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TERMS OF REFERENCE TO PROVIDE THIRD-PARTY MONITORING, EVALUATION, RESEARCH AND LEARNING CONSULTANCY SERVICES FOR THE WORK OPPORTUNITIES IN WHEAT (WOW) PROJECT.

 

 

 

1. BACKGROUND

 

Under the Lead Company Structure, Ntake Bakery & CO. Ltd. and The Private Sector Foundation Uganda (PSFU) are collaborating to carry implement the Young Africa Works Uganda Work Opportunities in Wheat (WOW) initiative. Ntake Bakery & Co Ltd, the lead company, as collaborates with the targeted youth to carry out project activities in accordance with the lead company structure. The initiative offers job chances to young people (men and women) in their individual capacities and/or organized groups, with the goal of utilizing their dynamic human resources that would otherwise be denounced as jobless.

 

4,956 employment at different points in the wheat value chain will be generated by the initiative to give young people a respectable, meaningful, and well-paying job. The initiative is aimed at young people between the ages of 18 and 35 as well as other wheat value chain participants in the six districts of Lira, Mbale, Mbarara, Jinja, Masaka, and Kampala. The project specifically aims to reach 70% of women. Community actor mobilization, training in finance and business management, renovation and branding, on-site monitoring and mentoring, legal assistance, gender mainstreaming, and the establishment of model wheat farms are some of the primary project activities.

 

This is a notice that Ntake Bakery & Co. Ltd. is inviting qualified bidders to reply to this TOR with offers that include both a financial and technical proposal for the provision of continuing third-party monitoring, evaluation, research, and learning (MERL) consulting services.

 

2. OBJECTIVE OF THE CONSULTANCY

 

The main objective of this consultancy is to provide technical services to the project management and to support project MERL activities so as to deepen, scale and prove the project’s impact. The consultants will closely work with the management to ensure all project activities are on track and that meaningful results are achieved in a timely manner.

 

 

3. KEY ROLES AND RESPONSIBILIES (SCOPE OF WORK)

 

The Third-Party MERL consultants will be responsible for leading and advising on project activities related to design, monitoring, evaluation, research and learning. Some of their key roles and responsibilities may include:

• Lead the project redesign phase and write up including development of a theory of change, project M&E plan and workplan.
• Develop, review and document terms of reference for other consultants and participate in the selection and management of consultants following best practices and principles to ensure good quality deliverables.

Undertake a rapid mapping exercise in 6 districts of Lira, Mbale, Mbarara, Jinja, Masaka, and Kampala to identify the current location of Ntake shops and recommend suitable locations for new locations. Additional districts may be agreed upon in consultation with the project staff.

• Synthesize qualitative and quantitative information to understand interventions, beneficiary groups, and local contexts and tell a coherent story about what is happening in the project and help the team identify gaps
• Design and conduct project evaluations and learning activities to establish project effectiveness, efficiency, impact, coherence, and sustainability.
• Work with the Project manager to produce well documented project data analyses, progress reports and support the presentation of findings, conclusions, and recommendations to project stakeholders as needed.
• Collect and review data on cross-cutting issues such as gender and social inclusion, youth, etc.

4. KEY DELIVERABLES

 

The following deliverables shall be produced through completing assigned tasks:

• A well written project document summarizing the project, its theory of change and M&E plan
• A costed workplan for the remaining project period
• A mapping report covering the agreed upon districts.
• Data collection tools, analysis plans, and evidence use plans for approved research, learning and evaluation activities
• Quarterly, annual and end of project report as needed including data analytics, synthesis, trends, reports and presentation (slides) of results as appropriate
• A project learning and evaluation agenda(s), including dissemination and knowledge translation plan
• Materials on preliminary / final findings and recommendations from research, learning and evaluation studies to inform project decision making.
• Presentation (slides) and dissemination of the results to the project staff and other key stakeholders as needed

 

5. TERMS OF WORK

 

Considering the ongoing nature of tasks and flexible level of engagement, the duration of the consultancy is expected to start in March 2024 and last until December 2024. However, the duration maybe extended depending on project and funder requirements.

 

The scope of work shall be performed in the Consultant’s offices where relevant with travel and part-time work in Ntake bakery & Co. Ltd offices in Kampala as needed. An embedded model for 1-2 team members might be also an option. The consultancy tasks shall be performed under the supervision of the project manager in collaboration with main stakeholders and other project team members.

 

6. QUALIFICATIONS

 

The consultants should have the following minimum qualifications:

• It is necessary to have a master’s degree in one of the following disciplines: monitoring and evaluation, project management, business administration, international development, statistics, economics, or a related field, and you must have at least ten years of MERL experience.
• Minimum 10 years of experience in the design of quantitative and qualitative data collection methodologies, including surveys instruments and interview questionnaire, required.
• Minimum 10 years of experience designing and implementing monitoring and evaluation systems for international development projects required.
• Experience working in Uganda is essential Specifically in Bakery Industry
• Strong communication and collaboration skills are required.
• Fluency in English is required.

 

7. PROPOSAL EVALUATION AND SCORING APPROACH

A proposal assessment committee will be assembled by Ntake Bakery & Co. Ltd. to assign a score to each proposal using the following weighted criteria. The bidder to whom the contract is awarded will thereafter be decided upon by the proposal evaluation committee as a whole.

 

The technical criteria are:
Criteria / Sub-Criteria		Weight (%)
1. Technical Approach		40%
a)	Understanding of the requirements
b)	Proposed Approach
c)	Workplan
2. Demonstrated expertise, experience, capacity and Qualifications of Bidder		20%
Personnel in design and implementation, and/or management and provision of similar services (CVs to be attached as annex)
a)	Strong monitoring, evaluation and learning background and skills
b)	Expertise in data extraction, qualitative and quantitative analysis
c)	Ability to function independently and multi-task while providing quality and timely deliverables
d)	Strong organizational, planning and writing skills
3. Proposed Team Structure		20%
a)	Proposed team structure
b)  Availability of the team members
4. Financial proposal (For purposes of evaluation, all financial Proposals will		20%
be converted into United states Dollars (USD).
a)  Clarity of financial proposal
b)  Comprehensiveness and practicality of the proposal
Maximum score		100%

 

Ntake bakery & Co. Ltd reserves the right to award the proposal that represents the best value-for-money for the goods or services, which may not necessarily be the lowest priced proposal. In deciding which Bidders to award, Ntake bakery & Co. Ltd may also consider any of the following additional information:

 

• The ease of negotiations with a Bidder based on that Bidder’s feedback on the Proposed Contract;
• Any matter that materially impacts on the trust and confidence in the Bidder

 

8. METHOD OF AWARD OF CONTRACT

Ntake Bakery & Co. Ltd hopes to implement a comprehensive consulting agreement after this TOR, which will be granted based on the entire sum of the points for the Technical and Financial proposal. The main parameters of the engagement, such as its duration, governing terms and conditions, and the cost for key staff members or consultants, will be outlined in this agreement. However, the specific requirements, such as its scope and level of effort, will only be decided upon later after they have been verified and their clear terms of reference have been documented. The consultant will provide a written proposal to Ntake Bakery & Co. Ltd. for each commissioned action. The proposal will be examined, discussed, and approved by both parties prior to implementation.

 

9. PROPOSAL SUBMISSION

 

Bidders must submit a copy of their technical and financial proposal by 23^rd March 2024 by email to jobsinwheat@gmail.com

 

The technical Proposal must consist of the following:

1. Motivation letter
2. Electronic copy of the full proposal, which should include but not limited to the following sections:

1. Understanding of requirements
2. Proposed approach (What is your vision for the best approach to manage such an assignment?)

• Critical success factors (Based on your experience what would be the critical success factors for such a consultancy?)

1. Details on in-house experts that will be implementing the project focusing on the following areas: strong experience in delivering similar projects, strong monitoring, evaluation and learning background and skills, etc.)

 

The financial proposal (indicate all costs in USD) must include the following:

1. Proposed key personnel, estimated level of effort and their daily rates for the routine listed MERL activities
2. Proposed costing for the mapping exercise (Please present this separately)

 

Deadline: 23rd March 2024

 

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