Agriculture Evaluation Local Team Member

Social Impact is a global development management consulting firm. We provide monitoring, evaluation, strategic planning, and capacity building services to advance development effectiveness. We work across all development sectors including democracy and governance, health and education, the environment, and economic growth. Since 1997 we have worked in over 100 countries for clients such as US government agencies, bilateral donors, multilateral development banks, foundations, and nonprofits.

Project Objective:

Through PMSPL II, Social Impact supplements the monitoring and program management efforts of USAID/Lebanon staff and verifies, monitors, and supports USAID program performance in Lebanon. The period of performance of this project is September 2015 – September 2020.

Position Description:

​The Lebanon Industry Value Chain Development (LIVCD) is a $42.6 million program that began in 2012 and will run through January 2019.  The objective of the project is to strengthen the agriculture and agro-processing sectors through technical support to targeted value chains.  It does so by enhancing access to finance for rural small businesses and by stimulating innovation and private sector investment.  Supported value chains include olives, honey, grapes, avocados, cherries and apples.  In addition, LIVCD supports food processing, a wide range of artisanal products and rural basket products—including thyme and pine nuts—as well as rural tourism activities to enhance economic benefits for rural communities.  LIVCD uses a market-driven approach and coordinates with private sector and farmer cooperative partners to tailor business development services, allowing them to meet the demands of the market while creating sustainable linkages among input suppliers, producers, processors, traders, and consumers. Public-private partnerships and co-investments initiated by LIVCD help to increase incomes of rural beneficiaries.

A mid-term evaluation was conducted for LIVCD in April 2016, it evaluated the diverse interventions under the selected value chains and provided recommendations for project improvement during the remaining timeframe and proposed different scenarios for an exit strategy.

The objective of this final LIVCD evaluation is to document critical successes as well as shortcomings of the project in order to provide the Mission, the USG, and the wider donor-community with usable lessons learned for adaptation under USAID’s Collaborating, Learning, and Adapting (CLA) framework.  It should provide the audience with input on the approach and activities implemented under LIVCD in terms of achieving outputs as well as outcomes and the sustainability of its interventions.  It will also provide the Mission with a background, conclusions and recommendations package to be able to better plan for future activities and follow-on activities.

The evaluation will be conducted within the context of SI’s Evaluation Quality Use and Impact (EQUI™) approach, processes and protocols. EQUI processes are designed to achieve a quality evaluation that incorporates learning and utilization. 

SI is seeking a local expert with at least with at least 5 years of experience in value chain development of agriculture and manufacturing sector, private sector development, enterprise development, economic and social analysis of development programs/interventions of donor funded projects in Lebanon. He/ She should have an advanced degree in agriculture, agricultural economics, development sciences, business administration or a related field. Good understanding of Lebanon’s development sector, agricultural sector, local agricultural value chains as well as public and private agribusiness sector institutions.

The local expert will join an evaluation team including a Team Leader, performance evaluation specialist and PMSPL II Staff members. The period of performance is from August to October 2018. The expected number of Level of Effort is 32 days.

**Please note: Only candidates with (Lebanese) citizenship will be considered.**

Responsibilities:

During the pre-field work period, the expert will work with the evaluation team to develop a data collection strategy, design an interview and FGD guide, and prepare an outline for data analysis.

During the Kick-off period, the expert will work with the evaluation team to finalize the data collection tools and interview guides; and finalize the logistics for the field work

During field work, the expert will work with the evaluation team to interview key stakeholders and project beneficiaries, to carry out focus group discussions, and to prepare summaries of interviews and meetings for the evaluation report.

At the post-field work level, the expert is expected to work with the evaluation team to analyze the data, write up sections of the report and assist in presenting main findings for USAID.

The expert is expected to support the evaluation team in responding to USAID comments on the draft report and support the team in submitting a final report to USAID mission.

Qualifications:

The local expert should have at least of 5 years of experience in value chain development of agriculture and manufacturing sector, private sector development, enterprise development, economic and social analysis of development programs/interventions of donor funded projects in Lebanon.

He/She should have an advanced degree in agriculture, agricultural economics, development sciences, business administration or a related field.

He/She should have a good understanding of Lebanon’s development sector, agricultural sector, local agricultural value chains as well as public and private agribusiness sector institutions.

He/ She should have demonstrated ability to undertake needed analysis.

He/ She should preferably have knowledge of USAID and other international donors Knowledge of USAID and other international donors that provide support to the agricultural sector.

He/ She should be fluent in Arabic and English

He/ She is expected to work closely with the Team Leader on the evaluation.