Background

The UNDP/GEF’s project of private public partnership for sustainable land management in the Shire River Basin” is a five-year nationally implemented project. The implementing partner is the Environmental Affairs Department in the Ministry of Natural Resource, Energy and Mines in Malawi. 

The project was designed with overall goal of: “Sustainable Land Management” providing the basis for economic development, food security and sustainable livelihoods while restoring the ecological integrity of the Shire River Basin”. The objective is: “To reduce land degradation in the Shire River Basin through improved institutional, policy and PES arrangements and improved food security.  The project has four main components namely:

  • Outcome 1: The policy, regulatory and institutional arrangement support sustainable land management in the Shire River Basin;
  • Outcome 2: Private Public Partnerships (PPP) providing financial incentives for SLM (through green water credits and sustainable charcoal);
  • Outcome 3: Crop insurance providing the basis for increased access to credits as well as increased use of up to date weather information in decision making;
  • Outcome 4: Knowledge and skills for SLM provided to resource managers at all levels.

Duties and Responsibilities

The objectives of the Terminal Evaluation are; to assess the achievement of project results, and to draw lessons that can both, improve the sustainability of benefits from this project, and aid in the overall enhancement of UNDP programming. The Terminal Evaluation will assess the extent to which the project was successfully mainstreamed with other UNDP priorities, including poverty alleviation, improved governance, prevention and recovery from natural disasters, and gender.

The Malawi UNDP country office would like to recruit an international consultant to undertake the terminal evaluation of the Sustainable Land Management in the Shire River Basin project.

An assessment of project performance will be carried out, based against expectations set out in the Project Logical Framework/Results Framework see Annex B, which provides performance and impact indicators for project implementation along with their corresponding means of verification.

The evaluation will assess the aspects as listed in the evaluation report outline attached in Annex G.

The Report will include a table of planned vs. actual project financial disbursements, and planned co-financing vs. actual co-financing in this project, according the project summary table. The Report will be supplemented by Rating Tables, attached in Annex E of Terms of Reference.

The Scope of Work

The International Consultant / Evaluation Team Leader will be responsible to assess the extent to which the project is achieving impacts or progressing towards the achievement of impacts. Specifically, International Consultant / Evaluation Team Leader is expected to undertake the following tasks and produce following deliverables:

  • Debriefing with UNDP CO, agreement on the methodology, scope and outline of the TE report (1 day);
  • Interviews with project implementing partners:  environmental affairs department; Relevant Government departments:  Forestry Department, Water Department and Land Resources and Conservation branch; NGOs: DAPP, COPRED, CURE, NACUHUSO and donor representatives, development partners and UNDP/GEF and Regional Technical Advisor (maximum 5 days);

The International Consultant / Evaluation Team Leader (IC) is expected to frame the evaluation effort using the criteria of relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, sustainability, and impact, as defined and explained in the UNDP Guidance for Conducting Terminal Evaluations of  UNDP-supported, GEF-financed Projects.  A set of questions covering each of these criteria have been drafted and are included with Terms of Reference (Annex D). The International Consultant / Evaluation Team Leader is expected to amend, complete and submit this matrix as part of an evaluation inception report, and shall include it as an annex to the final report. 

In cooperation with the National Consultant, the IC will review all relevant sources of information, such as the project document, project reports – including Annual APR/PIR, project budget revisions, midterm review, progress reports, GEF focal area tracking tools, project files, national strategic and legal documents, and any other materials that the evaluator considers useful for this evidence-based assessment. A list of documents that the project team will provide to the evaluator for review is included in Annex C of Terms of Reference.

Competencies

  • Drive for results;
  • Formulating Strategies and Concepts;
  • Familiarity with Terminal Evaluation in similar assignments.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

  • Advanced university degree (Masters) in the fields of Natural Resources Management, Land Management, Forestry, Agriculture and Environment or related field.

Experience:

  • Minimum 7 years in impact evaluation related activities and relevant professional experience; 
  • Knowledge of UNDP and GEF funded projects is an advantage; 
  • Previous experience with results-based monitoring and evaluation methodologies; 
  • Technical knowledge in the targeted focal area(s) water forestry, land management, environment and agriculture;
  • Demonstrated experience and thorough knowledge with results based monitoring and evaluation methods.  

Language:

  • Fluent in English.

For detailed information and all the Annexes, please check on the link below:

http://procurement-notices.undp.org/,