Consultant/consultancy team conducting project evaluation

TERMS OF REFERENCE (ToR)

CONSULTANT – PROJECT EVALUATION

Position: Consultant/consultancy team conducting project evaluation

Duty station: Home, Vinh City and 3 project communes in Nghe An province

Duration: maximum 35 working days for Consultant Team from October to November, 2026 and present at the project provincial workshop tentatively organized on November or December, 2026

Reporting: CORENACCA

1. General Information

The project “Promoting forest land use rights allocation for ethnic minorities in Tuong Duong District, Nghe An Province” is funded by the German NGO INKOTA and implemented from April 1^st 2023 to December, 31^st 2026 by CORNEACCA. The total project budget valued 413.150,24 EUR.

Project sites: 03 former communes Yen Thang (Now Yen Hoa), Yen Na, Huu Khuong in former Tuong Duong District, Nghe An Province

Overall Objective: The project contributes to sustainable poverty reduction in Tuong Duong district.

Project Objective: Ethnic minorities in the three project communes of Yen Thang, Yen Na and Huu Khuong manage, cultivate and protect newly allocated land and forest areas in a sustainable way and increase their monthly income.

Key Project Results:

People in the project areas combine the use of the forest areas (as a supplier of wood and other forest products, for growing vegetables, etc.) with concrete conservation measures, e.g. the targeted planting of valuable trees, shrubs and medicinal herbs and the breeding of forest bees.
The number of illegal logging/clearing operations per year has reduced by up to 70% in the last project year compared to the three years before the project started.
500 poor households or households acutely threatened by poverty in the project areas increased their income by 30% by the end of the project.
Within the framework of a participatory allocation process, 196 families were each allocated about 3 ha of forest by the end of the project. Another 912 ha have been handed over to the community as community forest.
Community Forest Management Board (FMB) have been established, whose gender-balanced members were elected by the villagers and which have clear role and task descriptions, drawn up a participatory use plan und develop rules to guarantee equal benefits as far as possible.
The protection of forests is an integral part of the FMBs’ written rules and regulations, wherefore protection teams are established.
25 forest-related production groups have been formed, with 60% female members, with capacities in production planning and quality control.
10,000 trees had been planted. 500 beneficiary households had acquired skills in NTFPS processing, packaging and market access and sold their first products.
CORENACCA staff have been trained by a policy insider on land and forest and have acquired up-to-date knowledge on land, forest and forest management.
A practice-oriented handout on the implementation of national guidelines in the field of sustainable land and forest management was adopted by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
Approximately 500 representatives of state institutions and civil society organisations at district, provincial and national level were informed about demand-oriented land allocation and sustainable land and forest management, including according to FSC criteria, in advocacy events and through corresponding documentation within the framework of the project.

2. Evaluation Objectives

CORENACCA is seeking for a consultant / consultancy team (National) to (i) provide an assessment of the project achievements to date against the intended results, (ii) to analyse the enabling and constraining factors during project implementation and to draw lessons for similar projects in the future and to (iii) provide concrete recommendations to CORENACCA and local strakeholders for potential adjustments in the future/for replication etc.

The evaluation should follow the OECD DAC quality standards for evaluations and pay special attention to the 6 criterias relevance, coherence, effectiveness, efficiency, impact, and sustainability.

Important questions that need to be answered are:

Relevance:
- To what extent does the project address the actual needs and priorities of the participating local communities?
- To what extent does the project take into account the different interests, needs and perspectives of different groups, particularly women, youth and marginalised groups?
- To what extent is the Community-Based Forest Management (CBFM) approach appropriate to addressing the challenges related to forest conservation and sustainable resource use?
- To what extent is the project aligned with relevant national and local policies, strategies and legal frameworks?
Coherence:
- To what extent does the project complement or create synergies with other initiatives related to CBFM, forest conservation, climate change, biodiversity or livelihoods in the project area?
- To what extent does the project contribute to relevant national and local objectives related to sustainable forest management, biodiversity conservation, climate action and sustainable development?
- Are there any tensions or trade-offs between different project objectives, for example between forest conservation and the protection of local livelihoods?
Effectiveness:
- To what extent have the planned outputs and outcomes been achieved?
- What changes in forest management, forest conservation and the use of forest resources can be observed, and to what extent can these changes plausibly be linked to the project?
- To what extent has the project strengthened the capacity of local communities to plan, implement and monitor forest management activities?
- To what extent have compliance with and enforcement of locally agreed rules for the use and protection of forests improved?
- What factors have facilitated or hindered the achievement of the project objectives?
- To what extent has the project contributed to preventing or constructively addressing conflicts over forest resources?
Efficiency:
- To what extent have financial, human and other resources been used appropriately and efficiently to achieve the intended results?
- Which project approaches and activities have proven particularly cost-effective?
- What factors, if any, have caused delays or otherwise affected the efficiency of implementation?
Impact:
- What changes can be observed in the condition, quality and use of forest resources?
- To what extent has the project contributed to reducing deforestation and/or forest degradation?
- To what extent has the project contributed to changes in livelihoods and income among participating households?
- To what extent has access to forest resources and related economic and social benefits changed for different groups within the communities?
- To what extent has the project strengthened the ability of local communities to influence decisions concerning forest resources?
- To what extent have women and other potentially marginalised groups been meaningfully involved in decision-making processes related to forest management?
Sustainability:
- To what extent are the local structures, capacities and processes established through the project likely to be sustained beyond the project period?
- To what extent do local communities have the institutional, financial and technical resources required to continue managing forest resources sustainably?
- To what extent are the environmental and socio-economic outcomes achieved by the project likely to be sustained?

3. Scope and the methodology

The consultant is expected to use a panel of methods and tools including (i) secondary data review, (ii) semi-structured interviews of key informants (Project Support Unit in 3 project communes, CORENACCA project team), (iii) field and households visits, and (iv) group discussions with households, women club members, and local authorities and (v) appropriate tools to measure income improvement of households who receive livelihood support from the project.

While the initial meeting and the discussion of the first draft report will take place inVinh City, the field data collection will be carried out in the three former Communes including Yen Thang (now Yen Hoa), Yen Na, Huu Khuong. Moreover, the evaluator is expected to present the final report at the project provincial workshop tentatively organized on 18^th November 2026

4. Outputs/Deliverables:

A detailed workplan which includes set of tools and methodology, a compiled questionaires and a schedule for the evaluation in Englisch and Vietnamese.
Records/minutes of all meetings/consultations conducted in Vietnamese;
Quantitative data, including raw data collected in Vietnamese.
A draft evaluation report in English and Vietnamese, based on which a joint discussion will take place online with representatives of CORENACCA and INKOTA
A Final mid-term evaluation report in English and Vietnamese, structured according to the table of contents in Annex 1, including a 2- to 3-page executive summary.

5. Tentative Timetable

No	Term of actions	Timelines	Responsibility
1	Consultant selection and contract conclusion	12^th to 14^th October	CORENACCA/ INKOTA
2	Review of project documents & reports, secondary data. Submission of a workplan in Englisch and Vietnamese, including finalized tools/questionnaires; set-up data storage system, detail schedule of field data collection Further discussions with the project team in Vinh and/or submitting a report outline prior going to the field	15^th Oct – 20^th Oct	Consultant(s)
3	Participatory data collection in Vinh and 3 project communes, Nghe An province	Between 21^st Oct and 5^th Nov	Consultant(s), CORENACCA supports the logistics
4	Analysis, report writing and first draft Submission	10^th November	Consultant(s)
5	Feedback and discussion of the draft with representatives of CORENACCA and INKOTA in a virtual workshop; Review of the draft, taking into account feedback from CORENACCA and INKOTA, and, based on this, preparation of the second draft report.	11st to 14^th November will have an online meeting with Contant and INKOTA Project Team
	Second commentary revision loop
6	Finalized and submission of final evaluation report	24^th November 2026	Consultant(s)
7	Present evaluation results at the provincial workshop	By November or December, 2026	Consultatnt(s)

6. Consultancy Management

In support of the consultancy CORENACCA will make their staff available for discussing the strategic approach of the assignment as well as to discuss content and review the draft versions of the reports. CORENACCA will ensure the logistic and human resource support for the organization of meetings, the field level study.

INKOTA will be involved in the selection of the evaluator and will support in commenting on the workplan and the strategic approach and later on the draft reports, both in writing and in a virtual workshop.

The consultant will officially report to CORENACCA. CORENACCA will be responsible for the coordination with other relevant stakeholders in the field as well as INKOTA.

7. Consultant profile

The consultant/consultancy team shall have the following skills and experience.

As a requirement, the consultant must be institutionally and personally independent of CORENACCA and INKOTA
At least 5 years of theoretical and practical work experience on community forest management, livelihood support and climate change adaptation including all crosscutting issues (such as gender etc.)
Proven technical capacity and experience in evaluating NGO-led developing projects (preferably those funded by German donors), with at least two certified evaluations of projects with comparible objectives than the project adressed by this evaluation.
Methodological experience in participatory social, agricultural and environmental data collection and data analysis; evaluation of social and gender processes in rural communities; extensive knowledge of both quantitative and qualitative research methods and techniques.
Excellent communication and documentation skills in English and Vietnamese
Results focused and accountable

8. Consultant Fee

Consultancy rate per day, including PIT, will be negotiated based on quality and experience of the consultant. An advancement payment of 25% is paid after the submission of workplan and set of tools. The last payment is paid after the acceptance of the final report. Expenses in the field (transport, accommodation, stationaries….) will be covered by the project at CORENACCA’s cost norm. CORENACCA will not pay any health/ accident insurance. The consultant /consultancy team will have to ensure its own health and accidental insurance.

9. Application Procedure and selection

Interested candidates are invited to contact Mr. Nam (email: [email protected]) for additional details about the assignment and then to send their applications by email in English consisting of a CV, a letter of motivation, a financial and technical offer and a list of samples of previous assignments with a similar content and name references from previous clients.

to: CORENACCA (add 55 Duy Tan Street, Truong Vinh Ward) via email: [email protected]

Please indicate clearly your application subject: “INKOTA CORENACCA – Project Evaluation consultant”.

Deadline for application: 14th October 2026 at 17:00, Hanoi time. Please note that only applications which are submitted in English via email and contain all above-mentioned documents shall be considered.

The selection and commissioning of the evaluator is based on the following criteria:

Technical and methological qualifications
Strategic approach
Former experiences and references from previous clients
Ability to communicate in English and Vietnamese
Availability in the mentioned time frame
Price

While CORENACCA appreciates all responses, only candidate short listed will be contacted for an interview.

Annex 1: Evaluation Report sample that should be largely followed