Tender of a consultancy for the final evaluation for the support to agriculture based livelihood in Turkey, November 2021

Islamic Relief Worldwide

Islamic Relief is an international aid and development charity, which aims to alleviate the suffering of the world's poorest people. It is an independent Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) founded in the UK in 1984.

As well as responding to disasters and emergencies, Islamic Relief promotes sustainable economic and social development by working with local communities - regardless of race, religion or gender.

Our vision:

Inspired by our Islamic faith and guided by our values, we envisage a caring world where communities are empowered, social obligations are fulfilled and people respond as one to the suffering of others.

Our mission:

Exemplifying our Islamic values, we will mobilise resources, build partnerships, and develop local capacity, as we work to:

Enable communities to mitigate the effect of disasters, prepare for their occurrence and respond by providing relief, protection and recovery.

Promote integrated development and environmental custodianship with a focus on sustainable livelihoods.

Support the marginalised and vulnerable to voice their needs and address root causes of poverty.

We allocate these resources regardless of race, political affiliation, gender or belief, and without expecting anything in return.

Islamic Relief Worldwide (IRW) has consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Council, and is a signatory to the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Code of Conduct. IRW is committed to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through raising awareness of the issues that affect poor communities and through its work on the ground. Islamic Relief are one of only 14 charities that have fulfilled the criteria and have become members of the Disasters Emergency Committee (www.dec.org.uk)

IRW endeavours to work closely with local communities, focussing on capacity-building and empowerment to help them achieve development without dependency.

Please see our website for more information http://www.islamic-relief.org/

Islamic Relief Turkey

Turkey is home to the largest refugee population in the world. During 2018, the number of Syrians under temporary protection (SuTPs[1]) reached just over 3.6 million, almost half of whom are children. Only around 7 per cent of Syrians under temporary protection live in the 21 official Temporary Accommodation Centres (TAC) in provinces along the Syrian border, while the remaining 93 per cent reside among the host community in urban, peri-urban and rural areas. The majority of the Syrians under temporary protection live in the South East of Turkey near Syrian border.

Unless significant developments occur in Syria, assumption is that the current number of Syrians under temporary protection will remain stable. The Government of Turkey maintains its open-door policy towards Syrians, while continuing to manage the borders in response to security concerns.

The Government of Turkey has shouldered the bulk of the significant financial burden of the refugee response – according to the latest Government estimates; more than US $30 billion has spent on direct assistance to Syrians under temporary protection in Turkey to date. With the crisis in Syria continuing and the refugee situation remaining protracted, Turkey is calling for increased international burden and responsibility sharing to ensure that the needs of Syrians under temporary protection and the vulnerable host communities met.

Islamic Relief Syria Mission was established in April 2012 to respond to the needs of displaced and needy people inside Syria. Since then IR has accumulated extensive experience of operating inside Syria and providing urgently needed life-saving support to people in the conflict-affected areas. The Syria Mission team has now 61 team members in addition to volunteers spread over four base locations in Turkey and Syria. The majority of the Team have received training in programme management, Logistics Procurement and Monitoring & Evaluation. IRW has successfully introduced interventions in a multi-sector response, being one of the lead agencies responsible for humanitarian assistance in Aleppo, Idleb, Hamah and Lattakia providing food security, non-food items, health, shelter and WASH facilities. IRW has established strong partnerships with international non-governmental organizations and local organizations, resulting in strengthening the overall response to the Syria crisis. For the operations in the targeted areas in Syria, IR is effectively involved in the clusters approach that is led by UN OCHA.

In Turkey, Islamic Relief started to work in 2015 and implemented a number of food and health projects. The main office is located in Istanbul and there are two sub-offices in Gaziantep and Yayladağı. In Northern Syria two field offices are located in the governorates of Idleb and Aleppo. Since it began, the IR Syria Mission team has built partnerships and implemented projects on behalf of several donors and UN agencies including World Food Program (WFP), German Foreign Ministry, Disaster Emergency Committee (DEC), OPEC Fund for Emergency Development (OFID), UNOCHA, IR private donors, and others both in Syria and Turkey. IR will use its existing networks with the local authorities, partners and communities in Turkey to implement this project.

The intervention proposed is fully aligned with the country Strategy. Whereby emphasis is being placed on early recovery projects to ensure sustainability and build resilience of the local communities.

Project background

The proposed project seeks to improve the livelihood situation and subsequently the food security and health and overall living condition of 450 households (2,250 individuals) through agriculture, apiculture (beekeeping) and vocational skills development support. The project is primarily designed based on the results of the stakeholder consultation conducted by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (Turkey) as well as experience from the IR Turkey team. The project is direct contribution to the resilience pillar of Regional Refugee and Resilience Plan-Turkey. Whereby the targeted families will be able to improve the financial status and the purchasing power of the targeted beneficiaries which will be reflected positively on the dietary diversity and also be able to earn the income for a better and self-reliant society.

Islamic Relief conducted a detailed household level need assessment to identify, 400 families to provide with agricultural input including agri land rent, crop plant, fertilizers and basic tools and irrigation facilities. These families have been provided with agriculture based vocational training to improve their knowledge and practices to get best yield each planting season. The families will further be supported through links with the markets so that the crops can be marketed well and ultimately the sale of which can increase in the household level of income.

In the first stage 50 families have been provided with beehives and basic medicines and tools required for beekeeping. The bee keepers received vocational training to improve the production and develop strategies for marketing and value chain support. So that the targeted families are bale to link with the market and develop a sustainable source of livelihood.

All beneficiary groups will continue to receive follow-up training and advice over the course of the project from field project team hired for this purpose. it is anticipated that this improved knowledge will be shared by the direct beneficiaries with their relatives, PEER and friends living in the close by area. Hence the knowledge transfer will help to improve the livelihood practices for the rest of the community also.
Given the particular sensitivities related to women engaging in income-generating activities a careful weighing of the risks associated with providing such support has been undertaken to ensure that no harm comes to beneficiaries or field staff. The project will seek to prioritize women by tailoring the support provided, in an effort to better respond to their specific needs and concerns.
The project targeted both the Syrian refugees and host population so that the social tensions among the two groups are minimized and equal opportunities are provided to help the extremely vulnerable families to stand on their own feet and build a culture of resilience.

As part of exit strategy, all relevant stakeholders will be informed about project closure. Project survey will be conducted to gauge the outcome and output level results. Lesson learnt from the implementation will be shared with FSA working group members to improve the quality of the programmes. It is anticipated that the intervention results will continue after the project closure hence the results achieved will be sustainable. As with the livelihood inputs and improved knowledge the targeted households will continue their cycle of income generation after the project end.

The project started in February 2019 and is due to be completed at the end of March 2022.

Project Impact:

To contribute to improving livelihood opportunities of conflict affected people at household- and community-level in Turkey.

Project outcomes:

Improved access to Food and Livelihood Security of the 450 conflict affected Syrian refugee and host community families.

Project outputs:

Output 1.1: 450 families received quality inputs enabling them to generate income through crop production and apiculture livelihood.

Output 1.2: 450 individuals benefited from vocational training and up skilling, programmes delivered in a gender sensitive manner.

Major Activities:

1.1.1: Coordination with the local authorities, Food security, and Agriculture working group to finalise the area of intervention.

1.1.2: Community mobilisation and formation of committees (male and female).

1.1.3: Identify and select beneficiary household for agriculture support (crop production and beekeeping).

1.1.4: Identify the available land for rent to conduct crop cultivation and beekeeping.

1.1.5: Conduct focus group discussions with the landowners and local authorities to define the per month rental of the land.

1.1.6: Sign a lease agreement between the owner of the land, Islamic Relief and project beneficiary.

1.1.7: Sign MOU with the local authority to ensure all parties to lease agreement abide by it.

1.1.8: Payment of monthly rent to the owner on behalf of the selected beneficiary.

1.1.9: Tailor agricultural kits (plants, tool, fertiliser, pesticide) based on household assessments by ensuring that male and female opinions and ideas captured and reflected in design.

1.1.10: Define the Bill of Quantity (BOQ) for agriculture kit items (plants, tool and fertiliser) with support from an agriculture expert.

1.1.11: Procure agriculture kit items (plants, tools and fertiliser) in consultation with an agriculture expert.

1.1.12: Distribution of agricultural inputs, such as plants, fertilizer and equipment. Ensure distribution process considers protection concerns for women and female-headed households.

1.1.13: Provide drip irrigation and water for irrigation.

1.1.14: Hire services for ploughing and harvest if needed.

1.1.15: Procure and distribute bees, boxes and bee medicines/other items to the targeted households.

1.1.16: Provide ongoing support for best agriculture and beekeeping practices to maximize yield.

1.1.17: Support the families to develop linkage with the market to sell excessive production.

1.2.1: Hire the services of technical expert to conduct trainings.

1.2.2: Conduct agriculture and bee keeping related vocational training programme for host and refugee population.

1.2.3: Provide on farm support to the farmers to adopt to the best practices.

Target Number of Direct Beneficiaries: 2,250.

Objectives of the evaluation

This evaluation has been commissioned by Islamic Relief Worldwide (IRW) in line with agreed internal policies (IR MEAL framework) and external policies of the donor. The purpose of this evaluation is to assess overall performance of the project with reference to the outcomes and outputs as well as draw lessons for future programme. This evaluation should take into consideration the OECD/DAC Evaluation Criteria to assess the performance of the project, as well as use the Core Humanitarian Standards (CHS) to evaluate the quality of the interventions and the aspects of accountability.

The following objectives can be considered for the final evaluation for the Support to Agriculture Based Livelihood in Turkey. The specific objectives of this assignment are to:

· Evaluate the appropriateness of the project interventions, approaches, and methodology.

· Assess the effectiveness and relevance of the agricultural, apicultural (beekeeping) and vocational livelihood initiatives.

· Evaluate the efficiency, effectiveness & impact of the project in light of the overall project goal, specific objective, and results.

· Assess the value for money considerations in relation to each component of the project, considering economy, efficient, effectiveness and equity.

· Assess the socio-economic changes/effects in the lives of targeted households as a result of project interventions and change and implementation of government policies.

· Evaluate the sustainability of project results, impact, and approach at different levels (household level, community level, and organization level).

· Examine the effectiveness and impact of mainstreaming issues, including gender, disability, child rights and protection.

· Identifying lessons learned and good practices of the project to inform both IRW and IR Turkey’s future response and the wider sector.

· Assess if and how the project interventions have related to and influenced government and cluster policies effecting socio-economic changes in the lives of targeted people.

Scope of the evaluation

The following points can be considered for the scope of the evaluation

IR Turkey is directly implementing this project in Yayladağı and Hatay in Turkey. The evaluator will focus on the three livelihood aspects of the project – agriculture, apiculture and vocational development support in building sustainable livelihoods for the target population.

Evaluation criteria and questions

The evaluation should respond to the following evaluation questions and any others deemed appropriate by the evaluation team, supported by evidence, triangulated data and views of key project participants and relevant wider stakeholders.

Relevance:

· Was the design of the intervention relevant to the wider context?

· Is the intervention in line with the needs and highest priorities of the most vulnerable groups (men and women, boys and girls)?

· Is the intervention design and objectives aligned with the needs of the livelihood sector and cluster strategy?

· Did the design and implementation of the intervention consider and build on available local capacities?

· Was the design and implementation of interventions age, gender, protection and disability-sensitive?

Coherence:

· To what extent were context factors (political stability/instability, population movements, etc.) considered in the design and delivery of the intervention?

· To what extent was IRW’s intervention coherent with policies and programmes of other stakeholders and service provider operating within the same context?

· To what extent was the intervention design and delivery in line with humanitarian principles?

· What have been the synergies between the intervention and other IRW interventions?

Efficiency

· What were the alternative options and was the intervention and key components of the project cost-efficient considering alternative options?

· Was the intervention and key components of the project implemented efficiently compared to alternatives?

· Did the targeting of the intervention result in an equitable allocation of resources?

· Was the intervention implemented in a timely way?

Effectiveness:

· Were relevant technical and quality standards for livelihood interventions in a humanitarian context followed and met?

· Were (are) the outputs and outcomes achieved?

· What major factors influenced the achievement or non-achievement of the outcomes?

· Were there any unintended (positive or negative) outcomes arising from the intervention for participants and non-participants?

· Is the achievement of outcomes leading to/likely to lead to achievement of the project’s overall objective?

· What major factors influenced, supported or hindered this?

· Were results delivered equitably for men, and women, boys and girls, person with disability and from different age groups?

Impact:

· What were/are the anticipated long lasting or transformational effects of the intervention on participants’ lives (intended and unintended)?

· Is a specific part of the intervention likely to achieve greater impact than another?

· What are the likely age, disability or gender-specific impacts?

· Did the intervention influence the gender context?

· Are there any positive or negative long-lasting intended or unintended impacts at the household, community and wider system level?

· Have or should any components of the project be replicated or scaled-up by others?

· Did/will the intervention contribute to long-term intended results?

Sustainability:

· To what extent does the intervention implementation consider sustainability?

· To what extent will the interventions be sustainable and will provide ongoing benefit to individuals, households and communities?

· How long will these benefits realistically continue for without additional support?

· Is there any consideration of the effects of projected climate change on the continuation of activities in the future?

In addition, IRW is a certified CHS agency and therefore uses the CHS standards as the foundational approach to undertake evaluations, which ensures that we focus on communities. We believe this can be integrated with the DAC criteria in the following way:

Relevance

· CHS Commitment 1: Humanitarian response is appropriate and relevant.

· CHS Commitment 4: Humanitarian response is based upon communication, participation, and feedback

Effectiveness

· CHS Commitment 2: Humanitarian response is effective and timely.

· CHS Commitment 3: Humanitarian response strengthens local capacities and avoids negative effects.

· CHS Commitment 5: Complaints are welcomed and addressed.

· CHS Commitment 8: Staff is supported to do their job effectively, and are treated fairly and equitably.

Efficiency

· CHS Commitment 6: Humanitarian responses are coordinated and complementary.

· CHS Commitment 7: Humanitarian actors continuously learn and improve.

· CHS Commitment 9: Resources are managed and used responsibly for their intended purpose.

The evaluation should provide an assessment of how the intervention performed against each of the nine CHS commitments as above.

Methodology and Approach

We would like the evaluators to outline their proposed methodology and requirements for this particular consultancy. The consultant should consider appropriate quantitative and qualitative methods, in the design of their evaluation methodology. The overall evaluation should also assess the extent of rights holders (beneficiary) involvement throughout the project cycle.

We are looking for an evaluation team/consultant to meet the above objectives and scope through a mixed method (quantitative and qualitative) approach, including but not limited to.:

· Desk review of secondary data and IRW project documentation.

· Surveys of statistically representative sample (with a minimum 95% confidence level and 5% margin of error) of project participants.

· FGD with communities and rights holders – with proportionate sampling.

· Key informant interviews with local and provincial agencies, IR staff, peer agencies, public and private service providers and technical agencies, (local and national).

Required competencies

The successful team will have the following competencies:

· Demonstrate evidence of experience in evaluating humanitarian and/or development action.

· Possess sectoral experience and knowledge in evaluating livelihood projects.

· Possess deep knowledge and practical experience of using quality standards such as Core Humanitarian Standard (CHS) and Sphere.

· Possess strong statistical/quantitative and qualitative research skills.

· Have excellent written skills in English.

· Have the legal right to travel to the disaster zone and able to conduct evaluations in respective country.

· Be able to fluently communicate in English and the local languages (Arabic, Turkish). If local translators are required this should be budgeted.

· It is preferable to have previous experience conducting evaluation for development projects implemented in a similar context (Syrian refugees in Turkey).

The chosen evaluation team will be supported by IRW Programme Quality (PQ) team, the IRW Regional team and IR Turkey’s senior management team.

Project outputs

The consultant is expected to produce:

1. A detailed work plan and inception report developed with and approved by IRW and FO (IRT) (Only for the external evaluator according to MEAL framework), setting out the detailed methodology and deliverables prior to commencing the desk review. This will include the methodology, the tools of data collection, the plan of the data collection process, the sample size including the number of surveys, interviews, FGDs, etc, and the work plan itself.

2. The work plan, inception report, draft report, final report, presentation, etc., and communication language must be in English.

3. A Covid-19 risk assessment with proposed mitigation measures related to conducting this evaluation, setting out different contingencies in case of challenges to the evaluation due to Covid-19 or other issues.

4. A full report with the following sections:

a) Title of Report: Final evaluation of the Support to Agriculture Based Livelihood in Turkey, 2021

b) Consultancy organisation and any partner names

c) Name of person who compiled the report including summary of role/contribution of others in the team

d) Period during which the review was undertaken

e) Acknowledgements

f) Abbreviations

g) Table of contents

h) Executive summary

i) Main report – max 40 pages – (Standard reporting structure will be shared at inception stage, but consultant is invited to propose most suitable report structure layout)

j) Annexes

· Terms of reference for the review

· Profile of the review team members

· Review schedule

· Documents consulted during the desk review

· Persons participating in the review

· Field data used during the review

· Additional key overview tables, graphs or charts etc. created and used to support analysis inform findings

· Bibliography

1. Anonymised copies of all data collected in Excel or appropriate format which would enable cross-checking and any additional analysis.

2. A presentation of draft findings will be made by the consultant remotely to IRW Programme Quality team, Regional Desk and IR Turkey team.

3. Subsequent to final report, the consultant will present key findings and recommendations and facilitate a learning workshop with IRW (programme quality, MEAL team, head of region, desk coordinators/officers, technical advisors) and relevant staff of IR Turkey. Please allow for a maximum of 2 hours for this session.

4. A further presentation would need to be made to IRUSA (project donor) on the overall findings and key recommendations. Please allow for a maximum of 90 minutes for this session

Timetable and reporting INFORMATION

The evaluation is expected to run for a maximum of 30 working days, starting in November 2021 and ending in January 2022.

Date

Description

Responsibility

3rd November 2021 Tender live date IRW

17th November 2021 Final date for submission of bid proposal Consultant

17th – 19^th November 2021 Proposals considered, short-listing and follow up enquiries completed IRW

19th November – 24^th November 2021 Consultant interview and final selection (+ signing contracts) IRW

25th – 29^th November 2021 Meeting with the consultant and agree on an evaluation methodology, plan of action, working schedule IRW

6th December 2021 Submission of Inception Report (at least 7 days before commencing the evaluation) Consultant

7th December 2021 Feedback and finalisation of the Inception report Consultant/IRW

3rd January – 19^th January 2022 Evaluation/Data collection Consultant

9^th February 2022 Collation and analysis of evaluation data, and submission of the first draft to IR Turkey/IRW for comments Consultant

10^th – 11^th February 2022 Initial Presentation of Findings (IRW/IRT) Consultant

18th February 2022 IRW/IR Turkey office responses to draft report IR Turkey /IRW

23rd February 2022 Final report submitted to IRW Consultant

24th – 25^th February 2022 Final Presentations with IR key stakeholders (x 2, up to 90 mins each) Consultant

Reporting information;

Contract duration: Duration to be specified by the consultant

Direct report: Programme Impact & Learning Manager

Job Title: Consultant; Final evaluation for the Support to Agriculture Based Livelihood in Turkey, 2021

The consultant will communicate in the first instance with and will forward deliverables to the IRW Programme Quality team.

Proposal to tender and costing:

Consultants (single or teams) interested in carrying out this work must:

a) Submit a proposal/bid, including the following;

i. Detailed cover letter/proposal outlining a methodology and approach briefing note

ii. CV or outline of relevant skills and experience possessed by the consultant who will be carrying out the tasks and any other personnel who will work on the project

iii. Example (s) of relevant work

iv. The consultancy daily rate

v. Expenses policy of the tendering consultant. Incurred expenses will not be included but will be agreed in advance of any contract signed

vi. Be able to complete the project within the timeframe stated above

Vii. be able to demonstrate experience of humanitarian review for similar work

Payment terms and conditions

Payment will be made in accordance with the deliverables and deadlines as follows:

· 40% of the total amount – submission of the inception report

· 30% of the total amount – submission of the first draft of the evaluation report

· 30% of the total amount – submission of the final report including all outputs and attachments mentioned above**

We can be flexible with payment terms, invoices are normally paid on net payment terms of 28 days from the time of the invoice date.

Additional information and conditions of contract

During the consultancy period,

IRW will only cover:

· The costs and expenses associated with in-country, work-related transportation for the consultant and the assessment team

· International and local travel for the consultant and the local team

· Accommodation while in the field

· Training venues

· Consultancy fees

IRW will not cover:

· Tax obligations as required by the country in which he/she will file income tax

· Any pre/post assignment medical costs. These should be covered by the consultant

· Medical and travel insurance arrangements and costs. These should be covered by the consultant

[1] Turkey implements a Temporary Protection regime for Syrian in Turkey. Which grants beneficiaries right to legal stay as well as some level of access to basic rights and services.

To access the full tender and guidelines documents please can you click on the link below;

https://www.islamic-relief.org/tenders/category/open-tenders/

Consultancy contract

This will be for an initial period that is to be specified by the consultant commencing from November/December 2021. The selected candidate is expected to work from their home/office and be reporting to the Programme Impact & Learning Manager or team member designated for this study.

The terms upon which the consultant will be engaged are as per the consultancy agreement. The invoice is to be submitted at the end of the month and will be paid on net payment terms 28 days though we can be flexible.

All potential applicants must fill in the table beneath in Appendix 1 to help collate key data pertaining to this tender. The applicant must be clear about other expenses being claimed in relation to this consultancy and these must be specified clearly.

For this consultancy all applicants are required to submit a covering letter with a company profile(s) and CV’s of all consultants including the lead consultant(s).

A proposal including, planned activities, methodology, deliverables, timeline, references and cost proposal (including expenses) are expected.

Other relevant supporting documents should be included as the consultants sees fit.

All applicants must have a valid visa or a permit to work in the UK (if travel is required to the UK) and to the places where this project is required to be undertaken.

Tender dates and contact details

All proposals are required to be submitted by Wednesday 17^th November 2021 at 1.00pm UK time pursuant to the attached guidelines for submitting a quotation and these be returned to tendering@irworldwide.org

For any issues relating to the tender or its contents please email directly to tendering@irworldwide.org

Following submission, IRW may engage in further discussion with applicants concerning tenders in order to ensure mutual understanding and an optimal agreement.

Quotations must include the following information for assessment purposes.

1. Payment terms (as mentioned above)

2. Best value for money including a full break down of costs including taxes, expenses and any VAT

3. References (two are preferred)

4. Technical competency for this role

5. Demonstrable experience of developing a similar project

Note: The criteria are subject to change.

Framework agreements

Islamic Relief Worldwide may enter into framework agreements with suppliers/consultants who can support us in similar evaluations in the future. We therefore request those interested companies/consultants to fill in the table below and return this with the schedule 1 beneath with their proposal before the above deadline.

Company name

Day rate for 1 year

Day rate for 2 year

Preferred duration (1 or 2 years)

Earliest start date

Can sign an agreement (yes or no)

Islamic Relief Worldwide is not under any obligations to enter into framework agreements with prospective and potential suppliers/consultants and it is at the discretion of the evaluation committee to proceed with this option.

Appendix 1

Please fill in the table below. It is essential all sections be completed and where relevant additional expenses be specified in detail. In case of questions about how to complete the table below, please contact tendering@irworldwide.org **

Cost of a consultancy for the final evaluation for the support to agriculture based livelihood in Turkey, November 2021

Full name of all consultants working on this project

Full company trading name

No of proposed hours per week

No. of proposed days

Preferred days

Non preferred days**

Earliest available start date

Expected project finish date

Day rate (required for invoicing purposes) £

Total cost for consultancy in GBP (less taxes and expenses) £

Expenses (flights) £

Expenses (accommodation) £

Expenses (transfers) £

Expenses (in country travel) £

Expenses (visa) £

Expenses (security) £

Expenses (food) £

Expenses (print/stationary) £**

Expenses other (please specify) £

Total expenses £

Total VAT or taxes £

Total cost for consultancy in GBP (inclusive of taxes and expenses) £

Note

The applicant is expected to take responsibility for paying full taxes and social charges in his/her country of residence.

How to apply:

To access the full tender and guidelines documents please can you click on the link below;

https://www.islamic-relief.org/tenders/category/open-tenders/