TOR: MID-PROGRAM REVIEW AND STAKEHOLDER LEARNING WORKSHOP BUILDING WASTE MANAGEMENT AND CIRCULAR ENTERPRISES IN ETHIOPIA

BACKGROUND

Ethiopia continues to face interlinked challenges in waste management, youth unemployment, and climate resilience. In response, “Ethiopia’s Green Future” was launched with funding from the IKEA Foundation to catalyze solutions through green innovation. Under this umbrella, Reach for Change (RfC), a global non-profit organization operating in Ethiopia since 2015, with a mission to empower social entrepreneurs to create a better world for children, youth, and families is implementing a three-year project (2024–2026) titled “Building Waste and Circular Enterprises in Ethiopia.”

This initiative aims to foster youth- and women-led green entrepreneurship, advance circular economy practices, and promote sustainable livelihoods. Launched in close collaboration with key government partners, including the Environmental Protection Authority, AA Bureau of Labor and Skills, AA Bureau of Finance and Addis Ababa Cleansing Agency, the project aligns with national priorities on green growth and job creation.

The project operates through two main components:

• Green Innovation Lab (GIL): Supports early-stage entrepreneurs to develop and validate Minimum Viable Products (MVPs) in the waste-to-value space.
• Green Business Incubator (GBI): Provides business development support, market access, and financial assistance to help growth-stage enterprises scale proven circular solutions.

A strong emphasis is placed on gender inclusion, ecosystem development, and climate resilience. In Year 1, 44 entrepreneurs (38% women) were selected into GIL and 10 enterprises (40% women-led) joined GBI. The program’s adaptive delivery model combined in-person and virtual coaching, technical partnerships, and targeted support to address systemic challenges such as access to finance, registration bottlenecks, inflation, and technical skill gaps.

By the end of the first year, the project had delivered notable results:

• 37 MVPs developed through GIL.
• 10 businesses incubated under GBI, collectively creating 99 jobs and reporting revenue growth.
• Increased formalization of enterprises: 43% of GIL participants obtained a Tax Identification Number (TIN); 37% formally registered their businesses.
• Innovative solutions introduced, including biodegradable sanitary products, conversion of plastic waste into toys, and circular construction materials.

In alignment with Reach for Change’s adaptive learning approach, a mid-program review and stakeholder learning workshop is scheduled for Year 2. This aims to reflect on progress, assess performance against strategic objectives, and co-develop recommendations for enhancing impact and sustainability in the remaining project period

PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVES

Purpose

The purpose of the mid-program review is to evaluate project performance at its midpoint, generate insights on progress toward outcomes, and engage stakeholders in a participatory learning workshop to align strategies for the remaining implementation period.

Objectives of the Review

The mid-term review aims to assess the project’s performance, identify improvement areas, and generate learning to inform future implementation. Specifically, it seeks to answer the following key questions:

• How is the project performing against its planned objectives and key performance indicators (KPIs)?
• What are the strengths, good practices, and outcomes achieved so far?
• What are the implementation gaps, challenges, or risks identified?
• What adjustments or adaptations are recommended to improve results in the remaining implementation period?
• How effective is stakeholder engagement and ecosystem collaboration?
• What key learnings can inform future project replication or scale-up?

Scope of the Review

The review will cover all major components of the project

• Green Innovation Lab (GIL)
• Green Business Incubator (GBI)

The geographic scope focuses on Addis Ababa City, encompassing activities implemented across all sub-cities. The review will examine implementation progress from project inception in 2024 through mid-2025, assessing both strategic and operational dimensions, including relevance, efficiency, effectiveness, and sustainability.

METHODOLOGY

The consultant is expected to propose an appropriate, gender-sensitive, and participatory methodology. This may include:

• Document review
• Key Informant Interviews (KIIs) with RfC staff, GIL and GBI participants, and stakeholders
• Focus Group Discussions (FGDs)
• Surveys or feedback tools
• Workshop facilitation tools and reflection exercises

All methods should comply with ethical standards (informed consent, confidentiality, non-discrimination, etc.) and adhere to RfC’s Code of Conduct and safeguarding policy.

DELIVERABLES/OUTPUTS AND TIME FRAME

The assignment will be conducted over a period of 30 calendar days (July–August 2025). Key deliverables include:

Step	Activities	Deliverables
1	Introductory briefing and contract signing	Agreement signed
2	Development of Inception Report(methodology, tools, timeline, review questions)	Inception Report
3	Data collection and analysis	Draft Review Report
4	Facilitation of learning workshop with key stakeholders	Workshop delivery

5	Submission of final report incorporating feedback and learning reflections	Final Review Report (internal and external versions)
6	Annexes (tools, stakeholder lists, transcripts/summaries, reviewed materials)	Final Annexes

ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Roles and Responsibilities of the Consultant

• Participate in briefing and consultative meetings on the assignment at RFC in Addis Ababa
• Review relevant documents of the project
• Closely work with RFC Impact and program team to clearly understand the nature of the task and address challenges timely if there is any
• Developing a comprehensive inception report to guide the baseline
• Outline the roles of each of the team members proposed to undertake the consultancy work
• Develop data collection tools and share to RFC team
• Refine the data collection tools based on the comments of RFC team
• Provide quality and professional services in managing, coordinating and supervising the whole process
• Prepare and submit a comprehensive, well-structured draft report of the assessment to RFC for review and comment.
• Facilitate validation workshop to share the findings with key stakeholders and incorporate their views
• Review and incorporate feedback received from RFC
• Produce and submit the final report in hard and soft copies with two version (one for internal purposes and an edited version for external sharing)

Responsibilities of RfC

• Facilitate induction session on project for the consultant
• Provide the necessary information and reference documents for the consultant
• Provide comments/feedback on the comprehensive inception reports and approve the design and tools to be applied
• Provide the list potential beneficiaries and key stakeholders, facilitate the organization of meetings and assist with the data collection
• Ensure that the comments/feedback given on the draft report are fully incorporated in the final report
• Facilitate payments for the consultant as per the agreed terms and conditions
• Support and facilitate debriefing and consultation sessions after data collection at all levels

PROFILE OF THE CONSULTANT

This assignment will be commissioned to qualified firm or individual consultant who has the following qualifications

• Proven technical expertise and experience in environmental and social impact midterm review/assessment or sustainability assessment in general
• Experience and familiarity with business development support specifically green business development and waste management
• Proven experience in conducting similar assessments
• Experience of coordinating diverse teams and communicating with individuals/groups at all levels.
• Knowledge and experience of using participatory methodologies
• Experience on quantitative and qualitative research methods and analysis
• Strong analytical, presentation and writing skills in English language