Terms of Reference (TOR) for Transforming Eastern Province through Adaptation (TREPA) Project Interim Evaluation

Terms of Reference for IUCN Consultancy

Title: Terms of Reference (ToR) for Transforming Eastern Province through Adaptation (TREPA) Project Interim Evaluation

Objectives

This consultancy has the following objective(s):

The mid-term evaluation will explore TREPA’s work and achievements with the aim of assessing progress made between 1^st January 2022 and 30^th May 2025, and providing guidance on how to maximize the potential for achieving the intended results and improve learning in its remaining timeframe (2025-2027).

Through the assessment of the performance, achievements and lessons learnt to date, the review will contribute to both learning and accountability. The specific objectives of the mid-term evaluation are:

To assess the relevance of TREPA project to achieve a paradigm shift in land management practices in Rwanda’s Eastern Province from landscapes that are degraded, fragile and unable to sustain livelihoods in the face of climate change to restored ecosystems and landscapes. It will also assess the relevance in terms of project approaches/methodologies and adaptiveness to the needs of stakeholders targeted by the intervention.
To assess the effectiveness of the TREPA project at achieving its objectives and provide clear insights about what has and has not worked so far and why, assess the extent to which the project is achieving its mid-term targets.
To assess the efficiency in terms of value for money of the delivery of the TREPA outputs.
To assess the sustainability of results & approaches including the scaling mechanisms and potential impacts; and provide some indication about how the project is progressing towards delivering on its objectives and assess if sustainability measures are being put in place for a future smooth exit. To identify lessons and provide set of actionable recommendations on how the project and the project coordination/management could be adjusted for further improvement and to strengthen delivery of results.
To assess the progress made oncompliance of the environmental and social safeguards (ESS), fiduciary standards, and gender and youth action plan.

Background

Project Reference: P03168

Donor reference: FP167

About IUCN

IUCN is a membership Union uniquely composed of both government and civil society organisations. It provides public, private and non-governmental organisations with the knowledge and tools that enable human progress, economic development and nature conservation to take place together.

Created in 1948, IUCN is now the world’s largest and most diverse environmental network, harnessing the knowledge, resources and reach of more than 1,400 Member organisations and around 15,000 experts. It is a leading provider of conservation data, assessments and analysis. Its broad membership enables IUCN to fill the role of incubator and trusted repository of best practices, tools and international standards.

IUCN provides a neutral space in which diverse stakeholders including governments, NGOs, scientists, businesses, local communities, indigenous peoples organisations and others can work together to forge and implement solutions to environmental challenges and achieve sustainable development.

Working with many partners and supporters, IUCN implements a large and diverse portfolio of conservation projects worldwide. Combining the latest science with the traditional knowledge of local communities, these projects work to reverse habitat loss, restore ecosystems and improve people’s well-being.

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About the Project

The current ESARO programming is composed of a suite of mutually interrelated programs and projects designed to address some of the most profound challenges affecting people and nature in the region. Among the projects implemented by IUCN’s Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Office is the TREPA Project – Transforming Eastern Province through Adaptation. It is a six-year project, based in IUCN Rwanda Country Office, and funded by the Green Climate Fund (GCF).

The TREPA Project intends to restore 60,000 hectares of drought-degraded landscapes into climate resilient ecosystems through re-forestation, agroforestry, restoration of pasturelands, and soil erosion control measures in the Eastern Province of Rwanda. In addition, irrigation infrastructure projects in the targeted landscapes of the eastern province will be climate-proofed by the TREPA Project.

The TREPA Project will finally support the national and local institutions to effectively plan, manage and monitor climate adaptation outcomes from improved land use at national and decentralized levels.

The TREPA Project is implemented by IUCN (accredited entity) together with the Rwanda Forestry Authority and Enabel as executing entities in partnership with ICRAF, World Vision, and CORDAID.

The Ministry of Environment is responsible for chairing the Project Steering Committee and ensures coherence with national strategies and policies.

Key Project expected results

Project impact

The project will benefit directly 556,252 people (4.4% of the national population and 18.2% of the population in the target area), of which over 50% are women benefiting from the adoption of diversified, climate resilient livelihood options. Around 1,364,185 people are expected to benefit indirectly (10.8% of the national population). The beneficiaries of the project will be smallholder farmers and woodlot growers living in the Eastern Province of Rwanda.
1,308,063 Tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2eq) reduced or avoided as a result of sustainable management of forests and conservation and enhancement of forest carbon stocks
126,483 food secure households in areas/periods at risk of climate change impacts
150,000 people made aware of climate threats and related appropriate responses
Strengthened institutional and regulatory systems that improve incentives for low-emission planning and development and their effective implementation

Outcomes and outputs

For the implementation of the TREPA Project, three components/outcomes will be considered namely:

Component 1: Restored landscapes that support climate resilient agro-ecological systems and livelihoods in Eastern Province. Below are expected outputs for this component:

1.1. Diversified agroforestry packages are scaled up

1.2. Woodlots and tree plantations are rehabilitated and sustainably managed for productive and ecological services

1.3. Scale-up climate resilient silvopastoral packages to restore degraded rangelands

1.4. Protective restoration measures are scaled up to climate-proof fragile, ecologically sensitive and erosion prone lands

1.5 Clean and efficient cooking energy technologies promoted through support to private sector and communities to transition/reduce Biomass fuel consumption

Component 2: Market and value chain development for climate resilient agricultural and tree products linked to financial products and services for sustainable management of agro-ecological systems. Expected outputs from this component are the following:

2.1. Strengthened farmers’ groups to adopt climate resilient land use practices with access to market and finances.

2.2. Enhanced climate resilience of agricultural value chains and commodities.

2.3. Enhanced financial inclusion and investments in climate resilient value chains

Component 3: Strengthened enabling environment to effectively plan, manage and monitor climate adaptation outcomes from improved land use at national and decentralized levels. Looking at strengthening of national and local institutional capacity and cross-sectoral coordination to mainstream climate resilience in land management and planning, the 3^rd component is expected to achieve the following outputs:

3.1. Strengthened gender-responsive climate resilience for coordination cross-sectoral planning & community landscape restoration plans developed

3.2. Enhanced and coordinated knowledge and information systems for decision and negotiation support.

3.3. Seed and seedling supply systems enhanced to provide diverse climate adapted species and varieties.

3.4. Evidence from best practices generated and disseminated

Rationale of this mid-term evaluation

This mid-term evaluation fulfils the IUCN Evaluation Policy[1] to conduct an independent midterm evaluation for the purpose of learning and reflection on project management and results. It also addresses Green Climate Fund (GCF) requirement for the Accredited Entity (AE) to conduct and submit an independent project interim/mid-term evaluation as per the Evaluation policy for the GCF[2].

It is expected that the findings and recommendations of this mid-term evaluation will help to identify any needed course corrections in the project’s approach and activities to achieve the expected results and bring valuable external reflections to help strengthen the project and complement the MEL system of the project through an adaptive management modality.

Audience, key stakeholders, and use

This evaluation is being commissioned by IUCN as the Accredited Entity (AE) to the GCF for the TREPA project. The primary audiences for the review are the Green Climate Fund (GCF), TREPA Project Executing Entities and Service Providers, other project stakeholders and the Project Management Unit at IUCN Rwanda Country office coordinating the project. The review report will be submitted to GCF. More specifically, the intended users and uses of the review are:

TREPA project partners that include the Executing Entities and Service Providers for the purposes of assessing their mid-term performances.
IUCN as an Accredited Entity (AE) of project, specifically the Project Management Unit for the purpose of managing the project, and for adjustments to improve delivery of outcomes.
TREPA Project Steering Committee (PSC) for the purpose of providing strategic direction of the project.
IUCN Rwanda Country Office (RCO) Monitoring and Learning team, for the purpose of improving the monitoring and learning approach.
IUCN Forest and Land Use programme for the purpose of gathering lessons to inform future project design and implementation of other projects.
GCF Secretariat to demonstrate accountability for the funding received from the GCF and provide recommendations for future GCF programming as well document key lessons for replication in other projects/countries.

A management response and action plan to address recommendations from interim evaluation will be prepared by IUCN as the AE and shared with the GCF Secretariat.

Evaluation questions

Below are proposed evaluation criteria and questions of interest for the mid-term evaluation, in line with both the NewIUCN evaluation Policy and the Evaluation Policy for the GCF. However, potential consultants (candidates) are welcome to provide suggestions on how to streamline and focus the evaluation further.

Relevance:

To what extent does the work of the TREPA project address its objectives and the priority issues?
To what extent have Executing Entities (EEs) and Service Providers (SPs) been fit-for purpose?
How relevant is the TREPA project and, in particular, its outputs and impact achieved so far to the Eastern Province of Rwanda?
Is the project theory of change (TOC) and intervention logic coherent and realistic?
Does the TOC and intervention logic hold, or does it need to be adjusted?

Coherence:

Who are the partners of the project and how strategic are they in terms of capacities and commitment?
Is there coherence and complementarity by the project with other actors for other local climate change interventions?
To what extent has the project complimented other on-going local-level initiatives (by stakeholders, donors, governments) on climate change adaptation or mitigation efforts?
How has the project contributed to achieving a stronger and more coherent integration of the shift to low-emission sustainable development pathways and/or increased climate-resilient sustainable development (GCF RMF/PMF paradigm shift objectives)? Please provide concrete examples and make specific suggestions on how to enhance these roles going forward.

Effectiveness:

To what extent is the project achieving its targets and objectives?
How effective is the TREPA project’s modus operandi? Are the EEs adequately supported from IUCN to deliver on their outputs? How have the problems encountered been resolved?
How effective are the strategies in place in reaching out and influencing the TREPA project’s target audiences? What factors have contributed to accelerate or hinder the uptake of the project’s recommendations by its target audience(s)?
Is the project achieving its set targets and expected objectives? What and how much progress has been made towards achieving the overall impacts such as adaptation beneficiaries and improved ecosystem services?
To what extent is the Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) strategy and tools set up helping to (a) answer key guiding questions, (b) detect any needed programme implementation adjustments for better progress towards results, (c) collect the right kind of data in view of conducting an impact evaluation by the end of the project? What adjustments to the MEL system are recommended to help understand impact of the TREPA project? (d) Are project targets realistic and correct or some need adjustments? (d) Do indicators in the project log frame measure the full suite of results that TREPA is achieving?

Efficiency:

To what extent are the project’s outputs in balance with the level of effort, time and resources spent?
Have spending and project delivery progressed according to the planned schedule?
Is the relationship between resources and results appropriate and justifiable?
Are there less costly ways of achieving the same outputs?

Learning:

What can we learn from the way the TREPA project is designed and implemented?
What has and what hasn’t worked well so far and what needs to be improved or done differently?
Are there lessons or best practices that can be up-scaled or replicated in similar environments?

Sustainability:

Are the project interventions and benefits likely to continue after the end of GCF funding?
What sustainability measures are in place?
What real difference has TREPA interventions made to the project’s target groups (m/f)? How has it changed their lives?
What exit strategy does the project have?

Impact Orientation:

Is the project oriented towards a positive impact on people and nature?
Indications of project positive impact on nature?
Indications of positive impacts on people’s lives and livelihoods?

One Programme Approach:

Is the project leveraging the Union to achieve its objectives?
To what extent is TREPA project implemented in accordance with IUCN’s One Programme Approach?
To what extent has it engaged with other constituents of the Union to achieve, disseminate, strengthen, scale up or embed its outputs or outcomes?

Gender, indigenous peoples, and youth:

To what extent has the TREPA project’s objectives and design promoted and advanced gender equality, gender responsiveness, and/or the needs and priorities of youth?
To what extent has the project monitored its progress with appropriately disaggregated monitoring data and with the participation of women and/or youth?
To what extent is the project compliant to environmental and social safeguards (ESS)?

Science/policy/action interface:

How has the knowledge produced or disseminated by TREPA relevant?
Has it been effective in influencing policy or actions?

Country ownership of projects and programmes:

How is the project contributing to other projects/programmes within the country? are there further commitments, e.g. more co-financing towards the project?
To what extent is the project aligned with national development plans, national plans of action on climate change, or sub-national policy as well as projects and priorities of national partners?

Innovativeness in result areas:

To what extent may the project interventions lead to paradigm shift towards low-emission and climate-resilient development pathways?

Replication and scalability:

Can the project activities be scaled up in other locations within the country or replicated in other countries?

Unexpected results, both positive and negative

Has the project foreseen any unexpected results, both positive and negative?

Methods and sources

Methods, sources, and analysis

This evaluation will be carried out in conformity with both GCF and IUCN Evaluation Policies. IUCN policy sets out IUCN’s institutional commitment to evaluation, and the criteria and standards for the evaluation and evaluation of its projects and programmes. IUCN’s evaluation standards and criteria are based on the widely accepted Evaluation criteria of relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, impact, and sustainability, and are also in line with GCF evaluation criteria.

The evaluator(s) is expected to develop an evaluation framework based on the suggested key evaluation criteria above but may suggest additional questions or modifications. The inception report will be prepared as the first deliverable of the evaluation and will include an evaluation matrix for presenting how the key issues will be addressed, the data sources and the data collection methods that will be used for the evaluation and a set of criteria to rate the strength of the evidence collected.

The evaluation will seek the views of the stakeholders who have been engaged in the process to date to conclude whether the project is on track and expected to realize its set objectives.

The evaluator(s) is expected to use mixed methods, including:

Review of relevant documentation from the TREPA project
Interviews of key stakeholders across all landscapes (list to be provided at inception);
Other methods may be proposed as needed and as project resources allow, e.g. KIIs and focus group discussions, survey questionnaire.
Conclusion and recommendations should be underpinned by a strong set of evidence.

Stakeholders to be consulted.

Key stakeholders to be consulted are TREPA project partners and the coordination unit (Project Management Unit), Executing Entities, Service Providers, and the target groups/project beneficiaries. The consultant is expected to design and facilitate a final reflection workshop to disseminate, triangulate and reflect on the evaluation findings among all the main stakeholders.

Sampling requirements [as needed]

Indicative Schedule

The evaluation will run from 2^nd May 2025 to 30^thJune 2025.

Deliverables/Activity	Descriptions	Indicative Completion date
Recruitment of consultant	Contract start date	15^th May, 2025
Inception report	An inception report including refined key evaluation questions, completed evaluation matrix, methodology, sample size calculation and sampling strategy, data collection tools, detailed fieldwork plan, analysis plan, quality control plan, and timeframes for management inputs and decisions.	29^th May 2025
Preliminary findings presentation	Presentation of Preliminary findings; Raw dataset as collected (both quantitative and qualitative data with electronic formats), original records and transcripts (if recording), codebook.	05^th June 2025
Draft report	Submission of draft evaluation report	24^th une 2025
IUCN Comments on the draft report	Feedback on the submitted draft report	01^st July 2025
Final report	A final evaluation report, plus annexes (Appendices must include Evaluation terms of reference; Data collection instruments; Evaluation schedule/timetable (including field visits); List of people met/interviewed; Documents consulted). The final report, should not exceed 50 pages, excluding annexes.	13^th July 2025
2-page summary report (actionable recommendations)	A two-pager summary of key findings, lessons, recommendations, and messages from the MTR report, that can be disseminated to the wider public for general information on the project’s results and performance to date.	13^th July 2025

Roles and responsibilities

This evaluation is being commissioned by IUCN-Rwanda as an accredited entity to the GCF. The evaluation will be managed by the Project Management Unit (PMU) that oversees the TREPA project coordination.

Payment Schedule

The Timetable below summarises the chronological order of deliverables and indicates milestones at which IUCN will pay the Consultant.

Deliverable	Milestone payment
Inception report	20%
Validated preliminary findings	20%
Draft report	30%
Validated Final report	30%

Supervision and coordination

The consultant will report to and work under the supervision of TREPA project Chief of Party.

How to Apply

Interested consultants should email Technical and Financial proposal detailing the proposed approach, methodology and workplan for the assignment. The proposal should be accompanied by (i) detailed CVs outlining the consultant’s academic qualifications, previous relevant experience, contact information etc.; (ii) documented evidence.

Notice: For RFP and other documents related to this consultancy should be found: Currently running tenders | IUCN (Microsoft Word - RfP_TREPA Project Interim Evaluation)

Applications should be sent electronically (email) to tenders.rwanda@iucn.org. No later than 01st May 2025

[1]Evaluation Policy

[2] Evaluation policy for the GCF

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