Action Aid Rwanda,Improving food security and economic opportunities for Women Farmers and their families in Muko – Rwanda

TERMS OF
REFERENCE (ToR)

Mid-term
Review for the Big Lottery Fund Project in Muko Sector FEBRAURY 2016

Improving food
security and economic opportunities for women farmers and their families in
Muko, Rwanda

BACKGROUND
INFORMATION

1.  
 Project Overview
The project was designed over a p
eriod of 18 months from 2012 -2013. The
project started in June 2014 is being delivered and managed by ActionAid Rwanda
(AAR) and implemented by Faith Victory Association (FVA). The project is funded
by the Big Lottery Fund and the relationship with the donor is managed by
ActionAid UK (AAUK).

The project
aims to
enable 1,256 of the most vulnerable women smallholder farmers and 251
vulnerable male smallholder farmers in Muko sector of Musanze district (Northern
Province) to improve their food security and gain greater economic empowerment
through increased agricultural profitability.
A Baseline Survey was conducted for this project in September 2014, and an End
of Year One Annual Survey was carried out in in May 2015. It is expected that
the Mid-Term Review (MTR) will refer to and build upon these existing documents
data and analysis.

2.  
 Project Outcomes
Outcome 1:
Women smallholder farmers advocate for improved agricultural services and
implementation of the new law that recognises women as land owners, leading to
greater access to land and services, and increased control over their lives.
Outcome 2:
Women smallholder farmers are more resilient to disasters through greater
understanding of sustainable farming methods and raised awareness of
environmental and disaster mitigation strategies.
Outcome 3:
Women smallholder farmers are organised and strengthened through the
establishment of cooperatives and increased access to agricultural inputs,
resulting in enhanced opportunities for economic development.

3.  
 Agreed Output Indicators
OUTCOME 1:
Women smallholder farmers advocate for improved agricultural services and
implementation of the new law that recognises women as land owners, leading to
greater
access to land and services, and increased control over their lives.
Indicators:
·    Number of women who participate in advocacy activities.
·    Number of women who report increased access to agricultural
services (e.g. veterinary and extension services)
·    Number of women who report increased decision-making in the
use of farm land.
·    Number of trained government workers and journalists who
have an increased understanding of women smallholder farmers’ challenges
OUTCOME 2:
Women smallholder farmers are more resilient to disasters through raised
awareness of environmental and disaster mitigation strategies
Indicators:
·    Number of smallholder farmers that report increased
knowledge of DRR
·    Number of smallholder farmers that report increased knowledge,
skills and confidence in sustainable farming methods
·    Number of smallholder farmers that report increased food
security during the food insecure seasons
·    Number of Disaster Mitigation Strategies put in place
·    Number of seed/grain banks functioning.
OUTCOME 3:
Women smallholder farmers are organised and strengthened through the
establishment of cooperatives and increased access to sustainable agricultural
training and inputs, resulting in enhanced opportunities for economic
development.
Indicators:
·    Number of smallholder farmers that report increased
knowledge of business management and marketing, and that are using the cold
room and milling machine.
·    Number of cooperatives that report an increase in income
from cooperative activities
·    Number of cooperatives using agricultural inputs (e.g.
fertiliser, seeds, livestock)
·    Number of cooperatives registered with RCA

4.
Beneficiaries
This project is being implemented in one of the most impoverished and
environmentally insecure sectors of Rwanda, suffering from chronic food
insecurity and flooding. At the time of the project design 52% of the 3,886
households in Muko were living below the poverty line. 58% of Muko’s population
are women farmers and a 2012 baseline survey undertaken by the Institute of
Policy Analysis and Research-Rwanda revealed that 74% of the respondents in
Muko were food insecure with 19% of women farmers eating just one meal a day.
Project beneficiaries include:
1.  1,256
women smallholder farmers and 251 male smallholder farmers from
vulnerable households. The focus is on vulnerable women such as those who are
suffering from food insecurity, women heads of households who are mostly
widowed, disabled women and women living with HIV&AIDS. These women are
some of the poorest in society, seldom have a voice in decision-making about
farming at any level, often farm smaller plots on marginal land, and have the
fewest assets to cope with shocks. Local leaders, FVA and community members are
assisted project staff in identifying the most vulnerable women smallholder
farmers. The project aims to improve their food security and household income
through increased access to land, agricultural inputs, training in sustainable
farming methods and empowerment through collective organisation. During
consultations with the community at the project design Women smallholder
farmers requested training with 93% of the respondents expressing that they
needed help in farming skills, 10% in business skills and 7% in marketing.

2.    7,500 family members
of the smallholder farmers (6,000 children): At the time of the project design
50% of Rwandan children suffered from chronic malnutrition. The Food and
Agricultural Organisation (FAO) estimates that ensuring women farmers have
equal access to productive resources would reduce the number of undernourished
people by 12-17% as women are more likely than men to invest gains in income to
support the nutrition, education and welfare of their children. According to
this, the project aims for approximately 7,500 family members of the
smallholder farmers to have improved food security due to increased food
production and household income.

3.    6
Government extension workers/agronomists. Extension
workers/agronomists will be trained in sustainable agricultural practices,
supporting cooperatives, and managing the maize plant and cold room. During
consultations in August 2013, extension workers expressed a need for training
in sustainable agricultural methods, demonstrating that they will be responsive
to the training included in this project.

4.  
 80 government officials and media staff who will be
trained on women’s rights and issues related to women smallholder farmers, to
improve their ability to respond to women smallholder farmers’ demands and
accurately cover these issues in the press. This project is closely aligned
with the Government of Rwanda’s strategy and aims to help government officials
to attain their objectives.

SPECIFIC
AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE MID-TERM REVIEW

1.  
 Purpose:
The MTR will assess progress of the project since it began in June 2014 and
provide recommendations for improvements. These recommendations will be
incorporated into annual planning of the remainder of the project. Moreover,
this will provide an evidence base for future programming in the area of food
security and economic empowerment – not only for ActionAid, but to Rwandan
civil society at large.

2.  
 Review Objectives
    •    To review the project documents as
follows:
    –  Needs assessment
    –  Market research report
    –  Project business case
    – Proposal document
    – Log-frame
    – Baseline report
    – Year one annual survey data and findings
    – End of year one report to donor
·    To collect data using the tools provided against agreed
outcome indicators enabling project progress to be measured against the
indicators and outcomes since the start of the project (June 2014).
·    To assess the overall performance of the project with
reference to its respective strategy, objectives and quantitative and
qualitative indicators defined by the project document
·    To identify strengths and shortcomings to achieve the
project outcomes and maximize the effectiveness of the project.
·    To make recommendations regarding the identified challenges
and for the modification of the approaches and procedures relevant to the
project appropriateness.

Specifically, the
study shall assess the impact of the project on:
·    Women smallholder farmers ability and opportunity to
advocate for agricultural services and rights to land
·    Women smallholder farmers resilience to disasters and their
impact on food security
·    Women smallholder farmers income and opportunities for
economic development
·    The organisation and strength of smallholder farmer
cooperatives

PROPOSED
APPROACH AND METHODOLOGY
1. Proposed
Methodology
·    Using the Annual Survey Questionnaire Tool the MTR will
sample 35 of the project’s cooperatives, in line with the previous year’s
annual survey method (see below).
·    To ensure the number of newly created (20) and existing
(30) cooperatives surveyed is proportional, the consultant will speak to 15 new
and 20 existing cooperatives which need to be selected randomly. Please contact
AAUK for further guidance on how to do this if required.
·    Use the Annual Survey Questionnaire Tool provided to
conduct the survey. Please follow the instructions and read out the questions
carefully ensuring each question is read out as it is written down.
·    All 35 cooperatives need to be asked the questions in Part
1 of this survey questionnaire. Only
one person per cooperative needs to answer these questions i.e. the chair of
the cooperative or other responsible and knowledgeable person, not all
cooperative members together.
·    Part 2 of the survey questionnaire must be completed with
245 women and 35 men members of the cooperatives.

·    From each of the 35 cooperatives 7 women and 1 man should
be chosen at random. (Multiplied by the 35 cooperatives, this gives 250 women
and 35 men for a total sample of 280 people (to give a statistically
representative sample of a target population of 1500).
·    If a cooperative does not have any male members please
survey 8 women.
·    To choose people at random from each cooperative, first
refer to the list of all cooperative members in the document ‘Cooperative
Membership Form’. Using this, follow the instructions below.
·    If it is the first cooperative spoken to on the day, start
with the first person on the list then speak to every 5th person on the list
(so the 1st, the 5th, the 10th, 15th etc.). For the second cooperative of the
day, start with the second person on the list, then speak to every 5th person
down (2nd, 6th, 11th, 16th, 21st etc). For the third cooperative, start with
the third person on the list, then continue with every 5th person (3rd, 7th,
12th, 17th, 22nd etc). If you get to the end of the list, start again from the
beginning until you have spoken to the correct number of people for each
cooperative. If a person selected in this way isn’t available at the time to be
surveyed, speak to the next person on the list (and if they aren’t available,
the next person and so on). If no men are selected in this way, randomly pick
any one man to speak to who is available (and if more than one man is picked in
this way, do not speak to them but instead speak to the next women on the
list).
·    If this method of selecting individuals does not work, an
alternative method can be used, as long as all people selected are selected
entirely randomly without any bias.

2. Consultant
Responsibilities / Key Deliverables
·    Review previous surveys and key project documents
·    Develop and submit sections with additional questions for
part 3-6 of the Annual Survey Questionnaire Tool
·    Develop and outline a methodology for collecting external
data – Part 7 of the Annual Survey Tool
·    Conduct field survey with 35 of the project’s cooperatives
chosen randomly according to the below methodology
·    To conduct the survey using the Annual Survey Questionnaire
Tool
·    Supervise the data entry of the Mid-term Survey database
tool
·    Analyse the survey data and findings
·    Produce and submit a final report on the findings

3. Action
Aid Rwanda’s and Faith Victory Association obligations – Implementation
arrangement
·    Provide the consultant with the necessary support to ensure
that the study is undertaken with reasonable efficiency.
·    Inform, the project beneficiaries, local community
structures, and other identified stakeholders that the survey is going to be
conducted
 ·    Assist in the identification of key stakeholders to
be interviewed as part of the evaluation.

Supervision
and Management of the Assignment
The consultant shall work under the supervision of the ActionAid Rwanda
Programme Quality Manager

4. Time
frame

APPLICATIONS:
Please submit the following to actionaid.rwanda@actionaid.org
by
5pm on Friday 26 February.
·    CV
·    Expression of interest addressing track record (at least 3
references to past experience)
·    An example of previous similar work
·    Proposed budget
·    Proposed activity plan
·    Certificate of business registration