. Applicants including budget information determined to be unreasonable, incomplete, unnecessary for the completion of the proposed project, or based on a methodology that is not adequately supported may be deemed unacceptable.

Budgets from all applicants lawfully registered as businesses in Rwanda should be submitted in Rwandan Francs.

Please indicate the inclusion/exclusion of any applicable taxes, such as TVA

The key indicators of Hortinvest on impact level are:

1.      Increased turn over and value-addition by horticultural businesses targeting domestic and/or (regional) export markets

2.      Increased incomes for small & medium-sized entrepreneurial female & male farmers

3.      Improved dietary diversity and access to safe food for rural and urban consumers

4.      Increased adoption of horticulture crops by Rwandan farmers.

5.      Diversification of horticulture crops by Rwandan farmers due to market demand.

6.      Districts and Exporters on right track in terms of horticulture development.

And the 4 key components are:

Component 1: Domestic and Regional Value Chains

Outcome 1:      Progressive increase in the value which is added domestically within the horticulture sector and progressive improvement in the efficiency of such value-adding.

Component 2: Food and Nutrition Security

Outcome 2:      Progressive increase in the ability of poor households to acquire fruits and vegetables and progressive improvement in the efficiency of fruit and vegetable use in poor households.

Component 3: Export Value Chains:

Outcome 3:      Rapid growth in net export earnings from trade in fresh and processed horticultural produce.

Component 4: Enabling Environment of the Horticulture Sector in Rwanda

Outcome 4: Increased national capacity to undertake improved horticulture-sector policy analysis and planning.

Monitoring, evaluation, and learning system

The project’s MEL system developed in 2019, is tracking all agreed output, outcome and impact indicators of the approved results matrix. Although HortInvest reports to EKN on an annual basis, part of the MEL results is updated and reviewed on a monthly basis. For baseline and end-line surveys, SNV and its partners use the software and e-questionnaires of AKVO FLOW and planned for extra studies and more qualitative methods to monitor the changes at different target group level as well as for each of the components.

EVALUATION CRITERIA

The award will be made to a qualified applicant whose proposal follows the RFP instructions, meets the eligibility requirements, and is determined via analysis to be the best value based on the application of the following evaluation criteria. Selection shall be based on the following weighted categories:

Criteria : Percentage 100%

Technical Approach:30%

The comprehensiveness of the proposed approach. Clarity and appropriateness of proposed activity and methodology

Implementation plan and proposed timeline are realistic and include all proposed elements of activity.

Past Performance:20%

Previous successful experience implementing similar activities.3

Personnel:30%

Personnel have an appropriate level of qualifications and experience to lead and implement project.

Proposed Costs:20%

Reasonableness of proposed budget based on the scope of activities proposed.

Detailed budget and budget notes included.

NOTE: SNV will not compensate the company for its preparation of a response to this RFP nor is the issuing of this RFP a guarantee that SNV will award a contract.

AWARD TYPE

SNV anticipates that a fixed price contract will be issued to the successful applicant.

Timeline

Duration of contract: 25 days

Deadline for application: January 08, 2020, at 17h00’, Kigali Time.

Additional Information

If you believe that your credentials meet the outlined profile, we invite you to apply by clicking on the apply button and complete your application.

Only short-listed candidates will be contacted