2 consultancy jobs at Trócaire :Deadline 30-04-2021

Terms of Reference (ToR) for the documentation of lessons learned, best practices and key challenges with project participants and external stakeholders under EU Project

1.    Background

Trócaire is the official overseas development agency of the Catholic Church in Ireland, established in 1973 and currently has presence in more than 17 countries in Latin America, Africa and Asia including Rwanda. Trócaire has been operating in Rwanda since 1994 and is currently focusing on 3 Programme pillars: Resource Rights, Women’s Empowerment, and Preparing and Responding to Emergencies. Trócaire does not implement programmes directly. Instead, the organisation works in partnership with local civil society Organisations.  More information about Trócaire can be found on http://www.trocaire.org/.

 Trócaire, in collaboration with Caritas Gikongoro, Conseil de Concertation des Organisations d’Appui aux Initiatives de Base (CCOAIB) and Initiative Pour la Promotion de la Faille et du Genre (IPFG) is implementing  the project entitled: Enhancing the capacity and participation of small-scale farmers and civil society organizations in decision making and governance processes related to sustainable agriculture and food security in Nyaruguru, Nyamagabe and Nyagatare Districts. This project is co-financed by European Union for 3 years (August 2018-July 2021).

The specific objective of the project is to promote the effective participation of small scale farmers (particularly women) and civil society organizations in the development, implementation and monitoring of agricultural policies and strategies in view of the fact that levels of engagement of farmers in policy and strategy design to date has been minimal, despite the existence of legislation and policies underpinning the rights of citizens to participate in local governance and decision making.  As part of the project plan, , lessons learned and best practice document is to be produced around project deliverables and its impact.

2.    4 Rationale of the consultancy

The purpose of the consultancy is to provide technical consultancy to Trócaire and it’s 3 implementing partners (CCOAIB, IPFG and Caritas Gikongoro) in the process of documenting key successes, lessons learned, best practices and key challenges with project participants, communities  and external stakeholders. The selected consultant/firm will document these lessons in close consultation with CCOAIB, IPFG and Caritas Gikongoro who closely work with farmers in the implementation of the project interventions.   Additionally, the consultant will develop a summarised lesson-learned and best practices paper that will be the basis for a dissemination workshop that will bring together different stakeholders, including government institutions, CSOs concerned with agricultural development, farmers representatives and partners

3.      Confidentiality

 Trócaire will treat the content of all submissions as strictly confidential and information provided in the proposals will be used solely for recruiting a suitable consultant/firm for the lessons learned document as described in this document.

4.    Purpose and scope of the assignment 

 The purpose of these terms of reference is to solicit the services of a suitable consultant/firm to produce lessons learned and best practice document and the summarised paper about the above-mentioned project.

The documentation will cover at least (further points proposed will be assessed in the evaluation phase): an explanation of the key challenges that the project has registered, examples of successes, lessons and impact testimonials of project beneficiaries and external stakeholders. The product will comply with visibility requirements as fixed by Trócaire and the donor (EU).

The produced document will be a comprehensive document, well written and designed with a storytelling perspective, while the summary paper will have 6-10 pages. Overall style and design of the final product will be agreed between Trócaire and the appointed consultant/firm upon signature of the contract. The summary document will be produced in English and Kinyarwanda

5.    Under the guidance of Trócaire and partners the consultant/firms shall undertake the following tasks:

1. Undertake a literature review of project / program documentation that are related to the project;

2.  Visit at least each of the 3 districts where the project is implemented (Nyagatare in East, Nyaruguru and Nyamagabe in the South) and collect success stories, best practices and key challenges based information on the subject matter of concern.

3. Track the implementation of the project to identify the successes and gaps, with relevant data which the project may have registered among the farmers, agriculture committees and make a comparison of with was highlighted as successes/lessons of the project during the course of implementation.( exercise will compile the views of farmers about successes, gaps, etc and compare them with what has been reported so far)

6.    Documentation required for EOI

Consultants/firms submitting EOIs should submit the following:

• Technical bid showing clear understanding of the scope of assignment and examples of similar assignments done before;
• CVs of the team member(s) proposed for this assignment;
• Financial bid with clear breakdown of costs and rate per day in RWF;
• VAT Registration and Tax Clearance Certificate;
• Payment terms and pricing structure;
• Proposed turnaround time in line with the proposed timeline above;
• Contact details of 2 references for similar type of work;
• Proof of registration with relevant institutions (RDB, RSSB, RRA etc).

7.    Expertise required and Qualification:

 Interested consulting firms or individuals should demonstrate relevant experience in the following areas:

• Minimum of Masters in Rural Development related fields;
• All phases of high level report production; Understanding of agricultural policy advocacy or citizen participation with 5 years minimum;
• Extensive understanding of rural development agenda and decision making processes with a special attention to women participation;
• Experience of working with Civil Society Organizations and Local NGOs
• Previous experience in the documenting of lessons learned will be particularly appreciated;
• Good command of English and capability to translate from English to Kinyarwanda;
• Working within agreed deadlines while producing high quality work output.

8.    General Terms and Conditions

Trócaire reserves the right to reject any and all Expressions of Interest not fulfilling requirements associated with this request. Trócaire will in no case be responsible or liable for any and all costs associated with the preparation and submission of Expressions of Interest. In addition:

• Trócaire does not bind itself to accept the lowest priced tender;
• Trócaire reserves the right to engage other companies / consultants if required;

Trócaire shall be free to:

• To accept the whole, or part only, of any EOI;
• To accept none of the EOIs tendered;
• To republish this Request for EOIs;
• In the event of not accepting any of the EOIs received on foot of this Request for EOI, Trócaire shall be free to make such arrangements as it considers necessary in relation to the provision of the services;
• The EOI shall maintain strict confidentiality in relation to the services being sought and the evaluation process;
• Any subsequent contract shall be considered as a contract made in Rwanda, according to Rwandan laws

9.    Conflict of interest.

 Any conflict of interest involving an applicant must be fully disclosed to Trócaire. Failure to disclose a conflict may disqualify an applicant or invalidate an award of the contract. Applicants are required to declare any current or past work, which might reasonably be considered to represent a conflict of interest.  It will be for Trócaire to decide if any material conflict of interest exists and applicants in doubt in this regard should seek the advice of Trócaire.

10.    Safeguarding Children Policy

Trócaire is committed to safeguarding programme participants from any form of exploitation or abuse as a result of our programmes or activities.  Anyone working for or on behalf of Trócaire must share this commitment. Trócaire’s Position Statement on Exploitation and Abuse and Trócaire’s Child Safeguarding Policy Summary document outline expectations in this regard, including a Code of Conduct.

A copy of these documents are attached, along with a Declaration Form and a Self-Declaration Form which must be signed by you (and any member of the staff of the consultancy firm who will be working on this contract) and returned along with the contract (see addendum D).

11.    Intellectual property

 All the products (including pre-productions documents) will be considered as property of Trócaire and may be used by Trócaire.

12.    Termination of Contract

Trócaire reserves the right to terminate the contract at any stage on payment of reasonable and agreed costs accrued to the date of termination.

if at any stage during the contract, the services delivered by the consultant/firm is found to be unsatisfactory, Trócaire may terminate the contract. In the event of such a termination, the consultant/firm will only be entitled to receive payment in relation to the acceptable services rendered at that time.

13.    Submission of proposals

All interested and qualified consultants/firms should submit financial and technical proposal by April 30^th, 2021 at 16:00 hours by email ONLY to inforwanda@trocaire.org . The financial proposal should be inclusive of tax and quoted in Rwandan Francs (RWF). Demonstrable experience and Value for Money (VFM) will be key considerations in evaluating proposals submitted.  Only suitably qualified consultants/firms will be considered. Any questions regarding this consultancy should be directed to the same email addresses.

 15 April 2021

  Marleen Masclee

Country Director