National Evaluation Consultant

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FAO seeks gender, geographical and linguistic diversity in its staff and international consultants in order to best serve FAO Members in all regions.
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Qualified female applicants and qualified nationals of non-and under-represented member countries are encouraged to apply.

Persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply.

All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence.
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Organizational Setting

The Office of Evaluation (OED) of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is conducting a final evaluation of a national project in the Philippines financed by the Global Environment Facility (GEF). The project title is “Dynamic Conservation and Sustainable Use of Agro-biodiversity in Traditional Agro-ecosystems of the Philippines’ (GCP/PHI/062/GFF) and is being implemented between July 2016 and June 2021.

This project supports the Government of the Philippines to conserve globally important agro-biodiversity in traditional agro-ecosystems in the Philippines through promotion of dynamic conservation practices with the intention of upscaling results and approaches on a wider scale. The project objective is therefore “to enhance, expand and sustain the dynamic conservation practices that sustain globally significant agricultural biodiversity (ABD) in traditional agro-ecosystems of the Philippines”. The widespread uptake should bring environmental and human welfare benefits (physical, mental, economic), that represent the project’s long-term development objective.

The project is structured around three project components:

• Mainstreaming agro-biodiversity considerations into policy and legal frameworks, development strategies and institutional structures (addressing the enabling policy environment, legal frameworks and strategies to promote traditional ABD and a coordinated approach);
• Pilot activities to enhance and expand dynamic conservation practices for agro-biodiversity in three pilot communities (Community-based capacity-building of ABD and the development of opportunities for local communities to derive economic, livelihood and food security benefits from ABD conservation and sustainable use)
• Dissemination of information, awareness raising and preparation for scaling-up. (Addressing the low awareness of the socio-economic and cultural values of ABD to make decision-making more effective and evidence based, based on results and experiences delivered through Components 1 and 2).

The pilot activities are being implemented in Ifugao Province (two municipalities) and South Cotabato Province (one municipality).

Reporting Lines

The National Evaluation Consultant responds to the OED evaluation manager under the general responsibility of the Office of Evaluation (OED). The FAO Representation in the Philippines will provide administrative oversight.

Technical Focus

The OED evaluation manager will recruit a team composed of one international evaluation team leader, as well as one national evaluation consultant based in the Philippines. This vacancy is for the position of national evaluation consultant.

The team as a whole will be qualified in the following areas:

• Project evaluation, particularly evaluation of agricultural development and GEF-funded projects is an asset;
• Technical understanding of agriculture, biodiversity and traditional agro-ecosystems management;
• Familiarity with the region’s/country’s biodiversity, socio-economic and legislative context, problems of traditional agro-ecosystems management and agriculture;
• Results-based Monitoring systems, surveys, data-collection and analysis.

Tasks and responsibilities

The FAO Office of Evaluation (OED) will guide this evaluation. The national evaluation consultant’s responsibilities are to:

• Work in close collaboration with the Evaluation Team Leader and the OED Evaluation manager;
• Review relevant background documentation made available by OED and the project team;
• Provide comments/inputs on the Inception Report (prepared by the Team Leader) which includes (i) a short background of the project; (ii) an evaluation Theory of Change, (iii) refined methodological approach to be adopted by the evaluation team (iv) an evaluation matrix, (v) a stakeholder and project site analysis (mapping who the stakeholders are in the overall project, where they are and what their role is in the project, who would be key to contact and where); and (vi) a short section on limitations and risks, timeline and deliverables;
• Preparation of the field work and/or remote design, including (remote) data-collection tools, questionnaires, check-lists and interview protocols as appropriate, under the supervision of the Team Leader;
• Conduct the collection of primary data as required and identified in the Inception Report and evaluation matrix, under the remote leadership of the Team Leader through, inter alia:
  • The conduct of in-depth interviews, face-to-face or virtual (depending on local COVID-19 restrictions), with key stakeholders such as (but not limited to): Local FAO and project staff, national and local government representatives, UN agencies, academia, private sector and civil society organizations related to the project activities as well as project beneficiaries in the various project sites;
  • Conduct of field visit (depending on local COVID-19 restrictions) to observe and evaluate relevant project sites, exchange with beneficiaries, and interview local stakeholders;
  • Contribute to the collection of relevant secondary data, if and as required in the evaluation matrix;
  • Record the interview findings in short summary written form, and make them available to OED;
• Ensure that all the primary and secondary data collected are recorded during the evaluation process, and organized in a structured format agreed with the Team Leader and the Evaluation Manager, (e.g. preparation of interview notes, tables, etc. and that all collected docs are saved in OneDrive or MS Teams);
• Consolidate the evidence collected in a structured field mission report (approx. 10 pages) following the key evaluation questions and criteria, and comments received, and including an overview of persons interviewed;
• Participate in the analysis and discussion on evaluation issues, main findings, conclusions and recommendations with the evaluation team;
• Check if the draft Evaluation Report reflects the mission findings appropriately and liaise with the Team Leader accordingly;
• Participate and present in briefing and debriefing meetings with the GEF, FAO Representation in the Philippines and the project team, field visits (if possible) and discussions with the evaluation team and relevant stakeholders (this includes discussions and a debriefing presentation on Zoom);
• Support the Team Leader and Evaluation Manager with the integration of comments and suggestions received from the project stakeholders and the GEF in the final evaluation report.

Expected timeframe

• The core phase of the evaluation exercise is expected to take place between February – June 2021;

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

• University degree in evaluation, agriculture, (agro-)economics, environmental studies, development studies, or another related field;
• A minimum of 5 years of relevant experience in leading project evaluations, preferably of rural/agricultural development projects and/or programs
• Working knowledge of English, which is the language through which all the evaluation communication, documents and reports are expected;
• National of Philippines or resident in the country with a regular work permit.

FAO Core Competencies

• Results Focus
• Teamwork
• Communication
• Building Effective Relationships
• Knowledge Sharing and Continuous Improvement

Technical/Functional Skills

• Extent and relevance of experience in conducting project evaluations;
• Experience in evaluating projects at field level and facilitating evaluation processes. In particular, good capacity to carry out remote and/or in-person interviews with different types of project stakeholders in Manila and in the project provinces (e.g. Government officials, project [implementation] partners, local beneficiaries, etc.), conduct focus group discussions (COVID-19 restrictions permitting);
• Experience in evaluation report writing and interviews/presentations on Zoom;
• Extent and relevance of technical experience in agricultural development, agro-biodiversity and traditional agro-ecosystems management;
• Familiarity with the country’s biodiversity, socio-economic and legislative context, problems of traditional agro-ecosystems management and agriculture;
• Proficiency in Filipino/Tagalog language;
• Knowledge of or working experience in the project areas (Ifugao Province and South Cotabato Province) is an asset;
• Proficiency in local dialects in Ifugao and Lake Sebu, South Cotabato will be an advantage;
• Familiarity with Global Environment Facility (GEF) projects and evaluations is an asset.

Additional Selection Criteria

• The evaluation team members must be independent from both the formulation and implementation of the project. Therefore, applications will not be considered from evaluators who have had any direct involvement with the design or implementation of the project. Any previous association with the project, the executing partners, and other partners/stakeholders must be disclosed in the application.

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Please note that all candidates should adhere to FAO Values of Commitment to FAO, Respect for All and Integrity and Transparency.