Endline Study for the Horticulture for Growth (H4G) Project: Promoting Horticulture Enterprise Development in Kenya

1.0 INTRODUCTION

Solidaridad Network is an international solution-oriented civil society organization working through eight regional expertise centers to transform markets to make them more sustainable and inclusive. Our eight regional expertise centers include Asia, Eastern and Central Africa, Europe, Latin America, North America, Southern Africa, South America, West Africa, and our global Secretariat in the Netherlands. Solidaridad Eastern and Central Africa, one of the regional centers, headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya with country offices and programmes in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Tanzania and Uganda. We bring together supply chain players and engage them with innovative solutions to improve production, ensuring the transition to a sustainable and inclusive economy that maximizes the benefit for all. We facilitate the strengthening of local capacity in developing countries, support the creation of enabling environments for economies to thrive, and improve market access. Solidaridad embraces the public-private and people partnership(PPPP) to test innovations, speed up change, and take success to scale. Globally, Solidaridad works around fruits and vegetables and the other 12 commodities/sectors (http://www.solidaridadnetwork.org)

The Horticulture for growth project (H4G)

The Horticulture for Growth project (H4G project): Promoting Horticulture Enterprise Development in Kenya is a 3-year project targeting smallholder horticulture farmers in 7 Counties (Kirinyaga, Makueni, Laikipia, Bomet, Elgeyo Marakwet, Nakuru and Nyandarua) in Kenya. The goal of the action is to improve livelihoods (food security and income), resilience and business case development for smallholder farmers. This will be achieved by the promotion of the use of improved horticultural crop production technologies, regenerative farming practices, address challenges related to access to finance and quality farm inputs and services, market access, and enabling policy environment. The project’s target crops includes tomatoes, irish potatoes, onions, common beans and mango.

The project overall objective is to improve livelihoods (food security and income), resilience and business case development of 30,000 horticulture smallholder farming households in Kenya

The project will work through 4 main pathways;

1. Grower awareness to Good practices
2. Access to Finance and Quality Farm Inputs/Services,
3. Market access
4. Enabling policy environment.

The project seeks to achieve the following results;

1. Improved climate smart agricultureamong 30,000 horticulture smallholder farming households in Kenya resulting in increased / better harvests (yield and quality) and increased use of crop protection technology and soil management practices.
2. Improved access to affordable financing packages for 2,000 horticulture smallholder farmers
3. Improved access to quality farm inputs and services for smallholder farmers
4. New trade models are developed and tested that guarantee horticulture farmers in Kenya, access to market and better price for their produce.

1.2 The Horticulture for Growth Project Consortium:

The consortium comprises of:

Solidaridad East & Central Africa (ECA): is part of the Solidaridad network and is based in Nairobi-Kenya. Solidaridad ECA operates across East and Central Africa in agricultural, industry and mining supply chains. The organization facilitates local actor’s capacity strengthening, supports the creation of enabling environments and promotes market transformation initiatives. Sustainable land-use, improved working conditions and livelihoods, food security and strong dynamic producer organizations are key priorities for Solidaridad ECA. The organization’s delivery strategy combines boots and brains on the ground, interactive dialogue, community-based initiatives and public-private partnerships in championing sustainable supply chains.Solidaridad ECA has been known for spearheading sustainable development with smallholder farmers. Their interest in this project is to build capacity among smallholder farmers to sustainably produce, enhance resilience and reduce food insecurity. This project will enable Solidaridad ECA to expand and strengthen its private network relation to improve food security.

Solidaridad Europe:

Solidaridad Europe (Netherlands) has 50 years of global experience developing socially responsible, ecologically sound & profitable supply chains. It generates support and commitments for making international value chains more sustainable, with a focus on improving the livelihoods of farmers, miners, and workers around the world. With offices in the Netherlands and Germany, representation in the UK, and partnerships in various European countries, there are ample opportunities to influence corporations, governments, and citizens to take up and commit to more sustainable practices. Solidaridad Europe’s role in this project includes technical assistance in project design and steering during the project; technical support to design and implementation of the business case(s); and corporate engagement with potential brands for upscaling activities.

Syngenta East Africa

Syngenta is the World’s leading crop protection company and one of the leading seed companies with more than 28,000 employees in some 90 countries dedicated to our purpose: Bringing plant potential to life. Through world-class science, global reach, and commitment to our customers we help to increase crop productivity, protect the environment, and improve health and quality of life. Further information is available at www.syngenta.co.ke. Syngenta East Africa Limited strives to bring “Plant Potential to Life” through innovative solutions to maximize yields, enhance quality, and limit post-harvest losses.

Syngenta Foundation

The Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture (SFSA) is an independent Swiss non-profit organization that works with smallholder farmers in developing countries, often in semi-arid regions, to help improve smallholder productivity and livelihoods through innovation in sustainable agriculture and the activation of remunerative value chains. SFSA is focused on smallholders, productivity, and markets, collaborating with the public, private and social sector within a multisector partnership framework to engage smallholder farmers, including women and youth, in order to address their specific needs and deliver the appropriate solutions within the context of the local environment. SFSA is headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, and is present in eight countries in Africa and Asia.

The Horticulture for Growth Project (H4G)

2.1 Background

About 80% of the population of Kenya lives in rural areas and derive their livelihood largely from agriculture. But more important is the fact that 56% of the Kenyan people live below the poverty line with over 80% of these in the rural areas. Women are generally poorer than men and suffer more severely from the impacts of economic downturn. 52.5% of Kenyan males in the rural areas and 49.2% of those in urban areas live below the poverty line. In both instances the statistics for females is higher; 54.1% of rural and 63.0% of urban women live below the poverty line. The horticulture sector is the third most important foreign exchange earner after coffee and tea and is often viewed as a growth engine of the economy. The sector is dominated by smallholder farmers who account for about 80% and produce about 55% of the total exports.

Kenya’s agriculture is largely dependent on seasonal rainfall. In many instances, the frequency of rainfall has not been adequate to sustain crop production, leading to serious food insecurity and losses in the country. Estimates available indicate that about 50.6% of the Kenyan people lack access to adequate food The incidence and prevalence of food insecurity is more severe in arid and semi-arid lands (ASALs). Hence, to have secured food production, there is a need to minimize dependence on rain-fed agriculture by utilizing water resources for irrigation under sustainable environmental management. In this context, the Government of Kenya formulated the Strategy for Revitalising Agriculture 2004 – 2014 (SRA) towards the implementation of the Economic Recovery Strategy (ERS). The strategy envisages increased agricultural productivity, including diversification into high-value horticultural crops for the export market and domestic market, thereby economically empowering the poor farmers, and generally reducing the number of people suffering from hunger, famine, or starvation.

The horticulture for growth project aims at generating a sustainable and inclusive horticulture value chain that guarantees improved productivity, safe working conditions, enhanced job creation, access to finance, an enabling business environment, and access to markets for smallholder horticulture farmers in Kenya. The factors put together will lead to improved livelihoods amongst the 30,000 direct beneficiaries in the agreed counties.

Endline Study Objectives:

The objectives of the endline study are:

1. To assess what extent the project achieved its formulated results (especially at output and outcome level) with households and smallholder farmers benefiting from the project i.e increased food production, income, and resilience against the baseline indicators as per the project monitoring framework (Refer to project M&E framework).
2. To assess the relevance and contribution of the project to the horticulture sector which includes the adoption of practices, innovations, and technologies promoted by the project as per the proposal among the smallholder farmers and groups that were both direct and indirect beneficiaries.
3. To assess the appropriateness and effectiveness of strategies, approaches and modalities used in the project to realize the intended results.
4. To identify major bottlenecks, evidenced-based lessons learned, and actionable recommendations and document to strengthen the strategies of ongoing and future programs
5. Assess the risks of pulling out at this moment, especially for the sustainability and durability of the interventions and investments.

2.4 Survey Methodology:

The methodology for this study will include both direct and indirect data collection, analysis and cross-referencing, and formulating recommendations thematically and as area/site-specific. The Consultant will finalize the methodology to undertake this study in line with the scope of the assessment, presented and refined with the management during the inception meeting.

The methodology used during this assessment will overall, include, but not be limited to the following:

• Review existing relevant secondary information and reports related to horticulture production in Kenya.
• Review of previous Solidaridad related project level documents and reports.
• Discuss with key Solidaridad staff, partners, and Key Informants at Office and field implementation levels.
• Carry out field visits in the implementation areas for data collection, observations, and triangulation.
• Hold community-level participatory meetings and focused group discussions for data collection and information gathering.
• Carry out a household-level survey for data collection through structured questionnaires.
• Use of data from local institutions or organizations.
• Data analysis and verification of analyzed data.
• Reflection and feedback sessions with the project management team. The final methodology to be adopted shall be discussed and agreed upon with consultants/firm during the inception meeting.

2.5 Responsibilities of Consultants/Scope of Work:

The composition of the survey team is left up to the consultant/ organization based on their internal system, ideas, and logic. However, Solidaridad recommends that the team comprise one Team Leader (TL) to coordinate/conduct the overall study and liaise with Solidaridad. To collect information from the field using an adequate number of Field Enumerators (FEs). Supervision of the fieldwork and quality (reliability and validity) of the data/information collected from the field is the primary responsibility of the TL. The TL will work closely with Solidaridad M&E Officers and the program team. In each step and process, consultation with the Project Manager and the M&E Officer are vital. The survey will be conducted in Kenya

The consultancy/consultant team will be primarily responsible for:

• Development/design endline survey tools including questionnaires for HH survey and checklist and tools for group interaction including FGD with target beneficiaries at village levels.
• Share the study design including process, methods, and questionnaires/checklist with the programme team, collect feedback and finalize the study design.
• Pre‐test questionnaires and other tools in one of the programme sites.
• Submit an inception report.
• Debrief/discuss with the programme team about the effectiveness of questionnaire, checklists, and other tools used in the pre‐test, collect feedback and finalize them.
• Orient, train and supervise the enumerators.
• Carry out fieldwork together with enumerators.
• Ensure the quality of information collected from fields, cross-check with the validity of information collected, and verify/revise where needed.
• Update progress of the study on a weekly basis to the M&E Officer.
• Analyze data and prepare quality reports.
• Give a presentation of the draft report to Solidaridad, and;
• Submit a final report (a compiled version of the report ‐ both hard copy and electronic version in word format) to the project after incorporating the feedback and suggestions from Solidaridad.

2.6 Deliverables:

1. Work plan and expression of interest (EOI) for the endline survey, outlining;

• A detailed methodology for implementation of the survey, including proposed sample sizes.
• Draft data collection tools (The Consultant shall refine proposed standard indicators in reference to the proposed programme indicators and other guidelines provided by Solidaridad)
• A detailed work plan for the survey

1. Presentation of survey methodology to Solidaridad team in an inception meeting and later incorporate suggestions in the final inception report.
2. A draft report of the study for feedback and comments from Solidaridad and the partners involved.
3. Presentation on the main findings of the study for validation involving project teams, and other stakeholders as agreed with the project team.

2.7 Expert/Consultant’s Profile:

Consultancy firms/companies with verifiable research work in the horticulture value chains and who fulfil the following requirements are encouraged to express their interests.

• Relevant Masters degree(s) in social sciences, Agriculture, or development studies,
• Strong experience with and knowledge of qualitative and quantitative research methods and sampling strategies
• Firm/Consultants statement on the understanding and interpretation of the TOR
• Experience in designing and conducting studies using experimental or quasi-experimental techniques. Experience with longitudinal study designs is desired.
• Statistical analysis skills and strong proficiency with data analysis packages.
• Proven experience for the last 3 years in conducting endline study surveys, impact studies, and evaluations, preferably in the horticulture sector in Kenya and the East Africa region.
• Research experience with smallholder horticulture farmers is an added advantage
• Excellent communication and written skills in English and Swahili.
• Company registration and KRA PIN certificates

2.8 Consultancy Period:

The overall time frame of the survey will be 30 days (including Saturdays and Sundays), which will include inception meetings, finalizing the survey methodology, training of enumerators, data collection, data analysis, report writing, and presenting findings of the survey.

1. Interested parties should submit a Technical and Financial proposal Budget proposals should include logistics costs (transport, communications, meals and accommodation) – 22nd March 2024, 5:00pm (EAT)
2. Decision on selected consultant – only selected candidates will be contacted.- 19th April 2024
3. Inception report and meeting (virtual) – 26th April 2024, 5:00pm (EAT)
4. Draft report submitted. – 17th May 2024, 5:00pm (EAT)
5. Validation meeting and final report (virtual ) – 31st May 2024