Terms of Reference
1. Background
The Solidaridad-Cargill Global Partnership (current phase) is a 3-year initiative implemented in 5 countries (Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay and Colombia in South America; Malaysia in East Asia), focusing on sustainable soy and palm oil production. A joint project of Solidaridad, a non-profit organization working on sustainable supply chains, and Cargill, a family company providing food, ingredients, agricultural solutions and industrial products to nourish the world in a safe, responsible and sustainable way, the project aims to improve environmental, social, and market outcomes for over 1,900 smallholder farmers managing 98,000 hectares of land through sustainable localized strategies.
The project focuses on three core results areas: i) land use and conservation, ii) farmer livelihoods, and iii) climate-friendly agriculture. Based on these, the project has seven overarching Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), along with each country team tracking additional country-level KPIs specific to the supply chain in-country.
Solidaridad conducted a baseline assessment in Year 1 of the three-year project. As part of ongoing Project Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (PMEL), the project teams collect data related to the project’s KPIs via digital tools and report on them during the project’s biannual reporting cycle. Each country team also designed learning questions for the three-year period, and they provide progress updates as part of the project’s biannual reports.
2. Purpose of the Evaluation
The final evaluation will assess the project’s overall relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, and sustainability. It will also identify lessons learned, emerging best practices, and strategic recommendations for future investments or scale-up opportunities.
3. Evaluation Scope
- Geographic Coverage: Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay, Colombia, Malaysia.
- Project Duration: July 2023 to June 2026.
- Focus Areas: Land Use Conservation, Farmer Livelihoods, Climate-Friendly Agriculture, and Data Protection. While country-specific implementation will be the main focus, regional and global perspectives will also be important to consider, where relevant.
- Stakeholders: Cargill’s commercial and sustainability teams, Solidaridad implementing teams, smallholder farmers, private sector actors (e.g. local mills), universities, government agencies, trade associations and cooperatives.
4. Initial Evaluation Questions
- To what extent did the project achieve its intended outcomes across key result areas, and how did this vary by country and implementation context?
- What factors contributed to and/or hindered progress within each country and across countries?
- How effective were the strategies for the different contexts and commodities to meet the project’s goals, including any changes and course corrections that were adopted?
- What is the potential for scaling or sustaining results post-project, and under what conditions?
- How did the partnership advance Solidaridad’s and Cargill’s respective missions? What added value was generated through the partnership relative to standalone or separate programming?
- To what extent were project resources used efficiently in delivering outputs and outcomes (i.e., investment relative to results achieved)?
- What opportunities and challenges arise from the project experience to continue the collaboration between Solidaridad and Cargill?
Additional or refined evaluation questions may be agreed upon during the inception phase, in consultation with the commissioned evaluator.
Solidaridad is also conducting an internal exercise to prioritize evaluation topics at country level. These will be shared with shortlisted external evaluators when they are finalized, and before we set up calls with applicants to discuss their applications.
5. Evaluation Phasing and Timeline
The evaluation will require a phased approach. It is anticipated that three countries (Paraguay, Bolivia, Malaysia) will complete core project activities by June 2026, while the remaining two countries (Argentina, Colombia) will complete activities by December 2026.
Further, the evaluation will be conducted along the following two tracks:
Track A: Country-Level Program Effectiveness: This track will assess program effectiveness at the country level using a tiered sampling approach and a pragmatic mix of methods, including desk review, key informant interviews, and focus group discussions. Fieldwork should be strategic, targeted, and clearly justified.
Track B: Partnership Value and Global Synthesis: This track will assess the added value of the partnership model, synthesizing learning across countries. It will compare partnership outcomes against what might reasonably have been achieved through programs run by each organization independently, or by a partnership between Solidaridad and Cargill at a single country level versus a multi-country partnership with common cross-border KPIs. This global evaluation will be conducted upon full completion of all country-level evaluations.
Timeline: The assignment is expected to run from late February 2026 through early-February 2027, reflecting the phased nature of the project. It is anticipated that the methodology, work plan, and data collection tools will be finalized between February and March 2026. Data collection and any associated travel for fieldwork are expected to take place in phases between April and December 2026, aligned with country-level completion timelines. Final synthesis and reporting are expected to be completed by early-February 2027.
6. Proposal Requirements
We invite proposals from evaluation experts (organizations or individuals; consortia and/or subcontracting are fine) to conduct the external evaluation. Proposals should outline:
- Technical proposal (max 10 pages) including:
- Evaluation approach (e.g., contribution analysis, outcome harvesting, etc.), appropriate to the context and scope of the project, including the proposed approach to delivering the two evaluation tracks (country-level effectiveness and global partnership value synthesis).
- Methodology, including the use of mixed methods (qualitative and quantitative) and in-person and/or virtual data collection methods. There should be a clear rationale for the balance between remote and in-person approaches and justification for any proposed travel.
- Data collection tools and sampling strategies, including approach for tiered sampling across countries and components, aligned with the phased project completion timeline.
- Cross-country comparative analysis plans, including how findings from country-level work will inform the global partnership value assessment.
- Data quality assurance processes, including approaches to triangulation, validation, and managing data limitations across contexts.
- Suggested timeline, including a phased evaluation plan aligned with staggered country completion dates and interim milestones, as appropriate.
- Where aspects of the technical approach cannot be fully specified at the proposal stage, applicants are expected to clearly outline key assumptions, information gaps, and any prerequisite steps (e.g. need for initial scoping interviews) required to finalize the methodology during the inception phase.
- Team composition and CVs, highlighting relevant roles and responsibilities.
- Examples of recent, relevant work, particularly multi-country or complex evaluations.
- Financial proposal including:
- Consultant Fees
- Travel
- Accommodation
- Taxes
- Other applicable costs
7. Deliverables (all in English only)
- Inception report with final methodology, data collection tools, and work plan (max 20 pages excluding annexes, including phased evaluation approach)
- Draft evaluation report (max 20 pages excluding annexes)
- Draft slide deck and presentation of evaluation findings to key Solidaridad and Cargill staff for feedback
- Final evaluation report (with executive summary, annexes; max 20 pages excluding annexes)
- Final slide deck for donor and partner presentation (max 20 slides)
8. Consultant Qualifications
- Proven experience conducting successful multi-country evaluations for international development and/or sustainable agriculture implementation projects
- Demonstrated experience designing and implementing phased and/or tiered evaluation approaches, including managing differential sampling intensity and synthesis across countries.
- Familiarity with agricultural commodity value chains. Demonstrated understanding of multinational palm oil and soy trade, and of relevant dynamics in the key palm oil and soy production regions preferable. (soy and/or palm oil preferable)
- Fluency in English and Spanish; Bahasa would be a plus. The ability to conduct the evaluation in the language of each country would be ideal.
- Demonstrated ability to analyze, synthesize, and present findings clearly.
Deadline for submission: Wednesday, January 28, 2026
Send proposals to: madhyama@solidaridadnetwork.org
Partnership updates for reference:
Highlights from Year 1 of the partnership
Cargill and Solidaridad partnership cultivates sustainable palm in Colombia
Caring for the land, improving the harvest: A better future for agribusiness
The Self-Sufficient Farmer: Learning to farm more sustainably in Malaysia