Local Advisory Group for Project Final Evaluation of “Climate Change and Ethnic Minorities in Northern Vietnam”

TERMS OF REFERENCE: Final evaluation “Climate Change and Ethnic Minorities in Northern Vietnam”

1. Introduction

ADDA is a Danish NGO founded in March 1994 in order to meet the need for rural development through agricultural education in Southeast Asia.

ADDA has been working in Vietnam since 1998 assisting the poor and ethnic minorities in the Northern Provinces. The project “Climate Change and Ethnic Minorities in Northern Vietnam” (CEMI) started in July 2014 and will end in June 2017. The project is implemented in three provinces: Dien Bien, Son La and Lai Chau. ADDAs lead partner organization is People & Nature Reconciliation (PanNature) and the provincial sub-partners include the Fund for Women’s Development (FWD) in Dien Bien, Farmer Union in Son La (SLFU) and Farmer Union in Lai Chau (LCFU). The project aims to support ethnic minority farming communities in remote and mountainous areas of the three provinces. The objectives of the project include improved access to information on climate change policies for ethnic minority farmers and impacts on local policies and natural resources planning to address local climate change adaptation, food security, and poverty reduction.

ADDA is looking for a local advisory group carrying out the final evaluation of the project with the following information:

2. Objectives of the Evaluation

The objective of the evaluation is to assess the outcomes and impact of the objectives of the project. The study should investigate the impact of the project among the target groups and beneficiaries and assess the level of community and other stakeholder participation. It will also identify the intended and unintended changes, best practices, lessons learned as well as challenges meet. Finally, the evaluation should come up with conclusions and recommendations for learning and future intervention.

The evaluation should assess the following thematic areas:

2.1. Relevance

• The relevance of the project to the target groups and beneficiaries
• The relevance of the project to achieve the immediate objective “By end of the project, local government, NGOs and farmer organizations in project areas are able to facilitate and develop development policies and planning in natural resources sector that enable communities to adapt regional and international strategies to climate change, reduce impacts on the environment and maintain sustainable livelihood”
• The relevance of the project in relation to National and regional policies

2.2 Efficiency

The efficiency should be evaluated by making an assessment of whether project resources (budget, assets, and staffs) were used efficiently in relation to the planned activities, outputs and outcome.

2.3 Effectiveness

The effectiveness should be measured by looking at whether the project has achieved the immediate objective as stated in the project documents and project outline.

2.4 Impact

The evaluation should ascertain general changes of the project including:

• Identify a qualitative level of completion of the projects immediate objective
• Identify the main factors affecting the implementation of the project activities
• If the target groups feel empowered by the project
• Local government planning in relation to climate change action
• Outline the intended and unintended outcomes
• Recommend changes, improvement or future programmatic of similar approaches

2.5 Sustainability

Assessthe sustainability of the project in relation to:

• Continuation
• Maintenance and replication of the project outcomes (technical replication of trainings and financial viability)
• Effectiveness of the capacity building of target groups and beneficiaries
• Possibility of scaling up of the project beyond the project areas to other communes, districts or provinces

2.6 Lessons learnt, conclusion and recommendations

On the basis of collected information the evaluation should:

• Capture best practices and lessons learned from this project
• Draw conclusions and make recommendations

3. Evaluation methods

It is expected that a variety of methods are used to collect and analyze data including. participatory methods to collect qualitative and quantitative data.

The following list of methods is recommended;

• Farmer Interest Group and household surveys using survey questionnaires
• Focus Group Discussions (FGD)
• Literature review and review of context and national climate change policy trends– project documents such as project proposal, quarterly and annual reports and other documents are available.
• Field observation of the targeted communities
• Interviews with ADDA, PanNature and sub-partners key staff and local authorities
• Key informant interview (KII)

4. Target groups and beneficiaries

The target groups are spread across three provinces; Dien Bien, Lai Chau and Son La.

Within the provinces the sub-partners; Fund for Women’s Development (FWD), Lai Chau Farmer Union (LCFU), Son La Farmer Union (SLFU) are targeted.

Target groups are targeted through:

• 9 districts
• 33 communes
• 50 villages
• 25 Local facilitators
• 50 Farmer Interest Groups

Government bodies:

• DARD
• Peoples Committees – provincial, district, commune level

5. Composition of evaluation team

The evaluation team must have the required expertise:

• Excellent command of spoken and written English
• Previous experience in conducting evaluation activities
• Advanced degree in rural development, agriculture, social science or other relevant development field is required preferable at least 5-8 years of experience working in Agriculture Development
• Excellent interviewing, analytical and report writing skills
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills including ability to facilitate and work in a multidisciplinary team
• Extensive experience in working with international donors
• Experience in quantitative and qualitative research methods
• Additional asset: Knowledge and practical experience in working with farmer communities, extensive experience in organizational development for Farmer Interest Groups (FIGs), ecological agriculture, green development, agro-forestry model

6. Deliverables and main duties of the evaluation team

• Develop an evaluating outline including a reporting framework, questionnaires and field survey planning in collaboration with partners
• A comprehensive report in both Vietnamese and English
• A PowerPoint presentation that summarizes findings and recommendations of the report is shared in the final workshop in Hanoi or provinces
• Debriefing with project management

7. Reporting and timeframe

The final evaluation is expected to take place between on26thApril and 20th June 2017. The final draft report will be submitted to ADDA on 16th June 2017. The final report is due on 21st June 2017.

Prior to the start of field data collection, the evaluation team should draw up a brief inception report, setting out the plan for field activities, for discussion and agreement with the Project Management. This inception report will include further details of the costs of the field activities.

It is expected that a total of 25 working days will be adequate for the assignment, comprising

• 5 days of desk study for preparation of the Inception report and field arrangements
• 1 day planning meeting
• 10 days of field investigations and travel between the sites
• 5 days for preparation of the draft report
• 3 days completion of the final report
• 1 day debriefing

8. Submission of proposal

Application form should be sent to the ADDA office via [email protected] before noon 12:00 pm on 30/03/2017. The application should include a detailed expression of interest (technical and financial proposal) with the following components: (1) Understanding of the TOR (2) Curriculum vitae and work experience; (3) Evaluation method and evaluation plan; (4)

Estimated detailed evaluation budget including consulting fees, accommodation, meals, and transportation fees.