Final Project Evaluation Consulting Opportunity

Final Evaluation Consultant
Consultants · Dar es Salaam, Tanzania , Tanzania
MEDA Economic Development Associates (MEDA) invites applications for a Final Evaluation Consultant to join our dedicated and talented in our mission to create business solutions to poverty!

MEDA’s work is built on a foundation of Mennonite business roots and faith-based values, within the global context of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. We believe business solutions are effective interventions to address poverty. Through a market-systems approach and strategic partnerships, MEDA enables access to finance and provides business and technical expertise to build transformative agri-food market systems that create decent jobs, allowing traditionally excluded groups to become active participants in a sustainable economy. MEDA welcomes all who share our values and want to join us in our mission. To find out more about MEDA, please visit our website at www.meda.org.

Background on MEDA
MEDA Economic Development Associates (MEDA) a non-profit organization which brings hope, opportunity and economic well-being to low-income people around the world, through a business-oriented approach to development. In Tanzania, MEDA is currently implementing a project called Strengthening Small Business Value Chains (SSBVC), which started in 2015 and will be completed in 2021.

The SSBVC project, in Kiswahili as Kuza Biashara Sawia, is a six-year $30.82 million project implemented by MEDA in partnership with Global Affairs Canada (GAC) and partner funding. The project goal is to facilitate sustainable economic growth development of small growing businesses (SGBs), lead firms (LFs), small entrepreneurs (SEs), and the respective business value chains within the three economic growth corridors of Mtwara, Arusha, and Morogoro; and the hub of Dar-es-Salaam.

The SSBVC project is working with 22,500 men and women small entrepreneurs (SEs) and 250 small growing businesses (SGBs) in the manufacturing, agriculture, and construction sectors to grow their businesses and increase their contribution to rural economies in Tanzania.

MEDA conducts final evaluations (FE) of all significant projects because we understand the importance of conducting regular reviews of development interventions that help in documenting results, discovering lessons learned, and improving future design and implementation. This is a summative evaluation intended to assess the outcomes of the project. The evaluation is performed after the period of implementation of the intervention.

Evaluation Purpose

The purpose of the final evaluation is to:

Assess the performance of the project against intended results (PMF) and unanticipated results including any market systems effects;
Identify project strengths, weaknesses, and challenges;
Identify facilitating and inhibiting factors vis-à-vis project results;
Document lessons learned;
Provide recommendations on future designs

The results of this external evaluation are intended for use by MEDA and external stakeholders, including the donor, to assess and communicate the project outcomes. Results and findings may also be shared with other key stakeholders like project clients. However, the key utility of this summative study is that the findings will build evidence on the results achieved by the project.

Evaluation Scope and Criteria

The evaluation will consider all the activities, outputs and results produced during the life of the project 2015 to 2021 and will gather data from multiple stakeholders and geographies where project activities are implemented.

The evaluation will apply the following OECD/DAC and MEDA evaluation criteria1:

1. OECD/DAC

Relevance. Did the intervention do the right things? The extent to which the intervention objectives and design responded to MEDA clients. Did the intervention respond to the SDGs?
Coherence. How well did the intervention fit? The compatibility of the intervention with other interventions in a country, sector or institution.
Effectiveness. Did the intervention achieve its objectives? The extent to which the intervention achieved its objectives, and its results, including any differential results across groups.
Efficiency. How well were resources used? The extent to which the intervention delivered results in an economic and timely way. What is the project spend rate? To what extent do internal audit reports rate efficiency?
Impact. What difference did the intervention make? The extent to which the intervention has generated or is expected to generate significant positive or negative, intended or unintended, higher-level effects.
Sustainability. Will the benefits last? The extent to which the net benefits of the intervention continue or are likely to continue. Will partnerships at local level continue?, including system level impacts?

2. Priorities

Gender Equality. To what extent are the gender equality outcomes achieved by the project? While the project was approved before FIAP, we want to explore the extent to which the project has advanced women’s decision-making participation in the household, as well as access to and control over household resources and benefits.
Environmental Sustainability & Climate Change. To what extent has the intervention achieved results in environmental sustainability? Does the intervention consider climate change mitigation and adaptation, and to what extent?

3. Evaluation Issues

Results-Based Management. To what extent was the project primarily managed by results? What improvements could be made in the project’s RBM system? Were there any lessons learned on adaptive management?

The criteria should be applied thoughtfully to support high quality, useful evaluation. They should be contextualized – understood in the context of the individual evaluation, the intervention being evaluated, and the stakeholders involved. The evaluation questions (what you are trying to find out) and what you intend to do with the answers, should inform how the criteria are specifically interpreted and analyzed.

Use of the criteria depends on the purpose of the evaluation. The criteria should not be applied mechanistically. Instead, they should be covered according to the needs of the relevant stakeholders and the context of the evaluation. More or less time and resources may be devoted to the evaluative analysis for each criterion depending on the evaluation purpose. Data availability, resource constraints, timing, and methodological considerations may also influence how (and whether) a particular criterion is covered.

Evaluation Approach and Methodology

The performance measurement framework will be used to assess outcomes achieved. An Evaluation Advisory Committee (EAC) will be formed comprising key project stakeholders to guide the process of internal evaluation. The evaluation will use multiple lines of evidence, both qualitative and quantitative, to triangulate findings. The study will make use of existing MIM data (e.g. baseline and monitoring data) to develop data gathering instruments.

Data gathering tools and findings must also capture progress and results related to the above criteria and themes as gender equality and environmental sustainability.

The EAC should include, at a minimum: Project Manager, Country Director, Project MIM Manager, and HQ MIM Program Manager.

Evaluator’s Tasks and Responsibilities

Under the overall guidance of the EAC, the Consultant will prepare a detailed work plan that provides information on the evaluation to be carried with timelines of each activity. At minimum, the work plan should include the following:

Overview of the project
Evaluation methodology, including sampling strategy and research questions, disaggregated by gender to ensure identification of gender equality outcomes
Data gathering tools
Data analysis and reporting
Evaluation schedule/timeline

Evaluation Deliverables

The following products will be produced as part of the evaluation.

Evaluation work plan, including matrix. The evaluation matrix is a framework that includes evaluation criteria, questions, indicators, any existing data and / or targets, data sources, instruments, sampling considerations, and analysis
Draft evaluation report, including raw data
Final evaluation report

Logistical Arrangements

The local project team will be responsible for making logistical arrangements for field visit and scheduling interviews with stakeholders.

Budget

The project will cover the full costs of the evaluation.

Timeframe

All activities will be conducted during the timeframe as specified in the full ToR, with the final report being delivered early April 2021.

Candidate Eligibility: Local Tanzanian consultants are encouraged to apply.

APPLICATION DEADLINE: December 21st 2020 @ 4:00pm EST (Applications will be considered on a rolling basis).

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. Thank you for your submission.

MEDA is an equal opportunity employer and accommodations are available during all phases of the recruitment process. We ask that any applicants requiring accommodation make their needs known in advance.