Terms of Reference
Consultancy for a global evaluation of the initiative to support sustainable management of artisanal fisheries along the coast of Mozambique

The PDF version of this document is available here.

1 – BACKGROUND

Fondation Ensemble is a French private foundation, state-approved since it was created in 2004. Its Mission is to promote a sustainable human development, i.e. integrating environmental protection. The Foundation is involved in 4 focus sectors, all of them on line with the dominant theme of Sustainable Development: Sustainable Agriculture, Sustainable Fishing, Biodiversity Conservation (marine and terrestrial) and Sustainable technologies. It supports projects in 6 focus countries: Mozambique, Ecuador, Peru, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar.

In Mozambique, artisanal landings are, on average, responsible for almost 90% of the total national fisheries production. 60% of this take is maritime, along its 2700 Km long coastline. This sector has a high social importance since it is the main source of food and employment for the coastal communities, which represent more than two-thirds of the population of Mozambique. According to the last census of artisanal fisheries conducted in 2012, there were about 343,000 fishermen and other professionals involved in this sector, of which 18% were women, all depending directly or indirectly on activities related to fishing. Fish makes up 50% of the population’s protein consumption in Mozambique. Almost all fisheries are overexploited and facing crisis due to a declining productivity and increasing operating costs. Fisheries may be further at risk due to the impacts of climate change on the marine species and environment.

Despite the paramount social and ecological importance of this sector, it is also widely recognized that it is poorly monitored, data is insufficient or lacking and fisheries legislation is inadequate and poorly enforced with damaging and unsustainable practices on catch sizes, fishing methods, species, no take periods, etc…). Also, critical coastal and marine habitats may be at risk due to poor fishing techniques, destructive gear and other exploitation activities (mangrove wood, algae and seagrass harvesting), urban development, industry, tourism, oil & gas extraction, leading to further degradations.

This analysis is partially based on the findings and recommendations of the report entitled “Mozambique Marine Ecosystems review” by Pereira et al. (Dec. 2014), available on our website. Despite it being slightly outdated, this report and its findings remain relevant. Applicants are invited to read this report.

Following a first Special Call for Proposal on “Sustainable management of artisanal fisheries along the coast of Mozambique” launched by Fondation Ensemble in December 2014, 3 projects have been funded (considered as Phase 1):

• Zoological Society of London in Moçimboa da Praia/Palma area (Cabo Delgado);
• Istituto Oikos in the Quirimbas National Park (Cabo Delgado);
• Peace Parks Foundation in the Ponta do Ouro Partial Marine Reserve (Maputo province).

We aim now within a 2^nd phase (2018-2021), through a new Special Call for Proposal (Phase 2), to strengthen, replicate and scale up policy work and the geographical scope of the interventions. In order to achieve this, Fondation Ensemble wishes to work further with current and new partners who, based on field work and experience, are addressing or aim to address these challenges, with the ambition to pave the way to country wide approaches.

We also aim to have a global evaluation of the initiative and improve the synergies among the selected project partners, leading to a common learning, capitalization and advocacy dynamic.

Therefore, this initiative has 3 distinct but interrelated components, for which 3 different calls are published:

• Projects to address sustainability of artisanal fisheries with several priority objectives and through different approaches as described in the Special Call for Proposal (Phase 2);
• A global evaluation of the initiative to support sustainable management of Artisanal Fisheries along the coast of Mozambique, as described in this document;
• Capitalization and advocacy for improved support to sustainable management of artisanal Fisheries along the coast of Mozambique.

2 – PURPOSE AND SCOPE OF THE EVALUATION

The purpose of this evaluation is to have a global perspective on the implementation and achievements of the different projects funded and of the initiative itself, to contribute to improved sustainable artisanal fisheries along the coast of Mozambique. Please note that each project will be evaluated independently and separately, through mid-term and final evaluations, following tenders launched and organized by each of the implementing NGOs: these individual project evaluations will then contribute to the global evaluation of the initiative.

The scope of this work will be to:

For phase 1 (2015-2018):

• Review the final project evaluations of each of the 3 projects currently funded, identify the strengths and weaknesses, realize a field visit to each site, highlight the lessons learnt and best practices and make strategic and programmatic recommendations to each implementing NGO and Fondation Ensemble.
• The conclusions of this final global evaluation of Phase 1 will be shared through reports and a capitalization workshop (the organization of this workshop will not be the responsibility of the evaluator. Please refer to the ToR of “Capitalization and advocacy for improved support to sustainable management of artisanal Fisheries along the coast of Mozambique” for further details).

For phase 2 (2018-2021):

• Assist Fondation Ensemble and the future partners who will be funded in setting up a common overall Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) approach by establishing a few SMART indicators shared by all the projects, and giving recommendations to improve and harmonize the M&E plans of each newly funded project in order to optimize as much as possible outcome and impact measurement of these newly funded projects and of the whole initiative. The indicators will in particular allow to assess the initiative’s contribution to relevant SDGs, among which mainly SDG 14, but also SDGs 1, 2, 8, 12, 13 when possible;
• Conduct a global mid-term evaluation and a final evaluation of the initiative, based on the desk review of the specific projects’ evaluations and some field visits, to capitalize and advocate on lessons learnt, best practices, policy and funding priorities;
• Participate in the two capitalization workshops (as mentioned above, the organization of these workshops will not be the responsibility of the evaluator).

Objectives for Fondation Ensemble and the implementing NGOs

• Give a general appreciation of the projects’ implementation and the results reached: assess results and achievements against expected outputs and indicators, review project governance structures and organizational development if relevant; assess overall projects’ impacts, in particular for the communities, and the biodiversity; assess the capacity of local partners and partnerships; identify gaps and priorities for the completion of the projects, etc.
• Make operational and strategic recommendations around the DAC criteria (relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, impact, sustainability) to secure the effective continuation of the projects (assessment of processes affecting achievement of project results; assessment of risks to sustainability of project outcomes, etc.);
• Highlight the significant aspects of the projects as a model for replication and best practices for the other projects of the portfolio and, more broadly, for other experiences in sustainable artisanal fisheries in Mozambique;
• Appreciate to which extent the initiative significantly contributes to improve sustainable artisanal fisheries in Mozambique, with a perspective of geographical and policy scaling-up.

3 – CALENDAR AND METHODOLOGY OF THE CONSULTANCY

* The number of days is given for information only. Please feel free to review or adjust the number of days according to your methodology, experience and fees, within the limits of the budget.

a) For the review of the M&E frameworks of the projects to be selected under phase 2

Once the projects are selected (July 2018), the consultant will make a global recommendation on common SMART M&E indicators to be included in the monitoring frameworks of each funded project. When the full proposals will be finalized around September-October 2018, the consultant will assess the M&E frameworks of each of the projects (before the signature of the agreement between Fondation Ensemble and each of the implementing NGO selected), in order to provide some recommendations and improvements for each projects’ M&E plans. For this specific desk review, based only on the final project proposals and on the discussions with the project managers and Fondation Ensemble, 5 days consultancy is expected.

b) For the final evaluation of the 3 projects implemented under phase 1

Desk review – preparation of the field work (5 days)

• Reading of the main existing documents regarding the 3 projects implemented under phase 1: grant agreements, including full proposals, final narrative and financial reports, final external evaluation reports (to be organized and reports made available by each of the implementing NGOs before end 2018);
• Discussions and exchanges with Fondation Ensemble and each Project Manager to prepare the 3 field visits.

Field visits of the 3 projects (12 days in total[1])

• Discussions with the project managers and the teams in the field;
• Interviews with beneficiaries, partners, local authorities and other relevant stakeholders in the field;
• Assessment of the M&E indicators and systems used by each implementing partner, identification of best practices and concrete recommendations for the future.

For the reporting, presentation and debate during the capitalization workshop (5 days)

• Writing of the full draft reports (cf. section 4: reports and deliverables);
• Presentation and debates with the implementing NGOs (Phase 1 and Phase 2) and other relevant stakeholders (other NGOs, national and local authorities, academia, donors) during a 2 days workshop[2] (the organization of this workshop will be the responsibility of the capitalization coordinator – please refer to the specific ToR of the Capitalization and Advocacy for further details) to discuss the main findings (challenges, best practices, lessons learnt) of the phase 1 projects and initiative, and present the main recommendations, including policy and funding priorities;
• Finalization of the report.

c) For the mid-term and final evaluations of the phase 2 portfolio (25 days each)

Desk review – preparation of the field work (5 days)

• Reading of the main existing documents regarding the funded phase 2 projects: grant agreements, including full proposals, reports to date, mid-term evaluation reports (internal or external), or final reports (to be organized and reports made available by each of the implementing NGOs respectively by end June 2018 and end December 2021 the latest);
• Discussions and exchanges with Fondation Ensemble and each Project Manager to prepare the field visits of 3 projects (per each period, mid-term or final) agreed with Fondation Ensemble (potentially different for each period, unless particular circumstances).

Field visits of a selection of projects (12 days)

• Discussions with the project managers and the teams in the field;
• Interviews with beneficiaries, partners, local authorities and other relevant stakeholders in the field;
• Assessment of M&E systems implemented and results achieved by each implementing partner; identification of best practices and concrete recommendations for the remaining implementation period (mid-term) and potentially future initiatives (final) to pave the way to country wide approaches, and for improvements of these M&E systems if necessary.

For the reporting, presentation and debate during the capitalization workshops (8 days)

• Writing of the full draft reports (cf. section 4: reports and deliverables);
• Presentation and debates with the implementing NGOs and other relevant stakeholders (other NGOs, national and local authorities, academia, donors) during 2 days workshops to discuss the main findings (challenges, best practices, lessons learnt) of the phase 2 projects and initiative, and present the main recommendations, including policy and funding priorities;
• Finalization of the reports.

4 – REPORTS AND DELIVERABLES

For the review of the M&E frameworks of the projects selected under phase 2, the consultant is expected to provide a set of SMART indicators common to all the newly funded projects, as well as some concrete recommendations and improvements for each M&E plan (expected results, impacts and associated indicators).

The 3 portfolio evaluation and capitalization missions (final evaluation of phase 1, mid-term and final evaluations of phase 2) will lead to a public bilingual report in Portuguese and English (format to be detailed and discussed – 40 pages maximum).

These reports will feed the work of the NGOs funded within our special call as well as other relevant national and international stakeholders (authorities, donors) involved in Sustainable Management of Artisanal Fisheries and marine conservation in Mozambique. Main findings will be presented by the evaluator at the 3 following workshops.

The reports will also have an internal version, for the organizations involved in the evaluations (funded NGOs, partners and Fondation Ensemble).

A perfect English and Portuguese writing level is expected.

The timeline to deliver the final reports will be maximum 1 month following the workshops.

5 – PROFILE OF THE INDEPENDENT EVALUATOR

The independent evaluator should:

• Be an evaluation specialist with a minimum of 10 years experience in programme/project evaluation in an international development context;
• Be qualified and experienced in the fields of fisheries, marine biodiversity, marine co-management and poverty alleviation (in Mozambique preferably);
• Have experience of results-based monitoring and evaluation;
• Be able to design and plan the evaluation approaches and research methodologies, including quantitative and qualitative research methods;
• Have a participatory and constructive approach;
• Have experience in organizational development and management;
• Be committed towards nature conservation;
• Be fluent in English and Portuguese, writing and speaking.

It is possible to have an evaluation team composed of one international evaluation consultant acting as the team leader and one national consultant if relevant (and if it’s within the budget limits of this tender). In that case, the contract will be signed between Fondation Ensemble and the team leader only.

The independent consultant or the members of the evaluation team must not have been directly involved in the design and/or implementation, supervision and coordination of the portfolio projects under evaluation to avoid any potential conflict of interests. However, he/they can apply as independent evaluators to the open tenders that will be launched by each of the implementing NGOs of the portfolio to conduct the evaluation of one or several of the projects if they are selected, following each implementing NGOs’ procedures and timeframes.

6 – TENDER AND CONTRACTUAL MODALITIES

a) Technical and financial proposal

After having read the present terms of reference, the applicant is required to make a proposal using the downloadable financial frame and narrative template for carrying out this consultancy.

The selection made will be based on the following criteria:

• Explanation of the set of issues and comprehension of the subject;
• Methodological approach proposed;
• Qualifications, experiences and competencies of the expert(s);
• Experiences in the area and set of issues of the projects to be evaluated;
• Complementarity of the proposed team (if relevant);
• Detail of the estimated working days with expected daily fee and other direct costs (estimated budget according to the attached model). Fees will be lump sums, to be budgeted and paid for the services provided, with no expense justification (including meals/accommodation, local fares, such as taxis, as well as translation, research, photocopies, communications, etc.). All the other costs (i.e. mainly international and domestic fares) will be based on real expenditure and reimbursed accordingly by Fondation Ensemble.

The proposal must be 6 pages maximum + 1 page for the budget + CV of 3 pages maximum per person.

The deadline for submitting a proposal will be 5^th January 2018.

Applications will be sent by e-mail at the following address: mozambique@fondationensemble.org

Heading of the e-mail will comply with the following format: “Global evaluation Mozambique – Applicant family name and/or organization”

Applicants may be individuals, applying as such, or in the name of their employing/umbrella organizations. They can be based anywhere, but only qualified and experienced people in the fields of monitoring and evaluation (M&E), fisheries and marine biodiversity may apply, preferably with a previous experience or expertise in Mozambique.

The evaluation offer has to be submitted in English.

The evaluator or umbrella organization that will be selected after this tender process may also apply to the project evaluations’ tenders that will be launched by each of the organizations funded by Fondation Ensemble, following their own calendar and requirements (public tenders).

The total required budget is expected to range between €45,000 and €55,000 (all included).

Fondation Ensemble is expecting to cover all the costs related to this component, but if the applicant benefits from other fundings for activities similar to those required, for example through research funding, it may be interesting to give another dimension to this work by co-funding it. If this is the case, please contact us prior to submitting your tender.

b) Contract and payment

The contract will be based on the consultant’s daily fee, specified in the proposal budget. Payments will be made to the consultant based on the number of days worked, within the limits of the approved budget. The daily fee is all inclusive and shall take into account the various expenses incurred by the consultant during the period of the contract, including daily rate, food & accommodation, health insurance, risks and inconveniences related to work under hardship conditions, and any other relevant expenses related to the performance of services under the contract, besides international and domestic fares, or any other expenses proposed and accepted in the budget.

A single and unique contract (in Euros only) will be signed with the independent evaluator (in the case of a team of evaluators, the contract will be signed only with the team leader or the umbrella organization, as previously mentioned). Fondation Ensemble is not responsible for the financial allocation between the evaluators and cannot be involved in any negotiation between the evaluators concerning the financial allocation.

Payment will be made in distinct instalments:

• For the review of the M&E frameworks of the projects to be funded during phase 2: 100% will be paid after satisfactory completion of work and reception of the invoice;
• For each of the 3 evaluation portfolio missions:
  • 50% will be paid based on the estimated budget discussed prior to each mission;
  • 50% after approval of the final report of each of the portfolio evaluation mission and reception of the final invoice, including copies of direct cost proofs.

The overall cost of the consultancy (all missions, all fees and costs) should not be higher than the initially budgeted one.

The contract will be a commitment for the whole consultancy (all missions), but Fondation Ensemble will have the possibility to terminate the contract at any time if not satisfied with the level of service provided.

[1] The aim is not to carry out a second in-depth evaluation, but to have good understanding of the local contexts and projects’ achievements.

[2]  Most likely following the field visits, to avoid further extra potential international travels