1.0 INTRODUCTION

Solidaridad Network is an international solution-oriented civil society organization working through eight regional expertise centres to transform markets to make them more sustainable and inclusive. Our eight regional expertise centres include Asia, Eastern and Central Africa, Europe, Latin America, North America, Southern Africa, South America, West Africa and our global Secretariat in the Netherlands. Solidaridad Eastern and Central Africa, one of the regional centres, headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya with country offices and programmes in Kenya, Ethiopia, Tanzania and Uganda.

We bring together supply chain players and engage them with innovative solutions to improve production, ensuring the transition to a sustainable and inclusive economy that maximizes the benefit for all. We facilitate strengthening of local capacity in developing countries, support the creation of enabling environments for economies to thrive, and improve market access. Solidaridad supports Ethiopia’s transition toward a more inclusive and resilient agricultural sector, addressing key challenges such as climate change,environment, food security and economic instability while focusing on coffee, dairy, fruits and vegetables, leather, cotton and textile value chains.

2.0 Purpose

The purpose of this evaluation is to present three proof of concept documents on Dairy Hub Service, Commercial Fodder, and Manure Management as part of the endline evaluation for the Oromia Dairy Farmers’ Bounty Project. This project aimed to commercialize the dairy sector in selected districts of Northern Shewa Zone Aleltu, Berek, Kimbibit, and Sululta Districts through climate-smart intensification. It tested business models that integrate environmental and productivity outcomes, supported by dairy service hubs to professionalize milk production and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The evaluation focuses on capturing the effectiveness, scalability, and sustainability of these models. These proof of concept documents serve as pilot evidence to scale up successful business models, future replication and policy influence.

2.1 Background

Oromia Dairy Farmers’ Bounty’ is a 48-month project that was officially commissioned in October 2021, by the World Bank BioCarbon Fund. At technical level, it is supervised by the Oromia Bureau of Agriculture and Oromia Cooperative Promotion Agency while the financial monitoring and evaluation role is played by Oromia Bureau of Finance. The project idea is to prove the concept of climate smart dairy farming by "intensification" while testing and validating various interrelated business models and environmental assessment tools, highlighting the role the private sector plays in this process, on climate smart dairy farming in the Oromia jurisdiction. It also seeks to contribute to professionalization of dairy farming through dairy service hub development in selected districts of Northern Shewa Zone by 2025. The project activities were implemented in the districts of Aleltu, Barek, Kimbibit and Sululta to generate proof of concept of the dairy hub system to mitigate the impacts of climate change on traditional dairy farming practices.

2.2 Expected Project Outcomes

• Demonstrated viability of three business models—Dairy Hub Services, Commercial Fodder Production, and Manure Management as scalable and sustainable climate-smart dairy interventions.
• Enhanced dairy productivity and income for smallholder farmers through improved access to services, inputs, and markets.
• Integration of climate-smart technologies and practices that reduce greenhouse gas emissions while improving resilience and efficiency in dairy production.
• Empowered cooperatives, producer organizations, and service providers, contributing to the professionalization of the dairy sector in Northern Shewa.
• Promotion of inclusive participation by women and youth in the dairy value chain, ensuring that innovations are socially equitable.
• Generation of evidence-based recommendations and learnings to influence policy dialogue and support future replication or scale-up of successful models.

2.3 Objectives (of the service)

The evaluation has the following objectives:

• To assess whether the three business models—Dairy Hub Services, Commercial Fodder, and Manure Management—have worked effectively and provide proof of concept for scale-up.
• To evaluate the project’s achievement of intended outputs and outcomes for smallholder households, cooperatives, and producer organizations, and its broader relevance to food security and livelihoods.
• To assess the project’s role in promoting innovation and technology adoption in the dairy sector by both direct and indirect beneficiaries.
• To examine the effectiveness of the project’s implementation strategy, including integration of gender, youth, and climate-smart approaches.
• To identify key lessons, assess risks of withdrawal, and evaluate the long-term sustainability and scalability of interventions and investments.

2.4 Methodology

This evaluation requires a mixed method approach that allows methodological triangulation to increase the validity and credibility of data. Participatory methods shall be used to collect both qualitative and quantitative data. These methods shall include the following, but not limited to:

• Household survey using survey questionnaire with local language Afaan Oromoo (a representative sample of the total beneficiary population can be used)
• Literature review of existing documents and review of context and poverty trends including the project proposal and other documents, annual and quarterly reports, monitoring and evaluation reports
• Field observation of the targeted project areas
• Key informant interviews (KII) with project management team, local authorities and local development institutions
• Reflection and feedback sessions with the project management team.

The final methodology to be adopted shall be discussed and agreed with consultants/firm during the

inception meeting.

2.5 Responsibilities of Consultants/Scope of Work

• Analyze relevant project materials, including proposals, implementation plans, progress reports, and M&E data to inform the evaluation design.
• Prepare an inception report outlining the methodology, sampling approach, tools for data collection (qualitative and quantitative), work plan, and team responsibilities.
• Conduct household surveys among a representative sample of beneficiary farmers, undertake key informant interviews (KIIs) with stakeholders including project staff, local authorities, and development partners, and carry out site observations across project locations (Aleltu, Berek, Kimbibit, and Sululta).
• Facilitate participatory methods for gathering insights, including feedback sessions with the project team and local partners.
• Apply both qualitative and quantitative analysis tools (e.g., SPSS, R, Kobo, NVivo) to evaluate the effectiveness, relevance, and sustainability of each business model, while assessing cross-cutting issues such as gender, youth inclusion, climate resilience, and innovation uptake.
• Prepare and submit three draft proof of concept documents, one for each business model; Dairy Hub Services, Commercial Fodder, and Manure Management ahead of the validation workshop for technical review.
• Present key findings and recommendations during a stakeholder validation workshop and incorporate feedback.
• Submit final versions of the three proof of concept documents, fully reflecting comments and recommendations from the validation process and Solidaridad team.

2.6 Deliverables

• Inception Report: the consulting firm is expected to produce the inception report as per the agreed upon ToR and following the approval of the assignment. The inception report should include, detailed description of the methodology, as well as source of information and data collection procedure. The inception report should also indicate the detailed schedule for the tasks to be undergone (work plan), the activities to be implemented and the deliverables. The role and responsibilities of each member of the evaluation team should be stated as well.
• Periodic progress report: in order to manage expectation, the consulting firm is expected to produce and submit weekly and monthly progress updates.
• Draft three proof of concept documents: this proof of concept should be produced before the validation workshop for technical consultation team/group review for technical inputs before validation workshop of the whole proof of concept and recommendations,
• Collaborate during validation workshop: the consultant should present its findings to a stakeholders’ validation workshop that follows the discussion seminar internally with Solidaridad Ethiopia team as well and incorporate feedback if any.
• Final three proof of concept documents: (in English) in which the feedback of partners has been processed by incorporating all the comments received from concerned parties on the draft documents from Solidaridad Ethiopia team suggestions and validation workshop, the final proof of concept of the evaluation should be produced. The proof of concept documents will result in a report, which describes the findings, and recommendations for future interventions.

2.7 Expert/Consultant’s Profile:

The consultancy is open to consultancy firms. Selection of suitable candidates will be undertaken in accordance with the evaluation criteria (Annex A). The requirements are as follows:

Eligibility criteria for the Consulting Firm

• A renewed consultancy licenses to engage in similar activities.
• Verified tax payers number (TIN) and VAT registration number
• A minimum of 7 years track record and demonstrated experience regarding evaluation/proof of concept in case of agriculture related specifically in dairy, fodder, manure management, and Climate-Smart Dairy in Ethiopia.
• At least three reference letters from donors or other organizations who commissioned project endline evaluation, indicating how they appreciated the quality of project evaluation work done by the consultant/firm.
• Written engagement stating that the consultancy and its team members do not have any conflict of interest in the results of the Evaluation and possible future new projects.

Composition of evaluation team:

• The candidate should have demonstrated experience & expertise in Evaluation/proof of concept in agricultural value chain/dairy development in Ethiopia.
• The candidate should have a minimum of 5 years’ experience in carrying out any type of endline evaluation/proof of concept, demonstrable academic and practical experience in qualitative and quantitative research methodology, evaluation design and implementation.
• Usage of qualitative and quantitative data analysis tools such as SPSS, R, Stata, Kobo-ODK, Nivovo, Atlasi and other statistical and qualitative tools.
• Essential to have experience in the area of smallholder farmers, dairy sector development, agribusiness development, and proven experience in project evaluations.
• At least one of the team members should have experience in gender and youth analysis and inclusion in such development.

2.8 Consultancy Period:

1. Interested parties should submit a Technical and Financial proposal Budget proposals should include logistics costs (transport, communications, meals and accommodation) – 05/23/2025
2. Decision on selected consultant – only selected candidates will be contacted – 06/06/2025
3. Inception report and meeting – 06/13/2025
4. Draft report submitted – 07/25/2025
5. Validation meeting – 08/29/2025
6. final report submitted – 09/26/2025

How to Apply:

Application process:

The consultancy firms/companies are required to submit their application containing Technical and financial proposals separately (same email but different files) by 05/16/2025**.** All applicants must meet the minimum requirements described above, those unable to meet the requirement will not be considered.

Each application submission should be not be more than 15 pages of the physical plan and 1-2 pages of financial proposal se with the following documents Annexed for reference:

• A sample/samples of minimum of three previous related work.

• Updated CVs for the team leader and team members (each CV not more than 4 pages)

• Contact details of 3 references with complete contact information (i.e. name, organization, title position, address, email, telephone).

Subject reference: “ODFBP– Endline Evaluation”

Submissions are by email to procurement.et@solidaridadnetwork.org

Note: Canvassing will lead to automatic disqualification. If you do not receive any feedback from us one month after the submission deadline, consider your application unsuccessful.