Ex-Post Evaluation of the Reaching Agents of Change Project

International Potato Center Call for Consultancy Services Ex-Post Evaluation of the Reaching Agents of ChangeProject The International Potato Center (CIP) is seeking a Consultant with experience in conducting evaluations with special focus on advocacy and capacity building projects.

The Center: CIP is a not-for-profit international agricultural research for development institution with a focus on potato, sweet potato, and Andean Root and Tuber Crops. Its vision is to enhance the use of roots and tubers crops to improve the livelihoods of the poor. CIP is dedicated to achieving food security, improved nutrition and well-being, and gender equality for poor people in root and tuber farming and food systems of the developing world. CIP is headquartered in Lima, Peru with staff and activities in over 20 locations across Africa, Asia, and Latin America. CIP is a member of the CGIAR Consortium, a network of 15 research centers that are mostly located in the developing world and supported by more than 50 donor members.

The Project: The Reaching Agents of Change (RAC) project (2011-2015) was implemented by the International Potato Center (CIP) and Helen Keller International (HKI). The project was designed withthe aim of reducing vitamin A deficiency in 5 African countries (primarily in Mozambique, Nigeria and Tanzania, and to a lesser extent in Burkina Faso and Ghana) through increased investments and commitment to the dissemination and use of orange-fleshed sweetpotato (OFSP) as a means to support vitamin A deficiency and food insecurity in Africa.

The specific objectives of RAC were to:

1. Advocate for new investments (at least $18 million) and policy reform and the inclusion of OFSP in national, regional, and sub-regional policy agendas in support of OFSP.

2. Build institutional capacity of national implementing agencies to design and implement technically strong, gender-sensitive, and cost-effective interventions that drive the uptake of OFSP.

Project Goal, Outcomes

Development Goal: Reduced child malnutrition and associated healthproblems in Sub-Saharan Africa. Indicators of success:

◦ Improved diet diversification

◦ Reduced food insecurity

◦ Increased vitamin A intake at the household levelOutcomes: Under the first objective, RAC identified, convened, and built capacity for 55 national advocates and 11 regional champions who promoted and advocated for the inclusion of OFSP in

regional and national policies, strategies and plans. RAC developed diverse advocacy materials that

targeted policymakers at regional, national, and sub-national levels. Responding to popular demand,

the project developed investment guidelines for turning policies into programs and projects at different

operational levels. As a result of this comprehensive approach, OFSP was included in 19 key

policy/strategy documents in the three key project countries. Moreover, a total of $21.6 million was

mobilized for OFSP projects in the 5 target countries.

Under the second objective, RAC focused on strengthening capacity of national institutions to train

change agents and service providers along the OFSP value chain. This entailed intensive mentorship

with a learning-by-doing approach. Examples of this include the 10-day course on “Everything you ever

wanted to know about sweetpotato” through which RAC trained 41 national primary facilitators in

three institutions from 2012 to 2014. The host institutions then conducted nine courses that reached

224 secondary trainers. Using their own resources, these secondary trainers conducted 45 step-down

courses to reach 4,160 tertiary facilitators and farmers, forming a total of 4,476 change agents trained

through RAC. RAC worked with Sokoine University ofAgriculture, Eduardo Mondlane University and the

Agricultural and Rural Management Training Institute in Tanzania, Mozambique and Nigeria

respectively. Moreover, as a component under capacity building, RAC facilitated the production of clean

planting materials of OFSP vines for widespread distribution by decentralized vine multipliers. As a

whole, RAC facilitated the establishment of 18.1 ha of primary and 28 ha of secondary clean planting

materials, reaching 132,877 households with OFSP vines in the target countries.

The RAC project was concluded in September 2015. RAC 2 (The Building Nutritious Food-Baskets – BNFB

project) started in November 2015. BNFB seeks to reduce hidden hunger by catalyzing sustainable

investment for the utilization of biofortified crops (vitamin A cassava, vitamin A maize, vitamin A

sweetpotato and iron rich beans) at scale. The project is implemented in Nigeria and Tanzania, to

demonstrate how multiple biofortified crops can bescaled up together at country level.

Objectives of the Ex-post evaluation

The general objective of this assignment is to evaluate the relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, impacts

and sustainability of RAC and how these have enabled more households to accessing and consume

OFSP. The evaluation will also highlight the valueaddition of the BNFB project.

The following are some of the research questions that the ex-post evaluation will seek to answer:

Objective 1:

• To what extent did the trained advocates under RAC continue to advocate for OFSP and

what have they achieved in terms of policies, strategies and plans?

• To what extent did the investments mobilized translate into programs and projects that

are enabling more households to obtain and consumeOFSP?

• RAC developed diverse advocacy communication materials to support advocacy work. How

have these materials been used and what is their value addition?

• The RAC project developed and published a toolkit of 3 investment guide products. To

what extent have these products been used and whatis their value addition?Objective 2:

• Through the 6-day course on “Engendered OFSP project planning, implementation,

monitoring and evaluation, RAC strengthened the capacity of national implementing

partners to design and implement gender-sensitive projects to ensure wide access and

utilization of OFSP. To what extent have these partners continued to train others / use the

knowledge and skills acquired? And who have they trained?

• RAC built the capacities of 3 national host institutions to deliver the training course on

“Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about Sweetpotato. Did primary facilitators in these

institutions continue to offer training courses onOFSP as envisioned?

• To what extent did the beneficiaries of the RAC training courses step-down the training?

How many change agents have been trained so far and what has been the outcomes of

these? Are the change agents trained under the training of trainers courses still interested

to continue with step down? what challenges and barriers did they face and the nature of

support they would require to overcome the challenges?

• RAC developed and published two important toolkits: i) Everything You Ever Wanted to

Know about Sweetpotato training of trainers manual, and ii) the Engendered OFSP Project

Planning, Implementation, Monitoring and Evaluation Learning Module. How have these

products continued to be used? What is their valueaddition?

• Under seed systems, RAC facilitated the production of clean planting materials (OFSP

vines) to decentralized vine multipliers (DVMs) for widespread distribution including

spearheading the release of two OFSP varieties. To what extent have the DVMs continued

to multiply and distribute seed?

• Is there evidence that more households are obtaining and consuming OFSP as a result of

the seed system that was established by RAC?

Scope

This ex-post evaluation will be conducted between March and April 2017 in three countries,

Mozambique, Tanzania and Nigeria. The consultant will be required to lead on the following task in

consultation with Monitoring, Learning and Evaluation Specialist:

▯ Develop a scientific research proposal replete withmethodology for conducting the evaluation;

▯ Hold inception meeting with the project team and conduct a desk review of key relevant

documents and understanding the project design andcontextual framework;

▯ Design tools/questionnaire and methodology for datacollection of both qualitative and

quantitative data.

▯ Pre-test the data collection tools;

▯ Implement and supervise field data collection;

▯ Analyze and synthesize data; and prepare report;

▯ Submit data analysis and draft report for feedback;and,

▯ Incorporate, compile and submit final report.

Methodology

The consultant is expected to come up with a progressive research design; a plan and structure that will

guide the ex-post evaluation and deliver on the objectives of the study as comprehensively as possible.The consultant is to come up with a representative sample to give the true status of project indicators; the sampling techniques and procedure should be well explained. The consultant will also be expected

use both quantitative and qualitative approaches to data sourcing and analysis; primary and secondary

data sources will be explored. The data collection, and subsequent analysis, will apply multiplicity of

methods to allow for triangulation of findings. The consultant is expected to explain how reliability and

validity of the data collection instruments will beascertained and enhanced.

It is expected that the theoretical framework for the ex-post evaluation will build from or be capable of

capturing and explicating the RAC project model. To what extent the RAC model was implemented as

per the project design and key lessons learnt from both model design and model implementation are

important theoretical issues? It is expected that the study design and explanation of research findings

i.e. findings from the key research questions, will be guided and informed by that theoretical

framework.

Duration of Contract:

This consultancy contract is for 15 working days spread over the period March to April 2017

Deliverables

i. An acceptable inception report.

ii. An acceptable draft report after the analysis incorporation of staff and stakeholders’ feedback.

iii. A final acceptable report in English of no more than 40 pages (excluding references and

annexes)

Requirements:

The consultant shall have the following competencies, skills and experience and/or shall have

successfully demonstrated these attributes in actual work situations:

• Relevant PhD degree with specialization in agriculture economics, agriculture, extension, seed

system, agronomy, sociology, education, or community development;

• Extensive experience in evaluation of advocacy, capacity building and seed systems in

developing countries;

• Demonstrated success in working with multi-disciplinary teams and complex partnerships both

in private and public sectors;

• Excellent social skills and a collaborative style;

• Excellent publication record in peer reviewed journals;

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English. Portuguese language will be an

added advantage

Logistical Arrangements:

BNFB will facilitate logistical arrangement for field visits, and meetings. The consultant will be expected

to provide his/her own equipment. Working space can be provided with prior notification. Payment will

be based on deliverables as outlined in the contract.The statements in this description represent typical elements, criteria and general work performed.

They are not intended to be construed as an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties and skills for

this job.

Application Process and Timeline:

Only digital applications will be accepted. Please apply by emailing the following materials to our CIP’s

Job Opportunities website ( http://cipotato.org/open-vacancies/)

The expression of interest should include but not limited to:

i. A one-page technical proposal illustrating your understanding of the ToR, research

questions and methodology;

ii. A tentative work plan for entire consultancy exercise (including logistics required);

iii. A financial proposal for the entire consultancy;

iv. Curriculum vitae.

Deadline for application is March 8, 2017. The assignment will kick-off early March, 2017.