Ref. Nr.

Project title

Name of Legal Entity

Country

Overall project value (EUR)

Proportion carried out by candidate (%)

No of staff provided

Name of client

Origin of funding

Dates (start/end)

Name of partner

VAKAKIS

INTERNATIONAL

CROATIA

102,900

100

3

(total

=180 days)

Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management

WB/Govt of Netherlands

Sept 2010-May2012

none

Detailed description of project

Type of services provided

The CAACP, with financial support from the World Bank and the Government of the Netherlands, aims to assist the government of Croatia in its EU accession efforts in areas of agriculture and rural development. The overarching objective of the CAAC Project is to enable Croatia’s agricultural sector to capture benefits accruing from accession to the European Union.

Within this broader framework, the objectives of this CAAC Project Monitoring and Evaluation contract are threefold: (i) to monitor the activities and results of the CAAC Project on a regular basis ;(ii) to monitor the state of preparation of MAFRD as well as the Croatian Agricultural sector for accession to EU membership in order to ensure timely implementation of reforms and preparatory steps necessary ; and (iii) to assess the impact of all preparation steps taken as regards the capacity of Croatia’s Agricultural sector to capture benefits accruing from accession to the European Union.

To achieve these objectives the following activities are being undertaken by the TA team:

• Definition of a clear methodology for assessing global progress indicators
• Definition of the time frame and critical path for achieving the results
• Definition of a "practical/technical" Monitoring Committee
• Implementation and analysis of two specific surveys:

1. i)Database use/ IT integration survey

This survey will be implemented by direct enquiry of the IT Site directors/ database managers of the various institutions concerned, using an in-depth technical survey questionnaire and by complementary survey of a sample (10-20) of end users of the same systems. Particular attention will be given to real-life implementation of security as well as data confidentiality whenever required.

ii)                   Staff competency survey

This survey will involve 3 types of investigations: (i) Convening of "focus groups" of selected staff per institution, to discuss present status as regards dissemination of necessary knowledge and know-how,(ii) Complementary qualitative analysis through a sample of face-to-face interviews,(iii) This predominantly qualitative assessment being further cross-checked by a purely quantitative survey – under the form of a direct rapid knowledge appraisal using quick-to-fill MCQ

• Preparation of Quarterly Reports and 2010 Annual Monitoring Report
• Delivery of Workshop presenting the 2010 Monitoring report: The conclusions of the 2010 Yearly Monitoring Report will be presented to all national stakeholders during a national workshop.
• Terminal Impact Assessment : An assessment of CAACP impact and of the capacity of MAFRD and the national agricultural sector to capture benefits accruing from accession to the EU. The impact assessment investigation will go further than the routine collection of quarterly/yearly progress indicators by including an in-depth review of the terminal status of Croatian preparations as well as all remaining constraints for future adaptation to the open Common Market Organization.

Provision of a TA team comprising of 3 experts including:

1 International Team Leader/ Monitoring Expert.

2 Local Monitoring Experts;

1. i)M&E Expert: Agricultural Economist /HR Specialist.
2. ii)M&E Expert: Agriculture Information Specialist.

Services provided by the TA team:

The Team Leader has overall responsibility for the timely implementation of TA activities. His specific responsibilities also include

–    Preparation of the consultants M&E plan.

–    Definition of the 2010 annual targets.

–    Preparation of quarterly and annual reports.

–    Supervision of survey preparations and analysis as well as the impact assessment.

–    Delivery of a workshop presentation on the 2010 progress report and also on the final impact assessment.

The M&E Expert: Agricultural Economist /HR Specialist has the following specific responsibilities:

–    Undertake the staff competency survey.

–    Undertake initial analysis of the survey data.

–    Shared responsibility for quarterly data collection and data collection for both the annual report and the impact assessment.

The M&E/Expert: Agriculture Information Specialist has the following specific responsibilities:

–    Undertake the Database use/IT integration survey.

–    Review and initialise the monitoring tables and ensure the correct recording and collection of quarterly data.

–    Shared responsibility for quarterly data collection and data collection for both the annual report and the impact assessment.