Engagement of the Consultancy Firm to lead APPSA end of Programme Evaluation in Angola and Lesotho.
REQUEST FOR EXPRESSION OF INTEREST CONSULTING SERVICES: SELECTION BASED ON CONSULTANT QUARLIFICATIONS (CQS)
Reference No. (as per Procurement Plan): BW-CCARDESA-2024-04-01-CS-CQS
The Centre for Coordination of Agricultural Research and Development for Southern Africa (CCARDESA) is a subsidiary organisation of the Southern African Development Community (SADC). It was established in 2011 and started its full operations in 2013. CCARDESA has a mandate of coordinating agricultural research and development and contributing to better food security and livelihoods in the region. Among the Research and Development (R&D) programmes being coordinated by CCARDESA is the World Bank funded Agricultural Productivity Programme for Southern Africa (APPSA).
APPSA focuses on agricultural technology generation and dissemination within the context of a regional approach – a focus which is well aligned with the objectives of the World Bank’s Africa Strategy, which emphasizes the need for investments to improve the competitiveness and resilience of African agriculture. The Strategy identifies regional integration as an important mechanism to achieve higher rates of growth and poverty reduction. In the SADC region, the SADC Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (RISDP) identifies Regional Integration as the key to economic growth and poverty reduction. APPSA is therefore addressing the RISDP concerns, as well as the concerns of the third pillar of the World Bank’s Regional Integration Assistance Strategy (RIAS), which supports interventions to boost agricultural productivity; improving preparedness to analyze and respond to trans-boundary pandemics, other infectious diseases, and pests; and rationalizing regional research and tertiary education efforts. APPSA is a commitment by the International Development Association (IDA) to help countries enhance long-term availability of safe and nutritious food by providing a mix of short-term interventions designed to stimulate rapid supply responses and sustainable medium- and long-term investments in agricultural productivity, taking into account opportunities for food safety and nutrition enhancement.
APPSA started with three countries (Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia) in 2013 (First Phase) and expanded to Angola and Lesotho in 2019 (Second Phase). The main thrust of the programme is to improve agricultural technology generation and dissemination within and among participating countries, building capacity within national Research and Development (R&D) systems, and enhancing regional collaboration in agricultural research and development. The implementation of APPSA is based on partnerships and collaboration among SADC countries. Each country under APPSA establishes a Regional Centre of Leadership (RCoL) in a commodity area that distinguishes it as a leader in the region and beyond. So far, Zambia has established an RCoL in food legumes and legume-based farming systems, Malawi in maize and maize-based farming systems and Mozambique in rice and rice-based farming systems. In the current phase, Angola and Lesotho are establishing RCoLs in Cassava and Cassava-based farming systems and Horticulture and Horticulture-based farming systems, respectively.
The project comes to the end of its implementation at the end of January 2025. The proposed evaluation aims at assessing the achievement of the project development objective (PDO) and the changes that have occurred as a result of the project’s intervention, important lessons that have been learnt and recommendations for future design and implementation.
The assignment will apply the six OECD/DAC evaluation criteria (relevance, coherence, effectiveness, efficiency, sustainability and impact) and include checking for scientific credibility of research and development activities. The evaluation should demonstrate how APPSA has been: (i) Relevant to the Angola, Lesotho and regional context; (ii) coherent internally among participating countries and externally with other interventions; (iii) achieving its objectives and delivering results in an efficient way; and (iv) making sustainable positive impacts. The evaluation will also look at cross-cutting issues such as gender and nutrition.
The Centre for Coordination of Agricultural Research and Development for Southern Africa (CCARDESA) now invites eligible consulting firms to indicate their interest in providing the Services. Interested Firms should provide information demonstrating that they have the required experts with required qualifications and relevant experience to perform the Services.
The shortlisting criteria are:
QUALIFICATIONS AND WORK EXPERIENCE OF THE CONSULTANT FIRM
a. The Firm is expected to have at least 15 years of experience and expertise in conducting monitoring and evaluation of agricultural development projects/programmes.
b. The consulting team should have experience and/or be qualified in the following areas: agricultural research, extension, agribusiness and agricultural investment appraisal.
Key Experts
a) Agricultural Scientist/Team Leader
(i) The Team Leader should be an Agricultural Research Expert.
(ii) A PhD in Agricultural Sciences, preferably in agronomy or plant breeding.
(iii) He/she should have at least 12 years of post-PhD experience in agricultural research, preferably in Sub-Saharan Africa.
(iv) At least 10 years’ experience in evaluating donor supported agricultural research and development projects.
(v) Proven ability and experience in project management and leading consultancy teams.
(vi) Proven ability in producing technical evaluation reports for donor funded agricultural development projects.
(vii) Have a traceable publication record in reputable peer-reviewed and accredited publications.
(viii) Experience in working with Regional Organisations is highly desirable.
(ix) Knowledge of and involvement in programmes supported by regional and international organizations such as the World Bank Group, EU, and AfDB is also desirable.
b) Agricultural Extensionist
(i) At least a Master’s degree in Agricultural Extension or related field.
(ii) At least 12 years of post-MSc experience in agricultural extension with at least 10 years on technology generation and dissemination projects, preferably in Sub-Saharan Africa.
(iii) At least 7 years of experience working with farmer field schools and agricultural innovation systems.
(iv) At least 10 years of experience in evaluating donor supported agricultural research and development projects. (v) Proven ability in producing technical evaluation reports for donor funded agricultural development projects.
(vi) Have a traceable publication record in reputable peer-reviewed and accredited publications. (vii) Experience in working with Regional Organisations is highly desirable.
(viii) Knowledge of and involvement in programmes supported by regional and international organizations such as the World Bank Group, EU, and AfDB is also desirable.
c) Monitoring and Evaluation Expert
(i) At least a Master’s degree in development studies, agriculture, social sciences, or related field. A Post graduate qualification in Monitoring and Evaluation is desirable.
(ii) At least 10 years of post-Master’s degree experience in monitoring and evaluation of international donor supported agricultural development projects, preferably research and development projects.
(iii) Understanding of theory of change and logic models and ability to facilitate development of SMART indicators, an indicator reference manual and results frameworks is required.
(iv) At least 10 years of experience in quantitative, qualitative, and/or mixed methods research and use of Management Information Systems (MIS).
(v) Proven ability in producing technical evaluation reports for donor funded agricultural development projects.
(vi) Have a traceable publication record in reputable peer-reviewed and accredited publications.
(vii) Experience in working with Regional Organisations is highly desirable.
(viii) Knowledge of and involvement in programmes supported by regional and international organizations such as the World Bank Group, EU, and AfDB is also desirable.
d) Statistician
(i) At least a Master’s degree in statistics, population studies or related field.
(ii) At least 10 years of post-Master’s degree experience in planning and managing all processes involved in the design and execution of agricultural surveys (including farm household surveys) for agricultural project impact evaluation.
(iii) Demonstrated experience in the drafting of methodological guidelines on agricultural surveys.
(iv) Demonstrated experience in working with researchers and other users of statistics on agriculture related activities.
(v) Have strong quantitative or analytical and data management skills.
(vi) Proven knowledge and experience with the use of different statistical softwares for processing survey data.
(vii) Proven ability to manipulate and present data by using standard tabulation and statistical software packages.
(viii) Proven ability in producing technical evaluation reports for donor funded agricultural development projects.
(ix) Have a traceable publication record in reputable peer-reviewed and accredited publications.
(x) Experience in working with Regional Organisations is highly desirable.
(xi) Knowledge of and involvement in programmes supported by regional and international organizations such as the World Bank Group, EU, and AfDB is also desirable.
e) Agricultural Economist
(i) At least a Master’s degree in Agricultural Economics or related field
(ii) At least 10 years of post-Master’s degree experience in conducting programme/project impact evaluation and cost-benefit analysis (financial and economic) of agricultural development projects.
(iii) Proven evidence of past assessment of financial and economic returns to investment in agricultural research and development in Sub-Saharan Africa.
(iv) Proven ability in conducting studies on the uptake and scaling of improved agricultural technologies/ innovations.
(v) Proven ability in designing and conducting impact assessments of donor funded agricultural development programmes using options including randomised assignment, instrumental variables, regression discontinuity design, difference-in-differences or matching.
(vi) Proven ability in producing technical evaluation reports for donor funded agricultural development projects.
(vii) Have a traceable publication record in reputable peer-reviewed and accredited publications.
(viii) Experience in working with Regional Organisations is highly desirable.
(ix) Knowledge of and involvement in programmes supported by regional and international organizations such as the World Bank Group, EU, and AfDB is also desirable.
The attention of interested Consultants is drawn to paragraph 1.9 of the World Bank’s Guidelines: Selection and Employment of Consultants under IBRD Loans and IDA Credits & Grants by World Bank Borrowers (“Consultant Guidelines”), setting forth the World Bank’s policy on conflict of interest.
Further information (terms of reference) can be obtained at the address below during office hours 0900 to 1630 hours.
Interested Consulting Firms should submit their expressions of interest with comprehensive information that include experience of the firm, similar assignments conducted, comprehensive CVs of the proposed team members to the address below on or before 26th July 2024.
The Procurement Officer
Centre for Coordination of Agricultural Research in Southern Africa (CCARDESA)
Ground Floor, Red Brick Building
Plot 4701 Station Exit Road
Private Bag 00357
Gaborone, Botswana
E-mail: procurement@ccardesa.org
Tel: +267 3914997
