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პროექტის წლიური შედეგების კვლევა

REQUEST FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST
FOR CONSULTING SERVICES

International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)

The Agriculture Modernization, Market Access and Resilience Project (AMMAR)

International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) funded The Agriculture Modernization, Market Access and Resilience Project (AMMAR) invites experienced companies to express interest for the following assignment:

ANNUAL OUTCOME SURVEY

The Agriculture Modernization, Market Access and Resilience (AMMAR) project of the Government of Georgia aims to sustainably raise incomes and reduce poverty for women and men in rural Georgia. Funded through the International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD) with two complementary grants from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA). AMMAR’s development objective is to stimulate private investments in climate-smart agricultural value chains to increase incomes and strengthen resilience of smallholder farmers in selected project areas. 

The project is organized into two mutually supportive components coordinated by the third component, Project Management.
Component 1: irrigation and agricultural value chain investment
• Subcomponent 1.1 – Irrigation and value chain infrastructure; 
• Subcomponent: 1.2 – Private investments in agricultural value chains. 
Component 2: climate-smart agricultural and value chain development
• Subcomponent 2.1 – Value chain development processes and support; 
• Subcomponent 2.2 – Climate-smart agricultural technology transfer. 

AMMAR Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) system follows the logical framework designed for the project. The logical framework includes the necessary and relevant indicators according to the requirements of the IFAD methodology as well as other relevant performance indicators. 
The programme is expected to benefit around 10,000 households across the country. Key performance indicators for the project are as follows: 
• 80% of supported households have real net household farm income increased by average of 20%;
• Climate smart agricultural production practices are adopted by 50% of trained smallholder farmers; 
• Four climate-smart agricultural value chains are fully operational and maintaining sustainability;
• 4,750 ha of farmland are put under water-related infrastructure;
• 2,000 ha of land are put under improved management practices;
• New cropping patterns are applied by 50% of trained farmers of which 20% report increased diversification; 
• 50% of matching grant beneficiaries report an average income increase of 8%.

Now the AMMAR project is seeking the external consulting company (here and after “Consultant”) to conduct Annual Outcome Survey to assess the progress achieved in AMMAR’s eight value chains, deliver quantitative and qualitative interpretations on specific indicators as reflected in the project log-frame, and provide suggestions to improve project’s support in order to reach the targeted outcomes during the project’s implementation. 

The objective of the survey is:
• To measure the positive and/or negative changes/outcomes taking place on relevant indicators at the household/cooperative/agribusiness level;
• To evaluate targeting efficiency;
• To provide timely performance information so that corrective actions may be taken to implement the project activities, if required. 
AMMAR M&E unit will provide the Consultant all relevant information about project beneficiaries required for the survey. The Outcome Survey will target the following AMMAR project’s beneficiaries:
# Project interventions Target groups Region Number of beneficiary HH
1 Rehabilitation of irrigation systems. HH who benefited from the rehabilitation of irrigation canals. Shida Kartli, Gori. Villages: Dzevera, Shertuli, Patara Garejvari, Didi Garejvari, Karaleti, Kitsnisi 1058 HH (received irrigation water in 2018)
2 Rehabilitation/ construction of bridges and roads HH who benefited from the rehabilitation/ construction bridges and roads. Samegrelo, Martvili (Jolevi, Abedati, Nagvazao), Senaki (Dzveli senaki, Betlemi, Ushapati). Kakheti, Gurjaani (Giorgeti) 2208 HH
3 Matching grants for primary producers and agribusinesses Beneficiaries who received grants Shida kartli, Kvemo Kartli, Samtskhe-Javakheti, Mtskheta-Mtianeti, Kakheti, Samegrelo, Adjara Personal information of 148 HH ( grant beneficiaries)

• The total sample size of the survey will be 354 HH, of which 236 HH will be taken among beneficiary HH (see table above) and 118 HH will be part of the control group. The Consulting Company will ensure that the outcomes of the three project interventions quoted above are adequately reflected, as well as the different value chains targeted by the project.  
• The treatment group will thus be as follows: 236 HH = 66 grants beneficiaries, 70 HH beneficiaries from small infrastructure (10 per village), 100 HH beneficiaries from irrigation (20 HH per 4 main villages, 10 HH per 2 minor villages) 
• And the control group will include 118 HH as follows: 33 non grants beneficiaries, 35 HH for small infrastructure, 55 HH for irrigation.
The Scope of the Services:

Activity
Phase 1  - Preparatory Works
• Initial situational analysis - review of project documentation
• Development and finalization of study tool (survey questionnaire) 
• Development of the sampling design based on the beneficiary list 
Phase 2 – Fieldwork Activities
• Preparation for field work 
• Training of interviewers
• Development of the fieldwork training report
• Conducting the fieldworks, quality monitoring
• Summarizing completed questionnaires
Phase 3 - Data Processing
• Database formation
• Data entry (in case paper-based questionnaires will be used)
• Data cleaning
Phase 4 – Final Report Preparation
• Prepare for submission of the questionnaires
• Prepare for submission the electronic raw database
• Prepare for submission the cleaned database
• Preparation of draft final report. 
• Comments for 
• Submit final report to AMMAR after receiving feedback on draft final report
Total number of working days

The detalied information on the assignment please find in the Terms of Reference on the following link: 
https://www.dropbox.com/s/rjg7v2lxx6fls3k/TORs%20annual%20outcome%20survey-as%20issued.docx?dl=0 


The duration of the assignment 3 months. Estimation period of assignment is January - March 2019.

The reports shall be delivered in the following languages:
• The questionnaires will be provided to the beneficiaries in Georgian and English languages. An English translation will be availed to the project for external review. 
• The database will be provided in English.
• The draft and final survey reports will be provided in both English and Georgian.

Qualification Requirements for Consulting Company:

General Experience – research experience for externally funded projects in rural areas, including project M&E;

Specific Experience – The Consulting Company must have at least five (5) years practical experience in designing and implementing outcome surveys / impact assessments, along the following:
• Practical experience in research management (including research and sampling design);
• Demonstrated capacity and experience in planning and research logistics;
• Network of experienced surveyors and data entry officers 
• Strong capacity for data management and statistics 
• Demonstrated capacity for research analysis and reporting of results
• Strong communication skills and team spirit

Qualification Requirements for Key Experts:

The following 4 key experts will have to be mobilized to implement the activities involved in this outcome survey:
1. Survey Coordinator/Team Leader:
University Degree in social studies/statistics/economics/agricultural monitoring and evaluation or other related fields. At least 5 years of experience in team coordination and reporting on outcome surveys and/or impact assessment issues, large quantitative research applications and analyzes, household and agricultural data collection and analysis. Excellent oral and written presentation skills (English and Georgian languages).
2. Research practice and field officer:
University Degree in social studies/statistics/economics/agricultural monitoring and evaluation or other related fields. At least 5 years of experience in research applications, with specific experience in household and agricultural research applications. Good knowledge of the socio economic context of Georgia agriculture, especially fruits and vegetable production. Strong ability to guide on the preparation of the survey’s questionnaire. Fluent in English writing.
3. Socio-economic researcher: 
University Degree in social studies/statistics/economics/agricultural monitoring and evaluation or other related fields. At least 5 years experience in analyzing research data using STATA or equivalent software. A strong background and experience is required in statistics and econometrics. Fluent in English writing. It is preferable to have prior experience in impact assessment.
4. Computer expert on data entry and database
University degree in IT, statistics or related degree. At least 3 years of experience is required in research data sets and data entry software.  
In addition, the Consulting Company will also have to be able to mobilize a sufficient number of data collection specialists and interviewers, preferably with prior experience in agriculture.

Expressions of Interest with supported information shall be submitted to the address below. The Consultant will be selected using procedures set for Selection based on the Consultants’ Qualification (CQS) method by IFAD Procurement Handbook (issued on 19th of August, 2010). 

Interested companies must provide information verifying that they are qualified to perform the services and meet minimum required experience criteria. 

Submitted information shall include: 
(i) Company profile; 
(ii) Track records of carrying out of similar assignments, including brief information on all the quantitative data collections undertaken; 
(iii) Proposed methodology to perform the data collection and analysis; 
(iv) The work plan (activities) and resources sufficient to implement in the proposed timing (including number of person-days);
(v) CVs of proposed Key Staff members.

Expressions of interest can be delivered electronically to the address below not later than November 15, 2018, 12:00.

Interested companies may obtain detailed information on the assignment at the address below from 12:00 – 16:00 (local time). 

MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AND AGRICULTURE OF GEORGIA 
6 Marshal Gelovani Ave., Tbilisi 0159, Georgia
Tel/Fax: +995 32 2 37 66 72
Contact person: Ms. Tamuna Tsintsadze, M&E Specialist/Consultant
E-mail: tamar.tsintsadze@mepa.gov.ge 
CC: Nana.Kupunia@mepa.gov.ge