Consultancy: Fisheries Intelligence and MCS Support in West Africa Phase II – Terms of Reference (ToR)

1. Introduction

Building on the success of the Phase 1 of the project FISHERIES INTELLIGENCE AND MCS SUPPORT IN WEST AFRICA (2014-2018), Norad granted financial support to Trygg Mat Tracking (TMT) for the implementation of the second phase of the project Fisheries Intelligence and Monitoring, Control and Surveillance (MCS) support in West Africa for the period October 2018 to September 2022. The project proposal was agreed, and the Grant Agreement signed on 6 December 2018.

The expected overall impact of the project, as stated in the Phase 2 proposal, is that West Africa national and regional Fisheries Enforcement Agencies have stronger capacity and are more effectively acting to end illegal fishing and fisheries crime in the region.

The target outcomes of the project are:

1. WATF members actively cooperating and effectively acting to reduce illegal fishing and fisheries crime in the region
2. National agencies actively cooperating and enforcing fisheries and related laws
3. Task Force outcomes inform and shape international processes to end illegal fishing and fisheries crimes

According to article 9.1 of the RAF-16/0013 Grant Agreement between Norad and TMT, a mid-term review focusing on progress to date shall be carried out by second and third quarter of 2020. Following discussions between Norad and TMT at the 2020 Annual Meeting, it was agreed to adjust the mid-term review to the first and second quarter of 2021. It was further agreed that tendering for a consultant should take place in the fourth quarter of 2020. The following is the Terms of Reference (ToR) for this review.

1. Background

West Africa is endowed with abundant fisheries resources. The fishery sector, in addition to providing revenue to governments through royalties and other fees collected through licences and fisheries access agreements, plays an important role in meeting the nutritional needs of populations, and providing employment to more than three million people. However, due to various political, economic and environmental factors the region has been identified as one of the most significant hotspots for illegal fishing globally.

To address this challenge, TMT in cooperation with Stop Illegal Fishing (SIF), the Secretariat of the Fisheries Committee for the West Central Gulf of Guinea (FCWC), and FCWC member countries Liberia, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Togo, Benin and Nigeria developed the Norad supported project ‘Fisheries Intelligence and MCS Support in West Africa’, a three-year project initially implemented between 2014 and 2017, with a  further extension running to September 2018. The project facilitated the establishment of the West Africa Task Force (WATF), the FCWC fisheries monitoring, control and surveillance working group, and operationalising key FCWC conventions on information sharing and MCS cooperation. Project implementation focused on strengthening regional fisheries intelligence sharing and MCS cooperation between countries, strengthening cooperation between agencies at the national level, to spur enforcement actions aimed at reducing illegal fishing in West African waters.

1. Scope of the service required

According to article 9.1 of the RAF-16/0013 Norad-TMT Grant Agreement a mid-term review of the project shall be carried out. The agreed period for performing the service is the first and second quarter of 2021, starting in March 2021 once TMT’s 2020 Annual Report has been approved by Norad.

Relevant development project evaluation methods and approaches should be used, in particular the use of standard evaluation criteria (Relevance, Effectiveness, Efficiency, Impact and Sustainability) and the analysis of the project’s intervention logic.

1. Over-reaching considerations

The overall consideration is to what extent the Project’s Phase 2 is on track in strengthening regional and national capacity to reduce illegal fishing and related activities in the FCWC region and how the project can be improved in the remaining project period. Also, at all times there should be consideration of the extent to which lessons learned from Phase 1 and recommendations from the Phase 1 mid-term evaluation have been incorporated into Phase 2 and its implementation.

• Specific considerations

The specific areas for consideration under each evaluation criteria are as follows:

1. Relevance (maximum 4 pages) – the extent to which the Project, in particular focusing on its set-up and focus areas, is in line with priorities and target groups’ identified needs, i.e. with the needs of the FCWC countries’ fisheries MCS structures in terms of their capacities to combat illegal fishing and associated crimes. The relevance of the project’s key mechanisms (regional Task Force and national inter-agency cooperation) as a concept to address illegal fishing more broadly and globally should be assessed.

2. Effectiveness (maximum 12 pages) – the extent to which the Programme is achieving its objectives. This includes (but is not limited to) an assessment of:

• The achievements made so far, including an assessment of planned versus actual activities and reasons for deviations;
• How the project set-up facilitates the achievement of the objectives;
• Factors affecting the effectiveness of project implementation, including the choice of planning and implementation modalities, the role of the Technical Team (TT) and Coordination Team (CT), the role of national Focal Points (FP), the use of the online communications platform (Basecamp), the role of regular Task Force meetings as the project steering body, and ownership of the WATF by the FCWC Secretariat and FCWC Members;
• How the project has cooperated with other stakeholders (such as other related projects, donors and partners) who are involved in the field of fisheries, or the maritime domain in the Gulf of Guinea region;
• Risk management, including whether the appropriate risk factors and mitigating actions have been identified and how these have been integrated into the planning and implementation of activities, in particular in the current COVID-19 context.

3. Efficiency (maximum 8 pages) – an examination of the project outputs – qualitative and quantitative – in relation to the inputs/activities conducted. This includes (but is not limited to) an assessment of:

• The project set-up and project management, including the relationship between implementing partners, as well as the level of capacity and ownership/commitment by the main partner and beneficiary the FCWC and its Members;
• The use of resources in the Programme, including an assessment of cost effectiveness, use of per-diems and allowances and value for money;
• The administrative arrangements, including whether reporting on progress in implementation of activities as well as reporting on expenditures have been timely and of satisfactory quality; d. How gender considerations and anti-corruption practices have been integrated into the planning, implementation and monitoring of project activities.
• The evaluation should evaluate adaptation efforts made by the Project to assess if adjustments to workplans and implementation approaches are adequate to adapt to changes in the implementing environment. The recommendations of the mid-term review should propose alternative implementation options if/where necessary which may be considered for incorporation into the Project workplan for implementation during the continuation of the Project.

4. Impact (maximum 3 pages) – the positive and negative changes produced by the project directly or indirectly, intended or otherwise. This includes assessing the (likely) impact of project activities regionally and nationally.

5. Sustainability (maximum 2 pages) – intended to measure whether the benefits of the project are likely to continue after donor funding has been withdrawn, if appropriate. This includes assessing measures taken or planned to be taken in order to sustain long-term processes, structures and capacity within the FCWC Secretariat and among member States, in particular through the transfer of key Task Force responsibilities and processes from the TT/CT to the FCWC staff and country-level fisheries staff. 

1. Sources of information

The sources of information for this review are as follows, but not limited to:

1. Phase 1 documents:

• Final project proposal
• Mid-term review report
• Final project report
• Task Force meeting records
• WATF Phase 1 “Green reports”: “Cooperation. Collaboration. Communication.” and “Interagency cooperation in the FCWC region”
• Other WATF Phase 1 publications and communications materials (leaflets, etc.)

• Phase 2 documents:

• Final project proposal and budget
• 2018, 2019 and 2020 annual progress reports to Norad
• Disbursement requests to Norad and related annual workplans (2019, 2020, 2020 COVID-adjusted, and 2021)
• 2018, 2019 and 2020 financial reports
• Agendas and materials from regional and national workshops, and reports from technical visits to Member States
• Task Force meeting records
• FCWC Conference of Ministers Reports
• Manuals and other training materials developed under the project
• WATF Phase 2 “Green report” on transhipment and reefer traffic in the FCWC area
• Other WATF Phase 2 publications and communications materials available to date (leaflets, factsheets, etc.)

• Interviews with:

• TMT staff and implementing partners FCWC Secretariat and SIF
• Regional and beneficiary country representatives during visit to one of the FCWC Member States at the occasion of a meeting of the West Africa Task Force (travel dependent - date TBD, and see COVID adaptation below)
• Other stakeholders, such as related projects (e.g. PESCAO) and Norway (Norad and/or embassies) through video calls

• Intelligence and communication channels:

• WATF Basecamp (accessed together with TMT staff)
• Intelligence reports (accessed together with TMT staff)
• FCWC Communications Strategy and implementation reports

• COVID-19 adaptation

The evaluation method may need to consider the COVID-19 global pandemic in several ways:

• Information collection, in particular interviews with key stakeholders, might need to be performed by means of video-conference instead of physical visits to TMT offices and to the FCWC region. This will impact the evaluation method but also the required budget to perform the service (see VII.).
• In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, a revised 2020 workplan was prepared by the Coordination Team of the project in consultation with FCWC Member States. Future workplans may also require ongoing adaptation depending on how the situation evolves regionally and internationally. The evaluation methodology may therefore need to be adaptive and take into account the conditions of ongoing uncertainty and disruption of on-the-ground presence that prevailed in the period leading up to the mid-term review

• Structure of the assignment and time schedule:

Period:

We foresee an evaluation period from March to June 2021 of 5-6 weeks in total, hereof around 10 days in participating countries (if COVID / travel permits).

Consultant’s desired qualifications:

• Minimum 5 years of experience of development work in Africa, preferably in West Africa, preferably with both NGOs and governmental institutions
• Professional insight into fisheries, natural resource management, economics, governance and institutional development
• Academic qualification to a minimum of an undergraduate degree in an appropriate field
• Minimum 5 years of experience with conducting evaluations of international donor-funded projects, whereof at least two years leading evaluations
• Fluent in English verbally and written, and preferably also in French. (NB If French is not available, provision must be made for French language support to interviews with francophone stakeholders.)
• References of recent evaluations conducted by the evaluators

Deliverables:

• An inception report of max 5 pages is to be submitted to TMT within one week after the initial desk-study and staff interviews. The inception report will need to be approved by TMT before the fieldwork in West Africa is realised.
• The review report shall be maximum 32 pages, plus front page, contents page and annexes. The text-format is to be Times New Roman 12, 1,15 spacing and 2,5 margins. The report shall start with a three-page executive summary, as part of the main report.
• A presentation shall be held for TMT and Norad of the main findings of the review, including a maximum 15-page PowerPoint presentation.
• Offer

The Consultant(s) will submit to TMT a proposal by 15 December 2020 consisting of:

1) Proposed approach to be used during the review (max five pages), including understanding of the assignment, methodology, presentation of service provider/team, availability, and budget for the total costs of the services offered (the financial offer will need to be prepared as if travel was possible and the corresponding sums including air tickets and travel allowances should be easily identified should the budget be reviewed and adapted to the evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic).

2) CV(s) of proposed Consultant(s) – max five pages each in standard EU format.

VI.        Questions to and contact details at TMT

Submission of proposals shall be made to admin@tm-tracking.org

In case of questions or need for additional information during the drafting of the offer the Consultants(s) may contact:

1. Duncan Copeland, TMT Executive Director, Phone +47 95551492. E-mail dcopeland@tm-tracking.org
2. Yann Yvergniaux, TMT Senior Analyst, Phone +44 7948339995. E-mail yyvergniaux@tm-tracking.org