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PURPOSE OF THIS CONTRACT

The primary purpose of this contract is to conduct a comprehensive mid-term assessment of the project's implementation, outcomes, and overall impact. This assessment is essential for understanding how well the project is progressing and for ensuring that it remains aligned with its objectives.

   The assessment aims to:

• Evaluate the progress of the project activities against the planned milestones and deliverables. See annex I for details on required project outcomes and outputs.
• Assess the efficiency and effectiveness of the project's implementation processes and methodologies.
• Determine the project's impact on the local rice farming community, including improvements in rice production, quality, and farmers' livelihoods. Analyze the extent to which the project has achieved its intended outcomes and objectives.
• Identify any challenges, barriers, or unforeseen issues that have arisen during the project's implementation and define opportunities for improvement and potential areas for expansion or enhancement of project activities.
• Identify and document best practices, successful strategies, and key lessons learned throughout the project's duration. Use these insights to improve project efficiency, effectiveness, work quality, and impact on smallholder farmer livelihoods, recommend concrete and actionable improvements in project implementation that will help achieve the expected results by the end of June 20276.

BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT

The goal of RiceTech Cambodia is to enhance the rice value chain in Cambodia by establishing a Public-Private Partnership in the organic rice sector. The project aims to connect economic actors with rural communities, particularly smallholder farmers in Mondulkiri province. These farmers currently lack incentives to improve their rice production due to the absence of a direct sales market. The project plans to address this by providing training, implementing contract farming, and creating access to paddy drying, milling, and storage facilities. By introducing professional organic rice cultivation practices, the project aims to increase farmers' knowledge, improve rice quality and yield, and enable them to earn higher incomes through premium prices.

The project includes the supply of high-quality seeds, agricultural tools, and tractors, as well as knowledge transfer, traceability measures, organic certification, and the installation of drying, milling, and storage facilities. The project's duration is from 1st of July 2019 to 30th of June 2027.

The activities of the project will directly improve the livelihoods of small-scale rice farmers in Mondulkiri province and indirectly contribute to sustainable economic growth in Cambodia.

SCOPE OF WORK

The assessment will encompass a systematic approach to gather, analyze, and interpret data to comprehensively evaluate the project. The assessment will employ both qualitative and quantitative methods to ensure a thorough and balanced evaluation. The key components of the methodology can include, but are not limited to the following:

1. Site visit, Surveys and Questionnaires:
   • Administer structured surveys to a representative sample of farmers to gather quantitative data on production improvements, income changes, and satisfaction levels with approximately 200 HHs.
   • Conduct on-site visits to project locations to observe activities and outcomes.
   • Observe farming practices, training sessions, and other project-related activities to assess their effectiveness and impact.
2. Interviews and Focus Group Discussions (FGDs):
   • Conduct KII for in-depth interviews with key stakeholders, including AC leaders, local authorities and agricultural experts to gain qualitative insights into the project's performance and impact.
   • Organize FGDs with groups of farmers to explore their experiences, challenges, and suggestions in a collaborative setting.
   • Interviews with key personnel and staff from the consortium partners.
3. Data Analysis:
   • Utilize statistical methods to analyze survey and questionnaire data, identifying trends and significant changes over time.
   • Perform thematic analysis of interview and FGD transcripts for Qualitative Analysis to identify common themes, patterns, and insights related to the project's implementation and impact.

Effectiveness

• • • To what extent were the intended outcomes achieved after 2 years of implementation? Analyze the level of realization for each outcome indicator (as outlined in Annex I).
    • Considering current progress on outcome indicators, estimate the likelihood of achieving the project's overall objectives by the end of June 2027.
    • Identify the project's major achievements and any significant weaknesses or shortcomings that may have hindered progress.
    • Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the RTC project's design and implementation. How effectively did the project approach its goals?
    • Assess the project's effectiveness in improving the livelihoods of farmers to date. What concrete evidence demonstrates the project's real impact on achieving livelihood targets?

Efficiency

• • • Evaluate how efficiently the project utilized resources (financial, human, time, etc.) to achieve its outcomes. Were resources allocated effectively in relation to the project's goals?
    • For the resources used, what level of impact was achieved on the livelihoods of farmers?
    • Considering alternative approaches that could have achieved similar outcomes, was the RTC project implemented in a more efficient manner?
    • How have the partners worked together, is there room for improvement in their methods of collaboration? Are each of the partners working from their strengths?

Mechanism Change for Recommendation

• • • Analyze the factors that contributed to exceeding expectations (overperformance) or falling short of goals (underperformance) on specific project objectives. Focus on identifying both internal (project design, implementation) and external factors (market changes, unforeseen circumstances).
    • Identify any unforeseen factors, beyond the project's direct control, that significantly influenced the achievement or non-achievement of the outputs/outcomes. Explore how these factors could be mitigated or addressed in future project iterations.
    • Evaluate the extent to which the project implementation actively integrated gender considerations and supported Women's Economic Empowerment (WEE). Identify areas for improvement in promoting gender equity and WEE within the project.

1. DELIVERABLES
   • • Provide inception report with detail workplan, tool and methodology as well as clear structure of team members within 1-2 weeks after signing the contract.
     • Follow reporting template that is provided by Oxfam in Cambodia.
     • Coordinate at least two consultation workshops with the Project Steering Committee and stakeholders to gather inputs after the initial draft report is completed and submitted to Oxfam in Cambodia
     • Ability to provide actionable recommendations based on findings, particularly regarding improving project outcomes and enhancing collaboration among partners.
     • Final MTR report will be submitted by the end of April 2025.

2. Qualifications

The ideal consultant for the MTR should possess the following qualifications:

• • • A master’s degree in a relevant field such as Agriculture, Economic, Social Sciences, Natural Resources management, Development Studies or a related discipline.
    • At least 10 years of demonstrated experience in project evaluation especially agricultural sector including experience with both quantitative and qualitative methods.
    • Knowledge of gender issues in agricultural development and experience in integrating gender considerations into project assessments.
    • Proven experience in both qualitative and quantitative research methods, including surveys, interviews, and focus group discussions.
    • Demonstrated experience in assessing project effectiveness, efficiency, and impact, particularly in the context of livelihoods and agricultural development.
    • Strong writing skills, with a track record of producing clear, comprehensive evaluation reports.
    • The consultant should provide references from previous evaluations or relevant projects, demonstrating success in similar roles.
    • Commitment to ethical research practices, including obtaining informed consent and ensuring confidentiality of participants.
    • Proficiency in English is required; additional language skills relevant to the project context are an advantage.

PAYMENT SCHEDULE

This consultancy will be undertaken from Feb 2025 to April 2025.

CLARIFICATIONS

Any questions, remarks or requests for clarification can be sent up to 7 days before the submission deadline in writing to Mr. Ear Chong, Partnership and Program Quality Coordinator, Oxfam in Cambodia at chong.ear@oxfam.org;

EVALUATION AND AWARD CRITERIA

Incomplete applications will not be assessed, only quotations that meet the administrative criteria will be assessed.

Award decisions will be based on the best value-for-money criteria covering both technical quality and price.

Only quotations with combined scores of at least 65 points (out of 85) for the technical award criteria (approach paper and CV) qualify for the financial evaluation.

For detailed information about Evaluation Criteria, please refer to the full Terms of Reference (link provided in Annexes)

Oxfam withholds the right to conduct interviews with one or more potential consultants before an award decision is made. Purpose of the interview is to seek further clarification on the submitted quotations and learn more about the background and previous experiences of the potential consultants and their teams.

Please find full ToR in the link:
https://oxfam.box.com/s/dlb09yoa7lwotq20hegn0knz5oxjww5o