Midterm Evaluation Consultant

Job Summary:

I. Objectives of the Mid Term Evaluation

The objective of the midterm will be to objectively assess the project’s progress in delivery of the outcomes and based on this assessment, to take decisions on the future orientation and emphasis of the project during the remaining time, and stakeholder analysis would be also the part of the objective of the midterm evaluation.

Duties & Responsibilities:

Duties and responsibilities:

Although the consultant will be given a suggested checklist of questions to be covered under each section, the specific objectives of the midterm evaluation are to provide:
1. Review the proposed objectives, results and indicators and provide concrete reference data and hence recommendations for project re-adjustment.

1.1. Relevance & quality of design
- Did the project proposal match to the goals of the MAIL Objective?
- Was the design appropriate for the selected geographic area?
- Was the intervention logic coherent and accurate?
- Were the indicators of progress and of impact in the design of good quality?
- How was the quality of the outputs going to be determined?
- Were the outputs achievable or overly ambitious?
1.2. Efficiency of implementation
- Did the project start on time?
- Were all inputs delivered on time?
- Were inputs of acceptable quality?
- Was the methodology of implementation the right one under the circumstances?
- Did the service provider/ Implementation partner get good cooperation from relevant local government authorities?
- Did the Service provider/ Implementation partner get good cooperation from relevant local leaders?
- Was access to project areas acceptable?
- Were most of the outputs achieved to an acceptable standard?
- Did the community contribute in cash and in kind according to the proposal?
- To what extent did the Service provider/ Implementation partner take on board the recommendations from IFAD?
1.3. Effectiveness
- Did the activities listed in the proposal result in total achievement of the specific objectives and attainment of outputs?
- Were there any non-planned effects and were these good or bad?
- Was coordination with other development actors effective?
1.4. Impact to date
- To what extent have beneficiaries, benefited from the project activities and outputs under the project interventions?
- To what extent have local government institutions benefited from the activities and outputs?
- To what extent have local leaders benefited from the activities and outputs?
- To what extent is the impact sustainable over the longer term?
- Has the project increased or decreased dependency on outside intervention?

1.5. Effect on improving poverty
- To what extent did the project alleviate poverty
- To what extent were gender issues addressed by the project?

1.6. Potential sustainability
- To what extent can the outputs be expected to be sustainable?
- Do the local government authorities fully support the initiatives taken by the project?
- Do the local community leaders fully support the initiatives taken by the project?
- To what extent has the project strengthened the capacities of local government and local leadership structures?
- To what extent are the people themselves contributing to the sustainability of the initiatives?
- To what extent has the private sector become involved in the development of the area as a result of the project?
- Did the Service provider/ Implementation partner formulate a practical exit strategy and is it working?




II. Methodology

The desired methodology is participatory and the entire stakeholder in the project will be considered to be part of the midterm evaluation process. The anticipated benefit of a Participatory and stakeholder-centred approach is the empowering that, the process will impart to those service providers and the beneficiaries/ stakeholders who will participate in the exercise. Focus group discussions, key informant interviews, site visits etc. are proposed amongst the methods to be used for the review. The consultant will however provide leadership and bear responsibility for the process, the findings, the comments and the content of the final document. The additional desired objective underlying the participatory approach is to build capacity of the consortium members’ staffs plus partners such as government staff in conducting midterm evaluation.


III. Deliverables

The main expected output of the Midterm evaluation is a comprehensive final report based on the Midterm evaluation having relevant annexes with detailed data.

The draft report is expected

The final report is expected after the presentation to the stakeholders. The final report will be presented in hard copies.

The final report will at the very least contain, but not be restricted to the following.


Executive Summary (including main conclusions and recommendations).

Background with analysis of the state context.

Methodology

Main Findings,

Conclusion and recommendations

Annexes (a revised logframe, TOR, abbreviations, persons interviewed, references, tables with survey data, questionnaire forms used, etc.).

IV. Duration:
The expected duration of the consultancy is 20 working days excluded international travel days

Job Requirement:

The required Knowledge and Experience of the lead Consultant:


At least a Master’s degree in food security-related area & over 5 years of significant research/work experience.

Applied qualitative research experience (quantitative research experience an asset).

Experience evaluation of the IFAD funded project would be major advantage.

Successful previous Afghanistan Ministry of Agriculture consultancy experience will be a big advantage.
Skills of the lead Consultant:

Excellent analytical and communication skills in English

Demonstrated publications record, covering research, technical, and policy areas;

Ability to work as a part of a multi cultural and international team;

Extensive computer skills including excel, word and power point.

Job Location: