Description
WorldFish is implementing the Aquaculture Technical, Vocational, and Entrepreneurship Training for Improved Private Sector and Smallholder Skills (AQ TEVET) project, a 3.5-years project (2018 to 2021) with funding from the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD). The project is implemented in Lusaka, Northern and Luapula Provinces of Zambia in partnership with Musika, Blue Planet and Natural Resources Development College (NRDC). The overall goal of the project is “To increase the number of human resources working for the private sector, and the number of smallholder commercial fish farmers with enhanced aquaculture knowledge and up-to-date practical skills to help sustainably grow the sector and make it more inclusive.”
The project comprises two components:
The first component focuses on upgrading the fisheries/aquaculture curriculum (long- and short-term courses), training tools, online training platforms, and internship programs of TEVET institutions in Zambia, namely NRDC but with links to other TEVET institutions to scale the upgraded training “package” over the course of the project.
The second component focuses on enhancing the technical education, vocational, and entrepreneurship skills of rural women, men, and youth smallholder commercial fish farmers and increasing their linkages to input/output markets and entrepreneurship opportunities via private sector extension support and services delivery.
Details of the project can be accessed here.
Purpose of the Mid-term Evaluation
WorldFish is soliciting competitive bids from reputable, qualified, and competent service providers/ individual national consultants to conduct a midterm evaluation of the AQ TEVET project. The purpose of the evaluation is to assess the project performance and progress towards achieving its intended outcomes/impacts to generate evidence-based feedback for program planning.
The mid-term external evaluation will particularly assess:
- Relevance: to what extent is the work done relevant to the project beneficiaries
- Coherence: to what extent were project activities and outputs consistent with the project objectives?
- Efficiency: determine the rational use of resources within project implementation budget; were the resources used in the best possible way?
- Effectiveness: Were the project outputs delivered as planed?
- Visibility: in relation to communication and dissemination of project outputs.
- Recommendations: make recommendations on efficient use of project resources, and sustainability strategy in the remaining project implementation period and future project design.
Requirements
Working closely with the Monitoring & Evaluation Team and the project leader in WorldFish, the service provider/ consultant will:
- Review project documents and reports available from WorldFish and project implementation partners;
- Design a robust mixed-methods evaluation methodology;
- Collect high-quality data;
- Analyze the data and write a high quality report;
- Identify lessons learned and develop practical recommendations for WorldFish/FISH, the Donor, and the project stakeholders that may help inform the design and implementation of similar future projects (with defined sustainability pathways) and activities in the future;
- Incorporate feedback from stakeholders in a timely, objective and transparent manner and;
- Submit the final report, and both raw and clean electronic data sets to WorldFish.
Methodological Approach
The assessment will employ a mixed-methods approach to data collection. The service provider/consultant(s) are expected to use different approaches, comprising secondary data/literature review and primary quantitative and qualitative data collection. Systematic recording of both qualitative and quantitative data will be crucial. Evaluators must use Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) for data collection.
Technical Bid Evaluation Criteria
The following criteria and sub-criteria will be the basis of the selection of the successful bidder:
- The lead consultant must possess an Advanced Degree (Masters or PhD) in any of the following: Agricultural Economics, Social Science (Sociology/ Social Anthropology), Statistics/Population Studies, Project/Program Management or Project/Program Evaluation. Postgraduate Diploma in Monitoring and Evaluation will be an added advantage.
- The evaluation team may comprise a lead consultant and two Research Assistants who possess academic qualifications and skills that are relevant for this assignment.
- Experience in implementing mid-term and end-line evaluations in sub-Saharan Africa with a focus in aquaculture, fisheries or agriculture sector(s).
- Must have executed similar assignments in Zambia and other southern African countries in the last 3 years.
- Experience in developing and implementing mixed methods research designs.
- Demonstrated experience incorporating ethical considerations that arise with researching human subjects.
- Track record of writing detailed and yet concise evaluation reports.
- Experience in leading or co-leading evaluation teams.
- Experience in research design and development of both qualitative and quantitative tools.
- Data management and data curation, data analysis and report writing.
- Proficiency in the use of technological aids for enhancing collection of quality data, analysis and presentation.
- Fluency in written and spoken English and local languages spoken in the project area.
- Clear, practical, robust, logical and complementary methodological approaches are desired.
- Clear justification of study site/location choice and intended respondent numbers and selection, whether random or otherwise.
Who can apply?
Local consultants in Zambia who are available to start work as soon as the contract is awarded.
How to apply
Interested consultants are invited to submit 6 to 10-page concept note that addresses the following information latest by 31 July 2020, 5 PM GMT+8. Please note that all applications should be submitted online.
- Your understanding of the ToRs.
- Suggested methods that will be used for the evaluation.
- Outline of the tools you will use for capturing/recording data, data transmission, data monitoring, data analysis, and visual aids development for purposes of communicating the findings.
- Clear work plan in line with the RFPs, and justification of potential deviations.
- Budget that shows clear alignment to the work plan.
- Submit your CV or organizational details and CVs of the any collaborators (CVs can be submitted as an Annex, each CV should not be more than 2 pages).
Potential service provider/consultant(s) are encouraged to make the best use of project documents available on the WorldFish website www.worldfish.org.
WorldFish will not be obliged to give the highest rating to the lowest bidder. The best bids will be those that demonstrate value for money and whose budget is closely tied to the rationally determined methodological approach and plausible remuneration rates.
Our Gender, Diversity and Inclusion Commitment
WorldFish has seven offices across Asia, Africa and the Pacific, with more than 400 staff and 27 nationalities who contribute to a dynamic multicultural work environment.
WorldFish is committed to promoting a work environment where diversity and inclusion is valued and we seek to have gender balance in the organization. Our Leadership Team is 50/50 in terms of its gender split and 60% of our management cadre are women. We continue to seek diversity and gender balance across other dimensions and we support individual performance and potential in achieving our organizational goals and mission.
We are an equal opportunities employer and strongly encourage women and men from developing nations to apply.
