Consultancy for M&E Study

CONSULTANCY  

M&E STUDY FOR RICETECHCAMBODIA

Oxfam is committed to preventing any type of unwanted behaviour at work including sexual harassment, exploitation and abuse, lack of integrity and financial misconduct; and committed to promoting the welfare of children, young people and adults. Oxfam expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment through our code of conduct. We place a high priority on ensuring that only those who share and demonstrate our values are recruited to work for us.

Shaping a stronger Oxfam for people living in poverty.

Department Purpose 

Oxfam believe the world is rich. The main cause of poverty is injustice. We want to see a just world with no poverty. We work with all others to achieve this goal. Oxfam started to work in Cambodia since 1979 and we are continuing our activities in Cambodia by working with partners, government counterparts, education and research institutes, communities and other actors in order to improve the sustainable livelihood of Cambodia communities especially women in rural areas. Oxfam also provides support for the development and strengthening of civil society organizations in their organizational accountability, quality programming, and effectiveness.

Team Purpose 

Rice TechCambodia (RTC) is a five-year project funded by  the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (NEA) under “efficient value chain” theme and its purpose is “adding value to the organic rice sector in Cambodia leading to inclusive growth”. The project is operating in Mondolkiri, Cambodia from July 2019 to June 2024 designed and implemented by led by SanoRice Holding BV in The Netherlands and 05 partners consisting of AMRU Rice Co Ltd in Cambodia, Oxfam in Cambodia, Development and Partnership in Action in Cambodia, Larive International BV in The Netherlands and, and Provincial Department of Agriculture of Mondolkiri. 

The overall objective of RTC project is to enhance the rice value chain in Cambodia. The project partners will combine knowledge, strengths and efforts through establishment of a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) with the aim to add value to the organic rice sector in Cambodia, enabling the country to better serve well-developed rice markets in Europe with a particular focus on baby food. The proposed project will implement a responsible, sustainable and inclusive rice value chain where it connects demand side (economic actors) with supply side (rural communities). The smallholder farmers in Mondulkiri (north-eastern part of Cambodia) currently lack an incentive to professionalize their rice production activities in order to improve their yield and income due to the absence of a direct sales market. By introducing professional organic rice cultivation practices through extensive training & contract farming, and creating access to nearby paddy drying, milling & storage facilities, the farmers will be able to gain knowledge, increase rice quality and yield, and increase income because of premium prices for their produce. It is conservatively calculated that a farmer with 1.5 ha of land can increase its yield between 140-216% as a result of the project. The project will be realized by supply of high quality-seeds, (mechanical) agricultural tools & tractors, transfer of know-how, implementing track & trace along the supply chain, organic certification, instalment of drying, milling & storage facilities, quality control & assurance, and introduction of a pilot project for circular rice-fish farming. All project activities will directly lead to significant improvement of the livelihoods of local small-scale rice farmers in Mondulkiri and indirectly strengthen the general business climate in Cambodia, contributing to sustainable economic growth. 

Overall development impact, the proposed project clearly pursues to contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. In line with the objectives of the SDGP Facility Grant Programme of the Dutch government, the project contributes in particular to SDG 2 (zero hunger), 5 (gender equality), 8 (decent work and economic growth), 12 (responsible consumption and production), 13 (climate action) and 17 (partnership for the goal). The specific contribution to these SDGs are elaborated, yet all goals are interconnected and the same applies for the contribution of the project’s activities to all different goals.

There are 03 key impact pathways:

1. Professional organic rice cultivation in Mondolkiri

2. Pilot project for rice-fish cultivation in Mondolkiri

3. Enhanced rice value chain from Cambodia to Europe

Required SDGP indicators are:

Overarching Indicators:

• Amount of mobilized private finance
• Companies with a supported plan to invest, trade or provide services
• Direct jobs supported by the project (FTE)
• Gender marker
• Climate adaptation marker
• Transition to a circular economy

Result area: value chain development indicators

• Farmers directly reached (with intensive training, assess to facilities, and sales/output market)
• Farmers indirectly reached
• Farmers with increased productivity
• Farmers with increased income 
• Farmers with improved access to inputs and/or output markets
• Farmers whose farming enterprise become more resilient to possible stress and/or shocks

Result area: work and income for youth and women indicators

• Trained workers in the agriculture and on-agriculture sector (organic rice production and rice-fish farming)
• Workers with improved labour conditions in accordance with international agreement
• Workers with improved labour productivity (working techniques and conditions)

Other custom project indicators

• Perception of men and women farmers on the barriers to women’s participation in economic opportunities
• Proportion of time women and men spend on unpaid care work, paid work and rest/leisure
•  Percentage of trained women farmers experiencing improvements in their self-confidence
• Percentage of trained women farmers increase involvement in group participation
• A joint venture between SanoRice Holding BV and AMROU Rice Co Ltd is established and formalized
• One milling facility with a capacity of 20,800 MT/year is constructed
• One drying facility with a capacity of 16,800 MT/year is constructed
• Quality assurance system (GMP, HACCP & ISO 22000) is obtained
• Volume (Ton) of organic rice produced
• Volume (Ton) of organic rice exported to European market used for bay food product
• Production cost/kg and selling price/kg of smallholder farmers for produce organic rice

In the project inception phase, by April 2020, the RTC project is required to complete baseline study to establish basic value of all project indicators. Based on baseline study results, the project will develop a package of M&E tools and train to consortium members for implementation and monitoring over the project life cycle. The project will apply consistent methodologies to conduct mid-term and final evaluation. 

Job Purpose

In the project inception phase, the project is required to hire consultancy service to conduct baseline survey:

• To establish all basic value of project indicators
• To measure project’s contribution to selected sustainable development goals (SDGs): #2, #5, #8, #12, #17, & #18
• To assess knowledge, experiences and gender of smallholder farmers in organic rice production and rice-fish farming in targeted districts of Mondolkiri province
• To assess organic rice value chains with all relevant actors 

Based on satisfaction or acceptance of the baseline report quality, the consultancy firm is possible to renew/continue contract for:

• Package of M&E tool development and training to all consortium members
• Conducting mid-term evaluation using consistent methods of baseline; and
• Conducting final evaluation using consistent methods of baseline and mid-term evaluation

Job Responsibilities 

Baseline study, mid-term and final evaluation:

• Conduct desk review on RTC’s related documents for tool preparations  
• Prepare and submit inception report signed-off by Oxfam
• Design and finalize baseline survey tools and methods signed-off by Oxfam
• Provide training to enumerator team on questionnaires and data collection methods/techniques including testing, feedback and revision
• Conduct data collection including quality check at field work 
• Conduct data entry, cleaning, and analysis 
• Draft report and submit for review and feedback
• Present preliminary findings to and validate consortium members 
• Finalize report signed-off by Oxfam based on feedbacks and validation with consortium members
• Conduct workshop to present baseline/evaluation results to consortium members and relevant stakeholders

M&E tool development and training

• Prepare M&E tool package including data collection forms for all indicators and its guidance of collection, frequency, calculation methods, respondents/informants and responsible persons
• Provide training on M&E tool package signed-off by Oxfams to consortium mebers

Team Composition

The consultancy firm should be legally company or institutes to ensure high quality of deliverables of the mentioned objectives. 

Timeline

Task	Start	End
Baseline study	February 2020	March 2020
M&E tool development and training	May 2020	July 2020
Mid-term evaluation	October 2021	December 2021
Final evaluation	January 2024	March 2024

Key deliverable:

• A full package of baseline report including attached annexes and a brief executive summary or presentation slide of key findings and recommendations
• A full package of M&E tool including training
• A full package of mid-term evaluation report including attached annexes and a brief executive summary or presentation slide of key findings and recommendations
• A full package of final evaluation report including attached annexes and a brief executive summary or presentation slide of key findings and recommendations

Indicative Budget

The consultancy firm is required to prepare detailed financial proposal include baseline, M&E tool development & training, mid-term and final evaluation covering consultancy fees, data collection & entry fees, local transportation, accommodation, food allowance during field work (in Mondolkiri), and other related/needed logistics. Below template is required to use for budget preparation and to be part of the proposal.

No	Items	Net amount
1	Baseline Study
1.1	Consultancy fees
1.2	Data collection and entry
1.3	Transportation
1.4	Accommodation
1.5	Food Allowance
1.6	Logistic/others
2	M&E tool development & training
2.1	Consultancy fees
2.2	Logistic/others
3	Mid-term evaluation
3.1	Consultancy fees
3.2	Data collection and entry
3.3	Transportation
3.4	Accommodation
3.5	Food Allowance
3.6	Logistic/others
4	Final evaluation
4.1	Consultancy fees
4.2	Data collection and entry
4.3	Transportation
4.4	Accommodation
4.5	Food Allowance
4.6	Logistic/others
Grand-total

Travel and location of work

The consultant team will be based in Phnom Penh and will require to travel to the project site (Mondolkiri) during field work. The travel costs including local transportation, accommodation and food allowance are needed to insert mentioned financial proposal. 

Other 

• Eager and required to adhere to Oxfam’s principles and values (click here) as well as the promotion of gender justice and women's rights (click here).  
• Understanding of and commitment to adhere to equity, diversity, gender, child safety and staff health and wellbeing principles.

Job Requirements

• Master’s degree or equivalent to international development sectors, agri-business, economics, gender or other related social sciences
• At least 5 year knowledge and experiences with project cycle management, implementation of M&E framework, research and evaluation with similar project, training and coaching
• At least 5 year professional experiences with quantitative and qualitative data collection, analysis and intepretation
• Comprehensiveness and familiarity with national, regional and global policies/guidelines to promote rice value chain, women economic empowerment and gender influencing
• Ability to work well with a mixed of national and international team
• Fluency in English ability is required in written and spoken 
• Demonstrates negotiating, cultural sensitivity and diplomatic skills; and strong interpersonal, communication and presentation skills

Key Attributes:

• Ability to demonstrate sensitivity to cultural differences and gender issues, as well as the commitment to equal opportunities. 
• Ability to demonstrate an openness and willingness to learn about the application of gender/gender mainstreaming, women’s rights, and diversity for all aspects of development work. 
• Commitment to Oxfam’s safeguarding policies to ensure all people who come into contact with Oxfam are as safe as possible. 

Organisational Values:

• Accountability – Our purpose-driven, results-focused approach means we take responsibility for our actions and hold ourselves accountable. We believe that others should also be held accountable for their actions.
• Empowerment – Our approach means that everyone involved with Oxfam, from our staff and supporters to people living in poverty, should feel they can make change happen.
• Inclusiveness – We are open to everyone and embrace diversity. We believe everyone has a contribution to make, regardless of visible and invisible differences.

Recruitment Process:

• Interested consultancy firms are required to submit “Technical Proposal” including company profile & key person list to deliver baseline product and embed “Financial Proposal” to deliver key objectives mentioned 
• Oxfam MEL Coordinator and HR will work with relevant consortium members to identify the candidate for this consultancy post in a timely way.

Please send the “technical proposal” and “financial proposal” and its embed file if any to our recruitment website at: https://career2.successfactors.eu/career?company=OxfamNovibP by January 31, 2020 at 05pm Cambodia time.

ONLY SHORTLISTED CANDIDATES WILL BE CONTACTED