1. Background

The International Solidarity Foundation (ISF) is a Finnish development organization founded in 1970. ISF’s 2022-2025 program aims to strengthen the bodily integrity and livelihood resilience of women and girls in Kenya, Somaliland, and Ethiopia. The program consists of development projects implemented by local partners.

The International Solidarity Foundation (ISF) in partnership with the Agricultural Development Organization (ADO) has implemented the project titled “Strengthening Women’s Livelihood for Economic Development and Climate Change Adaptation” from 2022 to 2025 in Somaliland. 

Project goal: Women and men farmers’ improved livelihood resilience in Togdheer and Sanaag Regions.

Project outcomes:

• Women and men have diversified income sources and economic empowerment opportunities.

• Farmers and pastoralists sustain crop and livestock productivity through improved capacity to adapt to climate shocks.

• Farmers and pastoralists apply agricultural innovations and sustain biodiversity conservation and environmental sustainability.

• Women’s sphere of influence has expanded.

Direct beneficiaries: 1,100 individuals, including irrigated farmers (Gaacidh, Xidhxidh, and Midhisho), rain-fed farmers (Boodhlay), and pastoralists in all target areas.

The project promotes sustainable natural resource management and supports communities to develop and implement community-based climate adaptation plans (CAAPs). It improves access to water and appropriate seeds, and trains women and men in climate smart agriculture and pastoral practices. 

The project supports the establishment and strengthening of women’s self-help groups (SHGs) and cooperatives, building their technical and entrepreneurial capacities in poultry farming, beekeeping, and small-scale businesses. Furthermore, the project enhances market linkages, access to finance, and business management skills to increase household incomes and economic opportunities for women and men.

Promoting women's productive and decision-making roles manifests in a heightened risk of partner and/or non-partner violence and harassment. The project organises discussion sessions on the importance of women’s productive role for the family and prevention of Violence against women and girls (VAWG). 

1. Purpose and scope of the evaluation

The overall purpose of the evaluation is to assess a) effectiveness of the implementation strategies in relation to the project objectives; b) impact of the project on households’ and communities’ capacity to adapt to shocks and stressors caused by extreme weather and mitigate the impacts of climate change; and c) sustainability of the planned results. 

Special attention should be paid to project’s impact on gender equality and women’s social inclusion. 

The project locations are Midhisho, Xidh-xidh and Gaacidh in Erigavo and Boodhley in Burao. Most of the ADO project activities were implemented in Erigavo in 2022-2024. After the conflict flare up in Erigavo in the end of 2024, ISF limited its programme operations in the area. ADO project team collects the evaluation data in project villages in Erigavo and share it with the consultant. The consultant will collect evaluation data in Burao (Boodhlay). In addition, the consultant will interview stakeholders both in Erigavo (secondary methods such as phone calls) and Burao. The final analysis will combine data from both districts to ensure a comprehensive evaluation of the project’s performance and results.   

The evaluation will cover the entire project period (2022-2025) and the data will be collected from the direct beneficiaries and the following stakeholders: 

• Ministry of Environment and Climate Change in Burao in Erigavo 
• Ministry of Agricultural Development in Burao and Erigavo
• National Disaster Preparedness and Food Reserve Authority (NADFOR)
• Local government authorities in Burao and Erigavo
• University of Burao
• Sanaag University and IGAD Sheikh Technical Veterinary School and Reference Centre (ISTVS)
• Relevant banks and micro-finance institutions (Dahabshiil, Premier bank, Amal)

1. Specific objectives and key questions

The evaluation will use the OECD DAC evaluation criteria: relevance, coherence, effectiveness, efficiency, impact, and sustainability. The following key questions will guide the project evaluation.

Relevance

• To what extent do the achieved results continue to be relevant to the needs of the beneficiaries?
• Were the selected implementation strategies relevant in promoting climate adaptation of the households and communities? 
• were the selected implementation strategies relevant in promoting gender equality and women’s inclusion in community decision making and economic sphere?

Coherence

• How well is the project aligned with national agricultural and gender equality and district development plans?
• To what extent is the project harmonized and complementary with other local interventions, and avoiding duplication?

Efficiency

• Is the use of human and economic resources efficient in relation to the project’s achievements? 
• Are the information distribution and dissemination methods relevant and efficient? How the project succeeded in combining local knowledge and experience to its capacity development actions?

Effectiveness 

• Data collection in Burao of the selected project indicators covering the following themes: 
  • Effectiveness of the community-based climate adaptation plans (CAAP) and the capacity of the CAAP committees
  • Production volumes and yields of the selected crops and livestock 
  • Impact of the project on soil fertility and health
  • Women’s and men’s access to seeds and water
  • To what extent women and men apply the agricultural innovations and resilience strengthening skills introduced by the project and their effects on production?
  • Women’s and men’s access to professional support services
  • Effectiveness of the women’s SHGs and their level of importance to family wellbeing
  • Change in the position of women in community decision-making bodies relevant to the project
  • Perceptions of women on their opportunities to generate income and affect family decisions (e.g. expenditure)
• Based on data from Burao (collected by consultant) and from Erigavo (collected by ADO) to what extent the project achieved its outcomes and outputs? 
• Were the project implementation and outreach strategies effective, including stakeholder cooperation and development of the manuals?
• What was the added value of combining VAWG prevention for women's economic empowerment?
• Could a different approach (strategies and tools) produce better results?
• Which factors have facilitated/hindered the achievement of the expected results?

Impact

• To what extent has the project achieved its overall goal to improve women’s, men’s and communities’ capacity to adapt to and mitigate the impacts of climate change?
• Were the applied strategies and activities appropriate and adequate to achieve the project goal?
• What was the impact on expansion of agribusiness and market access, and their significance to livelihood resilience? 
• What was the impact on women’s meaningful social inclusion in community decision making, changes in women’s opportunities to participate in income generating activities, and changes in how men support women's activity? 
• What was impact on food availability of the households? 
• Have there been unintended positive or negative outcomes?
• How have external social, economic, or political factors influenced the project’s impact?
• What social, political, or/and economic (external to the project) factors have contributed or hindered the project impact?

Sustainability

• Institutional sustainability of the committees (e.g. WASH and CAAP).
• Institutional and economic sustainability of the cooperatives supported by the project. 
• Economic sustainability of the women’s business activities and cooperatives. 
• Environmental sustainability of agricultural production, CAAPs and land use plans/natural resource management plans. 
• Are there effective exit and handover mechanisms to local institutions?
• What are the factors that might influence the sustainability of the impact and/or results? 
• Recommendations to strengthen the sustainability of similar projects in the future.

1. Methodology of the evaluation

The evaluation should collect and analyze quantitative and qualitative data through the following methods: 

• Desk study and review of all relevant project documentation including project documents, annual work-plans, quarterly and annual project reports, reports of the project steering committee
• Key informant in-depth interviews (KII) to gather primary data from key stakeholders 
• Focus group discussions (FGD) with project beneficiaries and other stakeholders.
• Individual and/or group surveys 
• Participatory methods and tools
• Observations during field visit(s)

1. Timing, duration and expected deliverables of the evaluation

The evaluation is expected to start in November 2025 and the estimated duration is 25 working days. This will include

• desk review and submission of inception report
• field visit(s) and data collection in Burao
• data analysis and evaluation report writing
• submission of the final report

Based on the project documentation, the consultant shall submit an inception report to ISF within 3 days after signing the contract. The inception report serves as an agreement between parties on how the evaluation will be conducted, covering the following items:

• Development of tools and Inception Report (3 days): The consultant will produce an inception report outlining the proposed methodology, data collection tools, timeline, and travel plan. The consultant is also expected to conduct a desk review.
• Data Collection (9 days): Conduct interviews, focus group discussions, and site visits in Berbera.
• Data Analysis and Draft and final Reports (10 days): Analyse the collected data and produce a draft report that includes key findings, conclusions, and recommendations. finalisation of the report incorporating feedback from ISF.
• Validation workshop to validate initial evaluation findings (1 day)
• Submission of the final report (2 days)

The consultant is expected to submit an inception report to ISF within 3 days after signing the contract. The inception report serves as an agreement between parties on how the evaluation will be conducted, covering the following items: 

• Research methodology, including data collection tools (e.g. FGD and KII questions etc), suggested target groups and sample sizes, and ethical considerations
• Proposal for a learning event to validate the findings of the evaluation of findings. 
• Schedule of the evaluation activities incl. travelling (timeline)

The final evaluation report, which incorporates the ISF comments and suggestions done to the draft report, should be submitted to ISF within 25 days after signing the consultancy agreement. 

1. Qualifications of the consultant

The profile of the individual consultants needs to meet the qualification requirements below: 

• University degree in agronomy, environmental science or any other relevant science  
• Extensive (more than 7 years) working experience in relevant fields, experience in gender issues is prerequisite
• More than 5 years of experience in research and/or project development/management and review
• Experience of working with international organizations 
• Evidence of quality outputs from previous assignments
• Fluent English 
• Good qualitative and quantitative analytical skills
• Good reporting and presenting skills
• Punctuality and availability to complete the work on time