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European Union

End Term Evaluation for

Strengthening Cash transfers for Access to finance, Livelihoods and Entrepreneurship (SCALE)

Terms of Reference

I.Context

CAREhas, since January, 2013, been implementing the "Strengthening Cash Transfers for Access to finance, Livelihood and Entrepreneurship (SCALE)”project through funding from European Union and co-funding through CARE Deutschland-Luxemburg.The overall goal of the project has been to strengthen civil society in Zambia working on social protection as a precondition for a more equitable, inclusive and democratic society. The SCALE Projectintends to complement the government supported Social Cash TransferScheme (SCTS) implemented by the Department of Social Welfare under the Ministry of Community Development and Child Health (MCDCH). The cash transfers are aimed at reducing extreme poverty and offering an opportunity for recepients to invest in the future of their children and break inter-generational poverty. Social cash transfers are regular non contributory payments of money provided by government or nongovernmental organisations to individuals or households. The Sixth National Development Plan (SNDP: 2011 – 2015) highlights the development of the policy as a key objective of social protection policy.

The Department of Social Welfare uses community elected Welfare Committees (CWAC) who identify the most vulnerable individuals and householdfor recruitment on the scheme after undergoing a community verification through community meetings. The recruited individuals and households receive monthly cash transfer to enable them improve their access to basic need of their choice. These cash transfers are un conditional grants paid bimonthly within the communities by government officers working within the community. The SCALE project is a pilot, testing the combination of SCTs with Village Savings and Loans Associations (VSLA) and business skills in Selecting, Planning and Managing (SPM) for promotion of small business by the SCT beneficiaries. The pilot is on the hypothesis that such a combination would enable the SCT beneficiaries live a more sustainable livelihood, and graduate from perpetual dependency on government handouts. It is also expected that project participants would lead a more resilient life. The SCALE project is also intended to enhance the capacity of civil society in Zambia working on social protection to influence social protection policy and programing as they adopt and scale up the VSLA and SPM in their programming.

The project has been implemented in Kalomo, Kazungula, Katete and Kaputa districts of Zambia.

The project was initially designed for 36 monthsunder partnership with Platform for Social Protection(PSP) with its 15 partnersin which period CARE was to build the capacity of PSP with its 15 members to generate and use evidenceto influence the national social policy formulation and action for scaling up VSLA and SPM to other SCT districts.The project was extended for12 months but without continuing the PSP partnership. Thus, CARE directly implemented the SCALE project in the extended period, but still collaborating closely with MCDCH through Department of Social Welfare. Below is the project log frame with specified project objectives, results and indicators:

Project Objectives, Expected Results and Objectively Verifiable Indicators

Project Objectives / Indicator
1)To strengthen Zambia ’s Non State Actor’s (NSA) capacity to generate and use evidence to influence national social protection policy formulation and practice. /
  • # of clients of the Government of Zambia's SCT programme that benefit from revised/integrated graduation model.
  • % change in HH income (measured by expenditure) among participating SCT clients.

2)To enable Zambian NSAs to contribute to effective pathways to graduation from social cash transfers (SCT) for extreme vulnerable households.
Expected Result (ER) / Indicator
ER 1 The CSOs enabled to scale up VSL and business skills beyond the action /
  1. #of CSOs independently implementing VSL and business activities during the 2nd VSL cycle
  2. # of CSOs incorporating VSL and SPM into their core programming (Target=7 members)
  3. # of SCT households trained in VSL and business skills (Target=10, 000)

ER 2 - Evidence of improved resilience documented and used for advocacy purposes by the CSOs. /
  1. # of research and documentation activities that demonstrates evidence of qualitative/quantitative evidence of VSL and business training in intervention and no-intervention sites (Target 3)
  2. # of members participating in advocacy and evidence sharing activities (Target 15)
  3. # of evidence-sharing and advocacy-dialogue opportunities and forums for comprehensive social protection facilitated(Target 3)
  4. # of policy papers presented by CSOs advocating for more integral social protection policy

ER 3 - 10,000 SCT households organized in Village Savings and Loans (VSL) groups are more resilient and able to survive without SCTs. /
  1. Amount of total savings mobilized by VSL groups
  2. # of households participating in VSLs organized among SCT households
  3. % of SCT HH engaged in Income generation activities
  4. # of VSL members trained in business skills

II.Objectives of the End Term Evaluation

The end line study will focus on ER3 in order to:

  1. Assessany added value of the SCALE project to the SCT beneficiaries. This will involve review of secondary data such as that of the base line study and any SCT reports from the Ministry of Community Development of Child Health. The secondary data will include beneficiary household profiles, household livelihood conditions-including engagement into income generating activities, access to financial services and attitude towards savings- choices of expenditure, food security status, coping strategies and gender issues.
  1. Asses the sustainability of the SCALE interventions in the districts, i.e. estimate the percentage of VSLA groups moving on to successive cycles after project phase out;the likelihood of Village Agents (VAs) forming new savings groups even among none SCT beneficiaries after project phase out; whether VSLA successfully conduct share out after project phase out. The study will also be expected to asses social welfare continued support e.g. helping savings on share out, or incorporation of VSLA in their programing and establish any gaps on sustainability of the VSLA and SPM on SCT beneficiaries.
  1. To assess possibility of government scaling up VSLA and SPM to other SCT districts, or adopting some components of the SCALE project. Also to provide lessons and practices that will feed into the design and implementation of similar government supported programs such as the Girls’ Education and Women’s Empowerment and Livelihoods Supporting Women’s Livelihoods (GEWEL SWL) that is yet to be implemented.

Methodology

The study will draw respondents from SCALE’s project operational districts, Social Welfare staff at national and district level, World Bank staff working on the GEWEL project, village headmen, and from among social cash transfer beneficiaries. The consultant will identify a suitable study methodology to achieve the study objectives.

It is however expected that the end line study will employ quantitative and qualitative complementary methods that will also ensure the active involvement of CAREand relevant stakeholders. The active participation of communities and local authorities in the study districts and areaswill also be encouraged. In selecting the study methods, the consultant will ensure to establish any changes on the part of SCT beneficiaries that can be attributed to the action.

The study will also make recommendations on future project designs and implementation, and highlight lessons learnt from the project.

Study areas: The study will be undertaken in all the project districts (Kalomo, Kazungula, Katete and Kaputa) including Lusaka with the Department of Social Welfare. It will be important to field the study in all the districts considering the variations in socio-demographic characteristics

Katete: the district was implementing an age-based Social Cash Transfer with beneficiaries characterized by households with one or more members benefiting from the cash transfer program.The scheme targeted individuals aged 60 years and above. This has now changed to using dependency ratio and disability as criteria for recruiting SCT beneficiaries. The beneficiaries and study participants will be easy to reach as they are clustered around the town area.

Kazungula: a remote district with cash transfer beneficiaries sparsely populated and hard to reach. The SCT programme implemented in the district is characterized by elderly (over 59 years) program beneficiaries.

Kalomo: characterized by both urban and rural beneficiaries who have also been recipients of a wide range of developmental interventions. SCT is paid to households characterized by dependency ratio above 3 and whose household heads are either elderly (over 59 years), chronically sick or children (under 19 years). Sometimes a household can have a multiple of these characteristics.

Kaputa: the most remote of the project districts. Considering its geographical location and the limited developmental opportunities, Kaputa is categorized as one of the poorest districts in the country. Until late 2015, SCT beneficiaries have been mothers with children under 5 years old, regardless of their socio-economic status.

Study Team:

The consultant will assume the role of Principle Investigator and Team Leader and will receive technical support from the CARE Monitoring and Evaluation Unit. CARE Zambia will also provide staff to take part in the data collection.

III.Key End line studyActivities

The following is an indicative list of activities to be considered by the consultant for the conduct of the study:

  • Inception meeting with key projectpartners
  • Preparation and presentation of a draft participatory study design, methodology for data (qualitative and quantitative) collection and analysis including a work plan, to CARE.
  • Desk review of relevant project documents including assessing level of mainstreaming VSL, business skills training and any other livelihood support services.
  • Review of ongoing Social protection policy processes and programs to determine potential scale up of VSLA and SPM in social protections programing.
  • In-depth interviews with relevant key informants (NGOs, Government, local leaders etc) to assess their perception of impact of SCALE project on SCT beneficiaries, on their communities or the influence the SCALE project has had on other social protection programs in the districts.
  • Facilitation of focus group discussions with SCT beneficiaries, CWACs/VAs, and community members to triangulate insights from NGOs and government.
  • Household interviews to measure/establish:

1)The effect of group membership to individuals’ social and psychological aspects of life; did VSLAs provide any forms/elements of social support to its members.

2)The common uses of savings and social fund by the participating households.

3)The % of SCT beneficiaryhousehold’s heads/individuals belonging to any VSLA in their areas.

4)% of SCT beneficiaries with easy access to financial services( savings, loans)

5)The % of households engaged in income generating activities, with differentiation between those who did SPM course and those who did not.

6)The number of SCT beneficiaries trained in business skills and impact associated with SPM training (Compare SPM trained and those not trained in SPM)

7)Coping strategies by SCT beneficiaries-refer to seasonality calendar on food availability or income gaps and establish how people cope upwith hunger in food lean periods.

8)Ability of savings groups to run their own savings business with minimum/no external support.

9)Ability of VAs to facilitate successful VSLAs

  • Data analysis
  • Development of a draft study report and consultations with CARE and partner staff for inputs
  • Finalize report
  • Dissemination workshop

IV.Expected results of the research

The key output of the end line study is a clear and concise report that is responsive to the Terms of Reference and highlights the following;

  • Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and gaps related to mainstreaming VSL and business skills training in social protection policy.
  • Main opportunities and constraints on implementing a SCT that is focused on graduating beneficiaries to live more resilient and self-sustaining livelihoods with less or no dependence on government support, including analysis of potential service providers to SCT graduated households/individuals.
  • Information on on-going social protections policy development and implementation processes at national level and recommendations for possible further influence.
  • Advocacy suggestions to support/guide the roll out of VSLA and SPM to social protection programs.

Other deliverables leading to the final output include;

  • A detailed methodology of the study, discussed and approved by CARE and the local partner;
  • Data collection tools
  • Data analysis plan
  • Data sets and transcripts of analyzed data
  • A reviewed log frame with recommendations for revised indicators;

The descriptive and analytical report will as a minimum include the following content:

•Executive summary

•Introduction

•Description of the study methodology

•Findings with a description and analysis of the status of the project indicator

•Conclusions, including recommendations related to the log frame, indicators and targets.

•Annexes: TOR, list of informants, documents reviewedetc.

The length of the report should not exceed 30 pages in total (excluding the annexes)

V.The Studyduration:

The study will be conducted between January and May, 2017.

VII. Profile of the consultant:

The Consultant will have the following qualifications and experience:

  • University degree qualification
  • Demonstrated experience in social research and analysis
  • Strong report writing skills
  • Proven track record of undertaking participatory and gender-sensitive research for pro-poor projects
  • Facilitation skills and applicable knowledge in participatory tools, data collection and analysis and experience with similar research studies
  • Relevant experience in policy analysis, design and development - especially related to social protection and or livelihoods.
  • Experience in the design, monitoring and review of livelihoods, social protection, entrepreneurship and advocacy
  • Relevant experience in organizational analysis and capacity development of local CSOs
  • Familiarity with the Zambian development context
  • Must be able to lead a research team and supervise enumerators, and collaborate with the commissioning organization.

Mode of Applying

In order to be considered for the consultancy, bidding consultants should submit a detailed Technical and Financial proposal tothe following:

Alfred Chibinga - Cell: 0907577911

Musenga Silungwe - ell: 0979 266050

Henry Loongo - Cell: 0979 578001

Sealed envelopes of the bid may also be delivered to CARE Zambia situated at 9 Chitemwiko Close, Kabulonga, Lusaka, Zambia

Closing Date for receiving proposals is: 21 November 2016

Kindly specify the title of the study on the envelope.