Catholic Relief Services, Uganda Program

CALL FOR CONSULTANCY

Job Title : Consultant Baseline Evaluation

Supervisor : Project Manager - MEAL
Duration : 13 Weeks
Department : Programming - VINES
Country/Location : Uganda/Kampala

About Catholic Relief Services:

Catholic Relief Services (CRS) is an international non-governmental organization (NGO) supporting relief
and development work in over 100 countries around the world. CRS carries out the commitment of the Bishops
of the United States to assist the poor and vulnerable overseas. CRS’ Catholic identity is at the heart of our
mission and operations; serving people on the basis of need, regardless of creed, ethnicity or nationality. CRS
works through local church and non-church partners to implement its programs.

CRS has worked in Uganda since 1965, initially providing emergency assistance to Sudanese refugees living
in the north. Over the years, CRS has expanded its programming to also address development needs in western,
central and eastern Uganda. CRS' projects in Uganda currently include agriculture, health, microfinance,
peacebuilding and youth. CRS Uganda implements its programs through partnerships with local organizations,
including the Catholic Church, other faith-based organizations and community entities for maximum impact
and sustainability

Overview of VINES Project:

VINES, a five year (2021-2025), $13 million, USDA FFPr project, is being implemented by CRS,
TechnoServe (TNS), Frontier Co-op, Purdue University, and the Sustainable Vanilla Initiative (SVI) to make
Uganda the world’s next leading supplier of high-quality vanilla. VINES goal is to increase and improve the
supply of high-quality vanilla by improving the productivity of vanilla-based agroforestry systems with 16,200
farmers (Strategic Objective 1); and to enhance vanilla quality and compliance with food safety standards with
30 vanilla processing firms, and expand global trade in vanilla to meet growing international demand
Project Objectives:

Table 1 describes the project Intermediate Results (IRs) and Foundational Results (FRs). The project Results
Framework is included in Annex 1.
TABLE 1: PROJECT STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES AND INTERMEDIATE RESULTS
STRATEGIC INTERMEDIATE / FOUNDATIONAL RESULTS
OBJECTIVES
1.1: Improved Quality of Land and Water Resources
1.2: Increased Use of Improved Agricultural Techniques and
Technologies
SO1:Increased
Agricultural Productivity 1.3: Improved Farm Management (Operations, Financial)
1.5: Enhanced Mixed-Cropping in Agroforestry Systems
 2.1: Increased Value Added to Post-Production Agricultural Products
SO2: Expanded Trade of
Agricultural Products 2.2: Increased Access to Markets to Sell Agricultural Products
(Domestic, Regional, and
International) 2.3: Improved Transaction Efficiency

1.4.1 / 2.4.1: Increased Capacity of Government Institutions

1.4.2 / 2.4.2: Improved Policy and Regulatory Framework

1.4.3 / 2.4.3: Increased Access to Improved Market and Climate

Foundational results
Information
1.4.4: Improved Capacity of Key Groups in the Agriculture Production
Sector / 2.4.4: Improved Capacity of Key Organizations in the Trade
Sector
1.4.5 / 2.4.5: Increased Leverage of Private-Sector Resources

Implementing Partners and Roles:

To achieve the project goal, strategic objectives and intermediate results, CRS has established a Consortium
of public and private partners, including leading international vanilla buyers such as Frontier Co-op, Virginia
Dare, Ben & Jerry’s, and Sustainable Vanilla Initiative (SVI) to upgrade the Ugandan vanilla industry and
establish it as a sustainable and solid foundation for consistent supply of significant volumes of high-quality
vanilla.
This consortium of market leaders and experts will be linked to 30 high potential Ugandan vanilla processing
companies, organized as the Ugandan Vanilla Exporters Association (VANEX). CRS and VANEX have
established strong working relationships with the GoU and the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and
Fisheries (MAAIF), and will continue to build on these relationships to complement VINES activities to
revitalize the vanilla sector.
The VINES project aims to double average vanilla yields from 0.25 to 0.50 kg/vine, increase average farm
production from 65kg to 150kg, improve vanilla quality and safety, deepen market linkages and by creating a
new brand for Ugandan vanilla, will generate the essential “market pull” to enable Uganda to increase vanilla
exports from 50 MT to 350+ MT. This will directly transform the lives of 16,200 farmers, 356 self-employed
service and input providers, 480 processors' employees, and will generate 15,820 new on-farm seasonal and
permanent processing jobs to reach 32,856 vanilla stakeholders; providing international buyers with a new
origin that will help to stabilize the extreme price volatility that has plagued the global market for this unique
spice.
Catholic Relief Services: is the technical and management lead, providing technical leadership in farm
productivity, access to vines for expanding vanilla production, building extension for mixed-crop agroforestry
systems, savings-led finance, farmer relations with buyers, impact investment and work with SVI on policy
implementation.
Frontier Co-op: will lead in food safety, product quality, handling, storage, curing, packaging, compliance
with FSMA/HAACP, certifications, traceability, and branding.
TNS: will lead in market analysis, business planning, farmer business capacity building, microentrepreneur
training, input supply and business relationship management.
Purdue University: is the program’s learning partner and will conduct research to examine the effectiveness
of different business models on retention of good market relationships with farmers, and on the return on
investment to processors that invest in quality and food safety compliance.
TimeLine and Deliverables:
The baseline assessment will be conducted during the period of March 1 – May 14, 2021 (11 weeks) and is
expected to follow the timeline outlined in Table 7, linking each activity with a deliverable.

DATE KEY ACTIVITY DELIVERABLE

March 8- 1. Prepare a detailed Scope An inception SoW detailing how the baseline assessment will be
12, 2021 of Work (SoW) for the conducted, including a detailed work plan; and a description on
baseline assessment. how data will be collected, data quality assured, and how data
collected will be managed, analyzed, and communicated.
March 2. Review, customize and Data collection tools revised and completed for data collection.
15-19 develop the collection
tools in coordination with
CRS.
March 3. Test and finalize the data Data collection tools ready for data collection.
22-April collection tools.
2
March 4. Prepare for data collection Detailed data collection plan and instructions manual for data
22-April and train data collectors. collectors.
2
April 5- 5. Collect baseline data. Cleaned datasets of the collected data in digital form (Excel and
April 23, SPSS/Stata/R) that follow CRS data management and security
2021 protocols, ready for data analysis.

Note: The Vines agroforestry team will be running early

trainings on vine tutor planting in select geographies during the
data collection phase. It is imperative that the consultant share
its data collection schedule and coordinate with the Vines team,
communicating when data collection in a specific district/region
is fully complete. The Vines team will wait for confirmation
before starting training to ensure that there is no contamination.
April 26- 6. Analyze baseline data and Draft summary of baseline findings in a PPT presentation to the
May 7, facilitate collective project team, key members of CRS, consortium partners, and
2021 interpretation with project USDA.
stakeholders.
May 10- 7. Prepare the first draft of First draft of the baseline report for internal CRS and consortium
14, 2021 the baseline report. partners’ review.
May 17- 8. CRS and partners review CRS and partners documented feedback on the first draft of the
21, 2021 the baseline report. baseline report
May 24- 9. Address CRS and partners Final draft of baseline report that incorporates
28, 2021 feedback received and feedback/comments from CRS and consortium partners’
complete the final draft of internal review, submitted to USDA for review.
the baseline report.
May 24- 10. Finalize the Final summary of baseline findings in PPT for presentation to
28, 2021 PowerPoint summary of the project team, key members of CRS, consortium partners
baseline findings. private sector partners, USDA, GoU and other key project
stakeholders.
May 31- 11. Prepare a standalone A 2-3-page standalone brief describing the evaluation design,
June 4, baseline brief describing key findings, and other relevant considerations. It will serve to
2021 the key findings, and inform any interested stakeholders of the midterm evaluation
 relevant and should be written in language easy to understand by non-
recommendations. evaluators and with appropriate graphics and tables.
May 31- 12. Prepare the datasets Comprehensive set of all final datasets (cleaned and validated)
June 4, with the collected data and in Excel and SPSS/Stata/R for each collection tool, with
2021 document them. corresponding documentation with coding, and corresponding
data tabulation and analysis.
MAY 13. USDA REVIEWS THE USDA DOCUMENTED FEEDBACK ON THE FINAL
31- FINAL DRAFT OF THE DRAFT OF THE BASELINE REPORT.
JUNE 4, BASELINE REPORT.
2021
June 7- 14. Address USDA feedback Final baseline report that addresses USDA feedback submitted
11, 2021 received and finalize the to USDA for approval.
baseline report.
June 7- 15. USDA reviews the final USDA documented feedback on the draft of 2-3-page
11, 2021 draft of the 2-3-page standalone brief.
standalone brief.
June 14- 16. Address USDA feedback Final 2-3-page standalone brief that addresses USDA feedback
18, 2021 and finalize the 2-3-page submitted to USDA for approval.
standalone brief.

Timeframe: The consultancy/ assignment is expected to last 13 Weeks

Typical Background, Experience & Requirements:

Consultancy firms interested in applying for this consultancy need to comply with the following minimum
requirements:
▪ A minimum of five years of experience in conducting evaluations of international agricultural development
projects, with preferred experience in evaluating USDA or USG agricultural projects especially in Uganda.
▪ Experience in evaluating agriculture and livelihoods projects.
▪ A gender balance team of consultants and data collectors.
▪ A team leader with a PhD or master’s degree in (Agricultural) Economics, Agribusiness, or other socio-
economic sciences with:
− At least 10 years of experience in value chain development, rural entrepreneurial development,
inclusive businesses, and producer organization strengthening.
− Strong analytical skills to reach to concrete and useful findings and recommendations.
− Strong English writing and oral communication skills.
− Knowledge of IRB requirements and ethical considerations when working on sensitive topics such as
gender relations, child labor, and private sector relationships.
▪ A team with demonstrated experience and capacity to:
− Design and implement evaluation studies, including sampling, design of data collection tools for both
quantitative and qualitative methods with necessary level of technical rigor.
− Manage human resources and logistics for managing large and complex data collection processes using
different methods (surveys, semi-structure interviews and focus discussion) in a short period of time,
and for designing and facilitating workshops.
− Use digital tool, ideally CommCare and PowerBi, for data collection, data quality assurance and
reporting

− Conduct quantitative and qualitative data analysis with large amount of data including descriptive and
inferential statistics.
− Conduct gender and culture-sensitive data collection processes in the Uganda context.
Proposal Submission Guidelines and Evaluation Criteria:

Interested consultancy firms should submit: 1) a technical proposal and budget for conducting this baseline
assessment in no more than 20 pages; 2) reference letters for similar/related assignments undertaken in the last
5 years; 3) CVs of the team leader and all relevant team members; and 4) A sample of similar work undertaken
by the consultancy firm.
Technical proposals should include/specify the following:
▪ A description of the firm’s expertise and list of relevant evaluations/baseline surveys undertaken in the last
5 years (maximum 2 pages).
▪ The consultant's understanding of the Terms of Reference, suitability of proposed evaluation design and
corresponding delivery timeline (maximum 2 pages).
▪ A description of the selected methods and corresponding collection tools that will be used (maximum 4
pages).
▪ A detailed data analysis and reporting plan (maximum 2 pages)
▪ A detailed implementation plan with all the activities that will be undertaken to fulfill the evaluation’s
purpose, scope and objectives (4 pages).
▪ The evaluation team composition (maximum 1 page)
▪ A detailed budget with explanatory notes (maximum 5 pages).
Daily rate and payment
Daily rate will be agreed upon between the consultant and VINES/CRS and paid as outlined in the final
consultancy agreement.

NOTE: DISCLAIMER CLAUSE:

This job description is not an exhaustive list of skills, effort, duties and responsibilities associated with
the position.

Our Catholic identity is at the heart of our mission and operations. Catholic Relief Services carries out the
commitment of the Bishops of the United States to assist the poor and vulnerable overseas. We welcome as a
part of our staff people of all faiths and secular traditions who share our values and our commitment to
serving those in need. CRS’ processes and policies reflect our commitment to protecting children and
vulnerable adults from abuse and exploitation

By applying to this job, I understand and acknowledge that CRS requires its staff to treat all people with
dignity and respect and to actively prevent harassment, abuse, exploitation, and human trafficking. Further, I
understand that if I am a successful candidate, I will be subject to a comprehensive background check, and
my personal/professional references will be asked to evaluate my behaviors related to the above safeguarding-
related topics.

CRS is an Equal Opportunity Employer

NOTE: To apply, please follow these instructions exactly otherwise your application will NOT be
considered:
• The proposals and CVs should be sent to ug_recruitment@crs.org by March 19th, 2021 at 5:00pm.
• Large files and/or scans of documents will lead to rejection of your application, in the subject
line of the email, copy and paste – CONSULTANTBASELINEEVALUATION only
• All applications that do not contain this exact subject line will be rejected and not read
ONLY SELECTED CANDIDATES THAT MEET THE REQUIREMENTS WILL BE NOTIFIED.
EOE/M/F/D/V