The present assignment concerns an end-line impact assessment of the 2017-2021 DGD-funded programme implemented by Rikolto, covering:
— in-depth case study evaluations per region;
— 13 overall outcome evaluations at country level (retrospective evaluation focus);
— 4 cross-country evaluations per cluster (prospective evaluation focus);
— specific evaluation questions related to the Covid-19 pandemic.
2.1) Evaluation object
The object of this evaluation are the 13 specific outcomes (1 per country) of the DGD funded 2017-2021 programme implemented by Rikolto. Rikolto decided to focus on assessing one case in depth per country, which will be conducted by the external evaluator, with support of Rikolto staff regarding available data and sense-making processes. The evaluation of the remaining interventions which contribute to the same outcome shall be conducted internally under supervision of the external evaluator, who shall validate the internal assessments and bear responsibility for the evaluation process and outcomes. Based on the assessment of the in-depth case study and the complementary internal assessments of the other interventions at country level the external consultant is expected to formulate a general assessment for the whole outcome.
2.2) Research questions
We want the end-line assessment to satisfy both our accountability needs towards DGD and at the same time feed our internal strategy development for the following programme period. Therefore, we would like to include retrospective and prospective research questions alike into the evaluation framework.
(a) Retrospective research focus
The retrospective research focus should be focusing on the impact of Rikolto’s work at farm, farmer organisation and institutional level. However, since we would be overstretching the available budget if we wanted to assess our impact at all three levels, we decided to delimit our research focus and questions to the levels that are of most interest to us, connected to the systemic impact of our work. The research questions shall focus on those change dynamics that we’re not certain of yet and that have high potential for impact in the food system.
According to our organisational focus to manage programmes per cluster (and not per country or region), Rikolto decided to narrow down the research focus and decide on concrete research questions per cluster, as this is expected to provide most useful insights also for future strategy design and improvement. A reasonable scope would be to address two research focus areas and maximum 4-5 specific research questions per cluster. The results of the retrospective research questions are expected to feed the prospective dimension on the potential of the generated evidence to be leveraged at a global (i.e. cluster) level.
(b) Prospective research focus
The prospective evaluation component shall focus on the potential of the generated evidence (per case study and the sum of it) to be leveraged at a global level. While it is clear that these questions will be nourished by the findings to the retrospective research questions at country level, these questions shall be evaluated at cluster level. We therefore expect a separate report per cluster, elaborating on these questions for several countries, which contribute to the respective cluster. These research questions are agreed upon as equally valid across all clusters, can however still be further discussed and concretised with the consultant during the inception phase.
(c) Specific evaluation question related to the Covid-19 crisis
In light of the current events and dynamics unfolding around the Covid-19 pandemic and its effects on food systems, Rikolto would be interested to additionally explore one or two evaluation questions on our response to the pandemic. Despite the interest and relevance of these evaluation questions we are aware of the possible constraints to such an evaluation (e.g. data availability). The consultants shall therefore explore the evaluability of these questions together with Rikolto during the inception phase.