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Terms Of Reference
End Project Evaluation Consultancy: Empowering Farmers At District Level Through Social Accountability To Improve Performance Contracts (Imihigo) In Rwandan Agriculture
Background
Transparency International Rwanda wishes to contract an external consultant individual or consortium to undertake GPSA`s project end project evaluation. The consultancy relates to a project called ‘Empowering Farmers at District Level Through Social Accountability To Improve Performance Contracts (Imihigo) In Rwandan Agriculture’ (hereafter referred to as “the Project”).
The Project is funded by the GPSA, which is hosted in the World Bank and supports civil society to undertake collaborative social accountability for reform and development outcomes. It was approved on 12th April 2017 and focusses on improving the low citizen participation in policy planning, monitoring and evaluation of local and national agricultural development plans in project targeted districts through collaborative social accountability processes at the national and sub-national levels. The project is implemented by Transparency International Rwanda in partnership with the local NGOs namely Imbaraga organization in Kayonza District and SDA-IRIBA in Nyanza district.

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In accordance with the GPSA’s Theory of Action, these processes are implemented by multi-stakeholder compacts that engage citizens, civil society groups, public sector institutions in joint, iterative problem solving for more effective policy responses and improved in service delivery in areas such as anti-corruption. Please, find the GPSA’s Theory of Action at https://dev.bluetundra.com/who-we-are/our-theory-of-action/
The Project is implemented in a context of performance-based contracts “Imihigo” in Agriculture sector. The Imihigo have a strong focus on results which makes it an invaluable tool in the planning, accountability, monitoring and evaluation processes. Since 2006, the performance contracts have been used by the districts for setting local priorities, annual targets and defining activities to achieve them. Additionally, one of the 2012 National leadership retreat resolution was to include findings of the Citizen Report Card (CRC) as part of Imihigo evaluation criteria at 10% along with other evaluation criteria which include a comprehensive review of Imihigo implementation reports and associated documents, field visits of Imihigo projects sampled from analyzed reports, as well as assessment of action plans in the overall scorecard districts. This gives a room to farmers to participate in evaluating the district performance contract in general and specifically agricultural performance contracts related.

Objectives
The end project evaluation research and work will be the responsibility of Transparency International Rwanda, supported by the guidance of the Consultant contracted through this ToR. The purpose of the evaluation is to assess the processes and achievements made to draw lessons. The evaluation is intended to be forward and backward looking which will capture effectively lessons learnt and provide information on the nature, extent and the expected impact of the project to the Government of Rwanda through the ministry of agriculture and other line ministries. Additionally, the evaluation will assess whether the project has led to any unforeseen positive or negative results. This end-of-project evaluation will focus at the entire implementation period.
The specific goals are to:
1. Document key lessons that encourage learning, scalability and sustainability of achieved outcomes and how they can inform the government of Rwanda in Agriculture related policy reforms.
2. To contribute to learning and accountability by explaining how, if at all, the GPSA project contributed to results brought about by collaborative social accountability processes, and what the conditions were for this contribution to take place.
Transparency International Rwanda Project Management Team will be key to ensuring the Consultant is supported in the planning and implementation of the evaluation as well as the necessary logistics (e.g., arranging interviews, transportation, and accommodation) related to this assessment. In addition, Transparency International Rwanda will also agree with the Consultant on the appropriate reporting formats to use for completing research deliverables.
The main consultancy deliverables, descriptions and timelines are described below.
Key expected activities, outputs and timeline
The consultancy will require the completion of research deliverables to be completed in consultation with the Transparency International Rwanda, the WB TTL and GPSA Secretariat. Timeframes provided will be negotiated for the project once the successful candidate has been hired. The timeframes allow for draft and final deliverables that will be approved by the GPSA Secretariat and TTL. The disbursement table of the project provides additional information about the steps needed for the proposed sequence of activities to cohere with the key timeframes along the project cycle.

The following deliverables are required to fulfill the consultancy purpose and specific goals:
1. A Research plan – This plan will show how the deliverables will be completed. Timeline- fourth week of March 2022
2. Facilitation of a Theory of Action workshop – the Consultant will prepare and facilitate a discussion with project stakeholders that maps the Project onto the GPSA’s Theory of Action (including, providing sector and context analysis and identifying critical assumptions). Guidance on this process is available here. A project-level Theory of Action will be the output from this deliverable. Timeline: Fifth week of March 2022
3. A Research design – Timeline: second week of April 2022

The design should include:
1. A methodology for assessing the project’s results indicators. This should be done in consultation with the project’s M&E officer and the GPSA.
2. A fit-for-purpose research methodology (theory-informed, causal analysis) and appropriate research methods and data collection strategies that enable assessment of the key GPSA evaluation questions. Guidance on research deign and methodology is available here. The plan will be validated with TI-RW project team, the GPSA focal person and project TTL (all draft deliverables shall be submitted in advance to allow sufficient time for consultations). The following documentation must inform the Research Design:
• All Project documents, including the project paper, which contains the Project’s results indicators, and data collected by the Project.
• Public sector and development partner documents and reports relevant to assess sustainability and coherence in Rwandan agriculture sector.
• GPSA documents, including the Theory of Action and Results Framework, and guidance material.
A final independent evaluation of the GPSA project. Timeline: first draft due on the first week of July 2022, final report ready by second week of August 2022.
The evaluation should answer the following key evaluation questions:
1. To what extent, in what circumstances, and for whom did the Project contribute to the intended medium and long-term results as per its Theory of Action and Results Framework?
2. Did the results from the Project include any unintended results (positive and negative)? If so, what were the unintended results and what effect, if any, did they have on the Project Theory of Action and assumptions?
3. Turning to the GPSA’s Theory of Action, to what extent and how did the process of implementing the Project and achieving or contributing to the identified results align with the hypothesized path as described in the flower illustration of the GPSA’s Theory of Action? Are there instances of this Project’s journey – from receiving the grant to contributing to long-term results – that do not align with the path described in the GPSA’s Theory of Action and related assumptions? If so, what accounts for the divergence?
4. In what ways, if any, is the Project or any of its components likely to be sustainable? The GPSA is particularly interested in sustainability through partial uptake of lessons and Project approaches by public sector institutions, WBG operations and strategies, development partners, among others.
These question should be addressed with causal analysis, informed by the GPSA’s and Project’s Theory of Action as well as analysis of the project-level Results Framework, qualitative and quantitative data captured in the project baseline and annual reports, project monitoring and mid-term assessment data and the final evaluation to provide an overall picture of causality.
The final evaluation report will provide findings in relation to the key evaluation questions, lessons learnt, conclusions and recommendations. The final evaluation report should be of a high enough quality to publish on the GPSA Website, share with donors, international agencies, and interested third parties engaged in collaborative social accountability processes. A summary of the final evaluation report will be presented to the grant partner/CSO partners, WB TTL and GPSA Secretariat in an online PowerPoint presentation.

All draft deliverables shall be submitted in advance to allow sufficient time for consultations and feedback and approval by the GPSA Secretariat.
Provide continuous MERL capacity building support for Transparency International Rwanda]:
The consultant will also support Transparency International Rwanda to use learning from MERL as well as address capacity needs by:
1. Ensuring the project-level Results Framework indicators were smart and that the MERL system was well elaborated for future reference.
2. Monitoring data collection was reliable.
3. Monitoring data analysis was accurate.
4. MERL data was interpreted and validated by key stakeholders.
5. Feedback and support on project reporting is provided.
6. MERL data can be communicated and used appropriately for adaptive learning purposes.
Please note that this capacity building support will be opportunistic and be done alongside other activities and outputs outlined in the table below.

Estimated level of effort per deliverable
Deliverable Estimated number of Days
Research plan, ToA Workshop, Research design and 20
Data collection and analysis (based on the research design) 20

A final independent evaluation of the GPSA project (Report writing and revision(s), including virtual presentation) 20
Total days for Entire Exercise 60 – 65days
Note: this allocation of days is based on a total budget for the entire assignment in this ToR.
Users and intended uses of the deliverables
Project Partners
To guide improvement of other (ongoing and future) programs and the needed adjustments to improve quality, effectiveness, and efficiency of overall program operations, strategies, and policies.
Donors (World Bank/GPSA)
• To inform and support the GPSA’s portfolio level evaluation, including bounded comparisons among sub-sets of projects seeking to strengthen service delivery systems.
• To guide improvement of other (future) programs and the needed adjustments to improve overall program operations, strategies, and policies.

Roles and Responsibilities
The overall responsibility for managing the evaluation logistics and planning will sit with Transparency International Rwanda including:
• Facilitate contact with key partners and stakeholders of this project;
• To facilitate the access of the evaluator to relevant data and documents;
• To arrange the logistics of travel, including for interviews and focus groups;
• To manage the contract/evaluation process and serve as a liaison with the evaluator;
• Provide comments on the draft and final reports and approve them; and,
• Participate in briefing and debriefing process for evaluation consultant on the objectives of the evaluation.

GPSA/World Bank will:
• Provide comments and feedback on all deliverables.
• Share key GPSA Program documents and guidance, and provide clarification as needed.
• Provide continuous support to the Consultant.

Milestone Payments
The payment structure for the work of the consultant is contingent upon the satisfactory delivery of key milestones and outputs rather than on a set number of days. In reference to the lump sum amount specified, payment will be in four tranches:
1. 20% to be paid upon signature of the contract and submission of the Research plan;
2. 40% to be paid upon submission of the validated project-level Theory of Action and research design;
3. 20% to be paid upon submission of an acceptable draft report of the final evaluation, and
4. 20% to be paid upon submission and acceptance of the final report of the evaluation and virtual presentation.

Consultant Qualifications
This assignment will be contracted to a consultant or consortium with international experience and knowledge in monitoring and evaluation of social accountability projects. The consultant must meet the following qualifications:
• A Master’s or PhD degree in the social sciences.
• A minimum of 7-10 years of collecting and analyzing qualitative and quantitative data, including conducting interviews, development of monitoring indicators, and using data for causal claim-making in evaluative studies. Previous experience using theory-based evaluation methodologies is preferred.
• Solid understanding of social accountability, citizen participation and public governance. Previous experience evaluating social accountability and citizen participation projects is preferred.
• Knowledge of theory of change, political economy and adaptive management approaches will be considered an asset.
• Demonstrated ability to assess complex situations in order to succinctly and clearly distil critical issues.
• Excellent analytical and report writing skills.
• Able to work independently with excellent demonstrated teamwork, good communications and facilitation skills.
• Previous experience in World Bank/GPSA evaluations is an asset.

Submission Procedure
Interested candidates (individual or consortium of two experts in the mentioned field) are requested to read and strictly follow the detailed terms of reference and submit both the technical (short description of your understanding of the assignment, methodology, operational plan and CV of the consultant) and financial proposals (based on the technical proposal) as well as letter of application by March 15th, 2022. The application can be done online by submitting the proposals (technical and financial) in pdf format at info@tirwanda.org, cc: amupiganyi@tirwanda.org or physically in separate sealed envelope (technical and financial) marked with the assignment title and addressed to
The Executive Director of TI-RW,
Kigali-Rwanda
The dossiers are to be submitted physically at Transparency International Rwanda’s main office located at the following address:
Gisimenti I village; KN 3RD ST, Cell of Rukiri II; Remera Sector; Gasabo District; Kigali City, Rwanda.
For any further information or clarification, please contact us on albert.rwego@gmail.com or tel. +250788539791 or +250783304192 during working hours.
Only selected candidates will be contacted.

Selection process
Submissions will be evaluated in consideration of the Evaluation Criteria in accordance with the WB Procurement procedures.

Evaluation Criteria
Experience of the consultant in similar Assignments (20 points)
Methodology and survey plan (30 points)
Qualification of the consultant (30 points)
Financial offer (20 points)
Done at Kigali, On 23/02/2022
Apollinaire Mupiganyi
Executive Director
Transparency International Rwanda.