ENDLINE STUDY FOR THE TRACEABLE ORGANIC COFFEE FROM KENYA PROJECT Full Time NEW

1.0 INTRODUCTION

Solidaridad Network is an international solution-oriented civil society organization working through eight regional expertise centers to transform markets to make them more sustainable and inclusive. Our eight regional expertise centers include Asia, Eastern and Central Africa, Europe, Latin America, North America, Southern Africa, South America, West Africa, and our global Secretariat in the Netherlands. Solidaridad Eastern and Central Africa, one of the regional centers, headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya with country offices and programmes in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Tanzania and Uganda. We bring together supply chain players and engage them with innovative solutions to improve production, ensuring the transition to a sustainable and inclusive economy that maximizes the benefit for all. We facilitate the strengthening of local capacity in developing countries, support the creation of enabling environments for economies to thrive, and improve market access. Solidaridad embraces the public-private and people partnership(PPPP) to test innovations, speed up change, and take success to scale. Globally, Solidaridad works around fruits and vegetables and the other 12 commodities/sectors (http://www.solidaridadnetwork.org)

The Traceable Organic Coffee from Kenya Project (TRACE Kenya)

The DMDP-funded Traceable Organic Coffee from Kenya project (TRACE Kenya), is supporting smallholder coffee farmers (30% women; 10% youth) to enable them to convert from conventional to organic coffee production. TRACE Kenya is offering tailored interventions including interactive training on innovative organic coffee practices, facilitating access to high-yielding and disease-resistant coffee varieties and promoting eco-friendly technologies for organic coffee production. By promoting the adoption of organic agricultural practices among coffee farmers in the project region (Kericho, Nandi, and Bungoma Counties), TRACE Kenya has also paved the way for the development of organic inputs supply chains and innovations which alongside the project interventions are anticipated to contribute to improved coffee quality and volumes, increase farmers’ incomes and create more decent jobs. TRACE Kenya is also contributing to job creation for youth in coffee. The project is equipping youth with the requisite skills and knowledge to enable them to pursue on and off the farm economic opportunities. Within the Kenyan coffee sector, the shift to organic and sustainable practices is a strategic move that will expose local farmers to competitive and high-value markets while contributing to a reduction in the associated risks and negative impacts and promoting sustainable use of the earth’s resources.

Solidaridad is working with African Coffee Roasters (ACR) to deliver organic certified coffee to global markets by 2025. ACR will roast organic coffee locally and deliver sustainable coffee brands to their clients in Europe and beyond. The project aims to deliver premium coffees to global consumers, secure new markets for ACR, and competitive prices for local coffee farmers to ensure better incomes and livelihoods. The project also strives to create an inclusive, market-driven, and sustainable coffee sub-sector that generates increased income opportunities and creates decent jobs. Besides delivering the first organic certified Kenyan coffee from small-holder farmer cooperatives to global consumers, TRACE Kenya also targets to improve farmers’ productivity and quality of coffee produced beyond the transition/conversion to organic farming.

Program Expected outcomes;

Outcome 1: Create decent jobs and increased income opportunities for youth, women and men as a result of improved productivity and market access for traceable certified coffee.

Outcome 2: Develop viable and profitable business case established for African Coffee Roasters through marketing of traceable certified coffee and the adoption of RBC.

Outcome 3: Enhance coffee farmers’ incomes through innovations with triple-wins of increased incomes, resilience and greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction.

The project expected outcomes were supported with the outputs;

1. Increased capacity of smallholder coffee farmers (30% representing women and 10% youth) to improve coffee productivity (high quality and volumes)
2. Coffee farmer cooperatives develop profitable business cases on certified coffee production and experience improved institutional stability because of adopting RBC.
3. A strengthened input supply chain that offers innovative inputs and services for certified coffee production
4. Improved market access for Kenyan certified coffee in Europe and the USA
5. Farmers increasingly implement climate smart agricultural practices on the coffee fa

2.0 Background

The project aimed to transition from conventional to organic coffee production while simultaneously enhancing livelihoods, improving food security, and mitigating the impacts of climate change. To achieve these objectives, the initiative implemented tailored interventions, which included interactive training on innovative organic coffee practices, facilitating access to high-yielding and disease-resistant coffee varieties, and promoting eco-friendly technologies specifically designed for organic coffee cultivation. Funded by the DMDP, the project focused on smallholder coffee farmers in Bungoma, Kericho, and Nandi counties.

As the project approaches its conclusion, it is crucial to undertake an end-of-project evaluation to thoroughly assess its performance against the planned objectives and intended outcomes. This evaluation will serve several significant purposes: it will provide evidence of the project’s relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, impact, and sustainability. Furthermore, it will document lessons learned throughout the project lifespan, offering valuable insights to inform future programming efforts.

In addition to performance metrics, the evaluation will actively capture beneficiary perspectives, providing a holistic view of the project’s broader implications for the targeted communities and sectors. By understanding how the project has influenced the lives of smallholder farmers and their communities, stakeholders can identify successful strategies, areas for improvement, and opportunities for scaling similar initiatives in the future.

This Terms of Reference (ToR) outlines the objectives, purpose, scope, methodology, deliverables, and timeline for the end-of-project evaluation to ensure a comprehensive and systematic assessment of the project’s achievements and challenges.

2.1 Endline Evaluation Objectives:

The objectives of the endline study are:

1. To assess to what extent the project achieved its formulated results (especially at output and outcome level) with households and smallholder farmers benefiting from the project i.e. increased food production, income, and resilience against the baseline indicators as per the project monitoring framework (Refer to project M&E framework for development of data collection tools).
2. To assess the relevance and contribution of the project to the coffee sector which includes the adoption of practices, innovations, and technologies promoted by the project as per the proposal among the smallholder farmers and groups that were both direct and indirect beneficiaries.
3. To assess the appropriateness and effectiveness of strategies, approaches and modalities used in the project to realize the intended results.
4. To identify major bottlenecks, evidenced-based lessons learned, and actionable recommendations and document to strengthen the strategies of ongoing and future programs
5. Assess the risks of pulling out at this moment, especially for the sustainability and durability of the interventions and investment

2.2 Survey Methodology:

The methodology for this study will include both direct and indirect data collection, analysis and cross-referencing, and formulating recommendations thematically and as area/site-specific. The Consultant will finalize the methodology to undertake this study in line with the scope of the assessment, presented and refined with the management during the inception meeting.

The methodology used during this assessment will overall, include, but not be limited to the following:

• Review existing relevant secondary information and reports related to organic coffee production in Kenya.
  • Review of previous Solidaridad related project level documents and reports.
    • Discuss with key Solidaridad staff, partners, and Key Informants at Office and field implementation levels.
    • Carry out field visits in the implementation areas for data collection, observations, and triangulation.
    • Hold community-level participatory meetings and focused group discussions for data collection and information gathering.
    • Carry out a household-level survey for data collection through structured questionnaires.
    • Use of data from local institutions or organizations.
    • Data analysis and verification of analyzed data.
    • Reflection and feedback sessions with the project management team. The final methodology to be adopted shall be discussed and agreed upon with consultants/firms during the inception meeting.

3.0 Responsibilities of Consultants/Scope of Work:

The composition of the survey team is left up to the consultant/organization based on their internal system, ideas, and logic. However, Solidaridad recommends that the team comprise one Team Leader (TL) to coordinate/conduct the overall study and liaise with Solidaridad. To collect information from the field using an adequate number of Field Enumerators (FEs). Supervision of the fieldwork and quality (reliability and validity) of the data/information collected from the field is the primary responsibility of the TL. The TL will work closely with Solidaridad M&E Officers and the program team. In each step and process, consultation with the Project Manager and the M&E Officer are vital. The survey will be conducted in Kenya.

The consultancy/consultant team will be primarily responsible for:

• Development/design endline survey tools including questionnaires for HH survey and checklist and tools for group interaction including FGD with target beneficiaries at village levels.
  • Share the study design including process, methods, and questionnaires/checklist with the programme team, collect feedback and finalize the study design.
    • Pre-test questionnaires and other tools in one of the programme sites.
    • Submit an inception report.
    • Debrief/discuss with the programme team about the effectiveness of questionnaire, checklists, and other tools used in the pre-test, collect feedback and finalize them.
    • Orient, train and supervise the enumerators.
    • Carry out fieldwork together with enumerators.
    • Ensure the quality of information collected from fields, cross-check with the validity of information collected, and verify/revise where needed.
    • Update progress of the study on a weekly basis to the M&E Officer.
    • Analyze data and prepare quality reports.
    • Give a presentation of the draft report to Solidaridad, and;
    • Submit a final report (a compiled version of the report – both hard copy and electronic version in word format) to the project after incorporating the feedback and suggestions from Solidaridad

3.1 Deliverables:

1. Work plan and expression of interest (EOI) for the endline evaluation, outlining;

• A detailed methodology for implementation of the survey, including proposed sample sizes.
  • Draft data collection tools (The Consultant shall refine proposed standard indicators in reference to the proposed programme indicators and other guidelines provided by Solidaridad)
  • A detailed work plan for the survey

1. Presentation of survey methodology to Solidaridad team in an inception meeting and later incorporate suggestions in the final inception report.
2. A draft report of the study for feedback and comments from Solidaridad and the partners involved.
3. Presentation on the main findings of the study for validation involving project teams, and other stakeholders as agreed with the project team.

3.2 Expert/Consultant’s Profile:

Consultancy firms/companies with verifiable research work in the coffee value chains and who fulfil the following requirements are encouraged to express their interests.

• Relevant Masters degree(s) in social sciences, Agriculture, or development studies,
  • Strong experience with and knowledge of qualitative and quantitative research methods and sampling strategies
    • Firm/Consultants statement on the understanding and interpretation of the TOR
    • Experience in designing and conducting studies using experimental or quasi-experimental techniques. Experience with longitudinal study designs is desired.
    • Statistical analysis skills and strong proficiency with data analysis packages.
    • Proven experience for the last 3 years in conducting endline study surveys, impact studies, and evaluations, preferably in the coffee sector in Kenya and the East Africa region.
    • Research experience with smallholder coffee farmers is an added advantage
    • Excellent communication and written skills in English and Swahili.
    • Company registration and KRA PIN certificates.

3.3 Consultancy Period:

The overall time frame of the survey will be 45 days (including Saturdays and Sundays), which will include inception meetings, finalizing the survey methodology, training of enumerators, data collection, data analysis, report writing, and presenting findings of the survey.

Activity and Deadline

1. Interested parties should submit a Technical and Financial proposal. Budget proposals should include logistics costs (transport, communications, meals and accommodation) by 30th January 2025
2. Decision on selected consultant – only selected Candidates will be contacted by 5th February 2025
3. Inception report and meeting by 10th February 2025
4. Draft report submitted by 10th March 2025
5. Validation meeting and final report by 17th March 2025