Terms of Reference for Bulambuli Baseline

Background

Bulambuli District is located in Eastern Uganda, on the slopes of Mt Elgon. It is located about 297 Km from Kampala along Mbale-Sironko-Motoro road. The district headquarters are located at GPS coordinates Latitude: N1^o19’39”; Longitude: E34^o17’27”; and Altitude 1113.8m It borders Nakapiripirit district in the North, Kapchorwa and Kween districts in the East, Sironko District in the South and Bukedea district in the West. The district is administratively subdivided into 2 Counties, 23 Sub-counties, 3 Town councils, 111 parishes, and 1299 villages. There are about 33,978 households in the district (VHT Household Mapping FY2018/19).

The estimated population is 228,600 (UBOS projection for FY2019/20). Of these, 115,300 (50.4%) are female and 113,300 (49.6%) are male. Majority of the people are peasant farmers engaged in growing coffee, bananas and vegetables in the mountainous Elgon County while Maize, beans and rice are grown in the low-lying plains in Bulambuli county.

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Since 2010, Spark has built the civic and economic power of rural communities facing poverty in East Africa and West Africa. Spark's innovative Facilitated Collective Action Process (FCAP) strengthens citizen engagement and improves rural livelihoods to drive sustainable development. Through the FCAP, Spark puts communities at the center of development, supporting them to find solutions to challenges, and increasing their control over the process. Facilitated village "town-hall style" weekly meetings are combined with a seed grant that enables citizens to launch a development project, practice self-organizing and empower them to make decisions about how to use resources for community benefit. 85% of projects are profit-generating, ranging from agricultural to transportation businesses with families seeing a 20-80% increase in household assets. Spark’s process isn’t just local, it’s inclusive with 56% of ideas coming from women and 100% of villages having youth in leadership.

Project goal

Bulambuli District and Spark are partnering with the vision to realize “An empowered and self-sustaining community of Bulambuli district by 2025”. This project is expected to contribute to this vision with key indicators of success envisioned to be improved livelihoods, increased social cohesion and increased participation of village members in the annual village planning process.

FCAP in the Bulambuli context

The FCAP is an acronym to mean a “Facilitative Collective Action Process”. It is a Community Driven Development model that Spark uses to empower communities to make decisions and cause the desired change for their villages. The FCAP is a 2 year process that involves 4 phases; the planning phase, implementation phase, 2nd year planning and pathway follow ups, that has clearly designed activities and steps.

In the planning phase, villages sign partnership agreements with Spark and Bulambuli LG committing to get involved in the FCAP process, set goals for their villages that they intend to achieve by end of the project, select pathways that will help them to get to the set goal and develop a project proposal based on the pathway selected which is submitted to Spark and Bulambuli LG for review and approval before they can receive a seed grant (micro grant).

In the implementation phase, villages utilize the seed grant to implement the selected pathway. Every village member who is willing to be part of the FCAP process is fully involved in the project execution including decision making and day to day activities of the projects.

The second year planning phase is similar to the planning phase but considering that the communities already have experience from the first year, the second year planning is much shorter. This phase arises from the fact that the micro grant is disbursed to villages in 2 batches for quality control purposes. In the first year the villages receive 60% of the microgrant while in the second year, they receive 40%.

Pathway follow up is the final phase of the FCAP before villages are graduated. In this phase villages build sustainability plans and Spark’s involvement is heavily reduced to allow the villages to operate on their own in preparation for graduation.

Current Spark engagements with Bulambuli district

Spark microgrants entered into partnership with Bulambuli in the year 2019. The genesis of this partnership was to provide training to the Bulambuli local government staff in community mobilization, goals setting and pathway selection to empower them to train communities with knowledge and skills in planning and utilization of government funds allocated to them through the different funding baskets. The engagements with the District are through its Community Development department supervised by the Chief

Administrative Officer.

Currently Spark is actively working in 55 villages within the District through the 2019 MoU and is in discussion with the District officials to expand further to 50 villages in 2023. This expansion will be implemented through three components;

• Component 1: Village and Local Government Capacity Building. This component will build the capacity of local government at the district, and Parish levels to facilitate village-driven village development processes to enhance citizen engagement and improve rural livelihoods. It will also build village capacity to engage in development planning and to manage village level subprojects.
• Component 2: Component two will finance priority sub projects identified in the Village Development Plans to improve livelihoods. Each target village will be provided a grant amount dependent on the number of households in each village. The total amount to be given to a village will be equal to the number of households multiplied by US$100. The minimum grant size is capped at US$4,000 and the maximum at US$12,000. Village members will make contributions in-kind through actively providing labor or any locally available resources needed to implement the projects. MicroGrant eligibility is guaranteed for every target village provided eligibility conditions are met, including the election of a Village Leadership Committee, completion of the Village Development Plan and submission, and approval of a subproject proposal.
• Component 3: Project Management, Monitoring and Evaluation, and Knowledge Dissemination. This component includes overall project management, monitoring and evaluation. And communications and knowledge dissemination.

Evaluation of the Programme and Model

Spark is seeking an independent research partner to lead an assessment of the impact of the project that will a) identify and measure for Spark and the Bulambuli local government the impacts of the project interventions, b) contribute to the evidence base for livelihoods-enhancing CDD projects and initiatives to enhance citizen engagement; and c) generate evidence to inform national scale should Spark decide to expand its operations in Uganda.

Research Design

This evaluation is required to generate both clear evidence of average ‘treatment’ effects, as well as explore a range of operational and policy questions. As such, a mixed-methods approach which employs quantitative and qualitative methods is required.

The baseline survey is expected to guide the selection of treatment and control villages to ensure proper randomization and reduce the probability of other factors other than the FCAP affecting the project outcome/impact. The consultant is therefore expected to come up with a list of sub-groups within the surveyed villages that have similar characteristics, say villages close to the main road or connected to the national electricity grid or villages distant from social amenities e.t.c. for the program teams can randomly assign the villages in each subgroup to either treatment or control. The geographical terrain of Bulambuli is also a good example such subgroupings for example villages in upper Bulambuli have difficulty in accessing social services and markets compared to those in lower Bulambuli and such the impact of FCAP in upper Bulambuli might differ compared to lower Bulambuli due to geographical factors.

The consultant is expected to utilize qualitative techniques to contextualize learnings in the social, cultural, and political context in which they are embedded, and in doing so, to explore the more nuanced aspects of the research questions (below).

Sample Size

The consultant will be expected to apply appropriate sample size computation techniques to come up with a sample size that enables us to detect a minimum project effect of 10% from baseline to endline.

Scope of the Evaluation

The Baseline study is expected to be conducted in Bulambuli District in villages where Spark has not yet intervened. Spark will provide a list of all villages that have already benefited from the FCAP in the District and the consultant is expected to exclude them in the villages eligible to be sampled. In the interest of managing the administration costs of the project, Spark will have an input in the inclusion criteria of villages into the sample. A total of 100 villages are expected to be surveyed after which 50 will be allocated to the intervention arm and 50 to the control arm of the project.

The baseline evaluation is expected to take place between April and July 2023 in time for the project field activities to start.

Evaluation Questions

The impact evaluation should address the following broad research questions:

1. What is the impact of the project on citizen participation in local development processes?
2. What is the impact of the project on household well-being?
3. What is the Impact of the project on Village-level social cohesion?
4. What influences/impacts do project interventions have on broader local governance processes?
5. What is the Impact of the project on Community Based Facilitators and local government officials.

Citizen Participation in Local Development Processes: The measurement should examine the impact of the FCAP on citizen participation, looking at both supply and demand sides of local citizen engagement - meaning changes in local Government officials and in citizens, and how they interact. This may include assessment of; (i) the role of elected leaders by citizen (including levels of trust in elected leaders and the impacts of trust in local leadership), ii) changes in knowledge, expectations, and beliefs about local government services and processes by citizens, and (iii) changes in behaviour and perceptions of local government towards villagers’ engagement in inclusive development processes, including changes in downward accountability of local government officials.

The research partner will look to employ a wide range of survey modules to assess these four key areas of citizen participation. Topics to be explored could include, but are not limited to: motivation for engagement; integrity; self-efficacy; financial literacy; perceptions of accountability of local government officials; perceptions of power and of feeling “listened to” by those in power; trust in government; and; bureaucratic incentives/management tools. These topics are specifically to be designed to be disaggregated by traditionally excluded groups that include but are not limited to women, elderly, youth and persons with a disability. To measure engagement in local government processes, the consultant will rely on both directly observed outcomes as well as survey measures. To measure norms, the consultant will use incentivized survey items to assess the extent to which there is consensus between empirical and social expectations with respect to accountability, transparency and monitoring behavior. Attempts should be made within the survey instruments to understand the causality between the knowledge, awareness and behavior of local government officials and the resulting effects on citizen participation.

Household wellbeing: We hypothesize that the project will affect wellbeing through two principal channels - firstly by addressing the constraints alleviated by the selected Spark funded community project, and secondly through gains from improved social cohesion and citizen engagement. The consultant will examine and test this hypothesis of household wellbeing again specifically targeted to and designed to be able to disaggregate by traditionally marginalized groups, and assess differences in outcomes based on different profiles of village members (for example, considering gender, wealth status, local leadership status, profession/livelihood, etc.). In addition, the consultant will assess the impacts of the ACE Project in the context of broader changes in livelihoods and local economies, and any economic aggregate or spillover effects that are evident.

Social Cohesion: We hypothesize that through training for villagers (especially leaders), facilitated participatory planning activities, and facilitation of spaces for collaborative development planning and implementation, there will be increased social cohesion within target villages. This may be experienced as (but not exclusive to) a greater sense of shared collective identity, more inclusive and broad-based cooperation and advocacy within villages, and a greater sense of trust between village members. The consultant will examine and test this hypothesis, developing a methodology to define and measure social cohesion relevant to the intervention scope and context, and aligned with broader industry literature.

Impacts on Broader Local Governance: Local governments in Uganda undertake an annual village planning process to prepare communities for projects to be implemented through support of government funds like the DDEG. The local government community development officers sensitize the communities on how they should plan the projects and guide them on the whole process involved, they do register the groups as CBOs to be eligible to get the funds.This is a participatory planning where households are involved and present a need for the village. It is then discussed in the technical planning committee at sub county level and taken to executive committee where councilors give their input before the ideas are forwarded to the district and ministry of finance for funding.

In the past a few people have been participating in this process yet it is meant to benefit the entire village as a whole. The FCAP intends to shift participation in the Village planning process to be inclusive so that every village member has an opportunity to benefit from the projects undertaken through this initiative. The FCAP is also anticipated to act as a mobilization tool for the Local Government Officials especially from the Community Development Office in their outreach programs.

The consultant is therefore expected to measure the level of citizen participation in this process, what motivates/demotivates citizens to be a part of the process and how it varies across the society segments like gender and different age groups and how it (FCAP) is aiding the officials to reach out to the citizens.

Community Based Facilitators and Local government officials: CBFs play a key role in the project, undergoing intensive training and mentoring by local government officials, supported by Spark, in the FCAP process. The intended role of CBFs is, through skilled facilitation, to present new concepts, bring up new ideas, and support the village in making collective decisions. CBFs - 1 per village - are always elected by their community to lead the village through the FCAP. The consultant should assess the acquisition of new skills/capacity over time, and the direct impacts and immediately identifiable effect of the acquisition of new skills and leadership roles on the CBFs and their families, before and after the FCAP. Considering that the CBFs are recruited at the start of the projects, this research question will be studied at Midline and Endline but not at baseline.

On the other hand, Parish chiefs and/or Community Development Officers (CDOs) at sub-count level are trained as supervisors for the CBFs. Their capacity is built in soft skills of facilitation, project management and supervision. This is to ensure that they are well equipped to support CBFs during FCAP implementation within their areas of jurisdiction.

Exploration of these research questions should employ a rigorous mixed-methods research design and project management plan to be outlined by the consultant and negotiated with Spark. Within explorations of the research questions above, the consultant must ensure inclusion of assessments against the indicators in the results framework below (noting that the full scope of the assignment is expected to go beyond the result framework, but must cover the same outcome areas).

The consultant will also have core responsibilities to work with Spark to clearly define all terms laid out above within the research questions prior to any survey instrument being designed.

Role of Spark

• Spark will facilitate access at a district level to all required sectors, including both treatment and non-treatment communities.
• Spark will support the consultant to receive government approval to work in all identified treatment and control areas. It will be the responsibility of the consultant to ultimately get this approval.
• Spark will lead in the request for administrative data from national and local governments.
• All project sign offs, approvals and liaison between the consultant and Spark will be through the M&E Director
• Spark will work with the consultant to clearly define all terms laid out within the research question prior to any field work being conducted

Activities

The expected activities to achieve this are as follows:

All deliverables must be review, verified and approved by the Spark M&E Director

Application Details:

Applications are welcomed from individuals, or teams, who are able to demonstrate the capacity to deliver the piece of work set out above, within the Rwandan context.

The following skills and experiences are essential criteria for all applicants:

• Expert understanding of quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis methods
• Significant experience in conducting and/or managing similar or comparable assignments in both methodology and scale within the Ugandan context.
• Experience in applying for, and securing approval IRB approvals in Uganda
• Demonstrated ability to bring together inputs into clear and concise summaries or recommendations
• Expert knowledge of the Social Cohesion, Livelihoods, Civic Engagement and Social Accountability field(s) within international development
• A strong academic background in the effects of government centralisation and decentralization programmes.

Interested parties should submit a proposal to Spark Microgrants to include:

• A cover letter demonstrating how you meet the criteria above
• A draft work plan and associated budget to include the daily rates of all individuals involved and a description of the roles they each play within the team.
• CVs for all individuals listed
• Maximum two examples of previous work that demonstrates the skills or experience relevant to this assignment.

Please send completed proposals to enock@sparkmicrogrants.org by end of 21/04/2023

Please note that we will be unable to give feedback to unsuccessful applicants.