Event Details:

CALL FOR PROPOSALS: PLAN/FY25/03/001

Terms of reference

Consultancy to conduct an endline and final evaluation for the Future is Green! Promoting Youth Agri-Preneurship in Rwanda Project

1. About Plan International

Plan International

We strive to advance children’s rights and equality for girls worldwide. As an independent development and humanitarian organization, we work alongside children, young people, our supporters, and partners to tackle the root causes of the challenges facing girls and all vulnerable children. We support children’s rights from birth until they reach adulthood and enable children to prepare for and respond to crises and adversity. We drive changes in practice and policy at local, national, and global levels using our reach, experience, and knowledge. For over 80 years we have been building powerful partnerships for children, and we are active in over 75 countries.

About Plan International Rwanda

Plan International Rwanda opened in January 2007 and is currently working in the Eastern and Southern Provinces of Rwanda in the districts of Gatsibo, Bugesera, and Nyaruguru with sponsorship programs, in 10 districts with grant-funded projects, and in all 6 districts hosting refugee camps.

Plan International Rwanda has a Country Strategy (2020-2024) of which the overall goal is,” To contribute to the access to comprehensive ECD services and the reduction of SGBV so that vulnerable children and young people, particularly girls grow up, develop and realize their rights to make decisions about their lives in protective, healthy, resilient and inclusive environments in both development and humanitarian settings”. This country strategy focuses on four Country Programmes (CPs):

(i) Early Childhood Development, (ii) Child Protection (iii) Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights and (iv) Disaster Risk Management and Resilience. We have adopted Youth Economic Empowerment and Gender Transformative Programming as cross-cutting thematic areas and enablers to support the four country programs.

2. Project Background

“The Future is Green! Promoting Youth Agri-preneurship in Rwanda” is a 3-year (01 Jul 2022 – 30 Jun 2025) project aiming at creating opportunities for rural youth, especially young women, to build their economic livelihoods through entrepreneurship or decent employment thereby increasing their contribution to sustainable and inclusive rural transformation. This is expected to assist in incentivizing a new generation of farmers, young women agri-preneurs, and rural supply chain players that will drive sustainable agriculture practices and ensure to contribution to this important sector of Rwanda’s economy.

Given the range of diverse challenges simultaneously affecting youth especially young women's engagement in the agri-based sector, as well as the heterogeneity of Rwanda's rural youth and their aspirations, the project’s theory of change adopts a multi-dimensional approach oriented by four strategic priorities: (i) Increasing young people’s entrepreneurship skills to capitalize on employment and business opportunities within the agriculture-based sector; (ii) Facilitating young people’s access to markets and services to develop profitable farms and enterprises in food value chains; (iii) Facilitating young people’s access to financial services and (iv) Responding to the gender gap in agriculture by increasing awareness among girls, young women and the wider community members in all their diversity including disability on the huge importance to engage in market-oriented agriculture as response to poverty, climate change effects and exposition to GBV and teenage pregnancy.

The project is being implemented in the semi-urban and rural areas of the Nyaruguru district of the Southern province as well as the Bugesera and Gatsibo districts of the Eastern province.

2.1. Project’s direct beneficiaries:

900 young people in total from the 3 mentioned districts, with a participation rate of 60% to 40% young women and men respectively, aged between 16 to 30 years old.

The project is targeting young people below the National Poverty Line and vulnerable youth - young people who remain vulnerable to poverty and are living on less than 2.15 USD a day.

2.2. Project Main objective:

To ensure the empowerment and economic integration of rural youth, especially young women in the agri-based sector through employment and sustainable entrepreneurship.

2.3. Project specific objectives:

To improve service providers’ capacities to provide market-driven agriculture, relevant, gender-responsive, and youth-friendly SOYEE training

To create jobs through enhanced enterprise development, inclusive financial services and access to markets

To support the community environment for youth engagement in the promotion of gender-inclusive employment and climate-smart solutions in Agriculture

2.4. Project Partners:

African Evangelistic Enterprise (AEE Rwanda) and Inkomoko Entrepreneur Development (INKOMOKO) have been selected as implementing partners for this project. Both organizations have been involved in the project's design and provided specific inputs related to their sector of expertise and role in the project, ensuring ownership and sustainability.

2.5. Project outcomes:

Agriculture TVETs and FTCs/FCs capacities are strengthened in inclusive decent work systems and improved learning environments for climate-smart agri-preneurship

Youth in Gatsibo, Bugesera, and Nyaruguru have improved knowledge of entrepreneurship, access to finance, and market linkages to generate income in agriculture.

Youth, especially girls and young women, and community members have increased awareness of gender-inclusive employment and climate-smart solutions in Agriculture

3. Purpose of the Endline and final Evaluation

Endline

This endline survey aims to assess the outcomes and impacts of a project after its completion. The purpose of the evaluation is to evaluate the overall results of the project, including an assessment of progress on baseline indicators and to provide insights and recommendations for future adaptations in the approaches applied. It also evaluates changes in key outcome indicators that resulted from the project.

Final Evaluation

The final evaluation of the “Future is Green” project will systematically assess the impact of the project interventions, focusing on the implementation of climate-smart agriculture (CSA), sustainability, economic resilience, and community engagement in climate change adaptation by ensuring the project effectiveness, relevance, coherence, efficiency, impact, and sustainability. It will measure how well project activities have facilitated the uptake of CSA practices and supported CSA enterprises for youth. Furthermore, the evaluation will identify key successes, such as emerging best practices, while addressing challenges, and barriers to CSA implementation. The evaluation will provide actionable recommendations to enhance future projects, focusing on expanding CSA implementation through community-driven approaches, strengthening financial linkages for CSA enterprises, and fostering collaboration with government and private sector stakeholders to improve market integration. Lastly, the evaluation will guide the scaling up of successful interventions, address identified gaps and refine implementation strategies to ensure project activities' sustainability.

3.1. Evaluation Criteria

The Evaluation Criteria will be in line with Plan International standards to assess the program’s effectiveness, relevance, coherence, efficiency, and sustainability, as well as its gender responsiveness and inclusiveness.

The following are the key criteria to be assessed in the End line evaluation:

Effectiveness: These endline and final evaluations will assess the extent to which, and track whether the project objectives have been effectively achieved or not, including reaching the intended project beneficiaries. It is expected to assess the progress of the baseline, and the midline evaluation and indicators.

Relevance: Endline and final evaluation will assess the extent to which the interventions and the approaches used were suitable and responded to the priorities and needs of the project’s participants and the communities at large.

Coherence: the compatibility of the project interventions with other interventions in a country, sector, or institution.

Sustainability: the probability of continued long-term benefits to the target populations after the project or program has been completed. This might include the resources and capacity of beneficiaries to continue the intervention after phase out.

Efficiency: the extent to which financial resources were used economically and efficiently, potentially including cost-benefit ratios and alternative programming approaches

Gender & disability inclusion: Endline and final evaluation will assess the extent to which the project applied gender and inclusion-sensitive approaches and explicitly aimed for results that improve gender equality.

3.2. OECD Evaluation Questions

Effectiveness

To what extent has the program achieved its intended outcomes, including measurable results across various societal levels—such as impacts on youth, community-level changes, and other anticipated outcomes?

To what extent has the project contributed to partner civil society organization’s increased capacity and organizational development?

To what extent has Plan International Civil Society Strengthening aligned with Plan International partnership principles as described in The Building Better Partnerships guidance?

To what extent has the project successfully achieved its intended outcomes related to adoption of climate smart agricultural practices, income-generating activities? This includes assessing changes in perceived benefits, behaviour, attitudes, knowledge, and practices among beneficiaries as well as changes in incomes, expenditures, investment behaviour. What barriers do farmers perceive regarding wider adoption of CSA practices?

To what extent have non-commercial subsistence farmers been able to learn and benefit from the intervention? This includes a perspective on nutrition and household expenses rather than commercial incomes in cases.

How effective are peer-based knowledge transfer mechanisms (Agents of Change) in terms of creating social bonds, changing position of participants in their communities, as well as transfer of technical know-how? .(peer education)

Were the project outcomes and benefits shared equitable across different groups, including women, youth, and marginalized populations?

To what extent does the project contribute to inclusiveness of value chains? Are further potentials to increase value addition in the target areas leading to more or better economic opportunities for youth and women as labourers or entrepreneurs/employers?

Relevance

To what extent were the project and its approaches suited to the priorities of the people and communities it intended to benefit?

Were the interventions contextually appropriate and responsive to the socio-economic and cultural realities of participants' specific needs (women, people with disability, IDP/refugee & host populations)?

To what extent are project interventions supporting the implementation of national or regional policies in support of youth and marginalized populations?

 Coherence

How is the project aligned with other interventions taking place in the same area?

Does the project address priority areas of government policies targeting youth, income generation and agricultural developments?

Efficiency

To what extent has the project delivered results in a timely and cost-efficient manner?

Were the project’s resources allocated effectively and efficiently to achieve its objectives? Could alternative activities have led to the same results by using fewer resources?

Could the interventions have been more cost-effective according to the initial planned budget (better value for money)?

Sustainability

To what extent can interventions be carried forward without Plan International Rwanda’s direct intervention? What mechanisms are in place to ensure that the benefits of the project are sustained beyond its lifecycle?

To what extent have AEE, INKOMOKO, and government extension officers integrated new practices from this project into their standard approaches? Are there indications that methods (e.g., demonstration sites, practical learning, seasonal payments) will be sustained beyond the project timeline?

Will partner organizations continue operations in the interest of youth in areas they previously did not cover? What mechanisms, if any, are in place to ensure sustained engagement and resource allocation for youth beyond the project scope?

Are local stakeholders equipped and empowered to continue the interventions without external support (e.g. linkage between Agents of Change and agriculture extension officers)? Will the changes initiated by the project be likely to be sustained by the community and institutional stakeholders?

 3.3. Gender, and inclusion

To what extent has the project applied gender transformative approaches and explicitly contributed to gender equality results that improve the rights of girls, boys, and young people in all their diversity?

Did the project use opportunities to establish women as role models within project structures (e.g. as trainers, agents of change or in coordinating functions)

How has the project intervention improved the condition, position and agency of girls and young women, PwD or other participants?

To what extent were the needs of people with disability reflected in the project, and did the interventions contribute to the economic inclusion of PwD or a change in stakeholders' methods to cater to this target group?

Questions based on the six elements of gender transformative change:

During the end-line evaluation, the Plan International Gender Age and Inclusion analytical framework will be embedded for evaluating change made in the lives of Girls, Boys, and Young People in all their diversity. Securing inputs on key gender transformative changes made in the lives of Girls, Boys, and Young People will be done in the format of focus group discussions (where possible separated FGD according to sex, age (both for children and, diversity (disability, teen mothers, out of school…) consideration and quantitative.

The key questions for assessing levels of gender transformative work are the following:

What are gender norms about power, roles, and relationships that project change?

Who are key players that uphold those gender norms have we influenced?

What specific barriers around Girls and Young Women Agency have we changed?

What has been changing around boys, young men, and men to embrace positive masculinities and Gender equality? What are boys and young men's gender-related barriers to rights have we changed?

What are the main challenges to girls and young women’s conditions and positions that have changed?

Which particular groups of girls, boys, and young women for which any of the gender-related barriers to rights are worsened have worked?

What is the specific need for them to change along the project?

What have we influenced decision makers and service providers to do to enable gender equality and child rights promotion?

3.4. The project indicators

In Plan International, there are three main levels of results: Impact: long-term and sustainable change the project is contributing to Outcomes: The specific changes among target groups, stakeholders, and institutions and Outputs: The immediate results of our activities and the process in which they were implemented.

All the indicators mentioned above respond to the three outcomes listed under 2.5.

4. Users of the Endline and final evaluation

Different users will use the Endline data to serve multiple purposes as follows:

Plan International Rwanda, African Evangelistic Enterprise (AEE Rwanda), and Inkomoko Entrepreneur Development (INKOMOKO) staff who will use the data to track project progress against targets to be reached,

The Rwanda TVET Board, in charge of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) will need to know the starting point of our work in strengthening the capacities of Agriculture TVETs in inclusive decent work systems and improved learning environments for climate-smart agri-preneurship

Selected and engaged service providers (Agriculture TVETs and farmer-owned agriculture training centers) who will need to know the reference point in understanding the impact the project generated,

Local Leaders from village to district level who will need to know the impact the project generated,

National Council of Persons with Disabilities who will appreciate how the project is disability inclusive,

National Youth Council that will benefit from the reduction of unemployed youth;

National Women’s Council that will recognize the importance of the project on empowering girls and young women,

Plan International Deutschland will need to know the endline status of the project to know the impact of the fund they have donated and report its main findings to the donor.

5. Methods for Data Collection and Analysis

The project team intends to have the endline data at impact, outcome, and outputs, Thus, this endline survey will adopt a mixed methods approach; quantitative data will be backed up with qualitative information collected from focused group discussions and Key informants to ensure a well-constructed starting point for the project.

The external Consultant will be hired to do this assignment together with the supervision of the MERL team from Plan International Rwanda. Methods like structured interviews or questionnaires will be applied based on different indicators and they should be sensitive to the target population (unit of analysis) and robust enough to provide adequate responses to the stated study purpose while factoring in the local context.

For efficiency and consistency, the endline survey will make as much use as possible of reliable secondary data. The consultant is expected to first conduct a desk review. The Secondary data will be collected from various documents, including but not limited to:

Plan International's relevant policies, guidelines, strategies, and other documentation on Plan International’s Area of Global Distinctiveness, particularly the ones on Skills & Opportunities for Youth Employment and Entrepreneurship (SOYEE),

Projects/Programs documents,

Relevant Studies, endline surveys, research from Plan International Rwanda, and/ or other reliable sources.

The methodology with all details will be further unpacked in the inception report by the consultant and validated by authorized Plan International Staff from the Rwanda Country Office; the data collection will use a professional digital data platform that utilizes electronic surveys. The consultant must submit the electronically coded version of the survey tools in the enumerator training and actual data collection.

The methodology section should cover study approaches and design, sampling, sample size determination, data collection methods/instruments, data analysis techniques, a plan for disseminating study findings, and be cognizant of quality assurance, the local context, safeguarding, and ethical considerations during the study.

5.1 Sample

To ensure comparability, reduce sampling bias, and enhance the credibility and validity of the findings. Consistency in sample size allows for accurate assessment of changes over time, facilitates longitudinal analysis, and aligns with the evaluation design, ensuring the ability to detect true effects of the intervention. Since this study is endline and final evaluation, the study will use the baseline sample size of 301 out of 900 total population.

The Plan International standards on Minimum Beneficiary Disaggregation will be shared with the consultants. The minimum requirement is a disaggregation according to gender, age, and location.

5.2 Participant Selection and Recruitment

Participants in this endline study will include a sample from the project’s total participants of 900 young people from the districts of Bugesera, Nyaruguru, and Gatisbo with a participation rate of 60% of females and 40% of males aged between 16 to 35 years old and disaggregated by age (<18 & >18) and sex. In addition, the sample size will engage 900 project direct participants across all three districts (Bugesera, Gatsibo, and Nyaruguru), and Key informants will sampled from 3 Agriculture TVET centers, 3 Farmer cooperatives, 30 RTB personnel (Department Managers, Administrators, Agriculture TVETs Teachers, and Instructors), Representatives from Farmer Owned Agricultural Training Centres (15 Females, 15 Males), 30 staff in charge of Agriculture TVET career guidance, 15 Industry stakeholders, 45 Community representatives.

AEE Rwanda, INKOMOKO, and Plan International Rwanda staff will be working with the consultant to locate respondents and to inform local leaders about the activity that is being conducted in the controlling zone. The consultant is the agent who will conduct the study this TOR is describing.

The consultant in consultation with AEE Rwanda, INKOMOKO, and Plan International Rwanda can also identify and suggest additional or excluded stakeholders that he/she feels are important to be involved to ensure he/she gets the information he/she needs to assess the endline values thoroughly.

6. Ethics and Child Protection

Plan International is committed to ensuring that the rights of those participating in data collection or analysis are respected and protected, by the Framework for Ethical MERL and our Global Policy on Safeguarding Children and Young People. All applicants should include details in their proposal on how they will ensure ethics and child protection in the data collection process. Specifically, the consultant(s) shall explain how appropriate, safe, and non-discriminatory participation of all stakeholders will be ensured and how special attention will be paid to the needs of children and other vulnerable groups. The consultant(s) shall also explain how confidentiality and anonymity, as well as ensuring data protection of participants, will be guaranteed before, during data collection, and after data analysis.

7. Key Deliverables

The conformity of the report to the Monitoring Evaluation, Research, and Learning (MERL) standards and requirements of Plan International will be assessed and confirmed by Plan International Rwanda. The text of the report should be illustrated, as appropriate, with maps, graphs, and tables.

10. Expected Qualifications

Interested bidders are required to indicate the person who will be leading this end-line study, hereby, known as the Lead Consultant, and also detail the specific tasks of the other members that they so wish to involve in this end-line study. The lead Consultant will have the following key competencies:

At least a master's degree in development studies, social sciences, project management, Economics, Data Science, Gender studies, Monitoring and Evaluation, agribusiness, and other agriculture-related studies from a recognized university.

Experience of 3 to 5 years in conducting similar assignments, such as baseline, midline, and endline evaluations

Technical M&E skills including demonstrated knowledge and experience in undertaking end-line and final evaluations or other research-related assignments with international organizations.

Superior data tabulation and analysis skills (using CS Pro; Epi Info Stata, SPSS, Python, and R, Power BI, and Tableau);

Proficiency in statistics for both qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection and proven experience with data analysis.

Excellent report writing and data interpretation

Ability to conduct research independently.

Knowledge of English and Kinyarwanda.

A history of published articles, studies, or research work.

Companies with relevant experience and evidenced proof of experience of staff on this assignment may apply.

11. Submission of proposal

Interested applicants should provide a proposal covering the following aspects:

a) administrative documents:

The consulting firm must submit the following administrative documents:

Copy of Registration certificate (RDB Certificate)

VAT Certificate

RRA and RRSB clearances

b) technical proposal to include:

Requirements on the format of the bid; The structure of the offer must correspond to the structure of the TOR. It must be legible (font size 11 or larger) and formulated. The offer is drawn up in English. With the following:

A Cover letter expressing interest in this assignment;

A one-page Consultant’s understanding of the TOR;

Proposed methodology, activities, and expected outcomes;

Ethics and child safeguarding approaches, including any identified risks and associated mitigation strategies.

A detailed activities schedule/work plan with a time frame (including a Gantt chart);

A profile of the individual consultant or consulting firm including the full names, physical addresses, telephone numbers, and contact person of the form/company;

Copy of CVs of all the consultants who will undertake the endline and final evaluations or surveys;

Three good completion certificates of similar assignment provided by well-recognized international Organizations/NGOs years with contactable references .

c) financial proposal detailing:

Itemized consultant’s fees;

Itemized field data collection expenses;

Itemized administration expenses;

Validity period of quotation;

Expected payment plan and method.

12. Applications

Interested applicants should provide a proposal covering the following aspects:

Detailed response to the TOR

Proposed methodology

Ethics and child safeguarding approaches, including any identified risks and associated mitigation strategies

Proposed timelines

CVs.

Detailed budget, including daily fee rates, expenses, taxes, etc.

HOW TO APPLY

Interested bidders should submit their offers in sealed and separate Technical and Financial Proposals referencing the Endline and Final Evaluation for “The Future is Green! Promoting Youth Agri-Preneurship in Rwanda PROJECT " in the subject line and including support documents as outlined by hand not later than 2:00 PM of 2nd April, 2025 to the below address

The Chairperson -Tender Panel

Plan International Rwanda

Kacyiru- Golden Plaza Building, Floor # 4,

KG 546 St- Next to Rwanda Housing Authority,

P.O. Box 6211, Kigali, Rwanda

Done on 20th March 2025

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