Terms of References (ToR) for SPA II Endline Evaluation

Terms of References (ToR) for SPA II Endline Evaluation

Project title: COMMUNITY-LED INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS FOR BUILDING RESILIENCE (COLISOBR)

Country & region: Sanaag, Region – Somaliland

1. Context and summary of project

CARE International in Somalia/Somaliland, in partnership with CARE Denmark and with support from DANIDA, has implemented the Community-Led Innovative Solutions for Building Resilience (COLISBR) project under the Strategic Partnership Agreement (SPA) programme. The project was designed to strengthen livelihood resilience among pastoralist dropouts, particularly ultra-marginalized women and youth who have settled in peri-urban displacement settings and surrounding rural communities in Erigavo District, Sanaag Region, Somaliland.

COLISBR responds to the increasing effects of climate change, recurrent drought, livelihood loss, water stress, declining crop and livestock productivity, displacement, and limited access to climate-smart agricultural services. The programme promotes locally led and innovative solutions that strengthen the adaptive capacity of vulnerable households and community structures, improve access to climate-smart agricultural technologies and inputs, and support evidence-based advocacy for green and just systems.

The project has worked through community-based structures, climate actors, government and private sector partners to pilot, promote and scale climate-smart livelihood solutions. These include climate vulnerability and capacity analysis, Climate Adaptation Action Planning, capacity strengthening of Village Development Committees and other local structures, improved access to quality seeds, drip and solar irrigation, water optimization technologies, Good Agricultural Practices, digital and community-based extension approaches, innovation diffusion, contingency resources, early recovery support, and policy engagement.

The programme targets approximately 15,720 pastoralists across 10 communities in Erigavo District, with a strong focus on women, youth, pastoralist dropouts, farmers, Village Savings and Loan Associations, community management structures, climate-smart early adopters, and local climate actors. The main implementation partners include the Somaliland Ministry of Agriculture Development, Horn Gardens, alongside relevant local authorities, community structures and private sector actors.

As the programme approaches completion, CARE intends to commission an independent endline evaluation to assess the extent to which COLISBR has achieved its intended outcomes, generated meaningful changes for target groups, strengthened local systems, promoted scalable innovation, contributed to gender equality and inclusion, and produced learning to inform future climate resilience, market-based adaptation and SPA programming. The evaluation will also document evidence that can support future scaling of successful models, including lessons relevant to the SPA II Extension and emerging financing mechanisms such as the SAMIR Fund.

2. Overall objective of final evaluation

The overall purpose and objective of this endline evaluation is to assess the extent to which the COLISOBR PROJECT has delivered results and outcomes in accordance with its theory of change and set targets and to generate lessons for future programming. Further, the endline functions as an accountability mechanism and should generate data that feeds directly into the project’s results frame, learning agenda and associated targets.

The evaluation must be implemented in accordance with CARE’s evaluation policy and must as a min. adhere to core evaluation principles incl. participation and inclusion and formulating precise and actionable recommendations.  

2.1 Specific objectives of the evaluation

The specific objectives are to:

·         Assess the relevance, coherence, effectiveness, efficiency, outcome-level contribution, sustainability and scalability of the COLISBR project.

·         Measure progress against the project results framework and compare endline findings with baseline, monitoring and annual reporting evidence where available.

·         Determine the extent to which the project strengthened livelihood resilience, adaptive capacity, climate-smart agricultural practices, access to climate information, and household capacity to manage climate-related shocks.

·         Assess how far COLISBR improved access to and use of climate-smart technologies and services, including drip irrigation, solar irrigation, quality seeds, Good Agricultural Practices, extension support, digital tools and market linkages.

·         Examine the functionality, inclusiveness and sustainability of community management structures, including women’s participation, decision-making and leadership roles.

·         Assess the performance and learning from innovation, scaling and financing models, including VSLAs, cooperatives, early adopters, crowdfunding, private sector engagement and emerging blended finance opportunities.

·         Assess the project’s contribution to gender equality, women’s empowerment, youth inclusion, disability inclusion, protection mainstreaming and accountability to affected populations.

Identify key achievements, unintended outcomes, implementation constraints, lessons learned, and actionable recommendations for future SPA, climate resilience and market-based adaptation programming

Required Competencies

a)    Advanced university degree in monitoring and evaluation, development studies, climate change/adaptation, agriculture, economics, social sciences, statistics or a related field.

b)    At least 7 years of demonstrated experience conducting evaluations of resilience, climate adaptation, livelihoods, food security, agriculture, financial inclusion, market systems or humanitarian-development programmes.

c)     To demonstrate relevant experience and technical capacity, the consultant/firm shall submit 3 to 4 samples of relevant evaluation products, including evaluation reports, assessments, learning briefs, or other knowledge products from similar assignments.

d)    Strong experience designing and implementing mixed-methods evaluations, including sampling, survey design, qualitative methods, data analysis and evaluation reporting.

e)    Proven ability to assess gender equality, youth inclusion, disability inclusion, protection, accountability and social norms in fragile contexts.

f)     Experience evaluating innovation, scaling, community-based systems, VSLAs/cooperatives, climate-smart agriculture, market linkages or blended finance/financial inclusion models.

g)    Strong analytical writing skills and ability to produce high-quality donor-facing reports in English.

h)    Ability to work effectively in Somaliland/Somalia or similar fragile, drought-affected and conflict-sensitive contexts.

i)     Prior experience with CARE, DANIDA/CARE Denmark SPA programmes or similar strategic partnership programmes.

j)     Knowledge of Sanaag, Somaliland, pastoralist dropout contexts, climate-smart agriculture, irrigation technologies, VSLAs and local governance systems.

k)    Experience with KoBoToolbox/ODK, Stata/SPSS/R/Excel/Power BI or similar data analysis and visualization tools.

l)     Ability to produce practical learning briefs, case studies and management-response-ready recommendations.

m)    

All applicants must submit their proposals along with the other requirements tabulated above including the RFP document to this email address: [email protected] clearly marking the subject line “Documentation of COLISBR SPA Learning Product”. Applications must be submitted no later than 08th Sept 2026 at 11:59 PM EAT.

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