Cookie settings CAFOD Careers

Consultancy - External Evaluation of Market Systems Development (MSD) Pilot with CAFOD Partners

Location: Zimbabwe

Contract Type: Consultancy

Salary: Consultancy Rate

Hours of Work: N/A

Closing Date: 19 August 2026

Consultancy - External Evaluation of Market Systems Development (MSD) Pilot with CAFOD Partners

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:

  1. Assess the effectiveness of the pilots in improving livelihoods, market access and resilience.
  2. Evaluate the extent of systemic change achieved within market systems.
  3. Assess the application of Market Systems Development principles, including facilitation, systems thinking and sustainability.
  4. Generate learning on effective private sector engagement models.
  5. Assess gender, inclusion and sustainability outcomes.
  6. 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:

Stakeholder

Role and Responsibility

Head of Region - Africa

 Overall contract management, oversight and approval of deliverables

Country Representatives

 Country-level coordination, stakeholder access and review of findings

CAFOD Country Teams

 Provision of project information, participation in interviews and validation processes

Implementing Partners

 Contribution of evidence, lessons learned and stakeholder perspectives

Private Sector Actors

 Provision of insights on market system changes and partnership effectiveness

Programme Participants and Communities

 Validation of outcomes and learning

Relevant CAFOD Strategic and Technical Leads

 Review and validation of findings and recommendations

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

kakintola@cafod.org.uk

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

 

Apply now