Consultant - ERGF-TAZO Endline Assessment at Mercy Corps Nigeria

Mercy Corps Nigeria is implementing the Empowering Resilience Ginger Farmers (ERGF) in Kachia, Sanga, Jemaa and Jaba LGAs of Kaduna State. The ERGF is a 34 months program that commenced in October 2022.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Consultant - ERGF-TAZO Endline Assessment

Location: Kaduna
Employment Type: Contract

Job Summary

• We are implementing the Empowering Resilience Ginger Farmers (ERGF) in Kachia, Sanga, Jemaa and Jaba LGAs of Kaduna State. The ERGF is a 34 months program that commenced in October 2022. 
• This Program is implemented through the market system development approach to connect 6000 farmers in Kaduna state to resources, training, and inputs, foster improved linkages between ginger farmers, and financial institutions, markets, and set-up and support savings groups to build longer-term financial capacity, increased productivity and resiliency. The program was given an extension of 5 months (April - August 2025). 
• The Program is expected to end in August 2025. The ERGF Program implements in the 4 Local Government Areas (Kachia, Sanga, Jema’a, and Jaba) of Kaduna State.
• The program's overall goal is that ginger farmers, especially females and their families in Kaduna State would have increased ginger productivity, increased incomes, and built longer-term financial stability and resilience.
• The ERGF’s Theory of Change (ToC) states that “IF ERGF program strengthens the resilience capacities of Vulnerable Ginger famers, and households using market systems with regenerative agriculture approaches, AND leverage on complementary investment, THEN there will be sustained Improvement in Market Interactions within the ginger producing communities, Environmental Sustainability, Improved yield and Social Inclusion leading to sustainable reduction of vulnerability and poverty of the ginger farmers, households and communities, thereby contributing to Increased income and productivity.

The following are the specific objectives of the Program:

• Ginger farmers develop increased knowledge of resilient agricultural practices.
• Increased productivity and income of ginger farmers through increased application of resilient agricultural practices and market linkages.
• Improved knowledge on the Return on Investment (ROI) for resilient agricultural practices and their scalability.
• Ginger Farmers is connected to financial tools to support investment in their businesses.

Evaluation Details
Rationale of the evaluation:

• Mercy Corps is committed to measuring the program’s performance through monitoring and progress monitoring of the set outcomes while assessing achievements and results at the program's Midline and end-term. 
• Mercy Corps wants to ensure that outcome monitoring, reviews, and evaluations are timely, of good quality, and useful for program improvement and is keen to collate evidence on the impacts of its programs and document lessons learned for improvement.
• The end line evaluation aims to evaluate project achievements and impacts resulting from interventions and the key outcome indicators in the project’s results framework. 
• Specifically, the study will examine whether the productivity, access to finance, saving schemes, financial literacy and numeracy, market linkages and income of Ginger farmers, particularly women, have improved through the program. 
• The study is expected to document the best practices and lessons learned for stakeholder dissemination and future implementation and scale up. 
• It will also generate gender-disaggregated data on key indicators. In addition, the evaluation will also measure the effectiveness, impact, and sustainability of the program interventions and document the extent to which the program achieved its intended objectives and outcomes. 
• The findings will inform future programming and contribute to learning and recommendations around climate-smart, inclusive agriculture in fragile settings.

Objectives
The Endline Evaluation will aim to:

• Document the extent to which the program’s performance targets were met ( i.e not met, met or exceeded) grouped per the results framework and program interventions against program objectives and Theory of Change
• Measure behavior changes among key stakeholders including ginger farmers (especially women), cooperatives, financial institutions, and market actors.
• Assess the relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, sustainability, and impact of the program interventions.
• Document evidence, if any (using Raw Mean Difference (RMD) and qualitative data, if collected) that the program’s outputs contributed to measured changes in outcome indicators comparing baseline and endline data to identify changes in productivity, income, financial inclusion, saving schemes, access to improved market information and linkages, sustainable good agronomic practices and gender participation.
• Evaluate the gender-responsive strategies employed and their effectiveness in empowering women within the ginger value chain.
• Document lessons learned, good practices, unintended outcomes (positive or negative) of the program and challenges to inform scale-up or replication.
• Document any key contextual changes that have occurred and hypothesize (with supporting data and evidence, where possible) as to how (positively or negatively) this has affected program implementation, outputs and outcomes and by what magnitude (low, medium, high).
• Assess the program’s contribution to strengthening market systems and supporting organic and climate-smart agriculture.
• Document the extent to which the program followed and completed its approved work plans for each of the program’s purposes/outcomes (replace with preferred terminology) in which it works.

The proposed evaluation dimensions for the endline have been summarized in the table below:

• Dimensions of the Evaluation Cross Cutting Themes of the Evaluation
• Achievements Resilience
• Relevance Adaptive Management
• Effectiveness and Efficiency Sustainability
• Gender and Inclusion
• Synergy with other Programmes (Leverage and Layering)
• Collaborations
• The external evaluator (consulting firm) will measure the indicators below during the evaluation.

Parameter Performance Indicators

• Outcome 1.1: Percentage of ginger farmers who developed increased knowledge and practice of resilient agricultural practices.
• Output 1,1.1: Number of ginger farmers trained on resilient agricultural practices
• Output 1.1.2: Number of radio talk-shows conducted to share information/create awareness on resilient agricultural practices.
• Outcome 2.1: Percentage of vulnerable ginger farmers with increased income through the adoption of resilient agricultural practices
• Output 2.1.1: Number of premium traders linked with ginger farmers/Associations
• Output 2.1.2: Number of ginger farmer associations with formal arrangements with input suppliers
• Outcome 2.2: Report capturing pathway for potential ginger farmers organic certification.
• Outcome 3.1: Percentage of ginger farmers that demonstrate increased knowledge and increased on ROI
• Outcome 4.1: Percentage of ginger farmers is connected to financial tools to support their investment in their business.
• Output 4.1.1: Number of ginger farmers who access business development skills training
• Output 4.1.2: Number of ginger farmers who access VSLs and/financial inclusion training
• Output 4.1.3: Number of ginger farmers saving groups formed.
• Output 4.1.4: Number of individuals ginger farmers in the savings and loans groups formed
• Ouput 4.2.1: Number of individual female farmers who access savings and loans (formal or informal)
• Output 4.3.1: Number of women ginger farmers groups trained on leadership skills, decision making and price negotiation skills.
• Output 4.3.2: Number of events/fairs/radio-talk conducted to showcase women ginger farmers and their roles in ginger farming (leadership).
• Output 4.3.3: Number of participants who attended events/fairs

Endline Evaluation Design and Proposed Questions:

• The overall scope of work for this assignment entails conducting a comprehensive assessment of all the program components and achievements so far, creating an accurate and comprehensive picture of the project implementation, generating findings on evaluation criteria and documenting good practices. 
• Good practice should be defined as: “strategies, approaches and/or activities that have been shown through research and evaluation to be effective, efficient, sustainable and/or transferable, and to reliably lead to a desired result. 
• The scope will involve reviewing existing program documents, literature, reports, and databases and assessment while providing recommendation and lessons learned. 
• The project started in 2023 and runs through 2025; this evaluation will study the changes in the impact, outcome and output indicators the project aimed to achieve between these periods. 
• The evaluation approach taken will be gender-sensitive, inclusive of all stakeholders including people with a disability, culturally sensitive and participatory; and will obtain informed consent from all evaluation participants. 

The following elements should guide the design and implementation of this Endline survey:

• The study should consciously adopt a mixed research methods consisting of a desk review of existing literature, quantitative and Qualitative data collection approaches consisting of Household survey and key informant interviews (KIIs), Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) approaches that are gender sensitive. The methodology will seek to reveal and understand not only the “what” and the “how”, but also to place more emphasis on exploring the “why”?
• A purposive and stratified random sampling method should be employed to reduce biasedness.
• The scope of the study must be consistent with the budget and timeline available.
• The data collection has to be done using the Commcare platform and specific tools used to assure quality and reliability of the data collected.
• Upon contracting, the indicator performance plan and other related documents shall be made available to the consultant.
• The evaluation should use a structured questionnaire for the quantitative survey and a question guide to collect the qualitative primary data. A total of 16 FGDs will be conducted (4 per LGA) consisting of 10 participants maximum per cluster between the age of 18-50 and above and disaggregated by male and female.
• A total of 30 KIIs should be conducted which will target but not limited to cluster or cooperative leads, partners and other stakeholders.
• A household survey that targets a total sample size of 600 in the 4 LGAs.

Endline Evaluation design:

• The evaluation will be conducted following the Mercy Corps evaluation standards. This will be in line with the results-based approach, focusing on identifying and analyzing results from key questions related to the evaluation criteria and the achievement of the outcomes/ objectives of the program using the indicators in the logical framework of the program.

While the Endline will be formative in assessing the progress to date and lessons learnt, the evaluation design will consider the Program in relation to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Development Assistance Committee (DAC) evaluation criteria: effectiveness, efficiency, relevance, sustainability, and impact. This will also track Program deliverables for the output and activity to date verses the progress made till this date. This is necessary to track the Program direction. The nature and scope of this evaluation required a combination of quantitative (HHs structured questionnaire) and qualitative (FGD, KII) evaluation design. In sum, a matrix of progress toward result will be presented.

Key Evaluation Questions
The consultant will consider the following during the evaluation:
Relevance:

• How well did the program design align with the needs of ginger farmers, especially women?

Effectiveness:

• To what extent were the planned activities implemented and intended output achieved?
• How effective were training, market access, and financial tools in improving productivity and income?

Efficiency:

• Were resources (time, funds, personnel) used effectively to achieve program goals?

Impact:

• What changes in income, productivity, resilience, and gender empowerment can be attributed to the program?
• To what extent did the program influence broader systems (e.g., financial institutions, cooperatives)?

Sustainability:

• To what extent are the benefits of the program likely to continue beyond its conclusion?
• Have key local actors (e.g., cooperatives, extension agents, financial institutions, market actors) demonstrated ownership and capacity to sustain interventions?
• What elements of the program were most and least effective, and what factors influenced their success or failure?
• What adaptations were made during implementation, and how would these contribute to sustainability?
• What lasting changes in gender and social inclusion have been observed, particularly regarding women’s leadership and participation in the value chain?
• How have relationships with market actors and service providers evolved, and what insights can inform future engagement?
• What are the long-term prospects for continued adoption of climate-resilient and organic practices, and what lessons support their scale-up?

Gender and Social Inclusion:

• How did the program address gender constraints in land access, finance, and market participation?
• What shifts occurred in women's leadership, financial agency, and decision-making roles?

Roles and Expected Deliverables
In collaboration with Mercy Corps, the external evaluator is expected to carry out the following tasks and to produce a comprehensive final endline evaluation report:

• Review program documents (Proposal/narrative, Program Monitoring and Evaluation Plan, PMP, baseline, and midline evaluation reports, protocols, Activity monitoring database, etc.)
• Develop a detailed Inception report detailing the: evaluation plan including evaluation study design, sampling protocols, data collection tools, data analysis plans, etc.) and a timeline for the execution of the evaluation tasks (preferably a Gantt chart with work breakdown structure), and a final report structure outline.
• Translate data collection tools into Hausa and pilot all survey questionnaires and tools.
• Train, and oversee the work of enumerators/surveyors.
• Collect data with inclusion and gender perspective including collection of socio-demographic data and disaggregation by gender, age, and disability and any other sector and program required disaggregation
• Ensure high ethical standards and safeguarding during fieldwork, i.e. anonymity of data, human subject research concerns (Do No Harm - dignity, rights, safety, and privacy concerns), and confidentiality.
• Prepare a draft report using the provided outline.
• Prepare a revised report that incorporates the feedback provided by the Tazo team
• Submit a final report in English to Mercy Corps.
• Submit to Mercy Corps all the documents related to the study (filled questionnaires, electronic versions of the collected data, transcripts, coded qualitative (interview/focus group) data, training manual, fieldwork logs, etc.)
• Hold weekly status calls with the Tazo team and senior management team.
• Conduct in-country presentation of findings to Mercy Corps.
• Prepare a brief report of 7 - 10 pages summarizing key findings and programme achievements.
• Prepare an edited, formatted and copy, read final version of the evaluation report after incorporating feedback from Mercy Corps' technical team. This will include a merge of the baseline, midline, and endline data clearly analyzed. He/She will also conduct statistically significant tests for all indicators to assess change patterns over these 3 phases.
• Develop the programme case study profiles
• Produce a lesson learnt document for the Tazo Programme (a maximum of 10 pages).

Mercy Corps Support:
To ensure the external evaluator can accomplish the above-mentioned tasks, Mercy Corps will:

• Provide access to the program and research materials (Program proposal/narrative, Activity Monitoring and Evaluation Plan, PMP, baseline, and midline evaluation reports, protocols, Activity monitoring database, etc.) and will ensure that the contractor receives timely feedback to the research firm on research design, all data collection tools, translation, sampling strategy, and other methodological components.
• Oversee data-collection in all programme locations.
• Travel is subject to Mercy Corps security clearance.
• Provide input to all tool designs.
• Provide feedback to the draft report.
• Mercy Corps Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) team will be available to work directly with the external evaluator throughout the consultancy and to answer any question as they emerge.

Proposed Evaluation Workplan:

• The Endline Assessment should be completed within a maximum of 30 days. The consultant should submit the detailed breakdown of the assessment timetable based on the following major activities as a guideline or suggestion

S/no Activities Timeline:

• Onboarding and signing of contract 2 days
• Desk review 4 days
• Inception Report including development of survey questionnaire and data collection tools and uploading on MCN data collection platform 5 days
• Training of enumerators for data collection including pretest 2 days
• Field data collection and transcriptions 5 days
• Data cleaning and analysis 4 days
• Report writing and preparation 4 days
• Presentation to Program team and stakeholders 1 day
• Review and final submission of report 3 days
• Quality Assurance and Control Measures

The following steps will be undertaken to ensure the rigor and quality of the planned Evaluation.

• A thorough review of the inception report and other evaluation documents prior to data collection. Documents to be reviewed will include the evaluation plan, enumerator training slides, data analysis framework and data collection tools.
• Interviewers/moderators will be properly and adequately briefed on the purpose of the study and the methodology being used. Emphasis will be given to making sure that all staff are aware of the need for accurate work done to professional standards.
• Pilot Study: Before the commencement of fieldwork, a pilot or field testing of the quantitative and qualitative survey tool will be tested for data flow. The pilot will be done to assess the understanding of the questions by research participants, enumerators, the flow of the different questions and the time needed to administer the questionnaires. 
• The tool pre-test will provide the team with an opportunity to identify any challenges that could arise during fieldwork in relation to appropriateness and usability of the instruments and address them accordingly.
• The quantitative survey tool and qualitative guide/questionnaire will be administered to eligible respondents by enumerators.
• MEL representatives with close consultations with the external evaluator will provide on-field supervision and perform a daily debrief of completed interviews and provide feedback to the Tazo focal point person. At the end of the data collection, the MEL representative will also submit a field report that will outline his/her observations.
• Data Triangulation: The data gotten from the survey, discussions and interviews will be triangulated to the figures reported.

Ethical Considerations:

• The endline evaluation process will uphold highest standards of safeguarding and ethical considerations. Ethical considerations will apply in every stage of the evaluation as from; reviewing of the program documents, identification of target population, seeking consent prior to the data collection, data analysis and interpretation, report writing, dissemination of the research results and storage of the data collected.
• Data collection will be conducted following the principle of respect for persons, benevolence, and confidentiality. Strategies to be adopted will include confidentiality, informed consent and ethical approval. 
• A detailed consent form will be developed and administered to every respondent in a manner that must respect the moral principles, the values, norms and the culture of the research participants.
• Confidentiality and anonymity of the participants will be upheld, especially when receiving sensitive information about the respondents.
• Proposed Endline Report Structure & Content
• Cover Page (with photo, if possible).

List of Acronyms:

• Table of Contents, which identifies page numbers for the major content areas of the report.
• Executive Summary - Stand-alone document that concisely states the project background and purpose, evaluation questions, design, methods, limitations, findings, conclusions, and recommendations (not to exceed 4 pages)

Body of Report
Introduction and Purpose:

• Project Context: Describe the context in the country that the project is being implemented, including any social, political, demographic, institutional, or gender equality factors that are relevant to the project.
• Project Description: Describe the project including, project activities and implementation strategy, location(s) of project activities, target population, stakeholder roles and contribution to the project, project status, and budget.
• Results Framework: Include the project’s theory of change, results framework graphic, and critical assumptions.
• Purpose of the Evaluation: Describe the purpose of the evaluation including the evaluation type and purpose, any previous evaluations related to the project, the intended audience of the evaluation, how the evaluation findings will be used by the implementer, and how the evaluation informs the program’s broader Learning Agenda.

Evaluation Design and Methodology:

• Evaluation Questions: List the evaluation questions in the context of relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, impact, and sustainability (as outlined in the final evaluation TOR).
• Evaluation Design: Describe the overall design/approach used for the evaluation, including the type of evaluation, how culturally appropriate participatory methods were incorporated into the design, and how ethical standards regarding all participants, especially at-risk populations, were incorporated into the evaluation design.
• Sampling Methods: Describe the basic sampling strategy used during the evaluation including the sampling frame, rationale and mechanics of participant selection for the sample, number of participants selected out of potential subjects, selection criteria for any counterfactual/control groups (as applicable), limitations of the sample, minimum detectable effect and confidence level.
• Data Collection Methods: Describe data collection methods and instruments (both qualitative and quantitative) and analysis tools used in the evaluation. The actual instruments themselves (e.g., full surveys and interview guides) should be included in the annexes. Items of discussion include level of precision (quantitative), value scales or coding used (qualitative), level of participation, description of how tools were developed/adapted to be relevant to local stakeholders and culturally appropriate, empowerment of stakeholders through the evaluation process, reliability of the data, and how the data collection methods were design to collect gender related data, including disaggregated data and questions reflecting gender issues.
• Data Analysis Methods: Describe how those data are analyzed. Common methods of analysis include regressions, difference-in-difference calculations, interview coding, etc. It should be clear how these methods are linked to each of the evaluation questions and why they are appropriate to answer those questions.
• Evaluation Limitations: Outline key limitations of the evaluation (for example: lack of baseline data; selection bias as to sites, interviewees, comparison groups; seasonal unavailability of key informants; contamination of control groups, etc.) and how these were mitigated.
• Findings: Findings are empirical facts based on data collected during the evaluation and should not rely only on the opinion, even of experts. It should report both qualitative and quantitative data, and also report on the project’s key performance indicators (a table with the results of all performance indicators should be included in an annex). The findings should also consider the possibility of unintended side effects of the intervention. This could include an analysis of how project interventions affected various segments of the population differently (e.g., different affects based on gender, socio-economic status, age, etc.).
• Conclusions: Describe the conclusions of the evaluation. Clearly explain how the logic behind the conclusions correlates with actual findings. Conclusions should be substantiated by findings consistent with data collected and methodology used and ultimately answer the Evaluation Questions. If conclusions are tentative, clearly identify the details of what is known and what can be plausibly assumed. Ensure the conclusions add value to the findings. Do not highlight simple conclusions that are already well known and obvious.
• Recommendations: Recommendations should be relevant to the project, Terms of Reference (TOR), and objectives of the evaluation and formulated clearly and concisely. Describe how the evidence and analysis provide the basis for the recommendations. Recommendations must be specific and actionable, prioritized to the extent possible, and include responsibilities and a timeframe for their implementation. They should also consider gender and other intersectional issues, as relevant.

Annexes – All relevant annexes should be part of the report. Annexes that are required include: bibliography, table of indicator data, results framework, data collection instruments (questionnaires, interview guides, observation protocol, sampling tools, etc.), terms of reference or statement of work for the evaluation, conflict of interest forms, key elements of statistical results.

The evaluator (consulting firm) is expected to deliver a comprehensive, professional quality final evaluation report. The following are the key deadlines for the report:

• First draft report to be submitted by 31st July 2025.
• Mercy Corps will review the draft report and provide feedback within one week from the point of submission.
• Final report is due on 8th August 2025.

Consultant Qualifications and Expertise

• Educational Qualification: A minimum of a Master’s Degree in Agricultural Economics, Development Studies, Economics, Social Ssciences or a related field.
• Professional Experience: Extensive and proven experience (at least 8 years) in conducting research and analysis in the agricultural sector, particularly in market systems development and value chain analysis. Proven track record of successfully leading similar assessments or studies related to agricultural input markets.
• Technical Skills: Proficiency in conducting literature reviews, data analysis, and market assessments. Strong analytical skills to identify trends, challenges, and opportunities within agricultural interventions. Familiar with qualitative and quantitative research methods, including surveys, interviews, and focus group discussions. Ability to develop comprehensive reports with actionable recommendations for stakeholders.
• Communication and Reporting Skills: Excellent communication and interpersonal skills to facilitate interviews, surveys, and focus group discussions. Proficient in report writing and presentation skills
• Project Management skills: Strong project management skills to oversee the entire research process from inception to final deliverables. Ability to develop work plans, manage timelines, and coordinate fieldwork activities. Attention to detail and ability to adhere to project deadlines and budgets.
• Language Proficiency: Proficiency in English and Hausa is required, and/or knowledge of local languages spoken in the Southern part of Kaduna State would be an advantage for effective communication with stakeholders.
• Ethical Standards: Commited to upholding ethical standards in research, including obtaining informed consent, ensuring confidentiality, and respecting the rights and dignity of research participants.

Selection Criteria
S/N Technical Areas Score:

• Proposal: The consultant must present a detailed proposal highlighting experience in a related field and areas of expertise. 20
• Expertise & technical know-how: The consultant must:
• Have at least 8 years professional experience in conducting literature reviews, data analysis, and market assessments.
• Be familiar with qualitative and quantitative research methods, including surveys, interviews, and focus group discussions.
• Have ability to develop comprehensive reports with actionable recommendations for stakeholders.in research methodologies, including data collection, analysis, interpretation, and report writing, particularly in the agricultural sector or field. 40
• Understanding of Context: the consultant must have an understanding of cultural, social and economic factors of Kaduna State, especially the Southern part. 20
• Budget: A detailed budget including deliverables and Timelines of activities 20 100

The Consultant Reporting Structure:

• The Endline Assessment will be managed by the ERGF Monitoring and Evaluation Program lead with close collaboration with Mercy Corps Program Performance and Quality Team. A more exact consultative and decision-making management structure with clear roles and responsibilities will be determined during the inception phase of the study.

Budget and Logistics:

• A detailed budget outlining the costs associated with the training program will be developed.
• The consultant should provide a detailed financial proposal, including daily rates, travel, accommodation, and data collection costs, venue, participants refreshments etc.
• Mercy Corps will support field access and coordination, but the consultant is expected to lead logistics planning for data collection.

Payment terms and conditions:

• The consultant will receive a one-off payment upon successful completion of all deliverables. The total payment will be made in a lump sum following the submission and approval of the final evaluation report and all associated deliverables.

Payment Conditions:

• The consultant must submit the final evaluation report and deliver the presentation to Mercy Corps and key stakeholders.
• The final payment will be made within 14 days of receiving the complete set of deliverables and final approval from Mercy Corps.
• The agreed payment will be made after the successful completion and approval of all tasks outlined in the Scope of Work.

Application Closing Date
28th May, 2025.

Method of Application
Interested and qualified candidates should send the following documents as a single folder to: ng-quotations@mercycorps.org using the Job Title as the subject of the mail.

• Name of organization: Name and contact of focal person, office address, Registration type and Number of the company and description of what the company does.
• Consultant(s) profile/CV, including details of academic and/or professional history
• Evidence of similar work conducted.
• Concept note of not more than five pages with previous experience in related activity
• Financial proposal ie breakdown & summary of total cost
• Program activity against a timeline (workplan) – based on activity proposed.