Consultant (Financial Inclusion Outcome Evaluation) at Mercy Corps Nigeria - Abuja, Sokoto & Kebbi

Mercy Corps is a global, non-governmental organization, which exists to alleviate suffering, poverty and oppression by helping people build secure, productive and just communities. Mercy Corps works in the areas of emergency relief, sustainable economic development and civil society. Since 1979, Mercy Corps has provided $1 billion in assistance to people in 94 nations. Mercy Corps is collaborating with the Federal Government of Nigeria, the UK Department for International Development and USAID partners implementing economic development programs throughout the country.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Consultancy (Financial Inclusion Outcome Evaluation)

Locations: Sokoto, Kebbi & FCT

Project Details

• Catholic Relief Services (CRS), in partnership with Mercy Corps (MC), the Catholic Caritas Foundation of Nigeria (CCFN), the Federation of Muslim Women Association of Nigeria (FOMWAN) and eight (8) Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) is implementing the Feed the Future Nigeria Livelihoods Project (FFNLP), with support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The project employs a multi-sector approach that will help 42,000 vulnerable households (HHs) in rural communities in northern Nigeria’s Sokoto and Kebbi states, and in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) grow their agricultural and non-agricultural incomes.

Job Description
The Evaluation Consultant will conduct an in-depth and accurate evaluation of the performance outcomes of the various IR2 sub-interventions on beneficiaries’ abilities to successfully manage and grow businesses for which they received technical and financial assistance. Along with predefined indicators developed below, the evaluator will use the following elements in the performance of this task to determine:

• Relevance: Has the intervention(s) and overall approach been adequate and appropriate to help beneficiaries manage and grow their business enterprise?
• Efficacy: To what extent i.e. how effective are the financial interventions provided (conditional cash grant vis-a-vis micro-franchising/loan product) vis-à-vis technical assistance and gender in enabling beneficiaries start and improve their business
• Sustainability: Are the project beneficiaries likely to continue to manage and grow their enterprises long after the intervention is over?
• Lessons Learned: What key lessons can stakeholders learn based on findings gathered from the outcome performance evaluation study?

Key Evaluation Questions
The following questions should guide the evaluator and be addressed in the assessment:

• Were the project strategies, interventions and areas appropriately targeted?
  • Did the intervention activities properly target the needs of beneficiaries already in business, and those new to business: providing them with the adequate skills, and finance to start and manage a business, providing them with the markets to help their businesses increase their revenue and in turn income.?
  • Was the program’s aim to enable the beneficiaries above to start and improve on their businesses, and access finance options in order to diversify revenue sources while increasing income levels an appropriate response to the needs in target communities?
  • Did the program target and reach the intended beneficiaries?
  • Were there unintended consequences, both positive and negative, that arose from the project strategies, interventions and targeting?
• To what extent have the grants, product loans, business and TVET trainings, as well as SILC groups formed individually and collectively enabled targeted beneficiaries access finance and appropriate trainings to start and manage a business, identify and link up with new markets in order to help them businesses increase their revenue and in turn income assisting vulnerable households escape the poverty trap?
  • What evidence is there to determine whether the project achieved its objectives?
  • Which elements of the 5 intervention activities above individually and collectively saw the greatest impact since the beginning of the program?
• What lessons can be learned regarding the approaches used by the project?
  • Which delivery mechanisms were most effective? Conditional grants or loans or none at all, the case worker model etc.
  • What were the major challenges looking across the various project stakeholders?
  • What did the program do to address these challenges?
  • What recommendations can be made towards similar projects in Nigeria?
• To what extent are results achieved likely to be sustainable?
  • Will vulnerable households be able to maintain economic stability based on their current business, savings and investment status after the close of the grant period?
  • Did Mercy Corps sufficiently engage with local partners, government, community stakeholders and beneficiaries themselves to ensure knowledge gained in program implementation continues to reach vulnerable populations after program closure?
  • How likely is it for the beneficiaries to continue to access affordable credit (cash and products) beyond the life of the project?
• Did Mercy Corps effectively coordinate with the following groups in the implementation of its project activities?
  • Beneficiaries;
  • Implementing CSOs;
  • Local community heads;
  • State government; and
  • Implementation and donor communities?
  • How has such coordination helped or hindered the program in the accomplishment of its objectives?

Impact Measurement:
In addition to the above questions, the assessment will measure impact along the following dimensions and indicators. There is no baseline data using these indicators and a methodology to assess impact must be included in the work plan/methodology submitted in response to this Scope of Work.