HELPAGE International Baseline Survey Call for Consultants

Call for Consultants – Terms of reference for Baseline Survey
 

Project title: “Supporting the transition from humanitarian crisis through recovery to sustainable economic development in Warrap State, South Sudan”.
 

Responsible: HELPAGE International
 

Background: Food insecurity and poverty are widespread across South Sudan, linked to decades of civil conflict, the disruption and loss of economic activities, displacement of a significant portion of the population, lack of basic infrastructure and the erosion of livelihood options. 

 

South Sudan faces one of the worst humanitarian and food-security situations in the world, with at least 1.5 million people relying on external assistance to meet their food needs.

Warrap state traditional livelihood systems are rooted in the agriculture sector, employing a mix of livestock and crop production, fishing, wild food collection and trade. 

With about 80 percent of the population relying on agricultural production to meet their food and income needs, this project that targets Warrap State, Tonj North County, Payams of Awul, Rualbet and Kirrik; 20 Bomas (villages) is critical in contribution towards the reduction of hunger and poverty through promoting sustainable food production and alternative livelihoods for 6.000 highly vulnerable households. 

In Warrap State, the livestock subsector contributes significantly to meeting the food and income needs of agro pastoralists’ households, directly – through the consumption of meat, milk and other products – and indirectly – by exchanging animals or animal products for cereals or cash, which is used to buy cereals and meet other household needs. 

The potential of the subsector is constrained by livestock disease outbreaks; low productivity exacerbated by chronic droughts and insecurity; a lack of adequate marketing infrastructure; and poorly organized and informed herders and traders.

Warrap state is mainly inhabited by Dinka and thus hasn’t experienced the same level of conflict as its neighboring states of Jonglei, Upper Nile and Unity. Though there are regular clashes between villages about cattle raids, the frequency of clashes decreased recently. 

The conflict in Unity has led to an influx of approx. 1.000 IDPs into Warrap, where the IDPs and the local population compete for the already scarce resources. According to OCHA-classification, Warrap is a “stressed state”. 

Further, the region has experienced heavy flooding in two consecutive years which caused widespread destruction of livelihood sources as well as communal support structures. Warrap state is composed of six counties; the project will be implemented in Tonj North County.

Tonj North County consists of 9 Payams or districts and 52 Bomas/communities with a total population of approx. 165.000 people (53% women, 47% men). 

There are only few non-state actors present in Tonj North County and the weak state structures are, due to lack of funding, hardly able to sustain health or education services or pay salaries to their personnel. In total, there is 874 staff in the different administrative structures, among them only 292 women. 60% of the state personnel are employed in schools. 

The administration is headed by a County Commissioner who is selected by an elected State Governor and selects the directors of the Payams.
 

The project target area is very isolated and characterized by agriculture and livestock farming as well as little commercial agriculture. The climate is tropical and the geography Savanna. The raining season lasts from May to October but this year there has been poor rainfall situation and predictions of devastating “Elnino” in the months of October onwards. 

Even though the weather is suitable for diverse agriculture, floods in the previous years have caused a decrease in agricultural activity. Irrigation farming is not widespread. 

Main crops are sorghum, maize and vegetables. Second most important source of income is cattle farming, out of which milk, cheese and meat are produced. Forest management is widely used for firewood, construction materials, healing plants, fruits and honey. In the northern part of the county, fishing is also practiced by the population. 

Public transport and transportation infrastructure such as roads are very few and in bad condition. Roads from Warrap town to the Payams are hardly passable during the rainy season.
 

Brief description of the Project: The project is funded by Federal Government of Germany (BMZ) and will be implemented by HelpAge International’s country office in South Sudan in close cooperation with Islamic Relief South Sudan. Two local NGOs will be included as well as local, regional and national authorities like the Relief and Rehabilitation commission, district commissioners and health. 

By supporting sustainable food production and alternative livelihoods HelpAge is creating the basis for future development and the target group’s self-sustainability. 

Further, sustainable local structures are built (cooperatives and CBOs) and stakeholders on various levels involved into the project. Therefore, we’re expecting national authorities to replicate the approach in similar own programs. The direct target group is comprised of 6.000 HHs with 30.000 persons. Special consideration will be given to OP, PwD and HHs lead by women or children. 

The indirect target group is another approx. 17.000 persons. Further, the project targets two local NGOs, one international NGO, three authority structures on county level, three on payam-level and two on national level.

Baseline Survey: This baseline survey intends to cover the key thematic areas (Water development, Agriculture, Livestock, Emergency Nutrition, Financial Services, Diversified Incomes and Disaster Risk Reduction) for the project approved by the donor.

It will include sampled grant recipients and non-grant recipients covering all approved thematic areas. 

It is expected to establish the baseline values and benchmarks for this newly approved project. Based on the performance and timely delivery of outputs/results, the project may continue the service of the selected service provider for the baseline survey to be carried out.
 

Objectives of the Baseline Survey: The objective of the baseline survey is to provide baseline information on project related indicators against which to assess performance and assess impact of the project on annual basis. 

The specific objective of the survey is to assess/establish a pre-intervention snap shot against key project indicators for monitoring, evaluation and impact assessment after three years of implementation
 

Scope of Work: The Consultant with support from IRW and HAI field based BMZ project teams will take the overall responsibility of the baseline assessment, information analysis, reporting and dissemination. 

The base line survey will focus on collecting the data related to the key performance indicators which are set out in the results framework. 

The survey is expected to;

• Provide baseline information on project indicators for measuring project effectiveness and project impact after the completion of the project.


• Provide demographic, socio-economic features, nature and extent of participation in agriculture commercialization processes and activities of participants.


• Establish baseline values and Update indicators at the project field level for the above mentioned thematic areas.


• Provide reliable information on productivity, volume, and sales of key agricultural commodities and corresponding major value chain participants with their competence, linkages with other value chain participants, comparative advantages, strengths and constraints


• Provide basic data and information for developing Financial Services and Income diversity.


• Establish baseline information on DRR and Nutrition interventions


• Suggest necessary changes/amendments in project result framework, if necessary.

Methodologies: The survey will use a mix method approach comprised of both quantitative and qualitative data collection methods and finalize the survey tools in consultation with Project Management Team including the Technical Support Group both at Juba and Regional offices of IRW and HAI. 

Members of the core team including team leader are required to participate in the field work. Study methodology should cover all project areas and all sub-projects financed under the project. 

Two workshops, one for the inception report and next for the draft report will need to be organized. 

The technical proposal will include the following methodology in detail:

1. Baseline methodology and survey design in detail including sampling plan


2. Nature and types of data collection instruments and tools which will be used in the survey


3. Work plan for the survey


4. Roles and responsibilities of each team members including team leader


5. Number and person-days of the field supervisors and enumerators including their roles and responsibilities.


6. Methodology/processes for selecting/identification of non-grant recipient


7. Any other issues/areas deemed important/crucial

Team Composition and Responsibilities;
 

The core study team will comprise of the following experts:

1. Socio-economist with adequate experiences in monitoring and evaluation, specifically in agricultural sector (Minimum educational qualification for the proposed expert is Master degree with at least 10 years of experience). The candidate should have either led or carried out baseline studies and evaluation/impact study and experienced in team leadership and coordination. MBA is added advantage.


2. Agricultural specialists-2 (Agricultural and Livestock Specialist): Masters degree in related subject and at least 5 years working experience in baseline studies/ evaluation / impact studies. Experience in livelihood and DRR programming is highly recommended.


3. Statistician : Masters degree in statistics and 5 years working experience in related field


4. Data analyst : Bachelor degree in any discipline and 5 years working experience in data analysis

The inputs (person days) of each of the above experts will be proposed by the bidder based on the methodology proposed and this will be discussed with the successful candidate/firm.

During the inception period, the survey instruments will be prepared together with corresponding questionnaires and checklists.

Preparations and Logistic Support: IRW/HAI will make an information package comprising all relevant materials related to the project available prior to the start of the study. All participants are expected to acquaint with these materials prior to the start of the study. 

Both PMs from HAI and IRW will oversee the implementation and monitoring the survey works. The travel and other related costs will be provided by the BMZ project.
 

Duration of Assignment: The duration of the assignment will be 15 days. Tentatively the actual field survey will commence on 1st December 2015 and complete on 15th December 2015. 

The inception report will be submited within 5 days before the begining of survey, draft report not later than 2 weeks after the survey and the workshop will be held immediately after that. 

Based on the comments and suggestions of the workshop participants and the project, the final report should be submitted after a week.
 

Outputs and Deliverables: The survey team must submit an inception report, draft report and summary with key conclusions (7-10 pages to be distributed to the participants prior to the workshop) and final report (hard copies and an electronic copy in CD with the text, tables and graphs of the report in Word and Excel respectively) after incorporating comments and feedbacks from workshop participants and IRW/HAI. 

Soft copies of the raw data collected during the study should also be submitted to Project. 

It is suggested that the survey team should incorporate photographs in the appropriate sections of the report.

Application Process and Timeline
 

Only digital applications will be accepted. 

Please email the following materials to hr.ewca@helpage.org
 

A. Expression of interest, with a maximum length of 6 pages, including but not limited to:
 

i) A technical proposal illustrating understanding of the ToR and task to be accomplished
ii) A draft workplan for entire consultancy exercise ( including logistics required)
iii) A financial proposal for the entire consultancy.
 

B. CVs of all proposed team members
 

C. A relevant piece of work recently undertaken in Warrap State, South Sudan

Tax Liability: Settlement of any tax liability arising from this agreement will remain the responsibility of the consultant.

Deadline for submission of EoI and Interpretation of ToR: November 12th, 2015