Consultancy for the Endline Evaluation of the Tunawiri kwa Taka: Thriving through Waste Project – ChildFund International

BACKGROUND

Kenya is a growing economy in East Africa. Kenya’s characteristics as a rapidly developing country are also present in the waste generation data. According to the World Bank, every Kenyan generates 0.39 kg of waste per day. In the Greater Nairobi areas, Kenya’s political and economic hub, 3,000 mt or 0.64 kg per capita of municipal waste occur daily from residential areas, industry and other private companies as well as public institutions, a slight increase since the estimates of year 2010. Nairobi is Kenya’s capital city with a rapidly growing population of 4.397 million, and among the leading cities in Africa with increasing waste generation. Nairobi has one designated waste dumping site in Dandora and it is, 2,000 mt of waste are disposed of at Dandora on a daily basis[1]. However, dumping of waste on the roadside or in vacant spaces is common, more so in low-income residential areas. Mukuru is one of the low-income informal settlements located east of Nairobi City. Mukuru stretches through the Embakasi South, Makadara and Starehe constituencies and borders the Nairobi/Ngong River. Mukuru also hosts the city and country’s industrial hub hence the air is also polluted. The area is organized in villages/communities that include Mukuru kwa Reuben, Mukuru kwa Njenga, Sinai, Paradise, Jamaica, Kingstone, Mariguini, Fuata Nyayo and Mukuru Kayaba. According to the Kenya population census of 2019, Mukuru informal settlements had a population of 654,014 persons. Due to unplanned spaces characterized by a lack of access to adequate sanitation and sewerage facilities, a lack of waste management structures with solid waste being dumped on sidewalks and open spaces, people in Mukuru suffer from public health and environmental issues. Women and youth are especially affected by these issues, and they also have limited economic opportunities to advance themselves. To combat the economic disparity in Mukuru and to contribute to creating a healthy and clean physical environment, the project worked to improve informal waste management structures by engaging women and youth in income-generating activities through plastic waste management. ChildFund worked with stakeholders including community groups or networks, National Environment Management Authority (NEMA), the Kenya Association of Waste Recyclers and formerly Nairobi Metropolitan Services (the NMS) to build community awareness and capacity on proper waste management.

PROJECT GOAL AND OBJECTIVES

Goal (impact) – To create a safe, clean, and healthy environment while improving the livelihoods of women and youth in Mukuru-Nairobi City County.

Objective 1: To improve knowledge and capacity of 418 individuals on waste management-collection, sorting and recycling/reuse-in Mukuru by the end of the project. This will be measured by using pre and post-test evaluations and participants lists from trainings.

Objective 2: To increase the entrepreneurial skills of 400 women and youth aged between 18 and 35 years by 60% by the end of the project through training on business management, keeping financial records and finding new buyers. This will improve their business skills and help increase their waste collection capacity from 2 tonnes to 4 tonnes a month, while also increasing their income 40%, from an average of 90 KSH – or $.78 USD per day. This will be measured by comparing results from baseline/feasibility assessment against those of the endline evaluation.

Objective 3: 20 waste collector groups will have signed marketing contracts with private sector waste recyclers by the end of the project. This will be measured by the number of signed contracts, number of coordination meetings held and number of groups linked to markets. Connections between waste collectors and buyers will be established through coordination forums, which create sustainable linkages within the industry and ensure there is a guaranteed market for the waste collectors.

Objective 4: Stakeholder participation in Nairobi multi stakeholder forums for waste management will increase from 50% to 80% by the end of the project, thereby influencing practice and policies around waste management. This will be measured by number of stakeholders meetings held, number of stakeholders participating in the meetings, high level conversations and commitments made to improve waste management practice and policies.

PURPOSE OF THE EVALUATION

General objective

To provide an independent and rigorous assessment of the project, to establish the extent to which the project has contributed to the identified changes against its Monitoring and Evaluation Plan and in the project proposal.

Specific objective

The specific objectives of this assignment are:

• Assess the relevance, coherence, effectiveness, efficiency, impact and sustainability of the project.
• Identify good practices and lessons learnt related to the project operational contexts, actors engaged, strategies applied in the implementation, and changes observed.
• Analyze the challenges and critical risks that the project may have encountered, and how these challenges and risks may have impacted the project.
• Provide recommendations that will improve similar future projects in urban and peri-urban areas in Kenya.

METHODOLOGY AND APPROACH

The study will adopt a cross sectional research design that will use mixed qualitative and quantitative approaches. The consultant will be expected to use tools and techniques for data collection, which may include but not be limited to In-depth interviews, Key informant interviews, Household Surveys, Focus group discussions among others. The methods of sampling, data collection and analysis will be proposed by the consultants and discussed further with the ChildFund Kenya project management team during inception meeting. The consultant will also be expected to undertake a comprehensive desk review of all relevant documents for reference and to inform the endline evaluation. These documents shall include the Project proposal and logframe, County Integrated Development Plans for Nairobi City County, policies and frameworks by partners, and national government. The consultant will have to fully engage the primary project participants (stakeholders) including women, youth, children, community health workers among others who participated directly in the implementation process.

Specifically, it is envisaged that the methodology used during this assessment will include, but not necessarily limited to the following:

1. Review of existing secondary information and reports relevant to the baseline study topics. The previous studies and assessments in the project areas by other stakeholders may also be referenced.
2. Discussion with key project staff of ChildFund Kenya, partners at project and country levels and other key informants.
3. Interviews with concerned government agencies, line ministries and stakeholders involved in waste management.
4. Field visits in the implementation areas for data collection and observations.
5. Community level participatory meetings and focused group discussions for data collection and information gathering.
6. Household level survey for data collection through structured questionnaires developed to address the key project outcomes/objectives and indicators.
7. Special emphasis should be given to ensure participation of women and youth in the process to deeply understand the underlying socioeconomic challenges and contributions of the project in the waste management.
8. Use of data/information from local institutions or organizations as deemed appropriate.
9. Data cleaning, verification, and analysis.

The endline approach should have strong focus on application of participatory approaches and proven methodology that fits well in the context of local communities and stakeholders. The sampling methodology must have statistical representation of different sub-sections.

EXPECTED DELIVERABLES

1. An inception report: An inception meeting will be held between the consultant, project implementation team and ChildFund staff. The inception meeting will provide ChildFund Kenya the opportunity to verify that they share the same understanding about the Terms of Reference with the consultant. An inception report shall be compiled outlining the key scope of the work and intended work plan. The report should therefore detail the consultant’s understanding and interpretation of the TOR, methodology, implementation schedule, and data collection – encompassing structuring of study; review of documents; quantitative/qualitative data collection; and data collection instruments design, sample size, field work planning and implementation, data collection plan, data entry and analysis plan, and budget forecast. The inception report will be discussed and agreed upon with ChildFund Kenya and project partners.
2. Draft comprehensive endline report incorporating feedback from ChildFund review and validation with other stakeholders that will culminate in the final report. The report shall be produced within 25 days after approval of the consultancy.
3. The final report: This will be presented 5 days after the validation workshop and receiving comments on the draft report. The content and structure of the final report shall include but not necessarily limited to executive summary, introduction, findings, recommendations, updated M&E matrix/plan.

INDICATIVE TIME FRAME

Presumably, 25 working days would be required for the task, which can also be decided upon discussion between both parties. It is expected that the whole task should be finished by 31st October 2023

MANAGEMENT AND COORDINATION

Overall, the consultant will report to the Monitoring Evaluation and Learning Manager at the Country Office. The management of the day-to-day activities in the field will be supported by Project Officer, Tunawiri, Field Coordinator and M&E Assistant at Nairobi Metropolitan Program.

ETHICAL GUIDELINES

It’s expected that the consultant will adhere to the following ethical guidelines and principles:

1. Informed consent: All participants are expected to provide informed consent following standards and pre-agreed upon consent protocols i.e., if project beneficiaries are minor’s parents/guardian’s consent should be sought.
2. Compliance to ChildFund Kenya values including Child Safeguarding Policies.
3. Systematic inquiry: The consultant conducts systematic data-based inquiries.
4. Integrity/honesty: Evaluator display honesty and integrity in their own behavior and attempt to ensure the honesty and integrity of the entire evaluation process.
5. Respect for people: The consultant respects the security, dignity, and self-worth of respondents, program participants and other stakeholders. It’s expected that the evaluator receives informed consent of the participants to ensure that they can decide in a conscious, deliberate way whether they want to participate; avoid exposing children to harm because of the response.
6. Responsibilities for general and public welfare: The consultant should evaluate and consider the diversity of different stakeholders.

COMPETENCE REQUIRED

ChildFund Kenya seeks to engage the services of qualified and experienced consultant with adequate experience in research and appraisal of development programmes to undertake the assignment.

Desired Qualifications & Experience

The Consultant(s) must have the following qualifications and experience: –

1. An advanced degree (master’s and above) in Economics, Environmental Health, Development studies or Social sciences, M&E, sociology or Agriculture.
2. A minimum of five (5) years working experience in environmental health, waste management and community development work in urban areas is highly desired.
3. Demonstrated practical and recent working experience on a similar value chain will be an added advantage.
4. Demonstrated and extensive knowledge and understanding of community development approaches especially in urban informal settlements.
5. Ability to prepare factual and well-articulated evaluation reports. Sample report of 2 previous assignments related to this assignment need to be attached in the Expression of Interest (EoI).
6. Excellent written communication skills in English
7. Fluency in English and Kiswahili

BUDGET, LOGISTICS AND PAYMENT

The consultant shall submit a comprehensive financial proposal in Kenya shillings with broken down costs and justification for professional fees, all the logistical costs for the assignment and taxes itemized clearly.

Payment of the consultant will be in three installments as follows:

1. First instalment: 20% of the total agreed consultancy amount upon submission and acceptance of an inception report
2. Second installment: 40% paid upon submission and acceptance of draft endline evaluation report.
3. Third installment: 40% will be paid upon submission and acceptance of the final endline report by the consultant.

Important Note:

• The Consultant’s compensation shall be paid NET, within 30 days of receipt of a proper invoice unless otherwise specified.
• Payment will be made through direct bank transfer, otherwise specified.
• The payment shall be subjected to 5% withholding tax as required by the Law at the time of payment.

SUBMISSION OF PROPOSALS

The technical and financial proposals MUST be prepared in line with the implied standards and be submitted in a timely manner as indicated in this TOR. A technical team at ChildFund Kenya will review the proposals based on pre-determined objective criteria. Upon selection, the consultant(s)/consulting firm would be invited for a discussion and requested to submit a detailed inception report and work plan prior to starting the assignment.

Expression of Interest (EOI) from qualified firms/individuals should comprise comprehensive technical and financial proposals. The EOI will be accepted preferably in soft copy through email and mentioning subject line; “ENDLINE EVALUATION–TUNAWIRI KWA TAKA: THRIVING THROUGH WASTE PROJECT”.

Technical proposals should include the following:

• Profile of the consultant/firm
• Overview of the understanding of the assignment
• The methodologies and approach(es) to be applied in undertaking the assignment.
• A comprehensive budget covering professional fees, administration/logistical costs and expenses related to carrying out the assignment including enumerators costs, hall hire etc and taxes.
• Detailed activity timeline for undertaking the assignment.
• The report outline that the consultant intends to use for the final report.