Mozambique: consultancy services to undertake the residual food insecurity assessment in districts classified as IPC phase 3 and 4 by SETSAN 2017 Food Security Re

Terms of Reference (ToR) for a consultancy services to undertake the residual food insecurity assessment in districts classified as IPC phase 3 and 4 by SETSAN 2017 Food Security Report

August 2017

1. Introduction

   Save the Children (SC) is the world's leading independent organization for children. In Mozambique, SC implements a full-spectrum approach, engaging in both long-term development projects and emergency interventions. In response to emergencies, SC provides support during the emergency relief and recovery phases, and post emergency, in partnership with the government and other implementing agencies, SC focuses on building the resilience of households and communities to ensure they are better positioned to withstand future shocks and not have to resort to negative coping mechanisms.

   Save the Children Mozambique is the lead agency of the COSACA consortium, which is composed of the NGOs Concern, Oxfam, Save the Children, and CARE. The consortium’s main objective is to respond to rapid-onset emergencies within 72 hours through the prepositioning of emergency stocks that can be rapidly deployed. Over the El Nino drought period, COSACA was engaged for the first time in responding to a slow-onset natural disaster. The consortium developed a multi-pronged response in 6 provinces, providing food and livelihood assistance to food insecure families through a voucher system; rehabilitating wells and boreholes; and providing malnutrition screening and rehabilitation support with a focus on children under five and pregnant and lactating women.

   With funding from DFID and in partnership with the Mozambican Government’s Technical Secretariat for Food Security and Nutrition (SETSAN) and CHEMO, SC seeks to conduct a needs assessment to estimate the residual humanitarian needs in the drought affected areas of Mozambique.

   The assessment will be conducted in districts that have been classified by SETSAN as Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) phases 3 and/or 4, and will be used to inform the development of the 2017/18 lean season intervention strategy. Additionally the assessment outcomes will contribute to profiling of humanitarian needs in Mozambique, supplementing the data from other sources and adding to the body of evidence.

2. Assessment Summary

Geographical coverage:

Gaza, Inhambane and Sofala

Sample Areas

2 districts per province, based on the August SETSAN IPC classification

Assessment Type:

Observational study

Assessment Purpose:

To establish the residual humanitarian needs in all the food insecure districts classified as IPC 3 and/or 4 in order to inform the development of the 2017/18 lean season intervention strategy

Primary Methodology

Mixed methods TBD by consultant

Start date:

15 September 2017

Anticipated Report release date:

30 October 2017

The assessment will be carried out on behalf of COSACA consortium, where Save the Children will provide overall leadership and oversight of the process with full involvement of its consortia partners. The CHEMO consortium, led by World Vision, will carry out the similar assessment in their areas of intervention. The results of two assessments will be reviewed and consolidated in one final report.

The consolidated report will be shared with the Mozambican Government, donors, development partners and all key humanitarian sector players including the various sectoral clusters to help them plan and coordinate their resource mobilization efforts, as well as to contribute towards the National Response and Contingency Plans.

1. Assessment Description

After the report from the SETSAN food security assessment has been finalized in early August 2017, a follow up targeted food security assessment will be conducted by Save the Children and CHEMO in districts that will have been classified as being in IPC phase three and phase four or those in IPC phase two but with pockets of high food insecurity levels falling under IPC 3 and/or 4. The findings from this assessment will determine the type of specific interventions to be included in the intervention strategy that will be focused on promoting recovery of the affected households. The assessment will be undertaken under the leadership of a highly competent and independent consultant with demonstrated abilities on similar assignments and proven track record. The consultant will work closely with their own independently constituted assessment team which will be backstopped by designated SC in country and regional or international staff.

1. Assessment Purpose and Description

4.1Assessmentpurpose

The main purpose of the research is to Identify IPC 3 and 4 classified areas and populations with specific residual relief and recovery needs following a Post-SETSAN reconnaissance assessment in August 2017, to inform policy dialogue, the delivery of humanitarian assistance and programming strategies within a wider humanitarian framework.

4.2Assessment Objectives

The study will seek to achieve mainly the following objectives:

• To understand the magnitude and severity of vulnerability to food insecurity

• To quantify the case load of the number of households and people that are still affected by or at risk of experiencing food insecurity

• To quantify the available aid interventions and understand the robustness of local social support systems in order to identify the residual gaps

• To make recommendations on the appropriate mix of interventions that will be relevant to the identified residual humanitarian needs for a lean season response

• To analyze the seed market ensure readiness for a seed recovery response during the upcoming lean season

4.3 Assessment scope

The assessment will solely focus on the districts in the following geographical areas that will have been identified as being food insecure with IPC classifications of 3 and 4: Gaza, Inhambane, and Sofala Provinces with two districts sampled randomly per Province. The consultant will also interview relevant national level stakeholders as key informants based on the information needs required. The list of districts to be covered by the assessment will finally be agreed upon the release of August 2017 SETSAN report. Depending on the report the assessment might include districts falling under IPC phase 2.

5. Methodology

The consultant is expected to articulate a robust and suitable assessment methodology in line with the following scope, objectives and questions. The detailed method should include but not be limited to the following:

• The development of a robust study design using mixed methods including the use of secondary data and the triangulation of findings from existing reports and other reliable data sources
• The development of data collection instruments, protocols and procedures
• Articulation of the sampling procedures and rationale
• Description of data cleaning and analysis procedures
• Clarity around how key stakeholders will be interviewed and involved in the assessment process

The successful bidder’s lead researcher, in consultation with CHEMO consortium members and Save the Children, will develop the final research methods, the sample size and sampling framework and data collection techniques, which allows representativeness for wide generalizability and conclusiveness of the results.

6. Authority and Responsibility

The responsibilities of the consultant, SC and COSACA are summarized below:

No.

Member

Responsibilities

1

SC and COSACA members

Ø -Review data collection tools

Ø -Ensure quality and compliance with standards in data collection

Ø -Approve the final draft of the research report

2

Consultant

-Design an appropriate sampling method of the target population, which must be well described in the report.

-Prepare a schedule/ work-plan for the entire process.

-Work with the SC LEARNER Project Manager to acquire ethical clearance if required

-Develop and pre-test data collection tools

-Train enumerators on the study tools

-Handle enumerators’ issues

-Supervise and lead both quantitative and qualitative data gathering

-Interview key informants and hold focus group discussions

-Coordinate and supervise data entry, cleaning and analysis and interpretation.

-Provide feedback to the communities, partners, consortium, and SC Senior Leadership Team.

-Write the draft and final report within the scheduled time.

Ø -Present the report to SC for sign off

3

SC LEARNER project Manager and SC MEAL Lead and Consultant

Ø -Facilitate Community Mobilization

Ø -Plan the field work

Ø -Organize the meetings with stakeholders

4

Consortium leadership

Ø -Sharing of findings with the stakeholders including the affected communities

Subject Matter Experts

5

SC MEAL Team

Ø -Provide technical support during planning, data collection and analysis

Partners

6

Government departments, (INAS &INGC) & the UN Agencies

Ø -Provide required data as targeted key informants

7

Community based organizations and other NGOs

Ø -Planning, data collection, and feedback provision.

7. Budget

SC will cover all costs associated with the exercise. These costs would include the costs travel, accommodation, and meals during data collection. SC will also pay for enumerator fees, accommodation, per diems and research assistants/volunteers training related costs. The consultant is expected to provide a financial proposal in relation to their professional fees, costs related to data analysis and reporting writing and a modest administrative fee for communication and printing services. SC will assess both technical and financial proposal. However, SC will not be responsible for the costs involved in preparation of the bidding documents.

8. Research Timeframe

No.

Activities

Date

1

Deadline for the submission of consultant’s technical and financial proposals

8-Sept-2017

2

Contract signing, Inception meeting and sharing of programme documents

15 Sept 2017

3

Submission of tools for review and discussion

19 Sept 2017

4

Ethical clearance if needed

20-22 Sept 2017

5

Review and feedback tools and consultants arrival for data collection

25-27 Sept 2017

6

Enumerator’s training, data collection, entry and cleaning (Field activities)

28 Setp- 16 Oct 2017

7

Further cleaning and presentation of preliminary findings/exit interview

18-19 Oct 2017

8

Further data analysis and report writing

20-24 Oct 2017

9

Submission of draft Report

25 Oct 2017

10

Feedback on the draft report and finalization

26-27 Oct2017

11

Submission and signing off of the final report

30 Oct 2017

Note: The total payable contract period shall not exceed 30 days; # denotes travel and inter province activities.

9. Logistics

The consultant will be expected to request for the required logistics before and during the research. SC will provide the logistics required in kind. The logistics will include but not be limited to accommodation and in-country transport arrangements.

10. Deliverables

It is expected that the final report will be submitted to SC and be professionally designed in soft and printed copies. The final report will have 4 products, summarized below:

1. Data collection tools and guidelines which will be approved by SCIMOZ before the study commences.

2. A draft study report not later than 20 working days after data collection. This will be circulated to all stakeholders by the consultant to enlist their feedback. The report must be comprehensive and clearly structured in simple English, with appropriate recommendations for the Government of Mozambique, humanitarian actors and the donor community. The report must have high standard of statistical rigor while making the information accessible to multiple target audiences. All sources of data, calculations used to arrive at findings, and indicator definitions shall be clearly acknowledged, so that the measurements can be replicated in other research activities. Any assumptions should be made explicit and have appropriate appendices as attachments.

3. Final study report (which will incorporate feedback from all stakeholders) in electronic form and hard copy.

4. Cleaned quantitative and qualitative data set and/or summaries.

Minimum requirements of the final report:

The study report must demonstrate compliance with generally accepted quality standards such as: study objective; design and setting; sampling procedures and sample characteristics; theoretical framework; setting of data collection and analysis; study participants and representativeness; data disaggregated by gender, disability, and by age where feasible; statistical analysis; clarity of themes; findings and reporting consistency, ethical concerns; and limitations. Furthermore, key crosscutting themes such as gender, environment and protection should clearly be addressed.

11. Secondary Data Review

The documents to be reviewed by the consultant include amongst others:

• The August 2017 SETSAN Food Security Report
• FEWSNET Reports
• UN Reports
• Country humanitarian plan for Mozambique
• COSACA El Niño induced drought response strategy, drought response project proposals, baselines, monitoring reports and evaluations if available.
• Any other relevant documents

12. Application Process

In accordance with the proposed implementation schedule, the consultant shall submit the following deliverables:

• Technical Proposal

• Financial Proposal

• Duties and Taxes

• Technical proposal:

The technical proposal should contain a clear description of the research methods, activities, work plan and the reporting system as well as the detailed CVs of the persons to be involved. For enumerators training, the consultant should demonstrate the capacity to use STATA, SPSS or any other software to be used for data analysis. The consultant should demonstrate experience in similar pieces of work; have industry recognition, and credibility.

1. Financial proposal:

The financial proposal should contain a detailed breakdown of the financial estimate such as cost of the experts (including accommodation and meals while in the field, consultant travel costs, report preparation, communication, etc.). The total cost should be clearly written in a recognised currency both in figure and in words including all taxes. In case of mismatch, the words will prevail. Both technical and financial proposal should be submitted to SC in separate folders by e-mail used while sending these ToRs and copy to those copied when receiving these ToRs.

All the proposals submitted within the given time will be received and form a basis of pre-selection of the best candidate (s) on the next working day of the last date for submission of proposals. Based on the research task, SC will select one/two best proposals from the consultants’ firms and/or individuals and award the task to a consultant/firm that demonstrates the best capability. All rights are reserved with SC either to approve or disapprove the proposal without giving any reasons whatsoever. If needed, the consultant will be asked for modifications in the proposal before approval. If the consultant does not hear from SC in a week after submission deadline, he/she should consider his/her application as not having been selected.

1. Duties and taxes

The Consultant shall pay all tariffs, duties, other taxes or charges levied by their government at any stage during the execution of the work. The consultant shall be responsible for their tax obligations and should not pass that obligation to SCIMOZ.

13.Qualifications of the Consultant

• Advanced degree in Economics, Agriculture Economics, Rural Development, Development Studies, Nutrition, Humanitarian Studies, Evaluation Studies, Project Management or any other related field.

• Extensive experience in undertaking evaluations with other International organizations.

• Excellent presentation, facilitation and report writing skills.

• Fluent in both English and Portuguese is desirable.

Interested applicants should submit their expression of interest demonstrating how they would proceed with the consultancy along with a detailed proposal addressing the TOR and a budget. Applications should be submitted quoting TC-SC 004/2017

Email: SCIMOZ@savethechildren.org

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