TechnoServe is seeking proposals from qualified consultants for the following scope of work. For information on timeline, application requirements, and evaluation criteria, please review the full Request for Proposals here.Please submit your proposal for this consultancy to buy US P0024664@tns.org by October 27, 2023.

Background

A consortium of Technoserve, Resilience BV, Agência de Desenvolvimento Económico da Província de Manica (ADEM) and the Zambeze Valley Development Agency (ZVDA) implements a four-year programme called Mangwana to transform the agricultural sector in Manica and Sofala provinces in the Beira Corridor.
The project intends to benefit over 227,000 people by strengthening food systems and food and nutrition security. The programme is funded by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands (EKN) in Maputo and therefore aims to contribute significantly to the goals in the Government of the Kingdom of the Netherlands’ Food Security and Nutrition Policy and Framework.

To achieve these objectives, the programme will:
1. Support smallholder farmers (SHF) to build more resilient livelihoods to shocks by operating more sustainable, productive, profitable and resilience farming systems
2. Work with the private sector to make farming systems more remunerative, climate resilient and inclusive of SHF (including women and youth and, 3. Improve the enabling environment for agri- and food businesses and producers.
We will implement a series of smallholder farmer-tailored solutions that will increase adoption of sustainable and resilient land use practices, increase productivity and
incomes for smallholder farmers, and ultimately improve availability of diverse, locally produced foods in the Beira Corridor. Throughout all our activities, we will mainstream gender and youth empowerment, leverage our expertise in climate smart and regenerative agriculture and business, and incorporate digital approaches to improve efficiency and increase reach at low cost.
The project started September 2023 with a 4 month inception phase. As the programme’s interventions will be data-driven, adaptive, and flexible, we will identify and refine the key challenges and opportunities of each farming system during the inception phase. The objective of the inception phase includes the delivery of the following, which are connected to the activities of this scope of work:
● MEL plan including an updated logical framework with gender and youth disaggregation
● Baseline study on agricultural productivity, income and other relevant indicators (quantitative and qualitative)
● Gender and Youth empowerment analysis including the action plan with indicators and targets
● Farming systems assessment and prioritization of geographies where the program will work
The program is closely aligned with EKN’s Food Nutrition and Security (FNS) Results and Indicator Framework (2022). This framework provides the outcome and output indicators that contribute to the assessment of FNS project/programme performance and are also essential to keep track of progress towards the SDG-based Dutch policy targets for 2030, i.e.: (i) lifting 32 million people out of undernourishment, (ii) increasing (doubling) productivity and income of 8 million food producers, and (iii) contributing to sustainable land use on 8 million hectares of farmland.

Consultant Objectives and Scope
For this assignment, TechnoServe is looking for a Senior Monitoring and Evaluation and Learning (MEL) Expert, or a team of MEL experts to support the project’s consortium to build the project’s MEL plan and baseline. The baseline will provide a situational analysis at the start of the program that will form the basis for continuous process monitoring and the final evaluation. The baseline will be guided by the results framework. It will determine baseline values for selected indicators and for the relevant performance indicators of the results framework and will be used to inform the revision of project indicators targets. The methodology should clearly outline a sample design and sample size calculations that incorporate considerations of gender, age and methods of analysis.
Experience and expertise of the FNS Results and Indicator Framework for alignment is of utmost importance. As such the expert will support formulation of the MEL plan, provide guidance to the baseline survey, data collection and analysis of the baseline and formulate the baseline report.

Key deliverables

The assignment is a 3-5 months’ assignment. The preferred start date is 20th of October.
The actions will be implemented on location of consultants' bases and in the Beira Corridor.
The consultant will report to the project’s MEAL Manager, under an agreed workplan and is expected to be available for iterative collaboration throughout the assignment. The expert will provide the following deliverables:
1. Workplan approved by the MEL Manager
2. Conduct weekly-debriefing and progress sessions with MEL Team
3. Provide written feedback on MEL Plan with special attention to alignment to the FNS Results and Indicator Frame-work
4. Provide written feedback on the planned baseline survey (including questionnaires and methodology)
5. Hold consultation session with MEL team to review final baseline survey
6. Draft baseline report and presentation for review by MEL team and Mangwana Program Leadership
7. Finalize baseline report and presentation based on MEL team and MangwanaProgram leadership feedback
8. Lead meeting to present baseline findings to Mangwana’s steering committee or Consortium Leadership
9. Lead and facilitate working session with Mangwana Program team to incorporate baseline and assessment findings into the programme’s 2024 workplan
10.Ensure that Project dashboards are tested and appropriate indicators are shown Contracting and Payment Modalities
Payment shall be made in installments upon submission and acceptance of the reports by the mangwana team. These payments will be in line with the workplan approved by the MEAL Manager or another key personnel designee by the Program Director, that will be responsible for the technical revision.

Submission and Evaluation of proposal
To apply, please submit a short cover letter, a proposal for the number of days required to complete each deliverable, proposed daily rate, and Curriculum Vitae (CV)