TERMS OF REFERENCES (TOR) FOR END OF PROJECT EVALUATION, HARAR AGRIBUSINESS PROJECT (PILOT)

Description of Programme Location and Context

Established in 1980, the SOS Children’s Villages programme in Harar is Ethiopia’s second-oldest children’s village. It has been at the forefront of transforming the lives of countless children, families, and communities who have faced adversities in the Eastern Part of Ethiopia, including Harari, Dire Dawa, and East Hararghe zone. Between 2012 and 2021, the programme implemented four Family and Community Strengthening Projects in Harar, Haramaya, and Dire Dawa, benefiting more than 10,000 children and young people at risk of losing their parental care, and more than 2000 caregivers were supported to keep their children, care for them adequately, and get back on their feet. Currently, the programme location runs six different projects in the Harari Region, Dire Dawa, East and West Hararghe zones: Harar Standard Project, Advancing the Rights of Children and Young Adults with Disabilities in Dire Dawa and Harar, Reaching out to Children on the Street Situation Project in Dire Dawa, Dutch Relief Alliance Ethiopian Joint Response (Humanitarian Action Project) in Midega Tola, Harar Agribusiness, and Practice Peace and Live in Tranquility project.

In 2021, SOS Children’s Villages in Ethiopia – Harar Program launched a pilot initiative, the “Harar Agribusiness Project,” in selected kebeles of Harari Regional State and East Hararghe Zone, Maya City Administration. The project specifically targeted Gemlashira, Damota, and Bate kebeles.

The initial phase of the project commenced on September 1, 2021, with an ambitious aim to significantly contribute to the improvement of livelihoods for vulnerable populations. Specifically, the project sought to empower 25 caregivers in Bate kebele and 100 youths (75 in Damota and 25 in Gelmashira) by introducing and promoting innovative agricultural practices. These practices included integrated farming models, specifically focusing on fish-poultry-vermicomposting systems, and the adoption of solar-powered poultry incubation technologies.

However, the first phase of implementation, which was scheduled to conclude on May 31, 2022, encountered challenges that prevented the full completion of planned activities. Consequently, a second phase of the pilot implementation was initiated, extending the project duration from September 1, 2024, to September 30, 2025. This current phase is nearing its completion.

This final evaluation aims to assess the overall performance, achievements, challenges, and lessons learned from both phases of the Harar Agribusiness Project, providing valuable insights for future interventions.

Rationale of the Final Evaluation

The “Innovative Green Agribusiness” pilot project, implemented by SOS Children’s Villages in Ethiopia’s Harar Program, has completed its implementation phase. A terminal evaluation is a systematic and objective assessment of the project’s design, implementation, and results. It is conducted to determine the project’s overall success, identify lessons learned, and inform future programming.

The rationale for this specific evaluation is threefold:

• Accountability: The evaluation will assess the extent to which the project has achieved its stated objectives and delivered on its planned outputs and outcomes, as defined in the provided Result Framework. This is essential for accountability to donors, beneficiaries, and other stakeholders, ensuring that resources have been used effectively and as intended.
• Learning and Program Improvement: The evaluation will serve as a critical learning exercise. It will provide an opportunity to identify what worked well, what did not, and why. The findings will be used to improve the design and implementation of similar future projects, particularly in the areas of green agribusiness, youth empowerment, and sustainable livelihoods within the Harar context and beyond.
• Sustainability and Impact: The evaluation will assess the likelihood of the project’s results and benefits being sustained after the project ends. It will also seek to identify any unintended positive or negative impacts, contributing to a deeper understanding of the project’s true effect on the target population and the broader community. The findings will provide strategic recommendations for scaling up or replicating the successful components of the project in the future.

Objectives of the final Evaluation

General Objective:

The general objective of the final evaluation is to provide an independent and objective assessment of the “Innovative Green Agribusiness” pilot project. This evaluation will measure the achievement of the project’s outcomes, outputs, relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, impact and sustainability. It also measures results against established targets, planned outputs, and activities. Additionally, it will draw lessons learned that can enhance the project’s sustainability and provide insights for improving initiatives related ‘’Innovative Green Agribusiness’’ project. The evaluation will also identify good practices, challenges, observations and forward recommendations with effective strategies for other similar project design and implementation in the future.

Specific Objectives:

The specific objectives of the terminal evaluation are:

• To assess the relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, impact and sustainability of the project using the DAC evaluation criteria.
• Review of the project’s logical framework and theory of change to determine if the design was sound and realistic.
• Conduct a thorough assessment of the project achievement of all planned project outputs and the progress made towards achieving the intended outcomes. This will involve an analysis of project monitoring data, financial utilization and verification of results on the ground, specifically focusing on the indicators provided in the result framework.
• Analyze how the project engaged key stakeholders and addressed the cross-cutting Issues by integrating key cross-cutting themes, such as gender equality, environmental protection, and youth empowerment, particularly in the context of the defined target groups (caregivers and young people).
• Draw lessons and put recommendation based on the findings, provide actionable and forward-looking recommendations for future programming by SOS Children’s Villages and its partners in Ethiopia.

Project Impact, Outcomes and Output

Impact: Improved income and food security for target young people and caregivers

Outcome 1: Improved technical and financial capacity of enterprises

Output 1.1. Enterprise members’ entrepreneurial knowledge and skills improved

Output 1.2. Young people and caregivers engaged in home-based solar-powered poultry incubation

Output 1.3. Young people engaged in fish-poultry and vermicomposting income-generating activities

Outcome 2: Harmonized lessons learned for future standardized program

Output 2.1. Partners and stakeholders’ engagement strengthened

Output 2.2. Business case developed to standard programming

Major evaluation /research questions:

The commissioned consultant is expected to develop evaluation questions based on evaluation DAC criteria and by referring the project document, the project result framework and show the terminal evaluation questions (quantitative and qualitative) during the inception report presentation.

Scope of the Final Evaluation:

The evaluation will cover the entire project lifecycle, from its inception to the end of the implementation phase. The geographic scope is limited to the project’s implementation area in Gelmashira Kebele (Harari Regional State) and Bate and Damota Kebeles (Maya City Administration). The initial phase of implementation was from September 1, 2021, to May 31, 2022. The current phase includes a period between September 1, 2024, and September 30, 2025. The project targeted 100 vulnerable young people (25 in Gelmashira Kebele and 75 in Damota Kebele) and 25 young women caregivers in Bate Kebele. The following table shows program participants/beneficiaries in each target kebele.

Name of kebele	Program participants/beneficiaries		Year	Remark
	Young women care givers	Young people
Gelmashira	0	25	01/09/21-01/09/25	Maya City administration
Damota	0	75	01/09/21-01/09/25	Maya City administration
Bate	25	0	01/09/21-01/09/25	Maya City administration

Methodology

The evaluation team is tasked with developing a suitable methodology, including all required data collection instruments, sampling methods, and data analysis techniques, as per the requirements to answer all evaluation questions. A gender-sensitive approach to the evaluation process is expected. The evaluation team and all involved researchers are expected to act by the SOS Child Safeguarding Policy and the Code of Conduct, and to take the necessary precautions to handle all collected data safely and respectfully. A participative approach should be ensured at any stage.

Sampling

The consultant is required to propose statistically sound sampling strategies to ensure representativeness. He/she is required to clearly state the sample size and the acceptable margin of error. The consultant will develop a detailed data analysis plan, outlining the statistical methods to be used for the quantitative data and the thematic analysis approach for the qualitative data. All data collection activities should be conducted following the highest ethical standards, ensuring informed consent, confidentiality, and the safety of all participants.

Work plan and expected deliverables:

Workplan/timetable

The task is expected to be finalized within 30 days after the contractual agreement is signed. The evaluation team is also expected to develop a detailed work plan based on the following given table.

Activities	Dates	Time frame	Location

Expected deliverables

The commissioned external consultant must deliver the terminal evaluation findings within 30 days of the contract signed. Based on the work plan, SOS Children’s Villages of the project intervention program locations (Harar Program Location) and the national office MEAL and FS teams expect the following deliverables:

• An inception report of 8 pages on the evaluation design, methodology, sampling frame, sampling technique, sample size, assessment tools and work plan
• Draft evaluation report.
• The consultant is expected to analyze the data and present findings (for both draft and final findings).
• Final report – The findings of the evaluation report, including an executive summary and data collection tools in both electronic and hardcopy formats, should be submitted.
• Raw data, which has been cleaned (both qualitative and quantitative, including original field notes for in-depth interviews and focus group discussions, and recorded audio material), should be submitted with the report. SOS CVE will have sole ownership of all final data, and any findings shall only be shared or reproduced with the permission of SOS Children’s Village Ethiopia.

Report Criteria

The reporting criteria for the final evaluation report shall be in line with the SOS Children’s Villages Ethiopia result-based management (RBM) toolkit and SOS Children’s Villages will share result framework, the project document and the reporting template with the winner consultant.

Child safeguarding and ethical issues

SOS Children’s Villages is committed to ensuring that all research, evaluations and data collection processes (i.e. evidence-generating activities) undertaken by SOS Children’s Villages and its partners are ethical and respect child safeguarding policy and procedure. The consultant must respect the rights, dignity and protection of children and other vulnerable population groups and should ensure special protection for children and other vulnerable groups during any data-generating activities to minimize any potential risks. Any research, evaluation and data collection SOS Children’s Villages is directly carried out or is involved in as a partner. Ethical practices need to be ensured in the following circumstances:

• Any research, baseline, midterm or final evaluations and data collection SOS Children’s Villages has commissioned for ethical oversight of these processes.
• Any research, evaluation and data collection carried out by researchers/consultants on SOS Children’s Villages programs and participants.

Hence, the relevant project coordinator and location MEAL coordinator in Harar will ensure that any researchers, evaluators and data collectors receive awareness training on, sign and adhere to SOS Children’s Villages core policies:

Obtaining consent from research participants is central to the research relationship and signals respect for the research participant’s dignity, their capability to express their views and their right to have these heard in matters that affect them. Informed consent is an explicit agreement which requires participants to be informed about and understand the research/assessment. This must be given voluntarily and be renegotiable, so that participants may withdraw at any stage of the research process. [AT1] Logistical arrangements

The awarded consultant shall present feasible logistical arrangements for the assignment as part of the technical proposal. National or location-level staff (SOS CVE) will be available to help organize the interviews, including contacting SOS, announcing and local preparation of the evaluation, and linking to community duty bearers and national authorities if required.

Duration of the contract and terms of payment

Payment will be made only upon SOS Children’s Villages’ acceptance of the work performed under the above-described deliverables. Financial proposals should include proposed stage payments. Payment will be transferred by bank transfer in birr.

Funding and Payment: The consultant will be paid by SOS Children’s Villages in Ethiopia as follows:

• 30% on the submission and approval of the inception report.
• 30% on completion of the draft report.
• 40% on completion of the final report.

 

Duration of contract: The contract is effective from the moment it was signed until the acceptance of work by the SOS Children’s Villages in Ethiopia management team.

Notice of Delay

Should the successful bidder encounter a delay in the performance of the contract which may be excusable under unavoidable circumstances, the contractor shall notify SOS Children’s Villages in writing about the causes of any such delays within one (1) week from the beginning of the delay.

After receipt of the Contractor’s notice of delay, SOS Children’s Villages in Ethiopia shall analyse the facts and extent of the delay and extend the time for performance when, in its judgment, the facts justify such an extension.

Copyright and other proprietary rights

SOS Children’s Villages shall be entitled to all intellectual property and other proprietary rights including, but not limited to, copyrights, and trademarks, with regard to products, processes, inventions, ideas, know-how, or documents and other materials which the Contractor has developed for SOS Children’s Villages under the Contract and which bear a direct relation to or are produced or prepared or collected in consequence of, or during the course of, the performance of the Contract. The Contractor acknowledges and agrees that such products, documents, and other materials constitute works made for hire for SOS Children’s Villages.

All materials: interviews, reports, recommendations, and all other data compiled by or received by the Contractor under the Contract shall be the property of SOS Children’s Villages and shall be treated as confidential and shall be delivered only to SOS Children’s Villages’ authorised officials on completion of work under the Contract. The external consultant is obliged to hand over all raw data collected during the assessment to SOS Children’s Villages in Ethiopia.

Termination

The termination of the service agreement for the assignment will be in accordance with the contractual agreement to be included at the formal agreement’s actual signing

Qualification of the Researcher/Research Team

The consultant or consultancy team must possess the following qualifications and expertise to be considered for this assignment:

• Academic Background: A master’s degree or higher in a relevant field such as Monitoring and Evaluation, Social Sciences, Development Studies, Economics, Agricultural Economics, or a related discipline.
• Professional Experience:
  • A minimum of [5-7] years of progressive professional experience in designing and conducting project evaluations, particularly for development projects.
  • Demonstrated experience in evaluating projects focused on livelihoods, agribusiness, youth empowerment, or environmental sustainability is a significant advantage.
  • Proven experience in using both quantitative and qualitative research methods, including but not limited to key informant interviews (KIIs), focus group discussions (FGDs), surveys, and case studies.
  • Previous experience working with or for international NGOs, especially in the context of Ethiopia or the broader Horn of Africa region, is highly desirable.
• Technical Skills:
  • Strong analytical and report-writing skills, with the ability to present complex data and findings in a clear, concise, and accessible manner.
  • Proficiency in data analysis software (e.g., SPSS, Stata, R, or Excel) and familiarity with mobile data collection tools (e.g., Kobo Toolbox, ODK Collect).
  • Familiarity with the project management and evaluation standards of major donors and international organizations.
• Contextual Knowledge:
  • A solid understanding of the socioeconomic and environmental context of Harar and Ethiopia, particularly regarding youth employment, sustainable agriculture, and climate-smart practices.
  • Knowledge of and experience with SOS Children’s Villages’ mission and values, particularly regarding child safeguarding and protection, is essential.
• Soft Skills:
  • Excellent communication and interpersonal skills to effectively engage with a diverse range of stakeholders, including project beneficiaries (youth and caregivers), community leaders, project staff, and government officials.
  • Ability to work independently, manage time effectively, and deliver high-quality outputs within a strict deadline.
• Language:
  • Fluency in written and spoken English is mandatory.
  • Proficiency in local languages spoken in Harar (e.g., Harari, Oromo, Amharic) is a significant advantage and may be required for fieldwork and stakeholder consultations.