Relevant experience in evaluating MSD/M4P program

40

Demonstrated understanding and integration of cross-cutting themes

25

Financial Proposal

25

Professional competences

10

RequestforProposals

ContractorforMid-TermEvaluationofReGenerateRwanda

ReferenceNo.: RQ7075

DatePublished: 03/03/2025

DueDateforResponses: 03/17/2025

Background

TechnoServe is a US-based non-profit organization which works with enterprising people in the developing world to build competitive farms, businesses, and industries. TechnoServe is well known for its work in developing inclusive agricultural value chains such as cashew nut, poultry and soy, as well as working with urban entrepreneurs.

The current phase of the ReGenerate Rwanda program is the implementation phase, which began in January 2024 and continues until October 2027. To date ReGenerate Rwanda has just over 15 3 completed, live or pipeline partnerships (where it is already facilitating and elaborating strategies with partners).

ReGenerate Rwanda is a program funded by the Swedish Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) through the Swedish Embassy in Kigali, and implemented by TechnoServe in Rwanda. The program is set to run over five years, from 2023 to 2027.

Our Goal: We aim to sustainably increase the income of 30,000 individuals (70% of whom are women and youth) living in poverty in the Western and Southern regions of Rwanda.

Our Approach: Utilizing a market systems development strategy, the program is dedicated to identifying, catalyzing, and scaling systemic solutions.

We collaborate with private sector partners to:

Develop business solutions that meet the unmet demand for essential products and services in the target regions Prioritize inclusivity by integrating women and youth as central to this transformative growth

Transition toward regenerative economic models.

By addressing the needs of the most remote and vulnerable households, the program aims to foster new local business opportunities and stimulate job creation.

The program's strategy is built on three core verticals:

Trade: Focuses on establishing partnerships to enhance distribution and aggregation models, ensuring they are cost-effective, regenerative, and inclusive. This involves addressing barriers like inefficient distribution networks, lack of access to regenerative inputs, and mobility challenges for women.

Access to Finance: Aims to develop strategic alliances that empower financial institutions to better address the diverse requirements of women, youth, farmers, and businesses. This includes overcoming challenges such as limited financial literacy, lack of collateral, and lack of access to affordable capital.

Skills: Focuses on establishing partnerships to enhance technical, business, and soft skills, enabling women and youth to access new economic opportunities. This addresses barriers like the high cost of private sector training and the misalignment between workforce skills and industry needs.

These verticals are interwoven with two crucial cross-cutting areas:

Gender and Youth Inclusion: Prioritizes the increased participation, improved performance, and equitable benefits for women and youth in all economic activities. This involves tackling challenges like unequal gender norms and lack of access to resources.

RegenerativeImpactPathways: Ensures all interventions contribute to environmental sustainability and promote regenerative practices. This includes focusing on climate risk awareness, circular economy principles, and promoting green businesses.

ScopeofWork

Objective and Scope

The objective of the assignment is to evaluate the progress of the ReGenerate Rwanda program implementation to date. Specifically, the consultant should evaluate:

1. Relevance:

• To what extent has the project conformed to the needs and priorities of the beneficiaries and donor policies?
• Is the project a technically adequate solution to the development problem at hand? (iii) Does it eliminate the main causes of the problem?
• To what extent are the current partnerships relevant to the needs and priorities of Regenerate and its beneficiaries? To what extent has the project addressed the underlying issues that led to the development of the project?
• How strategic is Regenerate in selecting and engaging with partners?
• Do the partners the program has engaged have the capacity to deliver their objectives/targets?
• Are there significant changes in the context of emerging needs or priorities that ReGenerate Rwanda should consider going forward?
• To what extent is gender and women´s economic empowerment being mainstreamed and addressed across all programme operations?

2. Effectiveness:

• To what extent has the project contributed to the intended outcomes (both intermediate and intended long-term)? If so, why? If not, why not?
• What can be done to make the project more effective? (ii) To what extent has the project methodology (MSD / M4P) contributed to
• reaching the intended beneficiaries, specifically the women and the youth? If so, why? If not, why not? What can be done to make the approach more effective?
• To what extent are important results likely to be missed vis-à-vis what is demonstrated? What are the major factors influencing achievement or non-achievement of the objectives?
• Are there any visible changes so far (improvements) for the target groups in relation to the project strategic objective?
• How will progress towards results be measured? How will the measurement of observed changes be ensured as credible, reliable, and useful?
• Assess the TechnoServe’s capabilities and systems for analyzing and naving the political economy around ReGenerate interventions.
• Ascertain to which extent is TechnoServe and ReGenerate Rwanda is maximizing benefits from strategic partnerships with implementing partners, backstopping experts and other key stakeholders.
• Assess the effectiveness of TechnoServa and Regenerate Rwanda to trigger systemic changes, to what extent are programme interventions sustainable and have the potential to be transformational?

3. Efficiency:

• How fit for purpose is the current ReGenerate Rwanda structure and management? To what extent has the project contributed to the intended outcomes? If so, why? If not, why not?
• What can be done to make the project more effective?
• To what extent has the project methodology (MSD/M4P) contributed to reaching the intended beneficiaries, specifically women and youth? If so, why? If not, why not?
• What can be done to make the approach more effective?
• To what extent are the current partnerships or interventions contributing to project outcomes? Are partnerships effectively supporting the achievement of objectives?
• What are the strengths and weaknesses of these partnerships in terms of quality, coordination, and alignment with project goals? What can be done to improve the effectiveness of existing partnerships or interventions?
• Are there opportunities to strengthen collaboration, communication, or shared accountability among partners? What are the major factors influencing achievement or non-achievement of the objectives?
• Are there any visible changes so far (improvements) for the target groups in relation to the project’s strategic objective? To what extent have partners allocated resources (e.g., human and financial) to the program? What strategies could be implemented to ensure that financial and human resources allocated to the partners are used efficiently?
• Are the management arrangements, processes and capabilities adequate for driving results in a timely manner for identifying and responding to critical constraints and opportunities for inclusive and sustainable economic development in the programme implementation area.

4. Impact:

• How effectively was the project designed and implemented compared to its original plan?
• What discrepancies exist between the initial design (project design / inception report) and actual implementation? What lessons can be learned from these discrepancies to improve future project design and execution?
• What capacity does TNS need to build among partners to strengthen service delivery?
• Given its present situation and challenges, what is the likelihood that ReGenerate Rwanda will contribute to positive impacts? What can the project do (recommendations) in order to achieve more impact than what has been achieved so far?
• What are the unintended positive or negative consequences of the project's interventions? How have these unintended consequences affected the project's overall impact?
• How has the project impacted different groups of women and youth, considering factors such as age, location, and socioeconomic status? Are there any unintended disparities in the distribution of benefits or burdens among different groups?
• What is the environmental impact of the project's interventions, both positive and negative? How has the project contributed to the adoption of regenerative practices and environmental sustainability?

5. Sustainability

• If positive results are identified as a result of ReGenerate Rwanda, how likely are they to be sustainable? To what extent the sustainability indicator in the results framework can be maintained?
• To what extent will the existing engagement with partners contribute to the sustainability of interventions? What impact has the project's intervention/engagement had (or is showing signs of) on the partners?
• What changes have been produced across the partners that are likely to increase the sustainability of the interventions? To what extent are the partners committed to sustaining the implementation of the interventions?
• To what extent can the project's interventions be scaled up or replicated in other contexts? What factors contribute to or hinder the scalability and replicability of the interventions?
• What factors impact their ability to sustain this in the medium to long term?
• How has the project engaged with or attracted additional stakeholders, such as government agencies, private sector actors, or civil society organizations?
• What is the potential for these stakeholders to contribute to the long-term sustainability of the project's interventions? What resources (human, technical, and financial) are required to ensure the project’s sustainability upon its completion?

Monitoring, Evaluation and learning - The review team should also evaluate the Logframe itself, if relevant in practice e.g., whether the Outputs are still the right ones to achieve the Outcomes, and whether the indicators are still the right ones to monitor progress? In addition, review the Logframe targets and establish to what extent they are still realistic and achievable. Recommend adjustment to the Logframe and Theory of Change if relevant.

This mid-term review will assess the program's foundational assumptions and its ability to adapt to evolving circumstances. The review should not only assess past performance but also provide forward-looking insights. Ultimately, the findings should guide improvements, identify best practices, and inform future decision-making for greater impact.

ProposedActivities

The Contractor will be expected to conduct the following activities:

Reviewofprogramdocuments

Program document and overall results chain approved by Embassy of Sweden for implementation

Annual work plans and annual and quarterly reports submitted by ReGenerate Rwanda and approved by Embassy of Sweden Internal documents documenting processes and approaches including the MEL manual, the gender strategy, the regenerative impact pathway strategy and any others

Individual intervention documents including a sample of partnership agreements, intervention strategies, partnership agreements, intervention guides (showing the MEL matrix for each intervention), MEL data (app sheet).

DiscussionswithprogramdonorandReGenerateRwandaprogramstaffandPartners

Embassy of Sweden staff in ReGenerate Rwanda (in person or remote) to understand the objectives of ReGenerate Rwanda within the context of Embassy of Sweden’s Rwanda portfolio

ReGenerate Rwanda Program team, TechnoServe global advisors (Mel, gender, entrepreneurship) and TechnoServe Rwanda management

Partners of ReGenerate Rwanda

Written report reviewing ReGenerate Rwanda approach and activities

The written report should cover relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, impact and sustainability, monitoring and learning as outlined in the objectives above. In addition, the report should ensure coverage of the following:

• Program’s strategy for achieving ReGenerate Rwanda objectives Selection of sector verticals and partners
• Outcomes from program’s first partnerships
• Evidence of adaptive management and risk management Gender strategy and approaches
• Approach to environmental considerations and green growth
• The Contractor should provide concrete recommendations for the program wherever relevant.

Deliverables

• This evaluation is open to both independent consultants and consulting firms.
• The Contractor will start work in April, for an estimated total LOE of 30 days. The Contractor is expected to submit the following deliverables:
• All reports/documents should be produced in English.
• Inception report detailing the evaluator’s intended approach, including: Scope of the evaluation
• Evaluation questions and entry points for analysis Proposed approach and methodology
• Sampling approach
• Data collection and analysis plan Preliminary findings and key observations Staffing
• Budget Timeframe
• Develop Research Protocol: The contractor will lead the development of the research protocol, which will include: Overview of methodology, data collection, and analysis plan
• Overview of methods taken for the protection of human subjects, including informed consent and respondent confidentiality Assessment of respondent risks and benefits
• Compliance with Rwanda Data ProtectionDevelopment of a data dictionary for data collection tools used.

Developasamplingplan: The contractor will define the sampling frame and size required to capture the various metrics and data needed for the mid-term review of the program and document the sampling strategy in close consultation with the program team. This should be done appropriately for both the control and comparison groups where necessary, referring to indicator reference sheets and baseline evaluation reports.

Data collection:The contractor will oversee all activities related to the preparation and conducting of data collection. TechnoServe’s Program and MEL staff will assist the contractor with all logistics involved.

DataQualityAssurance:The contractor is responsible for conducting all appropriate data quality assurance procedures, including instrument review and good validity and reliability tests, enumerator instruction, coaching and performance monitoring, back-checks, spot-checks and accompaniments, and preparation of daily data quality assurance reports.

This inception report should be presented by the evaluator and discussed / commented with ReGenerate Rwanda team and Embassy

Draft report of c. 15-30 pages and slide presentation of c. 15-20 pages. – by 15 June 2025 – for ReGenerate Rwanda and Embassy comment

Final report of c. 15-30 pages and slide presentation and slide presentation of c. 15-20 pages. – by 15 July 2025

The contractor will work closely with the ReGenerate Rwanda team and regular meetings will be scheduled with the aim of clarifying questions of both parties and doing a follow-up of the work in development.

Anticipated Start Date

04/01/2025

PerformanceLocation

Rwanda and/or remotely.

AdditionalInformation

Remuneration

After the contractor presents his/her financial proposal, the contractor will be paid according to the agreed amount with ReGenerate Rwanda in two installments – one after contract signing (25%), one at final material delivery and validation by ReGenerate Rwanda (75%).

Quotesshouldclearlyincludedetailedcostinginlocalmoney(RWF)&USDforinternationalcompanies, assumed LOE and whether they already include taxes.

Selectioncriteria

Bidders will be evaluated on the following criteria, assessed through the Consultant’s proposal and subsequent interview with the ReGenerate Rwanda team:

RelevantexperienceinevaluatingMSD/M4Pprograms:

At least 10 years of experience in program and project evaluation applying OECD- DAC criteria, including leading mid-term reviews, final evaluations, annual reviews, and similar assignments for programs of similar scale and size Experience working in MSD/M4P programs globally, preferably in Rwanda, East Africa and/or other developing or emerging economies

Experience in conducting independent evaluations of other MSD programs Experience in MSD/M4P methodologies

Experience is ReGenerate’s main intervention verticals, access to finance, Trade and skills.

Demonstrated understanding and integration of cross-cutting themes:

• This includes Gender, Women's Economic Empowerment (WEE), Youth, Environment, Climate Change (CC), and conflict sensitivity
• Knowledge and understanding of issues around women’s economic empowerment
• Understanding of social and economic inclusion in the African and preferably Rwandan context

Professionalcompetences:

Collaborative and dynamic work style Attention to detail and critical sense Discipline in the fulfillment of deadlines Mastery of languages required

40%

25%

10%

Cost:Competitive financial proposal&nbsp25%

Total 100%

ResponseInstructions

To ensure consideration, all responses must be submitted no later than 03/17/2025, written in English with prices stated in USD. All responses must:

Contain a detailed cost with applicable taxes and other charges clearly identified. Provide requested payment terms and conditions.

Include a contact name, email address, and telephone number.

For quotes from a firm, provide a brief outline of the company and services offered, including the company's full legal name and address, the jurisdiction of incorporation, the full legal name and country of citizenship of the company's owners/principal officers, and the year the business was established.

If a consortium of firms or a team of consultants submits a quote jointly, the above information should be provided for each member of the team.

Only include attached files that are 10 MB or smaller in size. Do not include compressed (ZIP, RAR), executable, or other unusual

file formats as these will be rejected.

Submit responses to: buy+RQ7075@tns.org

Note: DO NOT email your response to any employee of TechnoServe or deliver your response in hard copy to a TechnoServeoffice.Failingtoadheretotheseinstructionsmaymakeyourresponseineligibleforconsideration.

TermsandConditions

• This solicitation shall not be construed as an offer by TechnoServe. Responses must be submitted on or before the date indicated.
• Any quotes that are unresponsive will be summarily rejected.
• Responses to this solicitation shall be deemed binding offers and must remain valid for acceptance for no less than 90 days from the closing date of this solicitation.
• Any purchases resulting from this solicitation will be governed by TechnoServe's contractual terms and conditions, and may be subject to additional terms as required by donors funding the purchase.
• TechnoServe expressly reserves the right to accept or reject any quote or to cancel the solicitation process at any time without explanation, with no liability to any respondent.
• TechnoServe may, at its discretion, accept all or part of a respondent's offer.
• All information provided by TechnoServe in this solicitation is given in good faith; however, details are subject to change. TechnoServe may require respondents to enter into a non-disclosure agreement as a prerequisite for consideration.
• Respondents bear sole responsibility for all costs incurred in connection with the preparation of their response, including any third- party expenses.
• All responses shall become the property of TechnoServe.
• Respondents must fully disclose any conflicts of interest pertaining to this solicitation. Failure to comply may result in disqualification.

 Request Files

The following attached files, if any, represent an important part of this solicitation. No Request Files Found

SelectionCriteria

Submissions will be evaluated based on the following criteria and rating methodology.

Selection Criteria MaxPoints