Consultant for exit strategy for LRRD-1

Background

Afghanaid is mandated to facilitate and support Afghan women, men and children in their fight against poverty, inequality and vulnerability through a range of interventions, most supporting grass-roots and local level capacity development, facilitating local development processes, and institution building with policy influencing and advocacy work embedded in, and leveraged by, the evidence mobilised from its grassroots programming work. The result of its work has earned Afghanaid recognition, respect and identity with stakeholders within and outside the country as an independent, impartial and neutral organisation. Afghanaid’s sectoral work includes Food Security, Agriculture and Livelihoods; Rural Savings/Financing, Market Access and Rural Enterprise Development; Physical Infrastructure; Humanitarian Work; and Local Governance. All sectoral work is supported by cross cutting themes of gender equality and disaster risk reduction (DRR). Afghanaid’s work in these sectors has developed its organizational core competencies.

Purpose and Focus

The overall objective of the assignment is to develop a user friendly exist strategy in order to ensure that relevant stakeholders take ownership for continuity of the project interventions after the project life cycle.

Tasks and deliverables

- Conduct consultative meetings with project staff, beneficiaries, farmers group (men and women), local government authorities (such as DAIL, DoWA, RRD etc) in order to develop a SWOT analysis of the project
- Mapping of natural resource users (resource base, access, land use pattern, productivity, farming systems, land entitlements, seasonality, lean and stress periods and their impact on household food security and coping mechanisms, etc.)
- Identify the vulnerable groups assess how far the project has been able to respond to their needs, what is left-out and how they can benefit from the project interventions
- Develop specific short terms (2-3 months) tools, models, criteria and methods in accordance to the project LFA for project team, beneficiaries and local government authorities on taking steps for continuity of the project interventions
- Develop stakeholders interest map and scenario plan (Plan A, B, C), (keeping in view the local context, power structure and interest groups)
- Organize a provincial level stake holders workshop on the outcomes, findings and on the short-term exit strategy plan
- Finalize the exit strategy document by incorporating stakeholders input including a monitoring mechanism
- Develop MoU/legal framework document for smooth handing over of the project and its assets to the project beneficiaries (group – association) or local government
- Putting a reporting system in place (from beneficiaries group to Afghanaid) on major interventions, success stories and activities after the project life cycle

Methodology

- Among the guiding principles of this consultancy assignment will be inclusiveness, listening and respecting views and opinions of women, landless farmers and other stakeholders of the project on the project’s implementation, its outputs, outcomes and future interventions. The selected consultant will be required to develop detailed methodology including methods and checklists that will be used in this assignment. The consultant will be expected to make active use of results chain – a series of cause and effect relationships linking input to intended outcomes and impacts, which will in turn enable to fill the gaps identified in order to improve on future interventions.
- It is pertinent to note that Afghanistan has a complex and dynamic context, emerging from over three decades of war and civil unrest where socio-economic and political context varies from one community to another, there the project sustainability and ownership context will vary accordingly. Therefore the Consultant is required to provide an in-depth stakeholder interest mapping, scenario plan, and resource mapping. The analysis will help in developing specific short terms tools and methodologies for the project team and beneficiaries group to operationalise the exit strategy recommendations.
- The assignment will include visits and meetings with a representative sample of villages, farmer organisations, saving groups and communities and other key stakeholders across the three project districts in the two provinces as well as in Kabul. These stakeholders will be selected by the consultant through a criteria shared with the commissioning organization i.e. Afghanaid.

Specific actions will be covered under this methodology

- EU country strategy paper and food security strategy
- Afghanistan National Development Strategy (ANDS
- Review of the project documents: narrative proposal, LFA, work plan, progress reports, case studies, EC monitoring and evaluation reports, baseline report, mid-term review, context study report, report on the best practices etc.
- Review of published and un-published literature and data from secondary sources pertaining the operating context
- Field visits and meetings with relevant stakeholders (as described above) including district and provincial government representatives
- Discussion / meetings / workshops with the project staff
- Discussions with relevant TA and other EC representatives
- Debriefing meetings at district and provincial offices of Afghanaid with relevant project and provincial management and technical staff; and at Kabul level with the Afghanaid Managing Director and senior management and sectoral teams.
- Review of documents (literature and data from secondary sources and project related documents) ;
- Development and agreement with Afghanaid on methodology for (i) context study and for (ii) MTR and detailed planning e.g. survey, formats, meetings and workshops schedule, etc. as well as on the two separate reports outlines
- Field visits (visiting farmers, CDCs, women saving groups, data collection), briefing/debriefing meeting/workshops/debriefings with the project teams in provincial and district offices, and meetings with local government representatives and other stakeholders
- Provincial level stakeholders workshop
- Developing debriefing note for Afghanaid
- Draft the exit strategy
- Travel time (actual) – international

Deliverables

- A well structured document on Exit Strategy (including annexure tools, methodologies, action plan, stakeholder interest mapping, scenario plan etc.)
- Commissioning Manager / Reporting Line

The consultant will report directly to: Nayat Karim; Deputy Director Programme Development & Knowledge Management, knayat@afghanaid.org.uk, +93 (0) 793 231 576.

Consultant Expertise and Skills

- Directorate degree in livelihoods security or development studies
- Hands on track record of at least 10 years experience of conducting socio-economic analytical research studies including local power mapping and analysis, impact assessments, exit strategy development and evaluations of large multi-year development projects in the sectoral areas of livelihoods security, markets access and linkages, rural savings and enterprise development, and local governance projects
- Work experience in Afghanistan, particularly in remote areas, and directly relevant to this assignment
- Well developed knowledge and practical experience of financial and economic analysis and the relevant methodological tools
- Experience in developing and applying gender sensitive participatory research, evaluation and review methodologies in traditional Muslim cultural contexts
- Good knowledge and experience of using and interpretation of statistical data