TERMS OF REFERENCE FOR AN IMPACT ASSESSMENT
Introduction
When the CARE-WWF Alliance began working in Primeiras e Segundas, Mozambique in 2008, we set out the following vision:
By 2018, we envision landscapes in which marine and terrestrial ecosystems are thriving and the poor who depend on them have better lives and broader options, and are active participants in a governance framework that ensures that natural resources are managed for both current and future generations.
Toward that end, the Alliance has pursued three key objectives:
- Healthy People, Healthy Livelihoods- Natural resources are used and managed more efficiently, with fewer negative impacts on the environment and biodiversity and more positive outcomes for the poor, as the rural economy transitions towards more diversified, resilient and sustainable livelihoods.
2. Empowered Citizens- The poorest and most vulnerable, especially women, make more informed decisions about natural resource management, and engage with and hold to account public and private actors on decisions and policies that affect their livelihoods.
3. Enabling Policies and Institutions- Policies and institutions form a foundation on which to build innovative approaches for equitable economic growth while maintaining healthy ecosystems and conserving biodiversity.
We do so by working with diverse stakeholders—poor men and women, the government of Mozambique, local NGO partners and, to a lesser extent, the private sector—to implement integrated conservation and development interventions in what is, since 2012, the Primeiras e Segundas Area of Environmental Protection. Key interventions provide support to:
· biodiversity protection, legal enforcement and land- and sea-scape co-management;
· natural resource governance, including community-based natural resource management (CBNRM) such as no-take zones; and
· capacity building and institutional strengthening for community-based organizations in areas of savings and loans, integrated CNBRM, climate-smart farming, production and marketing, sustainable fishing, and beach and water management.
Purpose of the Review of Outcomes and Impacts
The overarching purpose of the impact assessment is to document the impacts and outcomes of the Alliance’s P&S project on priority biodiversity and ecosystem services and the lives (livelihoods, natural resource use, wellbeing and empowerment) of vulnerable women and men.[1] This will facilitate learning for the P&S project and the CARE-WWF Alliance, globally, as well as increasing project accountability to stakeholders and donors.
The key audiences for the impact assessment are CARE and WWF Mozambique, P&S staff, project stakeholders (particularly local communities and the Government of Mozambique) and donors (particularly the Sall Family Foundation), and other integrated conservation and development practitioners. The assessment will be used to inform which strategies and approaches should continue, be phased out or scaled up in P&S and in Alliance work, more broadly.
We are undertaking this impact assessment now because:
· In February 2016, we concluded a Monitoring and Evaluation, Research and Learning (MERL) exercise resulting in:
o A clear M&E framework that we will use moving forward to understand the success of the project moving forward. We need to understand how far we’ve come against these newly-defined impact and outcome indicators at this moment.
o Priority learning questions for the CARE-WWF Alliance team in Mozambique. We need to take stock of what project lessons already indicate to us about the answers in order to better inform future learning and reflection.
· Finally, the largest tranche of funding for the P&S project is slated to end in December 2016. The assessment is therefore intended to documenting the program outcomes and, where appropriate, impacts in order to:
o adapt current and future P&S program design accordingly;
o fundraise for continued support of the Alliance in P&S; and
o communicate robust findings through evidence-based policy advocacy to scale up Alliance impacts in Mozambique and beyond.
Scope of the Impact Assessment
Using almost exclusively existing research, the impact assessment should correspond to the following four areas, substantiated by sub-questions:
1. PROGRESS TOWARD PROJECT OBJECTIVES:
i. To what extent and how has the project made progress toward the three original objectives? Please consider:
a. How many people and which ecosystems have benefited from project activities (objective 1)?
b. Who has benefited from what kinds of empowerment (objective 2)?
c. To what extent has the program been impactful at scale (objective 3)?
ii. To what extent has the project made contributions toward P&S’ recently adopted key indicators of success (seeAppendix II)?
iii. What major factors influenced the extent of progress toward key objectives and indicators?
- NATURE and SUSTAINABILITY OF CHANGES:
i. What have been the positive and negative or unintended outcomes of P&S project to date?
ii. How have benefits and costs been distributed amongst women and men, boys and girls, the poor and better off, marine and terrestrial ecosystems?
iii. To what extent are benefits likely to be sustained after activities stop and why?
3. SYNTHESIZING ALLIANCE OUTCOMES:
i. Building on the existing evidence base, what robust claims can the Alliance make about P&S outcomes, and where appropriate, impacts?
ii. What is the cost-benefit analysis of the CARE-WWF Alliance’s integrated approach in P&S to date?
To the extent that lessons emerge from answering the above four questions, we also seek to understand:
- What LESSONS LEARNED can be drawn from the program that contribute to:
i. identifying integrated conservation and development approaches that effectively:
a. Maintain ecosystem servicees important to diverse livelihoods;
b. Empower vulnerable women and their families;
c. Improve their food and nutrition security;
d. Improve the status of globally important biodiversity;
e. Promote social and ecological resilience to the impacts of climate change; and
f. Can be scaled to multiply impact?
ii. addressing Mozambique’s priority programmatic learning questions:
a. What are successful strategies for increasing climate change literacy and facilitating community- and ecosystem- based adaption in local men and women’s day-to-day activities?
b. What are successful strategies for moving beyond laws, policies to effective implementation and enforcement?
Methodology for the First Phase of the Impact Assessment:
We anticipate that to complete this impact assessment, the following methodology will be useful. However, we are open to the experience and suggestions of the selected consultant:
1. Stocktaking and systematization of existing data relevant to the research questions.
2. Desk review of key research, communications and reporting documents (see Appendix I) resulting in a summary of:
a. What we know with certainty about Alliance program outcomes, and where appropriate impacts, to date;
b. What evidence may suggest about P&S outcomes that needs to be validated; and
c. Key gaps in the evidence base.
- Suggest a future process (including methodologies, where appropriate) for validating evidence and addressing gaps (see 2, above).
- With guidance and feedback from the P&S impact assessment advisory group (PSIAAG), prioritize to fill key gaps, taking into account his/her skill set, time and budgetary constraints. Potential methodologies for this final contribution include targeted:
a. Interviews with program staff or stakeholders;
b. Statistical analyses; or
c. Field visits.
- Analyze and synthesize the information, including any new findings from evidence gaps filled, in a succinct report.
Key Deliverables and Timeframe
Subject to consultant availability, it is envisioned that the review of outcomes and impacts will begin by July 15, 2016 and that the final report will be completed by October 15, 2016.
- A draft summary of desk review findings for P&S impact assessment advisory group (PSIAAG) review and feedback.
- A draft database of claims and supporting evidence for program use for PSIAAG review and feedback.
- A draft process for addressing evidence gaps, i.e., a suggested high-level methodology for concluding the impact assessment in a second phase.
- Implementation of any low-hanging research to fill gaps, prioritized with PSIAAG for completion during this phase of the impact assessment.
- A draft impact assessment report with the following components for PSIAAG review:
a. Brief introduction and methodology;
b. Synthesis of findings on project impacts and outcomes (see research questions 1-4), building on desk review findings and integrating new evidence (see 4, above);
c. Recommended process for addressing outstanding evidence gaps;
d. Draft lessons, conclusions and recommendations for scaling up P&S project impacts, including implications for the expanding CARE-WWF Alliance program; and
e. Annex of database of claims, in English and Portuguese, and supporting evidence for program use for PSIAAG review and feedback.
- Participation in a day-long workshop, including a presentation of findings, conclusions and recommendations to with a group of P&S and Alliance Management Team.
- A final impact assessment report in Portuguese should totaling a maximum of 30 pages (Calibri font, size 11). The report should take into account PSIAAG and workshop participant feedback and contain the following:
a. An executive summary (no more than 2 pages);
b. Brief introduction and methodology;
c. A final synthesis of findings on project impacts and outcomes that explicitly address research questions 1-3 (at least 10 pages);
d. Recommended process and methodologies for addressing outstanding evidence gaps;
e. Final lessons learned (research question 4), conclusions and recommendations for scaling up P&S project impacts, including implications for the expanding CARE-WWF Alliance program; and
f. Annex of database of claims, in English and Portuguese, and supporting evidence for program use for PSIAAG review and feedback (does not count toward 30 pages).
- A report summary of no more than four pages in English (Calibri font, size 11).
Consultant Qualifications: At a minimum, the primary consultant should have:
- A Masters degree and five years of relevant experience in, e.g., monitoring and evaluation, sustainable development, resilient livelihoods, climate change adaptation, gender integration, ecology and biodiversity conservation.
- Familiarity with integrated conservation and development approaches and objectives—at least a basic understanding of WWF and CARE mandates;
- Knowledge of participatory monitoring, outcome evaluation and mixed research methodologies, including proven ability to understand, analyze and synthesize social and ecological data;
- Proficiency in Portuguese and English, including fluency in one language—i.e. excellent written and excellent verbal communication skills; and
- Demonstrated ability to analyze and synthesize complex data and provide a succinct report with clear conclusions and recommendations.
[1] Given the level of resources available for this impact assessment, we believe it will be possible to documentcontribution rather than attribution.
HOW TO APPLY:
Interested parties must submit (a) a formal letter of interest with CVs, including a reference or letter of recommendation for previous experience of similar work, (b) Brief workplan, and (c) Proposed budget by June 30, 2016 to the CARE-WWF Alliance to: recrutamentos@care.org.mz or physically to:
CARE Human Resources, Procurement Department
Av Martires de Mueda No. 596, Maputo, Mozambique
Note: For information about the recruitment process, please contact Ana Manthenga +258 21-492064 or +258 21-492066. For substantive questions, please contact Althea Skinner (althea.skinner@wwfus.org).
Appendix I and II to be elaborated before the consultancy begins:
- Data and Documents for Desk Review
- Draft P&S M&E Framework containing Key Impact and Outcome Indicators
