Enterprise Scaling up Project: Hilti Phase Three (3) Midline Evaluation Consultancy – Hand in Hand Eastern Africa (HiH EA)

Background

Hand in Hand Eastern Africa (HiH EA) is a registered Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) in Kenya, working for the economic and social empowerment of its poorest citizens to enable program participants to lift themselves out of poverty. HiH EA is part of the Hand in Hand network. HiH EA works with the marginalized, vulnerable poor rural and peri-urban smallholder farmers (80% women) to help them lift themselves out of poverty through the power of entrepreneurship. The organization started operations in Kenya in October 2010 and is currently operating in 21 Field offices within 29 out of 47 Counties in Kenya. HiH EA has so far mobilized, trained and is training over 300,000 members (80% women, 40% youth) who have created over 296,000 enterprises and over 400,000 jobs.

Hand in Hand Tanzania (TZ) is part of the Hand in Hand network and works in Arusha and Moshi (Kilimanjaro Region). HIH TZ was initiated in 2017, with its headquarters in Arusha. It has mobilized over 16,000 members for enterprise development training and over 14,000 jobs created.

Hand in Hand International based in London provides support to both Hand in Hand EA and Hand in Hand Tz. Hand in Hand model is based on setting up or mobilizing self-help groups that act as savings groups, delivering enterprise skills through trainings, promote financial access and provide linkage to broader markets.

Project Description

The Enterprise Scaling up Project, funded by the HILTI Foundation, will contribute to the local economy and improve household quality of life for 20,000 farmers in cow dairy, poultry, and banana value chains in Kenya and Tanzania, over a period of 4 years (July 2021 to December 2025). The project is split into a pilot cohort of 2,500 members (1st July 2021 – 31st December 2022) and a full cohort of 17,500 members (1st January 2023 – 31st December 2025). The project will provide the farmers with the skills and opportunities to scale up their enterprises for better incomes and greater production volumes. The project has three main components:

1. TRAINING IN BUSINESS AND TECHNICAL SKILLS: addressing the lack of advanced business and technical skills required to achieve high incomes in farming-based enterprises. There will be two modules on business skills and market awareness and a module on best practice in each of the selected value chains.
2. ACCESS TO FINANCE: linking project members with vetted pro-poor financial service providers, including “outgrowing” schemes, supporting them to secure and grow their businesses in the selected value chains.
3. SCALE UP WITH STRONGER PRODUCER GROUPS: supporting producer groups to deliver greater volumes and better incomes for the 20,000 project members’ businesses within the selected value chains.

The overall objective of the project is to lift the majority of its members above the World Bank lower-income poverty line of US $3.20, and to lift a significant number of its members above US $8.00 to improve household wellbeing for 20,000 smallholder farmers in Kenya and Tanzania.

The project seeks to achieve the following key result areas.

• Increased profitability and resilience of 20,000 project members’ enterprises.
• Aggregation into 40-60 producer groups delivering greater volumes and better incomes for project members’ enterprises.

The Midline Evaluation

Hand in Hand Eastern Africa/Tanzania and Hand in Hand International are commissioning a midline evaluation of the pilot cohort to assess the progress of the Enterprise Scaling up Project against the OECD DAC Evaluation criteria of relevance, coherence, effectiveness, efficiency, impact, and sustainability. The midline evaluation will provide an opportunity to make adjustments to the project design and implementation strategies as needed to improve the outcomes.

Objectives of the midline evaluation include;

• To assess the relevance of the project design and implementation, in terms of meeting the needs and priorities of the target group.
• To assess the coherence of the project design and implementation, in terms of coordination with, or duplication of, other efforts in the area.
• To assess the effectiveness of the project design and implementation in achieving its objectives and results, according to the indicators set forth in the project MEL plan.
• To assess the efficiency of the project design and implementation, in terms of resource utilization and cost-effectiveness.
• To assess the impact of the project on the target group, in terms of improved household quality of life.
• To assess the sustainability of the project outcomes, in terms of the ability of the target group to maintain the improvements after the project ends.
• To assess the impact of the project on gender dynamics, capacities and vulnerabilities in relation to project focus areas.
• To draw recommendations for improvement of the project design and implementation strategies

HIH EA is seeking an independent evaluator firm to undertake this assignment in Kenya only. The evaluator in Kenya will design the study and prepare the data collection tools. The evaluator will collect data with these tools in Kenya, and will provide the same tools to our partner data collection firm in Tanzania for data collection. The evaluator in Kenya will guide the data collection firm in Tanzania with clear definitions and materials for enumerator training, to ensure data is collected according to the same specifications in both countries.

Since both the evaluator firm in Kenya and the data collection firm in Tanzania will use the same Kobo/other platform, all survey data from both countries will be stored in the same location on the platform server. Any data collected outside of the platform (i.e. KIIs, FGDs) by the data collection firm in Tanzania will be submitted to the evaluator in Kenya.

The evaluator in Kenya will clean, analyze, visualize, and report on both country datasets, drawing on insights from both the qualitative and the quantitative datasets in one coherent, comparative report.

The selected firm(s) will have an opportunity to be procured again to undertake the pilot endline evaluation as well as the full cohort baseline, midline and endline evaluations, if this assignment is satisfactorily accomplished.

HIH EA will provide all supporting documents necessary to ensure the assignment is completed successfully, including the project proposal narrative, logic model, and MEL Plan; a survey template with our standard indicator questions and answer options; baseline report and tools; and the HiH evaluation report template. The data collection tools prepared by the consultant must align with the definitions provided in the MEL Plan.

Role of the Consultant

The consultant will be required to undertake at a minimum the following;

• Desk review of the project documents to understand the design
• Develop the sample design for the midline survey and any qualitative data collection (for both Kenya and Tanzania)
• Design/adapt/refine (as appropriate) the midline data collection tools – both quantitative and qualitative
• Map the relevant evaluation questions and indicators to the data collection tools (e.g. each survey/interview/focus group question must clearly correspond with an evaluation question or indicator)
• Conduct a pre-test of the tools and finalize, incorporating changes
• Share the finalized survey with the data collection firm in Tanzania via Kobo/other platform, i.e. data collection in both countries will take place using the exact same survey
• Share guidelines/definitions and materials for enumerator training with the data collection firm in Tanzania
• Share all qualitative data collection tools with the data collection firm in Tanzania
• Share the sample design with the data collection firm in Tanzania
• Train the Kenya field supervisors and enumerators
• Plan the Kenya field work logistics
• Prepare survey implementation and questionnaire user guide documentation for Kenya e.g. enumerator supervision manuals, etc.
• Supervise Kenyan survey implementation and ensure quality control
• Communicate and coordinate with the data collection firm in Tanzania to ensure both parties are taking the same approach, e.g. handling non-response, guiding when respondents don’t understand the question, how answers are interpreted and categorized where answer option lists exist, etc.
• Download all data (Kenya and Tanzania responses) from the Kobo/other server
• Get the qualitative data from the data collection firm in Tanzania
• Clean and analyze all datasets
• Write one combined midline evaluation report, bringing together the findings of the qualitative and quantitative datasets from both countries, using the HiH evaluation report template provided
• Submit raw, cleaned, and worked datasets to HiH in .xlsx or .csv format
• Submit qualitative transcripts/notes to HiH in .xlsx or .docx format
• Submit the report for review and feedback
• Hold a validation workshop (virtual/physical)
• Incorporate feedback from HIHEA, HIHEA (Tz) and HIHI
• Submit a final report

Approach and Methodology

The midline evaluation will adopt a mixed-methods approach, including a survey of the project members, focus group discussions, key informant interviews, and a review of project documents. The evaluator will also compare the baseline data with the midline data to assess the progress of the project. The evaluation will be conducted in both Kenya and Tanzania, and the data will be collected using the same platform.

Deliverables

1. The inception report, including the sampling, analysis, and data quality strategies, clear plans for enumerator selection, training, and supervision along with the validated quantitative and qualitative data collection tools which are mapped to the evaluation questions and indicators
2. Post-field work report
3. Draft zero report (soft copy) in word.docx. (max. 25 pages excluding annexes)
4. Draft-one report incorporating changes or comments generated in the draft zero. (max. 25 pages excluding annexes)
5. The evaluation report (max. 25 pages excluding annexes)
6. The evaluation report must include an Executive Summary of no more than 2 pages – see HiH evaluation report template (will be provided to the successful candidate).
7. Include appendices such as data collection tools, indicator construction, data logs, respondent list for KIIs
8. Raw data sets in an accessible format (.xlsx or .csv)
9. Cleaned and worked datasets in an accessible format (.xlsx or .csv)
10. Qualitative transcripts/notes in an accessible format (.xlsx or .docx)
11. A power point presentation of the report to HiH EA and HIHI

Submitting Proposals

HiH EA requests consultants to submit proposals to respond to this Terms of Reference as outlined above. We expect the consultancy firm or consultant to demonstrate the skills and experience outlined below (or equivalent):

1. The consultant should have a minimum of 10 years’ experience in field research and monitoring and evaluation of community projects
2. The individuals should demonstrate evidence of past relevant evaluation assignments in rural and urban areas of Kenya and Tanzania (share sample report(s))
3. Proven track record in analytical report writing
4. Proven track record on working with digital data collection approaches
5. Experience of field work and data collection at household level in rural areas of Kenya/Tanzania
6. Operational capacity, understands the Kenyan and Tanzanian contexts
7. Solid understanding of agriculture (regenerative agriculture and circular economy), small, medium and micro enterprises, economics, monitoring and evaluation, value chain and producer group assessment.

The proposal should include the following:

1. A short outline of evaluation approach, research design and methodology for the Evaluation. Max. 3 pages
2. A proposed process and timeframe for the Evaluation setting out the phases, the number of consultants and the number of days. Max. 2 pages.
3. The anticipated challenges and dependencies likely to affect the implementation of the Evaluation and how these should be addressed. Max. 1 page.
4. A description, in 1 page max., of how to ensure data quality throughout the process/assignment.
5. A summary of the most relevant skills and experience of the proposed lead consultant and the consultant(s) together with her/his CV showing relevant previous assignments and clients. (Annex CVs separately). Max 2 pages per CV.
6. A detailed fee quote and rationale for the consultants and an estimate for the operational costs. Max. 1 page.

Budget and Payment

The consultancy firm will provide a detailed budget in Kenya shillings (KES), with a breakdown of the consultants’ fees and logistical expenses. The terms of payment will be negotiated upon signing of the contract.