Sustainable Agriculture Tanzania. Solutions for a Better Future.

Sustainable Agriculture Tanzania (SAT)

Solutions for a Better Future. Research, Dissemination and Application.

Tag: gender

CALL FOR EXPRESSION OF INTEREST OF

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Consultancy of external project evaluation of

Participatory Climate Risk Assessment Hub (PCRAH) in Tanzania Project- January 2022 to December 2023

Overview

Sustainable Agriculture Tanzania (SAT) is seeking to hire a consultant(s) to conduct a comprehensive external evaluation for the Bread for the World (BftW) funded project “Participatory Climate Risk Assessment Hub in Tanzania (PCRAH)”. The evaluator is free to propose the methodologies and tools that will be used in the evaluation exercise. These Terms of Reference (ToR) serve as a request for proposals from individual consultants/firms interested in conducting this evaluation.

Evaluation purpose

The main purpose of this evaluation exercise is to assess the performance of this pilot project and capture project achievements so far, challenges, and best practices to provide recommendations for improving performance and inform future project planning and development. This evaluation will identify lessons learned and best practices. The outcome of this evaluation will be used to inform PCRAH’s next phase of design and implementation.

Under the relevancy and based on OECD DAC evaluation criteria and specifically capturing efficiency, effectiveness, relevance, ‘emerging’ impact, and sustainability; the evaluation intends to:

  1. Assess the quality of the project design, the relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, impact, and sustainability of the project.
  2. Determine the extent to which the project has already achieved its objectives or is likely to achieve them.
  3. Determine the extent to which the supported BftW Partner Organisation has developed capacity and how this benefits the adaptation interventions being implemented at the community level.
  4. Draw lessons learned on the project design, implementation, and management (including the utilization of the established monitoring systems) and provide relevant recommendations for future projects.
  5. Inform the project holder (SAT) and BftW in relation to the future direction of the PCRAH project’s next phase.

Timelines and Deliverables

The evaluation is expected to be conducted between 30th May and 28th June 2023. The final report shall be submitted no later than 7th July 2023.

The consultant/s shall share the preliminary findings report (soft copy) to SAT for inputs and comments within a maximum of seven days after data collection. The consultant will incorporate the provided inputs and comments (as applicable) to produce a preliminary report that will be shared with BftW. SAT will share the draft evaluation report with BftW for inputs and comments within two weeks. The consultant will incorporate the inputs and comments from BftW and SAT for producing the final evaluation report.

Consultant (s) qualifications/competencies

  • A postgraduate degree in a relevant discipline related to this assignment.
  • Excellent track record in designing and conducting quantitative and qualitative research, analysis and evaluation.
  • Proven experience of a minimum of five years in undertaking an evaluation of donor-funded projects related to rural/community development, climate change, education, agriculture, or other development sectors, research, and analysis.
  • The ability to produce well-written, analytical reports in English is essential.
  • Knowledge of evaluation of capacity-building activities and familiarity with the theory of change technique.
  • Experience in evaluating climate change adaptation-based projects/programs.
  • A gender-balanced team of at most two consultants is essential

10.0 Application procedure

Interested applicants should submit;

  • a cover letter of expression of interest,
  • curriculum vitae,
  • A technical proposal explaining their comprehension of the ToR and how they would approach this assignment, summarising the methodologies and approaches they plan to use, including a timeline
  • a financial proposal outlining their expected fees for undertaking the assignment and all costs,
  • A sample of two reports of similar or related evaluations undertaken.

Please send your application electronically via consultancy@kilimo.org latest by 22nd May 2023 with the subject line of the email PCRAH project external evaluation and addressed to the SAT CEO. The review of proposals starts immediately and will continue until a suitable consultant is identified and close on 24th May 2023.

For more information about the scope of work, please download the Terms of Reference below

Terms of Reference

CALL FOR MASTERS’ STUDENT RESEARCHERS

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To conduct research to address concerns raised by farmers to ensure they continue to practice agriculture ecologically on their farms.

Sustainable Agriculture Tanzania (SAT) have trained farmers in various Agroecological (AE) practices ranging from farm preparation to post-harvest handling. Farmers who have been practicing AE acknowledge that AE practices generate many benefits, including environmental, health, economic, and social benefits. The socioeconomic benefits include improved household food security and increased income.

Farmers are using AE practices in their agriculture activities, there are still facing numerous challenges in their farms; these challenges were reported by farmers on December 2021 and 2022 at MLT 9 SUA Main campus during the 8th and 9th Workshop for Participatory Research Design (WPRD) which was organized by SAT. Problems which have been written in 8th WPRD are supposed to be ongoing researches as these problems were researched by bachelor students in 2022, and they need continuation. These problems were later designed in research areas as follows:

  1. Effect of Biofertilizer (application rate, mixture of Leucaena leaves, Alfalfa, Onion peel, Chicken eggshell and Wood ash as organic fertilizer) in increasing tomato yield through soil fertility management to prevention of fusarium wilt- Vitonga village, Morogoro. (From the 8th WPRD).
  2. Biopesticides that repeal American bollworm insect on tomato or control of leaf miners – Vitonga village, Morogoro. (From 8th WPRD).
  3. Effectiveness of selected bio-char basal amendments on yield of maize- Mafuru village- (From 8th WPRD).
  4. Efficacy of neem leaf powder and most of biopesticides to improve effective prevention of maize weevils for long period without re-application stored local maize seeds and germination efficiency of harvested and stored local maize seeds- Mayanga village Morogoro. (From 8th WPRD).
  5. The efficiency of botanicals as management of leaf yellowing and spike shedding in pepper plants. -Kibwaya village Morogoro. (From 8th WPRD).
  6. Biopesticides to control Spotted groundnut leaves disease- Nanyumbu district Mtwara region (from 9th WPRD).
  7. Effectiveness of bio-pesticides to control insects (vibaruti) in sesame crop. Farmers have been applying Neem and pepper (pilipili kichaa). However, after 3 days the insects return and therefore, it makes it very difficult to control them- Lindi Mtwara. (From 9th WPRD).

As an organization which promotes sustainable farming methods, we are very determined to address the concerns raised by farmers to ensure they continue practicing AE in their farms. Apart from training them on best AE practices, we are also dedicated to conducting research so that in the end, all the concerns raised by farmers are addressed. Since 2014 we dedicated some financial resources to conduct research on AE and to some extent, they have provided solutions to what farmers are complaining. AE cannot be isolated from the rapid growing technology in the agriculture sector. When you hear from farmers, their concerns imply that AE practices needs some level of mechanization. Dedicating resources for the research may help to attain what farmers want under AE.

As a researcher you a part of change by contributing through conducting participatory research with farmers to find the solutions which will address the farmers’ concerns raised about practicing AE. We invite Masters students from Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA) who are currently working on their course work to come up with a concept note which addresses above challenge. The best concepts will be selected and supported with TZS 3,300,000/=. The only way to get these funds is to put up the convincing concept note that will show clearly how you will address the challenge.

To participate in this program, please send your concept note to us through our communication email wprd@kilimo.org not later than 10th March 2023. The concept should not exceed 10 pages ALL SECTIONS INCLUSIVE. Don’t forget to write your full name, degree course, phone number and email address on your document.

2023 Sustainable Agriculture Tanzania (SAT)