1. BACKGROUND

Action Against Hunger (AAH) – Spain, as part of the Action Against Hunger International network, is a non-governmental, private, apolitical, non-confessional and non-profit organisation that fights hunger and its root causes worldwide. It has been operating in the South Caucasus region since 1994 and its current programmes focus on the following areas: Food Security, Livelihoods, Water and Sanitation, Agriculture, and Economic and Rural Development.

Action Against Hunger – together with the Danish Refugee Council – have recently completed the project **“**Building resilience and local responsibility in local communities of Abkhazia” that aimed to contribute to improved socio-economic conditions of the rural population in Abkhazia, through increased economic opportunities and sustainable management of natural resources with a focus on agriculture. The project began in December 2021 and was completed in October 2024.

The specific objectives of the project were the:

1. Enhanced resilience of rural communities through improved agricultural practices and diversification of income-generating sources.
2. Enhanced community empowerment and social inclusion and cohesion through community-led local development initiatives (CLLD)

The project outputs were:

• Improved agricultural production in target areas through capacity development and investment support.
• Increased capacity and capabilities of rural communities (with a specific focus on women, youth and vulnerable groups) to greater engage in local development initiatives.
• Residents in rural areas have access to improved employment and economic diversification opportunities and inclusive social services.

The project provided support to its beneficiaries by offering short-term agricultural training and extension services through Agricultural Training Centres (ATCs), enhancing the role and capacity of Gali & Tkvarcheli Local Action Groups (LAGs), soliciting and funding sub-grant applications, providing conditional cash transfers to farmers and implementing social initiatives.

2. GENERAL OBJECTIVE

Action Against Hunger is looking to contract a Researcher to support the design of the M&E tools, remotely coordinate the data collection process carried out by trained enumerators and to support Action Against Hunger with data analysis and reporting. The primary objective of the endline survey is to assess the impact and outcomes of the project specifically focusing on the improvement of the living conditions in the target localities, expansion of agricultural businesses and raising the knowledge of beneficiaries in the farming area through various training sessions.

The survey will evaluate the project’s success in strengthening CLLD approaches and the integration of Good Agricultural Practices into the agricultural production systems of supported farmers. The survey will also identify key lessons learned, challenges, the programme’s flexibility and sustainability. Four target groups will be included in the inquiry: Local Action Group (LAG) members, ATC participants/trainees, LAG and ATC sub-grant recipients and farmers that received conditional cash transfers (CCT)

The key objectives of the endline survey are as follows:

• Evaluate the extent to which the Community-led Local Development (CLLD) applied by the Gali and Tkvarcheli LAGs has supported rural development in their locality.
• Assess the level of participation of women, youth, and vulnerable groups in Gali and Tkvarcheli LAG decision-making processes.
• Examine the adoption of Good Agricultural Practices by farmers into their production system.
• Measure how many project beneficiaries report improvements in their living localities and communities.
• Track the number of jobs created through project support, across all actions.
• Measure percentage of economic activities that are viable/sustainable at the end of project activities.
• Determine how many beneficiaries in the Gali and Tkvarcheli districts are benefiting from better community services thanks to the social initiatives supported by the project.

3. TASKS AND RESPONSABILITIES

The researcher/s will remotely oversee and coordinate the data collection process and support Action Against Hunger with data analysis and reporting. Action Against Hunger will be responsible for the actual data collection in the four target locations through its enumerators, so the researcher/s will not need to perform any fieldwork nor visit Abkhazia

The scope of work for the research consultancy includes the following:

• Support the Action Against Hunger MEAL Manager in designing and planning the methodology for the endline survey.
• Support in the creation of the following questionnaires with the MEAL Manager for data collection, making sure to consider the initial baseline questionnaires.
  • Questionnaire for LAG members.
  • Questionnaire for ATC trainees.
  • Questionnaire LAG, ATC and CCT grant recipients
• Upload the questionnaires into the KOBO platform:
• Develop an analytical research report that presents findings relevant to the research goals and objectives outlined in the methodology. Also, include a comparative analysis with the findings from the baseline survey.
• Create actionable recommendations and present them to Action Against Hunger.

4. EXPECTED OUTPUTS

The expected outputs delivered to Action Against Hunger are:

• Research design and methodology.
• Research tools (questionnaires, guidelines).
• Data analysed (Logical check/cleaned database is produced, statistical analysis including frequencies and cross-tabulations for all relevant variables are conducted, raw datasets are provided)
• Final Report with recommendations (Narrative and visualized results/findings in Canva or PPT or Flourish are prepared).

5. Qualifications & Experience Required

• Bachelor’s degree in social sciences, agricultural studies, development studies, or a related field; Master’s degree is preferred.
• Strong knowledge of research principles, methodologies, and best practices in both quantitative and qualitative methods.
• Demonstrated experience in conducting surveys and evaluations.
• Proficiency in data collection and analysis tools, including KOBO Toolbox, SPSS, and Power BI, will be considered advantageous.
• Experience with projects focused on Community-Led Local Development (CLLD) or Agricultural Practices is an asset.
• Excellent communication skills in English, both written and spoken.
• Russian knowledge is an asset
• Strong organizational and planning skills, with the ability to manage complex data and synthesize findings into actionable insights.
• Sensitivity to diverse community dynamics

6. SURVEY/ASSESMENT TIMEFRAME

Research contract to commence on the 2ndDecember 2024. Total number of working days: 24

Activity, Responsible, Tentative Dates

Research design and methodology development

(preparation of research design, including the development

of the questionnaires and uploading to KOBO) Researcher 2nd – 11th December 2024

8 working days.

Supervise data collection performed by enumerators Researcher & Enumerators; 16th – 27th December 2024; The equivalent of 3 working days over this period.

Analysing and drafting Research Report; Researcher; 9th – 22nd January 2025

10 working days.

Report feedback from Action Against Hunger; MEAL Manager; 28th January 2025.

Final Report Submission; Researcher; 29th – 31st January 2025;

3 working days.

7. GENERAL CONDITIONS

Starting Date: Should be available to start by 2nd December 2024

Duration of timeframe: 24 working days and the final report should be submitted by 31st January 2025

Location of work: Home/Office based.

1. Fees: The total amount for consultancy fees to be negotiated based on the proposition and experience of the consultant.
2. Payment: Payment will be made in full after completion of the service
3. Insurance: The Researcher/s shall manage their own insurance

Report: The research report should be submitted in an electronic version in the English language.

Rights: The ownership of the research documents will belong to Action Against Hunger. The document, or any publication related to it, will not be shared by the consultant to anybody prior to the delivery of the final document to the donor by Action Against Hunger.

Action Against Hunger may share the results of the report with the following groups:

• Donor(s)
• Key Stakeholders
• Various co-ordination bodies

How to Apply:

Interested applicants should send their research CV and a financial proposition (proposed gross daily rate for remuneration in EUR) covering the whole research period to the Action Against Hunger email address: procurement@sc.acfspain.org with the subject line “ENPARD IV Endline Survey” no later than 24th November 2024