Consultancy for End-line Assessment of “Emergency Response to Malnourished Children and Food Insecure Households in Wajir County

Published October 7, 2021 · Updated October 7, 2021

1. Background and Rationale
In Wajir County – as in most Arid and Semi-Arid Land (ASAL) counties – malnutrition, food insecurity, and
deleterious health outcomes remain unacceptably high. High rates of food insecurity and poor nutrition outcomes
are closely related and chronic and serious food security considerations exacerbate dynamics that drive negative
nutrition outcomes. A number of concerning developments have occurred in Wajir County recently. Depressed
rains have raised the risks of drought, household animal milk production is far below long-term averages and wet
year prices, and an estimated 550,000 people in Wajir County were food insecure (IPC Phase 2 or worse) in the
final months of 2020.

Poor health outcomes in the county are reaching high levels. According to the 2019 SMART Survey, rates of
malaria like symptoms (42.7%), Acute Respiratory Infections (56.7%) and watery diarrhea (30.5%) remain the
most prevalent morbidities found among respondents who reported symptoms within the two weeks prior to
being interviewed. Additional major contributing factors identified by the Kenyan Ministry of Health include inadequate dietary diversity and insufficient medical facilities and services. Major contributors identified by the
Ministry of Health (MoH) include inadequate infant and young child feeding (IYCF) practices supporting other
findings that have reported low rates of efficacious IYCF practices in Wajir County.

In response to the above-mentioned needs, RACIDA and Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe implemented an integrated
food security and nutrition project to address the needs of communities in Eldas Sub-county (Basir, Masalale),
Tarbaj sub-county ( Wargadud ), and Wajir West sub-county (Lanqoot and Bulla Hagar in Wajir County. RACIDA
worked through existing ministry of health structures and utilized community health structures.

2. End-line Survey Objectives
I. To establish End-line information for measuring progress of project log frame indicators at community level after project implementation.
II. Produce an End-line report that will show the impact, lesson learnt and recommendation for future similar projects including other pressing needs if identified.

Overall Objective: Contribute to improved nutrition status and food security among 1000 HHs in Wajir county in Kenya
Project Objective: Ensure Moderate and Severe malnutrition levels are reduced as immediate food and nutrition needs among Target HHs in Wajir County are met and community initiatives to monitor and take care of individuals affected by malnutrition are promoted”

3. Methodology
The consultant is expected to utilize a mixed-methods approach with both quantitative and qualitative data from
five villages of ELDAS Sub-county (BASIR, MASALALE), TARBAJ sub-county ( WARGADUD ), and WAJIR WEST sub-county (LANQOOT AND BULLA HAGAR in three sub-counties of Wajir County.

3.1. Quantitative Data Collection
The core of the assessment will consist of a randomized quantitative survey. The survey will collect data on food
security, nutrition, and health sectors. All data will be disaggregated by sex, age, and disability. The Endline study
will sample beneficiary community members and other stakeholders from the project locations. The consultant
is expected to propose quantitative methodology that is scientific, culturally appropriate, and will leverage both
qualitative and quantitative data.

3.1.1. Household Questionnaire
Quantitative survey tools will be developed by the Consultant. However, RACIDA will provide all the required
information to enable swift development of the tools. Both RACIDA and the consultant will work together to
ensure the tools are up to standard.

3.1.2. Sampling Framework
A sample of beneficiary respondents, stratified by gender, will be randomly selected in each target area for the
quantitative survey. The sample will be statistically representative of the populations living in each target area
based on the acceptable statistical sampling techniques. This should be in line with various contextual factors
and proposed project site.

3.1.3. Sampling Methodology
To identify survey respondents, the survey will use a targeted random sampling approach. RACIDA suggests that
the consultant propose a sampling methodology that they deem to be most appropriate. Any proposed methodology should ensure gender, age and disability representation.
Participants will be classified as either male or female, according to the sampling framework above. In each
classification, data collectors will seek respondents of that gender. If there is more than one adult within the household of that specific gender, the data collectors will introduce the assessment and ask household members
who they think among them can provide information given the nature of the assessment.

Duration of the Consultancy: 12 days

Qualifications and Evaluation Criteria of the Consultant
Key Selection Criteria
The independent consultant/consultancy firm must demonstrate experience and expertise as follows:
– Master’s degree in Public Health, Nutrition, or related field.
– Demonstrated experience in conducting high quality End-lines for related project in the past five years (sample reports are required ruing the bid analysis).
– Extensive hands-on experience in the sectors of Health, Nutrition, and Food Security.
– Experience of working in a resource poor environment.
– Experience working in Kenya is an asset.
– Fluency in English is mandatory.
– Knowledge and experience of emergency response and humanitarian response in East Africa is an asset.
– Sectorial experience and contextual knowledge of Wajir County, Kenya, as well as demonstrable experience conducting field assessments or working in the Northern Counties of Kenya.
– Experience with Emergency Response and Recovery programming with a broad understanding of Nutrition, Food Security, and Public Health in the context of emergencies.
– High level of professionalism and the ability to work independently under tight deadlines.
– Strong interpersonal and communication skills.
– The team must have a statistician able to analyze quantitative and qualitative data.
– Firm must have experience in using mobile phone technology (ODK/KOBO collect) for data collection.
– The lead consultant must have strong analytical skills and ability to clearly synthesize and present findings, draw practical conclusions, make recommendations and to prepare well-written reports.