Call for Consultancy for Baseline Evaluation for Integrated Food Security and Livelihoods Project, Bomet County, Kenya Red Cross

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Tender Number: PRF10446

1.Summary of the evaluation

1.1.    Purpose:  This baseline evaluation will provide statistics that will be used as a benchmark and help refine and set project targets for the specific sectoral and sub-sectoral indicators against which the progress and achievements of the project will be measured and assessed. Findings from the survey will be useful in shaping the project design as well as in informing any adjustment to the indicators and resources, for improved quality of the planned interventions.

1.2.    Partners: British Red Cross (BRC), County Governments, and Kenya Red Cross Society

1.3.    Duration: The baseline survey will be carried out by an independent consultant, and is expected to take 30 calendar days

1.4.    Estimated Dates:  5th December 2022 to 6th January 2023

1.5.    Geographical Location: Chebunyo Ward of Chebalungu Sub-County; Bomet County – Kenya

1.6.    Target Population: Community members and stakeholders within targeted locations.

1.7.    Deliverables:  Proposal detailing the methodology, data collection tools, data sets, draft report, presentations, and final report as will be guided by KRCS. (See detailed timelines under section 8)

1.8.    Methodology: Qualitative & Quantitative

1.9.    Evaluation Management Team: KRCS MEA&L, Program representatives and BRC Representative.

2. Background Information

While Bomet County is endowed with vast areas of fertile land and high rainfall and favorable climatic conditions, 31% of the population still lives below the national poverty line, with approximately 36.2% of households being considered food-poor and insecure. Chronic Malnutrition remains one of the biggest health challenges in Bomet County attributed to poor livelihood systems with a stunting rate of 36%, far higher than the average national stunting rate of 26%. Food scarcity peaks between the months of January and April each year, when harvested stocks are generally depleted and shortages occur because of unevenly distributed rain patterns[1].. Underlying socio-cultural factors such as inadequate care of vulnerable household members across different gender and age cohorts, cultural norms and practices influencing food sharing and uptake where men are given larger food portions, and traditional feeding practices affecting optimal nutrition uptake are cited as some of the key contributory factors.  These specifically affect women and children under five years of age who are highly vulnerable nutritionally. Consequently, malnutrition remains one of the biggest health challenges in the county according to the Bomet County Nutrition Action Plan 2020/21-2024/25.

Noteworthy, Agriculture is the main economic activity with over 80% of the total population engaging in crop and livestock production, as well as various livelihood activities implemented to enhance agricultural productivity and value addition. The sectors also provide raw materials to agro-based industries in the county and therefore stimulate off-farm employment as well as the use of local resources. This was through the development of irrigation projects. However, these schemes have not attained the optimal production capacities with infrastructural coverage and lack of funding to implement rehabilitation works and undertake appropriate farmer-oriented interventions to upscale production.

According to Climate Risk Profile Bomet County Report 2018, Food insecurity in the county can be partly attributed to the occurrence of climate related hazards. These include drought, uncertainty in growing seasons (onset and duration), intense rains as well as changes in weather and climate over time. These hazards have been coupled with several agricultural challenges such as prohibitive prices of agricultural inputs, pests and diseases, post-harvest losses amongst others. Farmers in the county use improved seeds for cash crops and local seed varieties for traditional food crops such as sweet potatoes and sorghum (GoK, 2014a). However, irrigation farming is not well developed, and the area continues to face challenges of food insecurity and malnutrition. A classic example is Chepalungu Sub County which is characterized with low productivity of farm produce and food insecurity because of unreliable rainfall, poor farming practices, low production per unit area, low use of appropriate farm inputs which leads to low crop yields and increase in soil acidity. Communities lack diversification of farm enterprises with the majority relying on maize for subsistence. Most of the households depend on livestock/milk products as source of family income which is affected by reduced rainfall and unreliable rain pattern attributed to climate change variability.

Other highlighted challenges in the agricultural sector relate largely to poor crop husbandry, use of uncertified seeds, lack of planting materials, pests and diseases, and low application of fertilizer and other farm inputs due to prohibitive prices. The county has a conducive agricultural environment and there is an overreliance on rain-fed agriculture which has become unreliable in recent years, with limited use of climate resilient and productivity enhancing technologies such as irrigation and greenhouse among smallholder farmers. This has resulted to significant effects on the lives of children and families and their ability to advance out of poverty. Primarily this impact can be seen in the increase in the number of families that are food insecure; the lower levels of household income; and the increase in the number of people moving away from rural areas depleting the available labour force available for a thriving rural economy.

Kenya Red Cross Society (KRCS) with support from BRC will be implementing this 3 years’ project to support the community in Bomet County to cope and adapt to climate variability and change for enhanced resilience. This baseline survey aims at providing an information base against which to monitor and assess the projects progress and effectiveness, both during and after implementation.

3. Assessment Purpose & Scope

3.1 Project Objectives

Project goal: Promoting vulnerable households’ livelihoods and resilience to the effects of climate change.

Goal: Enhanced resilience of households vulnerable to effects of climatic change in Bomet county by 2025

Specific objectives

  1. To improve levels of economic security to target households through increased access to savings, credit services and markets
  2. To Strengthen community capacity to anticipate risks and improve uptake of anticipatory actions to reduce impact of the natural phenomenon related to climate risks.
  3. To strengthen capacity of KRCS and targeted community groups to support sustainable community owned development
  4. To strengthen financial sustainability of the branch to support National Society Development

The findings of this study will enable the project team to review the project plans to ensure they have realistic and evidence-based targets, strategies, and timeframes in view of the objectives and indicators, while providing a starting point for the program and the basis by which performance, progress, achievement and impact will be measured during and after the project life. As such, the baseline survey is expected to provide benchmark statistics against the program indicators, against which program progress, performance and impact will be gauged to enable tracking of the project results.

Specific objectives of the baseline survey:

  1. To establish baseline information against the projects log frame indicators at community level, which will be used as a threshold to determine the level of change on impact and outcome.
  2. To document key recommendations that can be used during the project implementation period
  3. To Review the proposed indicators within the log-frame and set targets based on the findings that will guide the project implementation

The project outcomes and outputs indicators are shown in the table below: –

 

Project Goal Enhanced Communities livelihood and resilience to impacts of climate change
Hierarchy of Outcomes/Outputs Objectively Verifiable Indicators (OVI)
Outcome 1: Reduced vulnerability to food and nutrition security in Chebunyo Ward of Chepalungu Sub County 1a: % reduction in the negative coping strategy index of targeted households
1b: % of target households that have enough food and income to meet their livelihoods protection threshold
Output 1.1. Increased food production through adoption of climate smart agricultural practices % of targeted farmers who have adopted one or more climate-smart agriculture practices
% of targeted farmers who improve their production
% of farmers engaged in functional Agri businesses at the end of the project
Output 1.2. Improved access to adequate and reliable irrigation water for use in sustainable crop production at household level in Chebunyo ward Percentage of targeted community members with improved access to adequate and reliable irrigation water
Output 1.3 Enhanced access to and use of improved sanitation and hygiene Percentage of targeted community members with improved hygiene and sanitation
Output 1.4:  Target beneficiaries have improved nutrition status % of children and pregnant and lactating women in the community screened using the MUAC and referred
% decrease in malnutrition cases among the targeted community members
Output 1.5:  Improved levels of economic security to target households with increased access to savings, credit services and market information % of farmers who get better prices by selling through cooperatives (disaggregated by gender)
% of mother-to-mother support groups/VSLAs that are engaged in viable income generating activities at the end of the project
Outcome 2: Strengthened community capacity to anticipate, respond to risks, cope and adapt to climate change % of target communities who have in the past two years correctly used/implemented/adapted the promoted climate change adaptation measures
Output 2.2 Strengthened community capacity to anticipate risks and improve uptake of anticipatory actions to reduce impact of the natural phenomenon related risks Percentage of community reporting improved capacity to anticipate risks and improve uptake of anticipatory actions
Percentage communities reporting reduction of impact of natural phenomenon related risks
Outcome 3: Strengthened capacity of KRCS and targeted community groups to support sustainable community owned development percentage of targeted KRCS staff and volunteers having enhanced capacity to support sustainable community owned development
percentage of targeted community members satisfied with KRCS project implementation
Output 3.1: Enhanced inclusion, access to lifesaving services including protection and reduction on GBV cases Percentage of targeted Communities, KRCS staff and volunteers having enhanced Capacity on Protection and Gender inclusion and PSEA.
% of project staff, volunteers and communities knowledgeable on how to safely proceed when identifying a case for referral to specialized services
Output 3.2: Strengthened Bomet County Branch Financial Sustainability and stakeholders’ engagement to support National Society Development. Percentage of targeted KRCS staff and volunteers having enhanced capacity to implement Core humanitarian interventions guided by branch development plans
Percentage of targeted community members satisfied with KRCS project implementation

4. Key questions

This baseline survey will also seek to provide the status of other relevant sectoral coverage indicators at the program level that will be covered by the questions and indicators below:

  • What is the current coverage of the log frame indicators?
  • How does the coverage differ across different categories eg. gender?
  • What other additional indicators can be assessed to add value to project processes?
  • What findings of this study oblige review the targets?
  • How has the community been involved in project design and planning?
  • What is the relevance of the project to the community? What’s the community perception of the project importance to their wellbeing? How should the community be made to understand the project?
  • How should community be involved in the project decision making and implementation?
  • How should the community be involved in M&E and learning/documentation in the project?
  • What would be the three preferred means of communicating complaints to between KRCS and the community?

5. Survey Methodology

The bidder to propose a study design, sampling methods, sample size, data collection and analysis approaches that is suitable for this project at baseline. The bidder should give a justification on the sampling frame, propose a sample size determination formula, and clearly show the proposed sample size that they intend to use and how it was derived. This should be clearly outlined in the bidding document/proposal and if qualified to oral stage to have further discussion with the evaluation management team. The bidder can also propose targeted respondents to interview or data sources that can answer the log frame indicators and provide comparable statistics (meaningful comparison between baseline and end line) to document any changes.

The baseline survey will use the following literature and any other for reference and to inform the evaluation process further:

  • Project proposal and log frame
  • Existing project documents by the time of data collection.
  • Documents, reports, policies and frameworks by partners, county or national government that have been undertaken in the location or similar set up.

6. Quality & Ethical Standards

The consultant shall take all reasonable steps to ensure that the study is designed and conducted to respect and protect the rights and welfare of the people and communities involved and to ensure that the assessment is technically accurate and reliable, is conducted in a transparent and impartial manner, and contributes to organizational learning and accountability. Therefore, the assessment team shall be required to adhere to the assessment standards and applicable practices as recommended by International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

  • Utility: Assessments must be useful and used.
  • Feasibility: Assessments must be realistic, diplomatic, and managed in a sensible, cost-effective manner.
  • Ethics & Legality: Assessments must be conducted in an ethical and legal manner, with regard for the welfare of those involved in and affected by the assessment.
  • Impartiality & Independence; Assessments should be impartial, providing a comprehensive and unbiased assessment that considers the views of all stakeholders.
  • Transparency: assessment activities should reflect an attitude of openness and transparency.
  • Accuracy: Assessments should be technically accurate, providing sufficient information about the data collection, analysis, and interpretation methods so that its worth or merit can be determined.
  • Participation: Stakeholders should be consulted and meaningfully involved in the assessment process when feasible and appropriate.
  • Collaboration: Collaboration between key operating partners in the assessment process improves the legitimacy and utility of the assessment.

It is also expected that the assessment will respect the seven Fundamental Principles of the Red Cross and Red Crescent: 1) humanity, 2) impartiality, 3) neutrality, 4) independence, 5) voluntary service, 6) unity, and 7) universality.

7. Qualifications and Experience for Consultants

The lead consultant must possess the following qualifications:

  1. A minimum of a master’s degree in disaster risk management, sustainable livelihoods, or other relevant social sciences.
  2. Relevant experience in the field of food security and sustainable livelihoods approaches in communities with a focus on recovery and reintegration during crisis. An in-depth practical knowledge of programmatic issues that incorporates an integrated approach will be preferred.
  • Proven experience in participatory and results-based M&E.
  1. Must be experienced and have led in at least five participatory assessments, conducted evaluations with a very high-quality end-product (report), and have done monitoring and assessment works in the target or similar communities (preferred).
  2. High level of professionalism and an ability to work independently and in high-pressure situations under tight deadlines.
  3. Strong interpersonal and communication skills
  • 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 in a timely manner.

Additional requirements/Qualifications

  • The team must have a statistician/data analyst with a demonstrated experience to develop data collection tools in ODK, design projects and advise on appropriate methodology, and analyze quantitative and qualitative data.

Additional requirements/Qualifications

  1. Have technical team members with experience in the specific components of the project.
  2. The team must have a statistician/data analyst with experience to develop data collection tools in ODK, design projects and advise on methodology appropriate, analyze quantitative and qualitative data
  3. Firm/bidder must have experience in using mobile phone technology for data collection, monitoring and reporting
  • Availability for the period indicated.

8. Management of the Baseline assessment

Duration: The baseline survey will be conducted between 5th December 2022 to 6th January 2023 from contract signing to delivery of the final report.

Deliverables:

  1. Inception report detailing the evaluation design, sampling methodology & sample frame, evaluation tools, agreed budget and work plan.
  2. Copies of original and cleaned data sets with codebook. The raw data, the database which has been cleaned (both qualitative and quantitative, including original field notes for in-depth interviews and focus group discussions, as well as recorded audio material), should be submitted together with the report. A simple inventory of material handed over will be part of the record. KRCS will have sole ownership of all final data and any findings shall only be shared or reproduced with the permission of KRCS.
  • Draft baseline Report that will culminate in the final endline report in the format that will be shared at the inception stage.
  1. Final Baseline Survey Reports – submit 10 hard copies (graphic designed and perfect binding) and one electronic copy of the report by the agreed timeline.
  2. A power point presentation highlighting key findings from the endline will be presented at a feedback meeting to be held after completing the draft report. The bidder will be expected to disseminate the survey findings at the forums that will be organized by KRCS.

Evaluation Management Team

The evaluation management team will be composed of the Kenya Red Cross Program team, MEA&L team and the British Red Cross representative where applicable. KRCS MEA&L representatives will chair the team.

Role of KRCS (Project and MEA&L team)

  • Lead the recruitment and evaluation process
  • Coordinate the assessment implementation process through the KRCS Program and MEA&L units.
  • Review of assessment products including the log frame, tools and reports.
  • KRCS will organize logistics for the assessment team.
  • Avail data collectors within agreed criteria.
  • Avail all necessary documents for desk review
  • KRCS will be the link between the community and the consultant
  • Will be the custodian of all data generated from the assessment
  • Organize dissemination forums as necessary

Role of Danish Red Cross

  • Participate in the TOR development, inception report and tools review.
  • Review and give feedback on all the reports submitted
  • Final approval of the report

9. Application Requirements

Application materials shall include:

  • A written response to this TOR in terms of a proposal detailing the technical understanding of the task, proposed methodologies of the evaluation, expected activities and deliverables, proposed work plans with schedule, and financial bids. See Annex 1
  • Detailed CVs of all professional (s) who will work on the evaluation. If there is more than one contractor on the proposed evaluation team, please attach a table describing the level of effort (in number of days) of each team member in each of the evaluation activities. See Annex 3
  • Professional references: please provide at least three reference letters from your previous clients and full contact details of the referees (working and active email & phone number). The referees provided must be ready to be contacted if need be.
  • At least 2 evaluation reports undertaken of similar programmes and context

Please also note that the people whose names appear in the team composition template MUST be the ones to undertake the assessment. As such, they MUST be the ones to appear in person if the proposal moves to the interview stage.

10. Submission of proposal

The bidders MUST provide a technical and financial proposal in two separate folders clearly marked “Technical Proposal + Name of the firm/consultant” and “Financial Proposal + Name of the firm/consultant” and subject be marked­ “Tender No. PRF10466 “Call for Consultancy for Baseline Evaluation for Integrated Food Security and Livelihoods project, Bomet County”

The proposals must be sent on mail to tenders@redcross.or.ke by 9th November 2022 at 11:00 AM and should be addressed to:

 Chairperson, Tender Committee

Kenya Red Cross Society

P.O Box 40712 – 00100

Nairobi, Kenya

Tenders will be opened in the presence of the bidders or their representatives who choose to attend our online tender opening meeting on the same day at noon. Interested bidders to confirm participation on mail tenders@redcross.or.ke and thereafter we will share the virtual link for the meeting.

Obtain the full ToR document: https://www.redcross.or.ke/tenders

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