Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA) invites applications from consultants or consulting firms for a Mid-Term Project Review of the Greater Rural Opportunity for Women 2 (GROW2) project, in three regions (Northern, Upper West and Savannah) of northern Ghana.

MEDA’s work is built on a foundation of Mennonite business roots and faith-based values, within the global context of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. We believe business solutions are effective interventions to address poverty. Through a market-systems approach and strategic partnerships, MEDA enables access to finance and provides business and technical expertise to build transformative agri-food market systems that create decent jobs, allowing traditionally excluded groups to become active participants in a sustainable economy. MEDA welcomes all who share our values and want to join us in our mission. To find out more about MEDA, please visit our website at www.meda.org.

Job Details

Job Status: Consultant (Short Term)

Duration of Engagement: January to March, 2025

Location: Hybrid – Ghana

Application Deadline: December 20, 2024, @ 5:00 GMT.

Background

The Greater Rural Opportunities for Women 2 (GROW2) is a five-year project (October 2021 - September 2026) implemented in Ghana’s Northern, Savannah, and Upper West regions. Its primary goal is to enhance the economic and social empowerment of women smallholder farmers (WSHFs), women-led agribusinesses, and women entrepreneurs.

The Project is funded by Global Affairs Canada (GAC) and implemented by the Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA) in partnership with ProNet North, URBANET, Association for Church Development Projects (ACDEP), and Tumu Deanery Rural Integrated Development Programme (TUDRIDEP). GROW2 targets a total of 40,000 WSHFs cultivating soybeans, groundnuts, and vegetables. Additionally, the project builds on the success of its predecessor, GROW, by sustaining and expanding outcomes for the 23,368 WSHFs previously supported.

GROW2 aims to strengthen the business capacity of 50 agribusinesses (at least 50% women-led) and 5,000 women entrepreneurs. These entrepreneurs will play key intermediary roles within the groundnut and soybean value chains—as aggregators, processors, input retailers, seed producers, or service facilitators for fellow women farmers. By assuming these roles, they will not only generate additional income but also transition from production-focused activities to active participation higher up the value chain. This will facilitate the integration of women Smallholder farmers (WSHFs) into groundnut and soybean value chains and broader markets. The Project outcomes are designed to drive sustainable, long-term impact in the target regions by focusing on:

Improved business environment and access to means of production – including finance, training, and land – for women farmers, entrepreneurs, and agribusinesses in selected agricultural value chains.
Increased application of environmentally sustainable and nutrition-focused agricultural practices among women farmers and entrepreneurs.
Increased gender-equitable participation of women and men in decision-making within their households, communities, and the private sector.

GROW2 specifically aims to enhance agricultural productivity for WSHFs and agribusinesses by expanding access to essential financial services, labor-saving technologies, and environmentally sustainable practices. The project promotes the use of productive resources such as land and critical agricultural inputs, ensuring a more inclusive and sustainable agri-food market system. This system links WSHFs to key actors in the groundnut, soybean, and vegetable value chains, fostering stronger market integration. Support for these WSHFs will be delivered through the facilitation of commercially viable, mutually beneficial relationships with market system actors, including processors, aggregators, and suppliers of agricultural technologies. These partnerships will ensure that the women are not only connected to valuable markets but are also equipped to thrive within them, contributing to their long-term economic empowerment and sustainability. MEDA is committed to reviewing the project performance to ensure that results, lessons learned, and the project implementation priorities are documented, for continuous improvement.

Purpose of Mid-term Evaluation

The primary objective of the midterm review (MTR) is to assess the project's progress towards its stated outcomes, with a focus on the appropriateness of the design and overall efficiency in driving results. The review will evaluate the project's effectiveness, relevance, sustainability, opportunities and threats ensuring that current implementation strategies align with the intended impact. Additionally, it will provide actionable recommendations to enhance performance by identifying areas for efficiency improvements, optimizing resource utilization, and refining the project design for long-term success. The review will also help program staff identify necessary interventions and adjust project components to improve intervention delivery. The following data will be collected:

Details of project operations including scope and depth
Intensity and quality of interventions provided.
Socio-cultural context of intervention communities or Zone of Influence.
Demographic characteristics of program participants.
Collaborative partnerships with ecosystem actors
Staff and partners including Key Facilitating Partners (KFPs’) perspectives on internal processes and general implementation challenges
Identifying project strengths, weaknesses, and challenges, with specific focus on project management and resourcing – including Identifying facilitating and inhibiting factors vis-à-vis project results

Specific Mid-term Review Objectives

The evaluation will use the principles of Participatory Action Research (PAR) approach that maximizes shared learning. The evaluation will use multiple lines of evidence, both qualitative and quantitative, to triangulate findings. The study will make use of existing project monitoring and results data (e.g. baseline and outcome reporting) to develop data collection instruments and make comparative assessments to:

Assess the relevance of the GROW2 Market System Project Design in addressing the needs of clients and achieving the desired outcomes –with careful analysis of the projects intervention strategy as articulated within the three broad components in its logic model
Assess the project’s assumptions to determine whether enabling factors are still present and detracting factors are being managed
Assess the relevance and effectiveness of the project’s GESI and ECC strategies.
Assess whether and or to what extent the project is aligned with the government’s agriculture priorities and needs
Evaluate the efficiency of project implementation and assess the long-term sustainability of the interventions introduced – including Gender Transformative Approaches, Environmentally Sustainability Practices, and the Market System Approaches.
Engage key stakeholders, including project clients and local partners, to ensure their perspectives are integrated into the review of project design, efficiency, and sustainability.
Document lessons learned and good practice.
Review Project Management and Internal Processes to ascertain whether the resources and capacities are adequate and are able to carry out the project outputs
Identify and describe the project’s sustainability plans, especially in relation to local ownership, capacity-building efforts, and the ability of clients and local partners to sustain results beyond the project’s lifetime
Provide recommendations to improve project delivery.

Given the recent drought in northern Ghana, the mid-term review will also focus on the feasibility and sustainability of the project’s outcomes within the context of the effects of the drought experienced within the project’s ZOI. Additionally, the review will assess the project's adaptability in responding to emerging challenges, such as climate variability and market dynamics, and identify opportunities for enhancing collaboration with local partners and stakeholders.

An Evaluation Advisory Committee (EAC) will be formed, comprising key project stakeholders, to provide technical guidance to ensure alignment with industry and MEDA’s research and evaluation standards. We expect the evaluation study to employ advanced statistical analyses to measure project performance. The consultant is highly encouraged to suggest innovative evaluation approaches and methodologies in their proposals.

The results and recommendations of this review are primarily intended for MEDA’s Senior Management and the GROW2 project team to help inform project decisions. The findings may also be shared with Global Affairs Canada (GAC) and other key stakeholders including project clients.

Evaluation Questions

How well does the GROW2 Market System Project Design address the needs of women smallholder farmers, agribusinesses, and entrepreneurs?
To what extent is the project design aligned with its long-term goals, the Government of Ghana’s agricultural priorities, ensuring local ownership and capacity-building for sustained outcomes beyond the project lifecycle?
How efficiently have project resources (financial, human, technical) been allocated and utilized in delivering project interventions?
Are the Gender Transformative Approaches (GTAs), Environmentally Sustainable Practices, and Market System Approaches being implemented effectively and efficiently?
What are the key factors contributing to or inhibiting the project’s operational efficiency?
To what extent are the interventions introduced by the project sustainable, particularly in fostering local ownership and building the capacity of clients and partners?
Can the GTAs being implemented by the GROW2 Project deliver results at scale?

Review Scope

The review will assess all administrative processes, activities, outputs, and results generated over the two years of project implementation (FY2 to FY4), using a participatory approach to gather data from a diverse range of stakeholders across the project's 27 districts, municipalities, and metropolitan areas. This midterm review aims to provide valuable insights that will enable GROW2 and MEDA to refine the current design and strategy, ensuring alignment with project goals and improving overall performance. The findings will also inform the design of future economic development initiatives at MEDA, enhancing their relevance, effectiveness, and sustainability in similar contexts. The review should consider the project and learnings in two stages:

Initial Design: a desk review and KIIs with staff to understand the initial design
(its relevance, strengths, weaknesses or gaps, credibility of project assumptions; risk mitigation strategies)
Implementation Progress and learnings: What elements of the project are doing well and why? What elements are less successful or are not serving the intended purpose and why? Where/What are the gaps? Are there innovations?

Review Approach and Methodology

The review will use the Participatory Action Research (PAR) approach that maximizes shared learning. The review will use multiple lines of evidence, both qualitative and quantitative, to triangulate findings. The study will make use of existing project monitoring and results to develop data collection instruments and make comparative assessments.

Development of research questions.
Desk review of current criteria and recruitment processes for clients (farmers and SMEs);
Qualitative data collection: select KIIs and FGDs.
Workshop, potentially including agenda items of the OECD / DAC evaluation domains.
Other methods as suggested by the Consultant.

Through workshop(s), the review will seek to understand the project by trying to change it, collaboratively and allowing for reflection by project staff, stakeholders, and clients.

Data gathering tools and findings should capture progress and results related to such cross-cutting themes as gender equality and environmental sustainability.

Tasks and Responsibilities

The Consultants will prepare a detailed work plan that details the proposed methodology including the sampling techniques, the timelines of the different stages of the evaluation, and deliverables. At a minimum, the work plan should include the following:

Detailed evaluation methodology with sampling protocol. (also mention how the data collected will be protected and secured - clearly mention in the methodology how GESI and ECC aspects will be taken into account in the methodology)
Data gathering tools.
Proposal for data analysis (component areas aligning with evaluation objectives and priority areas);

Deliverables and Timelines

Phase 1: Inception

Initial Desk review and discussion with EAC and key MEDA staff.

Responsible Party/ies: Consultant, with support of EAC

Deliverable: Inception Report (evaluation work plan with research and sampling methods detailed; activity timeline and commitments; data collection tools)

Expected Delivery Date: Within 2 weeks of contract signing

Phase 2: Data collection

Data collection training, pre-test, identify project clients, Interviews, discussions, sector analysis

Responsible Party/ies: Consultant with support of GROW2 team

Deliverables: Training report. Including non-coded primary data (cleaned quantitative dataset) with valid contact information of respondents

Expected Delivery Date: Within 4 weeks of contract signing

Phase 3: Reporting and Validation Phase

Validation Workshop

Responsible Party/ies: Consultant with feedback from EAC

Deliverables: Draft Report; Incorporating feedback for the sector and project stakeholders

Expected Delivery Date: Within 8 weeks of contract signing

Phase 4: Final Reporting and Recommendations

Responsible Party: Consultant

Deliverable: Final Report, should include any related codebooks, and data analysis files (syntax files)

Expected Delivery Date: Within 12 weeks of contract signing

Technical Oversight

An Evaluation Advisory Committee (EAC) will be formed to provide technical guidance to ensure alignment with industry and MEDA’s research and evaluation standards. The Evaluation Advisory Committee will meet with the consultants at the end of the first three phases of the evaluation as described in the table above; and will be available as needed for technical guidance.

Logistical Arrangements:

The local project team will be responsible for making logistical arrangements for field visits and scheduling interviews with key stakeholders.

Budget

The budget for the midterm review will cover professional fees, travel, accommodation, data collection, and other related costs. The consultant/team should submit a detailed budget proposal along with the application. The budget for the evaluation is USD 31,000

Risks and Constraints

An initial list of risks and constraints for the GROW2 project review is outlined below. We encourage applicants to identify any additional risks or challenges they foresee in designing and implementing an evaluation of this size and complexity within the specified timeframe. These will be discussed in greater detail with the selected consultant during the planning and scoping phase of this assignment, ensuring a comprehensive risk management strategy is in place to support successful project delivery.

Risk/Constraints: Unavailability of stakeholders

Likelihood: Likely

Likely impact on review: High

How will it be mitigated: Notify stakeholders early, set expectations, multiple follow-ups

Risk/Constraints: Poor connectivity to engage with the stakeholders remotely

Likelihood: Likely

Likely impact on review: High

How will it be mitigated: Ask for a stakeholder’s preferred method of communication, have a back-up communication plan

Risk/Constraints: Unavailability of data

Likelihood: unlikely

Likely impact on review: Moderate

How will it be mitigated: Ask for a stakeholder’s preferred method of communication, have a back-up communication plan

Application Template

The Expressions of Interest may take the format below:

A. Contact Information

Organization’s Legal Name:
Mailing Address:
Main Contact Person and Title:
Telephone:
Email address:
Website, if available (Facebook, twitter):

B. Proposal Outline

Introduction (maximum half page): provide understanding of the ToR and how your organization or company can respond to the ToR’s requirements. Proponent to add a brief explanation on their motivation to partner with MEDA.
Capability Statement (maximum of three pages):

Briefly describe your organization or company’s business services provided, in relation to the expertise required by this ToR, in the last three years with specific information on the clients, contracting company/organization, and results of your engagements.
At minimum 10 years' experience working in program research and impact evaluation.
- Experience in gender equality and social inclusion assessment
- Experience in environment and climate change evaluation (personal experience of the consultant or a member of the consultant's team)
- Market system programming and evaluation within the agriculture sector (considering gender empowerment sensitivity and integration in the development field)
- Strong familiarity with the Ghanaian context, especially northern Ghana
- Knowledge of results-based management, strong qualitative and quantitative research skills.
- Analysis, interpretation, and writing skills.

3. Proposed Methodology (maximum of four pages).

- Describe how the consultant will meet the deliverables outlined.
- Discuss the strategy to ensure comprehensive coverage of the mid-term evaluation.

4. Proposed Workplan (maximum of four pages).

At minimum, the work plan should include the following:

Detailed evaluation methodology with sampling protocol;
Data gathering tools;
Proposal for data analysis (component areas aligning with evaluation objectives and priority areas);
Proposal for data validation and reporting

Deliverables and Time Frame:
The evaluation is expected to be done within the months of January to March, 2025. The deliverables expected will be based on the four phases of the evaluation.

Estimated Cost of the Engagement (in matrix format): Itemized cost comprising of professional fees and reimbursable (travel, communication and accommodation).

How to apply: All interested candidates should email their application to grow2procurements@meda.org with email subject: GROW2 Midterm Review.

For clarifications, email: grow2procurements@meda.org

Note:

MEDA may request supplementary information or documentation for determining eligibility for qualification where necessary_._

Application Deadline: December 20, 2024, 30@ 5:00 GMT

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted

Keywords

Mid-Term Evaluation GROW2 Project Ghana Market Systems Sustainable Development Agriculture Gender Equality Environment Climate Change Evaluation