MONITORING AND EVALUATION CONSULTANT

## MONITORING AND EVALUATION CONSULTANT

**Project Title:** Promoting Climate and Finance Awareness for Women Smallholder Farmers and Small-Scale Cross-Border Traders to Adapt to Climate Risks

**Project Location:** Malaba (Kenya–Uganda border) and Lwakhakha (Kenya–Uganda border)

**Project Duration:** A cumulative six months spread over 22 months

**Proposed Assignment:** Needs assessment and baseline and endline assessments of project implementation

### 1. INTRODUCTION

#### 1.1 Background

Sauti East Africa is a women-led social enterprise combining development research and technology solutions to address the digital information gaps facing women working in agricultural value chains. Sauti leverages the competitive advantages of mobile technology to deliver tailored agroclimatic and market information to farmers and traders in East Africa. Our mission is to empower women farmers and traders to trade legally, safely, and profitably.

#### 1.2 Project Context

With less access to capital than their male counterparts, small-scale informal women farmers and traders often rely on high-interest personal loans and informal community-based loans to support their agricultural activities. Surveys conducted with women farmers and traders along the Kenya–Uganda border found that 39% and 24% of women relied on loans from digital lenders and community-based banking institutions, respectively, to overcome disruptions to their business activities.

While innovative finance has enabled many Kenyan and Ugandan women in the agricultural sector to overcome some of the gendered capital constraints affecting their participation in the sector, many informal finance institutions do not adequately account for the risk of disruptions to women’s revenue caused by climate-related events. Moreover, women farmers and traders have few accessible resources and often limited financial literacy with which to evaluate predicted volatility and climate-related hazards that may affect their ability to repay loans.

Women farmers also face structural challenges in accessing resources, securing land, and participating fully in agricultural economies. From land ownership constraints to gender disparities in decision-making and access to finance, these factors shape the realities of women in farming and limit their economic opportunities.

The impact of climate volatility is compounded for traders who move goods across the Kenya–Uganda border. These traders face gender-based barriers, including sexual harassment, corruption, and other safety-related risks, when crossing the border and accessing markets for their goods.

#### 1.3 Project Overview

Sauti’s approach targets the information and accessibility gaps that prevent women small-scale farmers and traders in Kenya and Uganda from assessing the real-time climate-related risks affecting their agricultural and business activities. We will employ a human-centred design approach to create a mobile-based climate and financial risk information platform accessible through Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD), WhatsApp, and Short Message Service (SMS).

The behaviour-change model underlying this initiative is based on the premise that better information leads to better decisions. When farmers have timely and reliable access to agricultural and financial information, they can plan more effectively and reduce their vulnerability to climate-related disruptions. This allows them to manage risks proactively, access better credit opportunities, and strengthen their financial position over time.

#### 1.4 How the Platform Will Work

The project takes advantage of the widespread use of mobile phones among the target population to maximize the reach, local relevance, and gender sensitivity of the information provided.

Using any type of mobile phone, without requiring internet access, farmers and traders can dial a short code and navigate numbered menu options. Users will receive a simplified risk report containing:

- Real-time weather forecasts;
- Seasonal climate-hazard forecasts;
- Market prices; and
- Information on relevant social services.

In addition to providing accessible climate and financial information, the project includes digital and financial literacy training. The training will help women farmers understand their credit options and manage financial risks more effectively using digital tools, including the information platform deployed under the project.

This approach ensures that farmers are not only aware of potential challenges but are also equipped with the knowledge and tools required to respond. By combining financial education with real-time data, the project will enhance farmers’ ability to make strategic decisions and improve their resilience and stability in the face of climate uncertainty.

#### 1.5 Project Approach

The project aims to improve women farmers’ capacity to adapt to climate change by using locally accessible and easy-to-use USSD- and SMS-based platforms to deliver climate- and finance-related information and adaptation tools.

Users will dial the short code **\*484\*716#** in Kenya or **\*284\*111#** in Uganda and navigate a numbered menu using any type of mobile phone. Smartphones and internet access will not be required.

The mobile platform will provide:

- Real-time weather forecasts;
- Seasonal climate-hazard forecasts;
- Agricultural adaptation strategies;
- Climate-risk management tools;
- Climate-finance opportunities; and
- Current and projected market information.

All information will be provided free of charge and translated into relevant local languages.

### 2. EVALUATION

#### 2.1 Rationale for the Evaluation

The project will be evaluated in three phases:

1. A needs assessment at project inception;
2. A baseline study; and
3. An endline study.

The evaluations will assess the project’s progress towards achieving its key objectives and intended outcomes. They will track and verify progress towards the project’s overall goal, identify lessons learned and good practices, and provide concrete recommendations for similar future interventions.

The evaluation findings will also support evidence-based and adaptive programming throughout project implementation.

#### 2.2 Evaluation Objectives

The evaluation will:

- Assess the extent to which the project has achieved its intended purpose, outputs, and results;
- Assess the overall impact and effectiveness of improving access to climate information among women small-scale farmers and traders;
- Evaluate the relevance and sustainability of project activities and outcomes;
- Identify key strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats through a SWOT analysis; and
- Develop recommendations to inform similar future programming.

The evaluation will be guided by the project’s specific objectives and commitments as presented in the proposal document and logical framework.

### 3. METHODOLOGY

The evaluation will employ both qualitative and quantitative methodologies.

Qualitative data-collection methods will include:

- Key informant interviews;
- Focus group discussions; and
- Direct observations.

Quantitative data-collection methods will include detailed surveys with women small-scale farmers and traders across the project areas.

Survey respondents will include, but will not be limited to:

- Project beneficiaries;
- Implementing partners;
- Representatives of private-sector institutions; and
- Representatives of relevant public institutions.

A sample of women small-scale farmers and traders will be drawn from the project beneficiary population to participate in the surveys.

Participants in key informant interviews and focus group discussions will include relevant community stakeholders, such as:

- Community and group leaders;
- Local authorities;
- County and district government representatives;
- Local implementing partners;
- Traders; and
- Farmers.

The sampling framework will be developed using beneficiary and stakeholder informat