NUTRITION SENSITIVE AGRICULTURE CAPACITY STRENGTHENING PROJECT END-TERM EVALUATION TERMS OF REFERENCE

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The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals called for ending poverty, hunger, and malnutrition globally by 2030. These goals prompted the Government of Ethiopia to design the National Nutrition Program as a multi-sectoral initiative to achieve food security. As part of this effort, the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) developed the National Nutrition-Sensitive Agriculture Strategy (NSAS), which provides guidance on integrating nutrition objectives into existing agriculture policies, programs, and investments.

The Nutrition-Sensitive Agriculture Capacity Strengthening in Ethiopia (NSA CASE) project was designed to enable the MOA to implement this national strategy effectively and to support the National Nutrition Program and the Seqota Declaration. NSA CASE is a five-year project (2019 – 2024) funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The project has provided the ministry with direct technical and financial support through a grant-under-grant approach. The project has been implemented at the federal(MOA) and in the Amhara, Oromia, and Somali regions, covering two zones and four woredas in each region.

NSA CASE has made investments to address bottlenecks within the MOA related to capacity and systems. The project identified these opportunities using the Organizational Development Assessment study conducted during the project’s inception phase. The assessment examined the MOA’s readiness to implement the NSAS.

This end-term evaluation aims to assess the achievement of the project’s four primary outcomes:

1. Increased financing for and prioritization of the implementation of the NSAS in three regions.
2. Increased capacity of MOA staff to regularly use data for decision-making related to the implementation of NSAS.
3. Improved capacity within the MOA and regional bureaus to coordinate NSA activities activities.
4. Sustained human resource capacity for nutrition-sensitive agriculture at regional, zonal, and woreda levels.

Roles and Responsibilities of the Consultant

1. The specific roles and responsibilities of the consultant are as follows:
2. Review relevant project documents, including the results framework, baseline, midterm report and annual performance reports.
3. Validate the sample size for the different data collection efforts and present an overall sampling strategy.
4. Develop quantitative data collection tools and review qualitative data collection tools.
5. Ensure all necessary research ethics approvals are obtained on time in coordination with Save the Children,
6. Ensure that all data collection activities are gender sensitive and respect safeguarding principles.
7. Establish data entry protocols and oversee data entry according to the agreed-upon software for both quantitative and qualitative data.
8. Provide updates on data collection progress and submit raw and clean data at the end of the evaluation to Save the Children.
9. Analyze quantitative and qualitative data.
10. Develop a code book to transcribe audio-recorded data.
11. Produce and submit audio and transcribed data.
12. Produce and submit a draft report.
13. Produce the final end-term evaluation report.
14. Produce PowerPoint presentations.

For More Information Please Refer This Link:-

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1mMiXptZ4pSXPbsdFUm0z9jGWRjbXnYBH/edit

The consultant should have:

• A relevant academic background with at least a Master of Science degree or equivalent in the fields of agriculture, rural development, nutrition, and food security or related fields and at least 10 years of relevant experience in coordinating and administering baseline, mid-term and end-term studies in the health and agriculture sector.
• Experience working with diverse stakeholders, including farmers, government agencies, non-governmental organizations and international organizations.
• Project management skills to ensure timely completion and effective coordination with stakeholders.
• Excellent synthesis and report-writing skills. Sample work and/or reference letters to prove similar activities must be attached.
• Previous knowledge and experience in the evaluation of similar actions and scope.
• The ability to travel to regions for primary and secondary data collection.

Skills Required

• Relevant skills in qualitative and quantitative research methods.
• Familiarity with using mobile data collection tools (KoboCollect, Open Data Kit, etc.) and the ability to upload and manage cloud data as Save the Children requires.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to present complex information clearly and concisely.
• Proficiency in using data analysis software and statistical techniques.
• Strong project management and organizational skills.
• Ability to work independently and as part of a team.
• Knowledge of and experience in gender equality issues is highly preferred.