Terms of Reference

Final Evaluation of the Latex Supply Chain Transformation Project in Surat Thani Province, Thailand

1. About Earthworm Foundation

Earthworm Foundation (EF) is a Swiss-based not-for-profit organisation with a presence in 20 countries worldwide, including Thailand. EF, formerly known as The Forest Trust (TFT), has over 20 years of experience working in commodity supply chains to foster solutions on the ground that work for people and nature. EF act as a bridge to foster collaboration between supply chain actors, and to connect businesses with smallholders they are sourcing from. EF strive towards a global society that respects itself and the needs of nature.

A key component of EF’s work is its network of members. EF members are private sector actors who have made far-reaching commitments to respect people and nature in their supply chains. They work with EF on an ongoing journey of improvement and innovation.

2. Project background

Since 2016, EF has been working with rubber smallholders in Surat Thani Province in southern Thailand who are part of multinational Reckitt’s supply chain. Reckitt, an EF member, has committed to strengthening the resilience of its supply chain members and contributing to smallholder resilience. EF’s current project is implemented by a number of EF staff based in Surat Thani. The project aims to increase latex quality and yield whilst encouraging farmers to adopt regenerative agriculture practices; diversify incomes at the household level; improve food security; strengthen relationships amongst supply chain actors; and improve the well-being and working conditions of farmers, workers, and their families.

3. Objective of the consultancy

EF is seeking a consultant to conduct a final evaluation for the 3-year Latex Supply Chain Transformation project in Surat Thani (2022-2024). Supports can be broadly around designing the final evaluation including data collection at the field level, meeting with stakeholders, data analysis and reporting under close supervision from EF in alignment with the evaluation scope and criteria. This is to help justify impacts made over project implementation in the past.

Evaluation objectives:

• To assess the extent to which the project has strengthened the resilience of Reckitt’s supply chain members and its contribution to smallholder resilience
• To assess the extent to which the project has achieved it’s intended outcome including but not limited to:
  • Improved yield and quality of latex through good agronomy practices
  • Enhanced livelihoods of farmer and tapper through income diversification activities at the household level
  • Restoration and regeneration of ecosystem by adopting agroforestry rubber model
  • Restoration of wildlife food source and mitigation of human-elephant conflict
  • Strengthened relationships and coordination amongst supply chain actors
• Highlight potential areas for case studies document of outcomes achieved specifically under this project in the form of case studies, success stories, etc.
• Provide lessons learned and recommendations to better inform decision-making for future projects considering project success, challenges, intended and/or unintended outcomes or more.

4. Evaluation Criteria and Methodology

The evaluation will be guided by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's Development Assistance Committee (OECD-DAC) Evaluation Criteria, specifically:

The consultant is expected to go through an orientation workshop with the EF project team to understand the project context i.e. objectives, indicators, working areas, and supply chain stakeholders to be able to develop a work plan and data collection tool/approaches together with EF. The consultant will conduct the data collection, data validation, and data analysis to elaborate impacts/achievements made by the project. Data collection can be done via key informant interviews (KII) with relevant stakeholders such as farmers, their family members, conducted field observation, focused group discussion, stakeholder meetings and household surveys etc. During the data collection process, the consultant will identify potential case studies as part of the final report. The project database will also be used to supplement some data gaps and justify improvement.

The consultant will be working closely with EF to design data collection methods, tools and approaches over 4 districts, 9 subdistricts, 25 latex collection centres and approximately 1,000 farmers including 63 farm models and 30 HEC volunteers. The sample size is to be discussed with EF and designed by the consultant.

5. Scope of work and expected outputs

The scope of work and expectations are as follows.

Inception research period: The consultant will conduct a brief desk study of the project context, available data and relevant papers to understand the supply chain transformation scope and objectives of the project. Based on this information, the consultant will design a detailed survey plan, including methodologies for data collection and analysis, sampling, data collection tools, and a field travel timeline based on the evaluation criteria. The consultant will be supported by EF’s local and regional staff, especially in the designing of the data collection tool i.e. survey and FGD questions, sampling and field visit logistics. The survey plan will be presented to EF in the form of an inception report (in English).

Fieldwork: Upon approval of the inception report, the consultant will lead the data collection process in the field. If needed, the consultant will select and train the enumerators themselves by recruiting appropriate people from local communities i.e. health volunteers, graduated students from universities, and lead farmers to support data collection. During the field work, the consultant will also identify potential case studies for further development.

Data analysis and presentation: The consultant is expected to digitise and analyse all data collected. The survey findings will be presented to EF in the form of; 1) preliminary data analysis to get direction for the second step, 2) final report (in English), with the raw data included as part of the annex. Additionally, the consultant will present the findings of the survey to the EF debriefing session (in English).

 Expected deliverables:

• 1 inception report – to be submitted upon completion of and based on the desktop review
• 1 draft of evaluation report - to be submitted 3-4 weeks upon the completion of data collection and analysis
• Presentation of initial findings to key stakeholders
• 1 final evaluation report – to be submitted no later than 31 March 2025, inclusive of executive summary, methodology, key and detailed findings, case studies, lessons learned and recommendations (details TBC).

6. Timeframe

The evaluation will be carried out between October 2024 and March 2025, with the final report submitted to EF no later than 31 March 2025. A detailed expected timeline is outlined below:

7. Budget                                                                                                           

The budget proposal as part of the application should itemise all related expenses including the following:

• The daily rate of the consultant (professional fees), as well as the total number of days required for the consultancy and its team members (if any)
• Assuming the consultant is based in Thailand and will travel to the field:
• • Consultant’s travel costs to/from Surat Thani Province
  • Consultant’s travel costs within Surat Thani (rental car, driver, petrol, etc.)
  • Consultant’s expected accommodation cost per night in the field
  • Consultant’s expected daily subsistence allowance covering all meal costs in the field
  • Enumerator training cost, enumerator per diem/data collection cost (local travel cost etc.), photocopies, printing.

8. Management and Reporting

The consultant is to be known as the Evaluation Team after the contract is commissioned. The consultant shall provide the list of the ET and the expected roles and responsibilities of each member if there is more than one member of the ET team. The ET will be joined by one or two representatives of EF staff members. The coordination and management of the ET will be managed by the EF Evaluation Management Team (EMT).

9. Expected qualifications

• Master’s degree in social sciences, project management, agriculture and forestry, monitoring & evaluation, or equivalent professional experience
• At least 5 years of senior experience in project design, and monitoring & evaluation
• Experience in designing and conducting baseline and end-line surveys, evaluations, and data analysis
• Knowledge and experience of participatory, quantitative and qualitative data collection methodology and tools
• Experience in capacity building in the areas of M&E and data collection
• Experience in conducting project assessment, and field data collection, particularly in Surat Thani or southern Thailand context 
• Work experience in rural Thai farming communities is an advantage
• Fluency in Thai (for consultants based in Thailand) and English
• Excellent analytical and English report-writing skills
• Demonstrated understanding of the Thai latex value chains as an advantage

10. Application process

Interested applicants are invited to prepare a proposal of no more than 3 pages, including the following: 

• Demonstration of relevant professional experience in field data collection/surveys, particularly if the applicant has experience with latex supply chain
• Proposed evaluation plan, survey design and methodology, including a representative sample size, and a justification if an alternative methodology is chosen
• Proposed timeline for the consultancy, including:
• Total number of days required for the consultant
• Estimated budget itemized key consultant cost explained in bullet 7.
• Names and contact information of two referees who can be contacted regarding relevant previous experience

In addition to the EOI, please attach a separate budget spreadsheet for the consultancy, an up-to-date resume highlighting relevant qualifications and experience, as well as one sample of a comparable, previous piece of work (final report).   

Please submit applications via email to s.tippayawong@earthworm.org by 7th October 2024. Subject line: ‘M&E Consultant Thailand. Questions regarding these Terms of Reference or the project should be directed to the same email address.  Please note that contracts for the selected candidate will be handled via Earthworm Foundation’s local representative in Thailand; Ridge to Reef Explorer Limited Partnership, tax ID:0823558000369; s.tippayawong@earthworm.org; 086-6894784

Applications will be assessed based on cost, proposed methodology and prior relevant experience. Only shortlisted applicants will be contacted. Shortlisted applicants may be requested to participate in an interview process via Microsoft Team.