Consultancy - External Evaluation of Market Systems Development (MSD) Pilot with CAFOD Partners
Cookies are small text files that can be used by websites to make a user's experience more efficient. The law states that we can store cookies on your device if they are strictly necessary for the operation of this site.
For all other types of cookies we need your permission. This site uses different types of cookies. Some cookies are placed by third party services that appear on our pages.
You have the right to withdraw your consent at any time. You can change or withdraw your consent from the Cookie Declaration on our website.
If you have questions about our use of cookies, please contact us.
Location: Zimbabwe
Contract Type: Consultancy
Salary: Consultancy Rate
Hours of Work: N/A
Closing Date: 19 August 2026
Commencement date: 1 September 2026
Duration: 20 days over 8-10 weeks.
Accountable to: Head of Region-Africa
Background & Context
CAFOD has invested strategic funding through the General Development Fund (GDF) to pilot Market Systems Development (MSD) approaches in four African countries (DRC, Liberia, Uganda and Zimbabwe) between 2024 and 2025. These pilots were designed to test MSD approaches across diverse market systems, strengthen livelihoods, improve market functionality, enhance engagement with private sector actors, and generate evidence for future programming and scale-up opportunities.
The purpose of this consultancy is to undertake an independent evaluation of the MSD pilot portfolio, providing a strategic assessment of programme performance, systemic market change, and organisational learning. The evaluation will generate actionable recommendations to inform CAFOD's future MSD programming, private sector engagement strategy, fundraising approaches, and organisational capacity development.
Scope of work:
Overall Aim of the Consultancy: The consultancy will conduct a portfolio-level evaluation of CAFOD's MSD pilots in Liberia, DRC, Uganda and Zimbabwe to:
- Assess the effectiveness of the pilots in improving livelihoods, market access and resilience.
- Evaluate the extent of systemic change achieved within market systems.
- Assess the application of Market Systems Development principles, including facilitation, systems thinking and sustainability.
- Generate learning on effective private sector engagement models.
- Assess gender, inclusion and sustainability outcomes.
- Provide strategic recommendations to strengthen CAFOD's future MSD programming and private sector engagement approach.
This work aligns with CAFOD's strategic ambition to strengthen sustainable livelihoods, develop evidence-based approaches to private sector engagement, and identify opportunities for scaling successful MSD interventions.
Departments/Units Involved
- Africa Region Team
- Country Offices in DRC, Liberia, Uganda and Zimbabwe
- Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL) functions
- Implementing Partners and relevant Country Representatives
Deliverables:
The consultant will be expected to produce:
1. Inception Report
- Detailed evaluation framework and methodology.
- Sampling strategy.
- Data collection tools.
- Detailed workplan and timeline.
2. Draft Evaluation Report
- Preliminary findings.
- Analysis of project performance and systemic change.
- Initial recommendations for feedback and validation.
3. Final Evaluation Report
- Portfolio-level analysis of all four pilots.
- Cross-country lessons learned.
- Strategic and operational recommendations.
- Dedicated section on private sector engagement learning.
- Assessment of inclusion, sustainability and scalability.
Contract Timescale:
Indicative duration: 20 days over 8 to 10 weeks.
- Milestone 1: Submission and approval of Inception Report, methodology, and workplan - Deadline: Week 2
- Milestone 2: Completion of fieldwork, stakeholder consultations and submission of Draft Evaluation Report - Deadline: Week 7
- Milestone 3: Submission of Final Evaluation Report, learning paper, presentation and slide deck - Deadline: Week 10
Consultant Experience:
The chosen consultant must meet the following technical qualifications:
Technical Skills
- Expertise in Market Systems Development (MSD).
- Strong analytical and qualitative research skills.
- Experience in mixed-methods evaluation approaches.
- Experience conducting portfolio-level evaluations.
Mandatory Skills
- Demonstrated experience evaluating livelihoods and value chain programmes.
- Strong experience in private sector engagement.
- Experience working in fragile and complex contexts.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English and French.
Essential Skills
- Expertise in women's economic empowerment and gender analysis.
- Knowledge of systems thinking and facilitation approaches.
- Experience undertaking stakeholder engagement and participatory evaluation processes.
- Experience producing strategic recommendations for programme design and organisational learning
Reporting:
The key stakeholders involved are:
Regular progress meetings will be held throughout the consultancy, and findings will be validated with stakeholders before finalisation.
Contact Information:
For any questions or inquiries, please contact: Head of Region - Africa
CAFOD
Expression of Interest:
Interested consultants or consultancy teams should submit:
- Technical proposal outlining methodology and approach.
- Relevant experience and examples of previous assignments.
- CV(s) of proposed consultant(s).
- Financial proposal.
- At least two references from similar assignments.
Submission deadline: 19 August 2026
Submission email: kakintola@cafod.org.uk