Terms of Reference (ToR) For Impact Evaluation of the ZRBF-BRACT Project in Mutoko & Mudzi Districts

1. 1. About Christian Aid

Christian Aid exists to create a world where everyone can live a full life, free from poverty. Poverty is an outrage against humanity, and robs people of their dignity whilst allowing injustice to thrive. We are a global movement of people, churches and local organisations who passionately champion dignity, equality, justice and love worldwide. We work with our partners to deliver our global strategy that seeks to eradicate extreme poverty by tackling its root causes among individuals and communities regardless of faith or nationality.

Christian Aid (CA), partnered with Bio-Innovation Zimbabwe (BIZ); Community Technology Development Organisation (CTDO); Nyahunure Community Organisation (NCO); & Silveira House (SH) in the delivery of the ZRBF-BRACT project in Mudzi and Mutoko districts. The goal of the BRACT(Building Resilience through Improving the Absorptive and Adaptive Capacity for Transformation of at-Risk Communities in Mutoko & Mudzi Districts) project was to ensure that households and communities’ livelihoods are able to withstand existing and future shocks and stresses and achieve wellbeing outcomes. Focus was on addressing the multi-dimensional challenges experienced by individuals, households and communities because of climate related hazards, and recurring socio-economic and environmental shocks including the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The project commenced in October 2017 and ended in September 2022.

Christian Aid, as the lead technical partner during the life of the project seeks to engage a qualified independent consultant/evaluation team to assess the impact of the project. The evaluation will identify the high level outcomes and uncover key lessons and make recommendations for future programming.

1. Brief Overview of the Zimbabwe Resilience Building Fund (ZRBF)

The Zimbabwe Resilience Building Fund (ZRBF) is managed by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), with the main government partner being the Ministry of Land, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development (MoLAFWRD) under a national implementation modality. ZRBF is supported with funds from the European Union (EU), the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), the Swedish Development Agency (SIDA), and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). This initiative has a strong focus on evidence-based programming, and BRACT engaged under component 2 and component 3 of ZRBF which are as follows;

Component 2: Increase the absorptive, adaptive, and transformative capacities to face shocks and the effects of climate change for approximately 1,115,000 people, in vulnerable communities frequently exposed to multiple hazards. ZRBF has supported a combination of interventions implemented in innovative, cost effective and sustainable ways to address both the causal links between hazards exposure, poverty, limited rural livelihoods options and food insecurity, and also take into account key social aspects of health, nutrition, access to basic services and social practices.

Component 3: A crisis modifier that can provide early warning, early action to reduce impact of climate induced shocks in ZRBF programme areas. It is a pre-humanitarian tool used to rapidly mobilise resources prior to a major shock in order to protect development gains. The programme managed to set up a robust High Frequency Monitoring System(HFMS) to support activation of the Crisis Modifier (CM) and a standard operating procedure was developed to guide operationalization of the Crisis Modifier, and this has improved the efficiency and effectiveness of the CM. From inception (2016), 6 cycles of CM were successfully activated. De-prioritization of certain activities in preference of critical ones to reduce severity of identified shocks was conducted throughout the implementation period. As a result, there has been early warning for early action that has protected development gains built under component 2.

2.1 The BRACT Project Design

The BRACT project aimed at improving the Absorptive, Adaptive and Transformative resilience capacities for 27,178 households in Mutoko and Mudzi districts, both extremely vulnerable to drought and exhibiting high poverty levels. The Absorptive actions included: training and supporting communities to develop, resource and maintain active and inclusive disaster preparedness and response plans; supporting and strengthening their capacity to actively participate in community savings and investment groups. The Adaptive actions included: helping households to realise increased production and marketing of traditional crops and livestock; enhancing regular consumption of traditionally produced nutritious foods; strengthening sustainable productivity and competitiveness; equipping youth with knowledge and skills to engage in non-agricultural income generating activities; sustainable harvesting and processing of Non-Timber Forest Products for viable markets.TheTransformative capacity interventions were around building the capacity of communities to self-organise and participate in governance of local institutions.

1. Purpose, Scope and Objectives of the Evaluation

The Purpose of this impact evaluation is to assess the performance and results of the BRACT project in order to understand what works, how and why in resilience programming in the context of Mudzi & Mutoko districts. The evaluation intends to unearth detailed learning that will be used to inform the design of the anticipated next phase of the ZRBF-BRACT project. It will also examine whether, and or how the combination of programme interventions leads to improved absorptive, adaptive & transformative resilience capacities.

1. 1. Specific Objectives

The specific objectives of the evaluation are as follows:

1. To understand the impact of the BRACT project on the resilience of individuals, households, communities; the extent to which the intended outcomes were achieved, what the contribution of BRACT has been towards achieving or not achieving the outcomes, and why.
2. To investigate the relationships between household outcomes, shock exposure, and resilience capacities in the BRACT project.
3. To assess the extent to which the crisis modifier has been able to respond to humanitarian shocks and protect development gains.
4. To assess the validity of the BRACT Theory of Change (ToC) including key assumptions made for attaining resilience.
5. Based on the findings, provide key recommendations to CA for informing the design of BRACT phase 2 or similar resilience building programmes elsewhere, including best combinations of interventions and delivery approaches for attaining greatest impact.
6. Evaluation Design and Research Questions

CA recommends a quasi-experimental study design that uses proxy pre-test and post-test approaches to determine the impact on resilience outcomes at community, household and individual level. This is because the project did not have a baseline study at its commencement in 2017. However, findings from Outcome Monitoring Surveys (OMS) done in 2019, 2020, and 2021 should be utilised.

The proposed Research Questions are therefore as follows;

1. Main Research Question: What is the impact of the BRACT project on community, household and individual resilience? To what extent has their ability to withstand existing and future shocks and stresses changed, including their level of wellbeing outcomes?
2. Sub-Research Questions:
3. To what extent have the target communities improved their capacity to anticipate, prepare and respond to shocks and stresses whilst maintaining productive capacity? How have the relationships between household outcomes, shock exposure and resilience capacities improved as a result of BRACT?
4. How effective was the crisis modifier in protecting development gains? This research question will directly contribute to CA’s global learning question on Climate, which reads: Is ongoing shock preparedness (DRR) adequately addressed in-between shocks to ensure that early warning/early action systems do not degrade and undermine early actions when the next shock is forecast ?
5. To what extent have the targeted households and communities adapted and diversified their livelihoods strategies to both climatic and non-climatic shocks and stresses?
6. What is the community’s ability to self-mobilise and transform their socio-economic and ecological systems, demand and access improved services from duty bearers, and influence policy? What has been the influence of the BRACT project on women and young people’s empowerment, and how have they contributed to the achievement of the results / impact?
7. Theory of Change: Which interventions or combination of interventions worked or failed to work, for whom and why and under what conditions/circumstances? What, if any, are the unintended consequences, positive and negative, of the BRACT project in the target wards?

In consultation with CA, the consultant is expected to:

• Refine the evaluation questions proposed above based on review of project documents such as the proposal, annual progress reports, outcome monitoring survey reports, as well as the just ended overall ZRBF endline evaluation and Value for Money assessment, including other learning materials generated under the ZRBF programme.
• Make necessary adjustments to the proposed evaluation design, including adapting the approach used in the OMS and the ZRBF endline evaluation in terms of evaluation methods, counterfactuals and data collection methods.

Ensure that the study conforms to and addresses the 7 OECD-DAC criteria namely; relevance, coherence, partnership, efficiency, effectiveness, impact, and sustainability.

1. Profile (Qualifications, Competency and Experience) of the Consultant

The consultant/evaluation team will be selected through a transparent recruitment process, based on professional experience, competence, ethics and integrity that will ensure the evaluation process complies with quality standards. To be eligible for this assignment, the consultant/evaluation team should posses the following:

• A minimum of 10 years’ experience in development evaluation, with in-country proven experience of having evaluated resilience building projects of similar design and scale through mixed methods, including gender and inclusion aspects.
• Possess relevant post- graduate qualifications in such fields as Monitoring and Evaluation, Agricultural/Applied economics, Development/Social Studies, Environment/climate change/Disaster Risk Management, or other relevant social sciences.
• Advanced technical knowledge, skills and expertise in evaluation concepts, with extensive knowledge of impact evaluation methods and techniques in particular.
• Highly developed communications skills; presentation, facilitation, and demonstrated ability to deliver quality written and oral products.
• Strong qualitative and quantitative research , analysis and synthesis skills;
• Good knowledge and understanding of resilience in international development, including understanding of resilience measurement concepts.