The African Capacity Building Foundation

RFP Process No.: ACBF/RFP/002/26/SALCA

1. Introduction

The African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF) has implemented the Strengthening African Leadership for Climate Adaptation Program (SALCA) seeking to enhance the organizational performance of proximate, Africa-based and African-led entities working on climate adaptation as to strengthen the landscape of African organizations within the continent’s climate adaptation ecosystem. It is a five-year Program funded by Gates Foundation with a total of grant amount of USD 5,000,000 and running from November 2021 to December 2026. The Program supports four target organizations, namely African Centre for Equitable Development (ACED, Benin), Centre d’Etudes et de Recherches en Analyses et Politiques Economiques (CERAPE, Republic of Congo), Inclusive Climate Change Adaptation for a Sustainable Africa (ICCASA, Kenya), and Horn Economic and Social Policy Institute (HESPI, Ethiopia) considered strategic partners with the potential to contribute to an effective, evidence-based climate adaptation agenda in Africa.

As SALCA approaches the end of its implementation period in December 2026, ACBF is undertaking a final evaluation of the Program in conformity with the Foundation’s Evaluation Policy and the requirements of the Grant Agreement. The exercise will be conducted as an independent assignment entrusted to an individual consultant, under the coordination of the Monitoring, Evaluation, Learning and Reporting (MERL) Unit within ACBF’s Programs and Impact Department in collaboration with the Climate Unit. These Terms of Reference (ToRs) provide the framework for planning, conducting and managing the SALCA final evaluation. The document outlines the background and justification for the evaluation, its objectives, scope of work, methodology, key deliverables and timelines, and the qualifications and experience required of the consultant.

2. Context and Justification

Climate change continues to pose a significant threat to Africa’s environment, economies and communities, with the continent warming faster than the global average and experiencing more frequent and intense droughts, floods and heatwaves. These impacts fall disproportionately on African countries and communities that have contributed the least to global greenhouse gas emissions, compounding a longstanding equity gap between the Global North and Global South. Africa-based and African-led organizations remain underrepresented in global climate research, policy and advocacy processes, and often lack institutional capacity, resources and knowledge networks needed to shape an effective, evidence-based climate adaptation agenda for the continent.

SALCA was designed to address this capacity and representation gap by strengthening the organizational performance of a cohort of strategically selected, proximate climate adaptation organizations. The Program targets five outcome areas of institutional performance such as efficiency, effectiveness, relevance, sustainability, and gender responsiveness on the premise that strengthened target organizations will become active contributors to an evidence-based climate adaptation agenda in Africa, effective participants in policy dialogue and advocacy, and sustained voices in global climate forums, while better representing the needs of vulnerable and poor African communities in national and international climate decision-making processes.

Program implementation began with a scoping and mapping exercise of the African climate adaptation ecosystem, followed by a competitive selection process that identified ACED, CERAPE, ICCASA and HESPI as target organizations. Each organization underwent a Capacity Needs Assessment (CNA) and, in collaboration with ACBF, developed a Customized Institutional Capacity Improvement Plan (CICIP), translated into individual project documents effective 10 July 2023 for a 42-month implementation period. Delivery of the capacity improvement plans has since covered areas such as governance, financial management, M&E systems, knowledge management, partnerships, resource mobilization and gender responsiveness, complemented by four catalytic climate adaptation interventions in agriculture implemented by the target organizations.

As the Program reaches its completion, a final evaluation is required to independently assess the overall achievement of its intended outcomes, generate credible evidence on what worked and what did not, and draw out lessons to inform ACBF’s future climate adaptation and institutional capacity-building programming. The evaluation will also support the target organizations’ own reflection on the sustainability of the gains achieved by incorporating a learning component in the form of a Learning Workshop, bringing together partners to reflect on programme achievements, consolidate cross‑country lessons and experiences, and identify practical pathways for sustaining and scaling the programme’s impact beyond the current implementation phase.

3. Objectives of the Review

This final evaluation aims to independently assess SALCA’s overall performance and results at the end of its implementation, and to generate evidence-based lessons to inform ACBF’s future climate adaptation and capacity-building programming. Specifically, the evaluation will seek to:

Assess the relevance of the Program’s design and choice of target organizations to Africa’s climate adaptation priorities.
Measure the Program’s achievement of its five intended outcomes (efficiency, effectiveness, relevance, sustainability, and gender responsiveness) across the four target organizations.
Determine the Program’s broader, longer-term contribution to the target organizations and to Africa’s climate adaptation ecosystem.
Identify key implementation challenges, risks and good practices derived from the capacity improvement plans and catalytic interventions.
Draw illustrative lessons and actionable recommendations for future ACBF programming.

4. Scope of Work

4.1. Evaluation Coverage

This review will cover the entire Program implementation duration running from November 2021 to December 2026 and engage all the four target organizations with the following details:

Target Organization	Country	Project title	Project Duration	Project Effectiveness Date
ACED	Bénin	Capacity Strengthening for Enhanced Climate Leadership in ACED	42 months	10 July 2023
CERAPE	Congo	Capacity Strengthening for Enhanced Climate Leadership in CERAPE	42 months	10 July 2023
ICCASA	Kenya	Capacity Strengthening for Enhanced Climate Leadership in ICCASA	42 months	10 July 2023
HESPI	Ethiopie	Capacity Strengthening for Enhanced Climate Leadership in HESPI	42 months	10 July 2023

4.2. Key Evaluation Questions

The key questions that the evaluation will seek to answer through the data collection and analysis process are as follows:

To what extent did SALCA design, including its theory of change and selection of target organizations, remained appropriate throughout implementation?
How effective were the Customized Institutional Capacity Improvement Plans and associated project documents implemented, and what factors enabled or constrained their delivery?
To what extent have target organizations contributed to an evidence-based climate adaptation agenda and to policy dialogue and advocacy at national, regional or international levels?
What has been the contribution of the catalytic climate adaptation interventions in agriculture to Program results and cross-partner learning?
What is the likelihood that the capacities, systems and partnerships built through the Program will be sustained by the target organizations beyond the grant period?
What lessons can be drawn to strengthen the design and implementation of future ACBF climate adaptation and capacity-building programs?

4.3 Review Dimensions and Criteria

The evaluation will apply standard evaluation criteria, complemented by two dimensions specific to ACBF’s programming, as described below:

Relevance: An assessment of the extent to which SALCA’s design, theory of change and choice of target organizations remained aligned with the capacity needs of Africa-based and African-led climate adaptation organizations and with national and continental climate adaptation policies and strategies over the life of the Program. Key questions include:
- How valid did the Program’s underlying assumptions prove to be?
- How well did the Program design adapt to changes in context or need during implementation?

Effectiveness: An assessment of the extent to which the Program achieved its five intended outcomes and associated outputs across the four target organizations, including any unintended effects. Key questions include:
- To what extent were planned outputs delivered and outcomes achieved against the Results Tracker targets?
- What factors most influenced the level of achievement?

Efficiency: An assessment of the extent to which financial, human and material resources were used economically and efficiently to deliver Program outputs and results, including the appropriateness of implementation and disbursement arrangements. Key questions include:
- Were outputs delivered at reasonable cost and within planned timeframes?
- Could the same or better results have been achieved with fewer resources or in less time?

Impact: An assessment of the broader and longer-term changes intended and unintended, positive and negative that the Program has contributed to in the target organizations, their beneficiary communities, and Africa’s climate adaptation ecosystem more widely, including any contribution to national or regional climate adaptation policy and practice. Key questions include:
- What difference has SALCA made to the target organizations’ standing and influence in the climate adaptation space?
- What evidence exists of wider or systemic change attributable, at least in part, to the Program?

Sustainability: An assessment of the likelihood that the institutional capacities, systems, partnerships and financial resource base built through the Program will be sustained by the target organizations beyond the life of the grant. Key questions include:
- Have target organizations diversified their funding base and retained key expertise?
- What ownership and institutionalization measures have been put in place to sustain results?

Gender Responsiveness: An assessment of the extent to which gender dimensions have been mainstreamed within the target organizations’ policies, programming and culture, and the progress made along the Program’s gender-unintentional, gender-intentional and gender-transformative continuum. Key questions include:
- How has gender responsiveness evolved in each target organization over the life of the Program?
- What evidence exists of gender-transformative practice?

Implementation support management: An assessment of the quality and effectiveness of the support provided by ACBF in managing Program implementation, including the capacity needs assessment and improvement planning process, the adequacy of M&E and reporting arrangements, the quality of supervision and technical support missions, and responsiveness to target organizations and the Foundation. Key questions include:
- How well did ACBF’s coordination and support arrangements enable target organizations to deliver results?
- What improvements would strengthen ACBF’s management of similar programs in future?

5. Review Methodology

The evaluation will adopt a participatory approach combining qualitative and quantitative methods and engaging all key stakeholders. The consultant will present a detailed methodology including an evaluation matrix, sampling approach, data collection and analysis tools, and a validation workshop plan in the inception report. Suggested methods and data sources include the following, though the consultant, as an independent evaluator, remains responsible for assessing their suitability and proposing more adequate procedures where necessary, subject to ACBF’s validation:

Desk Review: Review of relevant Program documents, including the Investment Document, scoping and Capacity Needs Assessment reports, Customized Institutional Capacity Improvement Plans, project documents, grant/activity agreements, supervision and progress reports, the Results Tracker/RMF, and materials from the SALCA catalytic projects and learning webinar series.

Key Informant Interviews: Consultation with ACBF staff (e.g. Climate Unit Team, Finance Team, Management Team), Gates Foundation Program Team, the leadership and staff of the four target organizations, and, where relevant, other stakeholders engaged through the catalytic projects and learning events.

Program Outcome-level Results (RMF): Analysis of endline data against baseline and mid-term values for the primary and intermediate outcome and output indicators set out in the Program’s Results Tracker to determine the level of achievement of the five Program outcomes.

Organizational Performance Index (OPI): Application of ACBF’s Organizational Performance Index (OPI) tool to measure endline institutional performance of the four target organizations against and mid-term OPI scores across the Program’s core performance dimensions.

Organizational Capacity Assessment (OCA): Application of ACBF’s Organizational Capacity Assessment (OCA) tool to each target organization to benchmark against the findings of the baseline and mid-term assessment, to determine the extent of capacity gains achieved.

Cross-Institutional Learning and Upscaling: Reflection and sharing of cross-country lessons and experiences, identification of pathways for sustaining and scaling the program’s impact beyond the closing phase and recommendations for future programming.

6. Assignment Duration & Key Deliverables

The total duration of the assignment will be forty (45) days expanding between September and November 2026. The following deliverables will be expected from the review team within the proposed deadlines:

Table2: Key Deliverable Table

Key Deliverables	Delivery Duration	Daily rate	Amount
1. Submission of the inception report (including evaluation matrix and methodology) following desk review and inception meeting	5 days
2. Submission of the learning workshop report following cross-institutional experience sharing involving all target organizations, ACBF and Gates Foundation	5 days
3. Compilation of evaluation data set following data collection, including key informant interviews, organizational capacity assessment (OCA), organizational performance assessment (OPI), and outcomes assessment (Result Tracker)	15 days
4. Submission of the draft evaluation report to ACBF following data analysis and synthesis	12 days
5. Validation of the draft report following the presentation of findings to ACBF, Gates Foundation and target organizations	5 days
6. Submission of the final evaluation report to ACBF incorporating stakeholder comments	3 days
Total	45 days

Please note that consultants are encouraged to follow the Key Deliverables Table provided above when developing their financial proposals. The financial proposal should include professional fees only. Where the assignment requires travel, ACBF will cover all travel and accommodation costs in accordance with the ACBF Travel and Reimbursable Expenses Policy.

7. Qualifications and Experience for the Assignment

Advanced degree (master’s or higher) in development studies, climate science, or environmental studies, with a certificate in monitoring and evaluation.
A minimum of ten (10) years of professional experience conducting evaluations of development and/or climate adaptation programs, including for multilateral development institutions and international organizations operating in Africa.
Sound understanding of organizational capacity assessment and institutional capacity-building programming for Africa-based and African-led organizations.
Proven experience in designing, facilitating, and managing participatory workshops, learning events, or stakeholder consultations, particularly using interactive, adult-learning, and knowledge-sharing methodologies.
Strong knowledge of climate change and climate adaptation challenges, policies and strategies in Africa.
Proficiency in English and strong working ability to facilitate sessions and engage participants in French is an added advantage (given the language profiles of the target organizations’ countries).

8. Evaluation criteria (Individual Consultant Selection method)

Evaluation of the proposals will be evaluated based on Individual Consultant Selection method criteria.

The evaluation committee shall evaluate the technical Proposals based on their responsiveness to the Terms of Reference, applying the evaluation criteria, and point system specified below. A technical proposal shall be rejected at this stage if it does not respond to key aspects of the Terms of Reference or if it fails to achieve the minimum technical score indicated. The minimum technical score required to pass is: 70 Points.

SN	Critères	Points maximum (100)
	Advanced degree (master’s or higher) in development studies, climate science, or environmental studies, with certificate in monitoring and evaluation.	20
	Sound understanding of organizational capacity assessment and institutional capacity-building programming for Africa-based and African-led organizations. Proven experience in designing, facilitating, and managing participatory workshops, learning events, or stakeholder consultations, particularly using interactive, adult-learning, and knowledge-sharing methodologies. Strong knowledge of climate change and climate adaptation challenges, policies and strategies in Africa.	40
3	A minimum of ten (10) years of professional experience conducting evaluations of development and/or climate adaptation programs, including for multilateral development institutions and international organizations operating in Africa.	20
4	Proficiency in English and strong working ability to facilitate sessions and engage participants in French sessions and engage participants in French is an added	20
	Total	100

9. Submission Process

A cover letter outlining how the Consultant or firm meets the above qualifications.
Technical Proposal to ACBF interpreting the terms of reference and elaborating the consultancy methodology and design, level of effort required to fully deliver the assignment, and with a work plan and budget (cost implication) for undertaking the assignment.
Brief overview of the consultant and the skills and experience they would bring to the assignment
The consultant’s Resume
Copies of three similar assignments undertaken in the last 5 years and contacts of the clients, contact details of three referees from organizations that have recently contracted the consultant to similar or related work for the last 5 years.
A financial offer with an encrypted password and a detailed breakdown of costs, disclosing all relevant budget items for completing this assignment as given in Table 2 above.

Consultants are being requested to submit their proposal with the subject clearly marked, RFP Process No.: ACBF/RFP/002/26/SALCA Consultancy Services,” to the email address: submissions@theacbf.org on or before 17.00 hours (local Harare time), on 10th August 2026.

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Terms of Reference for The Provision of Individual Consultancy Services for the Final Evaluation of ACBF’s Strengthening African Leadership for Climate Adaptation Program (SALCA)