JOB DESCRIPTION

In Zimbabwe, Lower Centenary Producers Trust (LCPT) is implementing an Integrated Rural Development and Marketing Project for smallholder farmers funded by the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development. The aim of the project is to contribute to food security for 3,000 small scale farmers and to enable them to earn an extra income through marketing of their excess harvests.

Purpose and objective of the evaluation

The objective of the mid-term project evaluation is to assess the viability of the components in relation to household income and to determine the overall sustainability of the project through an independent evaluation. The specific objectives are to determine which component/s provide for an improved outcome for the H/H’s. After the evaluation, potential needs for further consultancies or support by LCPT/Help should be identifiable.

The main purpose is to provide an independent assessment of the relevance, effectiveness, the impact and outcomes both positive and negative (using an OECD/DAC Criteria), in order to improve the project design and implementation of the project interventions in the remaining half.

The evaluator should provide LCPT and Help with useful information, analysis and recommendations, thereby enabling the organization to engage in effective policymaking, planning, programming and implementation.

Expected outcomes and deliverables

The Consultant shall be expected to produce an inception report upon commencement of the evaluation. The Inception Report will detail the agreed upon methodologies to be employed in the evaluation to achieve the objectives outlined above. The Inception Report should also include the finalised activity plan and a structural outline of the final evaluation report.

The report should be shared and approved by LCPT before commencement of the data collection and analysis and it should contain:

• A detailed methodology for implementation;
• A detailed schedule for the program review;
• The indicators that fall within the scope of the program review;
• Draft data collection tools for all indicators and the means to verify them;
• Draft questionnaires, interview guides, and scoring;
• A work plan that sets out the preparatory activities and specific deliverables as well as a timeline related to the program review.

Required qualifications/experience

• A post-graduate qualification in Monitoring and Evaluation, Statistics, or any other related field is required.
• A qualification in Agricultural Economics, Agribusiness, Business Management, Crop Science or other related disciplines is also strongly required;
• Vast experience in carrying out evaluations in Zimbabwe.
• Experience in conducting agribusiness project evaluations especially with a focus on dryland farming and rural development is an added advantage;
• Strong skills in qualitative and quantitative data analysis;
• Strong experience in questionnaire development, interview techniques and managing focus group discussions (FGDs) and key informant interviews (KII);
• Experience in using mobile data collection systems such as KoBoCollect will be an added advantage;
• Experience in facilitating data collection exercises and ability to use modern communication platforms such as Skype and Zoom;
• Excellent organising, facilitating, presentation and communication skills;
• Excellent English report writing skills.