Fairtrade Africa
FACSCA- End of Project Evaluation
FACSCA is a 28-month project which was launched in September 2021
and is due to close in December 2023. The programme is supported by The
Co-op (a major UK retailer) and is implemented by FTA in partnership
with FTF and with Fairtrade-certified producer organizations in Kenya,
Ethiopia, and Rwanda.
The FACSCA programme has been designed to contribute to realisation of
the right to sustainable livelihoods for coffee, tea and flower
producers’ households experiencing the effects of climate change in
small scale producers (SPOs) and Hired Labour Organizations (HLOs)
across East Africa. Specifically, project objectives and outcome areas
aimed to:
FACSCA activities have supported series of interventions with tea,
coffee, and flower Producer Organisations (POs) in Kenya, Rwanda and
Ethiopia since September 2021 with the objective of enabling POs to
adapt to a changing climate and maintain adequate productivity levels
that guarantee supply chain stability and return on investment. FACSCA
sits within Co-op’s Fairtrade Africa 2021-2025 strategy which seeks to
strengthen sustainable farming systems and climate resilience, with
FACSCA providing a specific focus on Co-op and Fairtrade supported Pos.
This end of project evaluation will provide FTA and FTF and the Co-op
with a deepened understanding of what, how effective, and how FACSCA
programmatic interventions have been in contributing to farmers and
workers having heighted resilience to climate change. Efforts should be
made by the evaluator to provide a reflection on who FACSCA activities
have supported, and what dis/enabling environments and assumptions have
supported and/or hindered efforts to increase the resilience of
households in participating POs.
3. EVALUATION PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVES
A baseline study was undertaken in 2023 to benchmark project indicators
that supported the ongoing monitoring of FACSCA activities. Findings
from the baseline and close interaction with both FTF and FTA should
guide the development of FACSCA evaluation questions through a 4-week
inception phase. The development of evaluation questions will be led by
the consultants, with input from the FTA and FTF teams, where
appropriate. Example evaluation questions have been detailed below to
provide a starting point for applicants to this ToR, with evaluation
questions to be further shaped throughout the inception phase.
To what extent have FACSCA interventions, including trainings on good
agricultural practices and the use of Sustainable Agricultural Land
Management demo plots, supported increased resilience amongst PO members
and worker communities to adapt to and mitigate the effects of climate
change?
How effective has the train the trainer model been for cascading
farmer-relevant and contextually appropriate climate-awareness and GAP
practices?
To what extent have tree nursery sites, income diversification initiatives implemented at PO level, and
received seed capital for implementation of climate change-based enterprises supported resilience at
household and PO levels?
In answering these evaluation questions, which the consultant(s) are
expected to refine and elaborate on their proposals, the selected
consultant(s) will make an assessment as to how far FACSCA has
contributed to increased sustainable productivity and livelihoods among
farmers and workers included within the programme.
4. EVALUATION APPROACH AND METHODOLOGY
This end of project evaluation is envisaged to be a qualitative study
that provides participatory and reflexive assessments of FACSCA’s
contributions to outcomes by farmers and workers. The data collection
tools will be developed in collaboration with Monitoring, Evaluation,
and Learning Managers from FTA and FTF and confirmed in the Inception
Report. Data from the baseline study and ongoing output-level monitoring
should be used to inform the consultants evaluation approach, tools
used and sampling strategy, as well as provide quantitative evidence on
the impact of the FACSCA programme.
5. EVALUATION SCOPE
The Evaluation assignment will cover the entire period of project
implementation since its inception in September 2021 up to the end of
project in December 2023.The evaluation will be conducted in 12 Producer
organizations across three countries of implementation namely; Ethiopia
(1), Kenya (8), and Rwanda (3). The producer organizations are further
disaggregated by products as follows;4 coffee,4 Tea and 4 flowers. The
total number of direct beneficiaries reach as per the assignment is
25688 famers/workers (males, females and youths).
6. OUTPUTS AND DELIVERABLES
Fairtrade Africa and the Fairtrade Foundation require the following
deliverables for the FACSCA Programme evaluation consultant(s):
a) Inception Report (due 28th October 2023): A short summary report
outlining the consultant(s) study plan, including an agreed-upon
methodology, data collection tools and timeline for data collection.
Where possible, data collection strategies should be designed to inform
the FACSCA logframe, with the understanding that collected qualitative
data will not be able to inform the entire logframe.
b) Draft Project Evaluation Report (due 23rd November 2023: A detailed
report outlining the key findings from the data collection. This will be
shared with FTA and FTF for feedback ahead of a final draft.
c) Validation and Learning Meeting (due 14th December 2023): A sharing
and learning session with FTA and FTF to share key results from the
study and any learnings or recommendations for future assessments within
the FACSCA programme.
d) Final Project Evaluation Report (due 26th January 2024: A final report with key findings,
e) Cleaned data files and other relevant study materials: A complete
cleaned set of all interview data, provided electronically to FTA in
suitable file formats (Excel, .csv, etc.). In addition, any photos and
relevant materials generated during the project evaluation period shall
also be shared.
7. CONSULTANT(S) EXPERIENCE AND EXPERTISE
The proposed evaluator(s) should have a strong background in reflexive
and outcome-orientated MEL approaches, social sciences and in-depth
experience conducting interviews, focus groups and participatory
research with producers, ideally in coffee, flower and/or tea supply
chains. The specific qualifications are:
An advanced degree in any of the following or related disciplines:
Social Sciences, Monitoring and Evaluation, Agricultural economics.
Demonstrated experience conducting participatory research or reflexive MEL with farmers in East Africa.
Excellent report writing and presentation skills.
Experience/ understanding of coffee, flower, and tea supply chains, as
well as Fairtrade principles and standards, will be considered an
asset.