External Consultant End Term Evaluation: Improved Food Security and Resilience Project Individual Consultant

FH Kenya is seeking a qualified and experienced professional to fill the position of External Consultant, End Term Evaluation supporting Communities in Lowlands (Korr and Kalacha), Sololo (Golole), and Mountain (Karare) Area
Programs (APs).

The Purpose of Engagement is to conduct Quantitative and Qualitative data collection for the Improved Food Security and Resilience Project funded by Radio Aid through Eriks Development Partner and implemented by FH Kenya across four communities in the three FH Kenya Area Programs above in Marsabit County.

Below please find the Terms of reference for more information:

TERMS OF REFERENCE (TOR)

Endline Evaluation

Improved Food Security and Resilience Project (IFSRP)

Marsabit County, located in northern Kenya, remains one of the most food-insecure regions in the country due to its arid and semi-arid climate, recurrent droughts, and structural vulnerabilities. The county is characterized by low and erratic rainfall, with over 80% of the population relying on pastoralism and agropastoralism as their primary livelihoods. These systems are increasingly strained by climate variability, environmental degradation, limited market access, and inadequate access to essential services, resulting in persistent food insecurity and low household resilience. These conditions have significantly limited households’ capacity to absorb, adapt, and transform in the face of recurrent shocks

In recent years, the frequency and intensity of climate shocks, including prolonged droughts followed by episodic flooding, have significantly disrupted livelihoods and undermined recovery pathways. According to recent Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analyses, an estimated 1.5 million people in Kenya were projected to face high levels of acute food insecurity, with many households in Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASALs), including Marsabit, classified in Crisis (IPC Phase 3) and Stressed (IPC Phase 2). Households in Crisis face significant food consumption gaps or are forced to engage in unsustainable coping strategies. At the same time, those in Stressed conditions struggle to meet minimum food needs without depleting essential livelihood assets.

The nutrition situation in Marsabit remains critical. The most recent SMART survey indicates that the county has a Global Acute Malnutrition (GAM) rate of 13.5%, classified as Serious (IPC Phase 3). However, significant disparities exist across sub-counties, with North Horr recording critically high GAM levels of 21.1%, Laisamis at 16.1% (Serious to Critical), and Moyale/Saku at 9.2% (Alert to Serious). These figures highlight persistent and localized vulnerabilities, particularly in hard-to-reach pastoral areas where access to health, nutrition, and water services remains limited.

Despite continued humanitarian and development investments, malnutrition rates remain at or above emergency thresholds in parts of the county, pointing to deeper structural challenges. These include poor dietary diversity, suboptimal infant and young child feeding practices, recurrent disease outbreaks, and limited access to quality health and nutrition services. In addition, poverty and limited livelihood diversification constrain households’ ability to access sufficient and nutritious food, forcing many to adopt negative coping strategies such as reducing meal frequency, selling productive assets, and withdrawing children from school.

In response to this complex crisis, the Improved Food Security and Resilience Project (IFSRP) were designed as a multi-sectoral intervention aimed at addressing both immediate humanitarian needs and the underlying drivers of food insecurity and malnutrition. The project integrates nutrition-specific and nutrition-sensitive approaches, including strengthening community-based nutrition services, supporting health systems, providing multipurpose cash assistance, enhancing livelihood opportunities, improving access to water and hygiene services, and building the capacity of community and government structures. The endline evaluation will assess changes over time, comparing baseline and endline findings to determine the extent to which the project has achieved its intended outcomes.

The project implementation timeframe is from 1st July 2024 to 30th June 2026 within the communities of Kalacha, Korr, Golole, and Karare in Marsabit County. The project adopts an integrated, multi-sectoral approach linking household, community, school, and system-level actions to promote sustainable improvements in nutrition and resilience by combining:

• Nutrition-specific interventions (screening, referrals, supplementation).
• Nutrition-sensitive interventions (cash transfers, livelihoods, agriculture).
• Systems strengthening (capacity building, coordination, and advocacy).

PROJECT OUTCOMES AND ACTIVITIES

1. Increased access to nutritional support and essential services for target groups in, or at risk of, malnutrition.

• Community-level screening: CHPs support community-level screening, feeding, and care practices, linking children and PLMs to health facilities for early detection and intervention.
• Improved access to integrated nutrition, health, and WASH services aligned with national IYCF-E guidelines
• Provision of essential services: Working with health facilities to provide individuals with services such as clean water, food, treatment, supplements, and care. Adhere to the national IYCFE guidelines.
• Multipurpose cash support: Provide unconditional cash transfers to the neediest households to enable them to purchase food and other necessary items, using data from the latest joint market assessment.
• School feeding programs: Support school feeding programs, awareness-raising on nutritious food, and child-friendly nutrition education, and establish school-based gardens using 4K clubs to grow nutritious foods and act as learning points for agriculture and nutrition.
• Access to clean water: Provide schools with rainwater harvesting structures and communities with water purification materials and techniques through hygiene promotion to ensure access to safe, clean water.
• Awareness-raising activities: Conduct awareness-raising activities on nutrition, hygiene, breastfeeding, complementary feeding, and WASH through local radio and community groups.

2. Increased resilience for community members through enhanced livelihoods.

• Strengthen SHGs and FGs: Establish and/or strengthen SHGs/ FGs to implement income-generating activities (IGAs) and agriculture/farming activities.
• Training on agriculture and IGAs: Provide training on climate-smart agricultural practices and IGAs to enhance livelihoods and socio-economic conditions.
• Community Managed Disaster Risk Reduction (CMDRR) committees/ community groups: Support the establishment/strengthening of CMDRR committees and community groups, including children-led initiatives, to enhance community preparedness for drought and other shocks, promote peacebuilding, and strengthen positive coping and resilience capacities at household and community levels.
• Promotion of positive coping strategies and enhanced household resilience capacities

3. Enhanced capacities and responsiveness of key actors working with health and nutrition in Marsabit County.

• Training for CHPs and county health teams: Increase awareness and capacity to deliver primary health services through training on acute malnutrition and nutrition screening.
• Sub-county level coordination forums: Facilitate forums to enhance coordination mechanisms for improved health and nutrition.
• Community-led advocacy: Promote community-led advocacy towards legal duty-bearers on food security and nutrition priorities.

1. 
   4.1 General Objective
   

To assess the performance and impact of the IFSRP project in improving food security, nutrition, and resilience among target households.

4.2 Specific Objectives

• Assess changes in key outcome indicators between baseline and endline
• Evaluate improvements in household food security, nutrition, and livelihoods
• Examine changes in knowledge, practices, and system capacity
• Assess project performance against OECD-DAC criteria
• Identify lessons learned and provide actionable recommendations

4.3 Key Evaluation Questions

a. Food Security and Nutrition

• What changes have occurred in household food consumption and hunger levels?
• To what extent has dietary diversity improved among children and women?
• How have nutrition and hygiene practices changed?

b. Livelihoods and Resilience

• How have income sources and livelihood strategies evolved?
• What changes are observed in coping strategies?
• How has household resilience to shocks improved?

c. Systems and Services

• How has access to nutrition and health services changed?
• What improvements are observed in community health systems?

d. Contribution

• To what extent can observed changes be linked to project interventions?
• What contextual factors influenced outcomes?
• What unintended outcomes (positive or negative) emerged
• How equitable were the outcomes across gender, disability, and geographic groups

The evaluation will:

• Cover all four project locations, namely Kalacha, Korr, Golole, and Karare in Marsabit County
• Target households with PLWs and children under five
• Include both direct and indirect beneficiaries
• Assess all three project outcomes
• Apply gender-responsive and inclusive approaches throughout the evaluation

The evaluation will involve:

• Design and refinement of data collection tools
• Training of enumerators
• Quantitative and qualitative data collection
• Data analysis and reporting
• Review of project monitoring data

The endline evaluation will measure the same indicators as the baseline to ensure comparability:

Nutrition

• % of children (6–23 months) consuming ≥5 food groups (MDD-C)
• % of women consuming ≥5 food groups (MDD-W)

Food Security

• Household Food Consumption Score (FCS)
• Household Hunger Scale (HHS)

Coping and Resilience

• Coping Strategy Index (CSI)
• Livelihood Coping Strategy Index (LCSI)
• Resilience capacity (adaptive, absorptive, transformative)

Livelihood

• Income sources and diversification
• Participation in SHGs and IGAs
• Asset ownership and savings

KAP

• Knowledge of malnutrition signs and causes
• Hygiene practices (handwashing)
• Infant and young child feeding practices

Systems

• Access to health and nutrition services
• Effectiveness of CHP interactions
• Community engagement and advocacy structures

The survey will employ a mixed-methods approach, including:

1. Quantitative Methods

A structured household survey will be conducted using a questionnaire aligned with the baseline tool.

Module Type

Components

Module Type

Components

Module A: Household Demographics

Household composition.

Gender, age, and marital status.

Household size.

Module G: Coping Strategies

Food-based coping (7 days)

Livelihood coping (30 days)

Module B: Livelihoods and Income

Main and secondary income sources.

Monthly income levels.

Expenditure patterns.

Module H: Shocks and Resilience

Types of shocks experienced

Coping responses

Adaptive strategies

Module C: Food Consumption (7-day recall)

Food groups consumed.

Frequency of consumption.

Source of food.

Module I: Livelihood Practices

Agricultural and livestock practices.

Savings and loans.

Group participation (SHGs, FGs).

Module D: Household Hunger (30-day recall)

Experiences of food deprivation.

Module J: Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices (KAP)

Nutrition knowledge.

Hygiene practices.

Beliefs and perceptions.

Module E: Dietary Diversity (24-hour recall)

Household dietary diversity.

Women’s dietary diversity.

Child dietary diversity (6–23 months).

Module K: Project Exposure

Participation in project interventions: Cash transfers, Trainings, SHGs, CHPs, Hygiene promotion, etc.

Duration and intensity of exposure.

Module F: Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF)

Exclusive breastfeeding.

Early initiation of breastfeeding.

Module L: Perception of Change

Perceived changes in:

-Food security

-Income

-Nutrition

-Coping ability

Qualitative Methods

Qualitative methods will be used to provide in-depth insights into observed changes, contextual factors, and community experiences that cannot be captured through quantitative data alone.

1. Focus Group Discussions (FGDs)

• Caregivers of children under 5 and school-going children (<15 years): To explore changes in nutrition practices, childcare, health-seeking behavior, and school participation.
• SHG members: To understand livelihood improvements, income diversification, savings behavior, and group dynamics.
• Community groups: To assess broader community-level changes, social support systems, and resilience mechanisms.

2. Key Informant Interviews (KIIs)

• CHPs and Health workers: To assess changes in community-level service delivery, screening, referrals, capacity building, and health promotion activities.
• Health workers: To examine improvements in health system capacity, service availability, and nutrition outcomes.
• Community leaders: To capture perspectives on community engagement, social change, and local governance.
• Project staff: To provide insights on implementation processes, adaptations, and overall project performance.

These will explore:

• Behavioural changes: Shifts in nutrition, hygiene, and health practices among target populations.
• Livelihood improvements: Changes in income sources, economic activities, and household resilience.
• System strengthening: Enhancements in service delivery, coordination, and institutional capacity.
• Barriers and challenges: Key constraints affecting implementation, access, and sustainability of outcomes.

The project’s target population is 9600 individuals, i.e., (1600HHs*6). The evaluation used the Krejcie and Morgan formula to compute the sample size from 1600 households. The sample provided was 310, but to mitigate for lower response rates and spoiled data from cleaning, the evaluation will interview 350 households divided equally in Kalacha-88HHs, Karare (88 HHs), Korr (Korr-87HHs), and Uran (Golole-87HHs). Note that evaluation will be done to households with pregnant and lactating women (PLW) and with children under 5 years of age.

The evaluation will utilize a combination of quantitative and qualitative tools designed to ensure consistency with the baseline while strengthening analytical depth and data quality. Tools will include:

• Structured household questionnaire: To collect quantitative data on key indicators such as food security, nutrition, livelihoods, coping strategies, and resilience.
• FGD guides: To facilitate structured group discussions capturing community perspectives, experiences, and behavioural changes.
• KII guides: To guide in-depth interviews with key stakeholders on systems, service delivery, and implementation insights.

• Inception Report: Detailed methodology, sampling approach, tools, and work plan.
• Data collection tools: Finalized quantitative and qualitative tools aligned to baseline indicators.
• Clean dataset: Verified and well-documented dataset ready for analysis and future use.
• Draft Endline Report: Preliminary findings for review and stakeholder feedback.
• Final Endline Report: Comprehensive report incorporating feedback, with conclusions and recommendations.
• Presentation of findings: Summary presentation of key results for stakeholders and partners.

The evaluation will be conducted over a structured timeline to ensure the timely delivery of outputs.

• Week 1: Inception and tool development (Finalization of methodology, tools, and evaluation plan.)
• Week 2–3: Data collection (Fieldwork including quantitative surveys and qualitative interviews.)
• Week 4: Analysis – Data cleaning, processing, and preliminary analysis.
• Week 5–8: Reporting – Report writing, review, and finalization.
• A stakeholder validation workshop will be conducted prior to submission of the final report

• Experience
• 10-15 years of experience Proven experience in conducting evaluations (particularly endline) for Food security and child nutrition programs.
  • Experience in working with international NGOs and understanding of donor requirements.
  
  
• Skills
• Strong analytical and report writing skills.
  • Proficiency in qualitative and quantitative data analysis.
  
  
• Education
• Advanced degree in Economics, Nutrition, Social Sciences, or a related field.
• Other
• Knowledge of the local context in Marsabit County or similar settings.
  • Fluency in English; knowledge of local languages is an asset (Not a must).
  
  

Interested candidates should submit their applications, including:

• Technical Proposal
• Understanding of the TOR and methodology.
  • Work plan and timeline.
  
  
• Financial Proposal
• Detailed budget breakdown.
• CVs of Lead Evaluator and Team Members
• 2 Previous Work Samples

How to apply

How to Apply

Interested and qualified candidates should send the above documentation, together with the application, to the Talent and Culture Manager, Email address: hr-fhkenya@fh.org latest by 29th April 2026.

While we value every person applying for this Consultancy, please note that only the shortlisted candidates will be

contacted.

NB: FOOD FOR THE HUNGRY (FH KENYA) DOES NOT SOLICIT ANY FORM OF PAYMENT DURING THE ENTIRE RECRUITMENT EXERCISE

Tagged as: Agriculture, Food Security and Livelihoods