Call for Expression of Interest (EoI) for conducting the Kilimo Trust 20-Year Impact Study
Background information
Kilimo Trust is a not-for-profit organization working on agriculture for development across the East Africa community – in Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda. Kilimo Trust is a go-to implementing partner for inclusive and sustainable market-led agricultural value chain development in the region.
Over the past 20 years, Kilimo Trust has built a solid reputation as a reliable partner for sustainable market-led agricultural development in the East African region. With headquarters in Uganda, and affiliated subsidiaries in Kenya, Tanzania, and Rwanda, Kilimo Trust maintains a lean operations team, choosing to work through partnerships with local and regional actors for efficiency.
Kilimo Trust started its operations in East Africa in 2005 as a research entity and grant-making organization to support research that connected science with farmers. At that time, the Trust was funded by the Gatsby Charitable Foundation (GCF) which was founded by Lord David Sainsbury in 1967 to support multiple projects in Africa and Asia.
Between 2005 and 2010, with funding of over US$13 million, Kilimo Trust supported farmer institutions, Government Research Organizations like the National Agricultural Research Organization (NARO) of Uganda, processors, civil society organizations (CSOs), and financial institutions in the five East African Community (EAC) member states. We also supported about 50 projects on research, testing approach for financing, how to support market access, and various other projects.
In 2011, Kilimo Trust (KT) focus changed from giving grants for research to implementing projects along the commodity value chain. KT leveraged her experience and expertise in value chain transformation and transitioned to a direct implementer. This was to better serve the region’s smallholder farmers and other agricultural value chain actors, helping them become key players in local, national, and regional value chains.The core approach to the work at Kilimo Trust became known as the Consortium Approach to Value Chain Development that was piloted in 2012 in Uganda with funding from UNDP and later scaled out in Tanzania with funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) and Germany’s Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH in the Competitive Africa Rice Initiative (2013 -2017).
Between 2014 and 2017, Kilimo Trust expanded its operations by establishing fully-fledged subsidiaries in Tanzania, Rwanda, and Kenya. Additionally, the organization has extended its activities to Burundi, South Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, with plans for further expansion into Ethiopia.
As part of celebrating 20 years of existence, Kilimo Trust seeks to evaluate its impact over the last two decades. This evaluation will assess the effectiveness and outcomes of various interventions implemented to improve the livelihoods of smallholder farmers and value chain actors across East Africa.
The purpose of this consultancy is to develop a comprehensive impact report that captures the socio-economic achievements of Kilimo Trust’s projects, focusing on key metrics such as return on investment (ROI) in terms of increased income for beneficiaries, employment generation, and other relevant indicators.
Objectives of the Consultancy
The primary objective of this study is to assess and document the overall impact of Kilimo Trust’s projects from 2005 to 2025. Specifically, the consultant will be required to:
- Analyze and quantify the direct and indirect impact of Kilimo Trust's interventions on smallholder farmers and value chain actors.
- Develop metrics to measure returns on investment (e.g., income generated per dollar spent by Kilimo Trust).
- Provide qualitative and quantitative analysis of the social, economic, and environmental outcomes of Kilimo Trust’s projects.
- Synthesize lessons learned and recommendations for future programmatic improvement.
Scope of Work
The scope of the assignment will include but is not limited to the following:
- Desk Review:Review relevant Kilimo Trust documents including project reports, financial records, monitoring and evaluation reports, and other relevant literature.
- Data Collection: Gather both qualitative and quantitative data from Kilimo Trust beneficiaries and stakeholders through interviews, surveys, focus group discussions, or any other appropriate methods.
- Data Analysis: Conduct detailed data analysis to quantify Kilimo Trust’s contributions in economic and social terms.
Impact Metrics: Identify and apply suitable metrics to evaluate project outcomes, such as:
- Return on Investment (ROI) based on changes in the quality of life among KT beneficiaries, mainly smallholder farmers.
- Job creation and improvement in livelihoods.
- Increased market access and trade facilitation.
- Improvements in food security, nutrition security and climate and economic resilience.
- Improved regional cross-border trade in key commodities with attribution to key projects such as CARI, REACTS and BEST EAC
- Effects of collaboration and partnerships with public and private sector actors
- Document beneficiary success stories bringing out key drivers of change
Report Development: Produce a comprehensive 20-year impact report highlighting key achievements, outcomes, and lessons learned.
Report Summary into a brochure:Showing key achievements and impact metrics
Presentation: Present the findings to Kilimo Trust’s management team and provide recommendations for future interventions.
Deliverables
The consultants or firms will be responsible for the following key deliverables:
- Inception Report:Detailing methodology, work plan, and timeline for the assignment.
- Data Collection Tools:Instruments and frameworks for gathering necessary data from stakeholders and beneficiaries.
- Draft Impact Report:A preliminary version of the report outlining major findings and key metrics.
- Final Impact Report:A polished report incorporating feedback, complete with visualizations, case studies, and recommendations.
- PowerPoint Presentation: A summary presentation of key findings to Kilimo Trust management.
Role of Kilimo Trust
- Kilimo Trust will provide all the documents required by the consultant. These will include Annual reports, project evaluation reports, and other required documents that are in the custody of the organization
- Kilimo Trust will support the consultant to receive required approval to work in all identified treatment and control areas.
- Kilimo Trust will work with the Firm or consultant to clearly define all terms laid out within the research question prior to any field work being conducted.
Duration of Consultancy
The consultancy is expected to last for One and Half months (6 Weeks), commencing on February 1st and concluding on March 15th, 2025. The timeline will be structured as follows:
- Inception Phase:1 week
- Data Collection Phase: 2 weeks
- Data Analysis and Draft Report: 2 weeks
- Final Report Submission: 1 week
Qualifications and Experience
The Firm or consultant MUST have the following qualifications:
- Master’s degree in Agricultural Economics, Development Studies, Monitoring and Evaluation, or a related field.
- At least 10 years of experience in conducting impact evaluations, preferably in the agricultural or development sectors.
- Strong data analysis skills and familiarity with both qualitative and quantitative research methodologies.
- Proven track record of producing high-quality impact reports for NGOs or similar organizations.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
Application Procedure:
Interested and eligible consultants or firms should submit the following:
- Expression of interest or cover letter addressed to the Human Resource Manager of Kilimo Trust.
- A detailed technical proposal including work plan and methodology for the assignment.
- Financial proposal highlighting cost breakdown
- Personal CV(s) of leading technical personnel proposed for this assignment highlighting qualifications and experience in similar tasks; and
- Three work references from past clients’ /firms for whom you have produced similar assignments in the past three years).
- Samples of similar impact evaluation reports.
- Firms should also provide: Company registration certificate.
- Company registration certificate.
- Tax Clearance Certificate
Mode of application:
All required documents must be written in English and submitted electronically in one folder to recruitment@kilimotrust.org not later than Friday 31st January 2025 at 11:59PM EAT. Late submission will be rejected. The Prospective Consultant MUST clearly indicate in the Email subject:” Call for Expression of Interest (EoI) for conducting the Kilimo Trust 20-Year Impact Study”
Contact Information
For any inquiries, please contact: Kilimo Trust Admin team: admin@kilimotrust.org