TERMS OF REFERENCE | INDIVIDUAL CONSULTANT TO CONDUCT BASELINE SURVEY FOR AN EMERGENCY PROJECT.

Company Description

Project / Organization Description

Nutrition Action Zimbabwe is a locally registered PVO that has been operating in Zimbabwe since 2014. The organization’s primary focus is combating malnutrition in all its forms, through effective implementation of quality programming for both nutrition-specific and nutrition-sensitive programming. NAZ’s community-based approach focuses on implementing programs that empower communities through capacity building, knowledge sharing, and promoting sustainable practices. To foster sustainable and effective interventions, NAZ works closely with national, regional, and international organizations to design and implement evidence-based nutrition and other programs across Zimbabwe. NAZ seeks to recruit for the aforementioned position.

Job Description

Nutrition Action Zimbabwe (NAZ)

PVO Registration | PVO 38/19

Assignment Title | Individual Consultant to conduct baseline survey for an emergency response project.

Duration of Assignment | [15 Working Days]

Reporting To | Head of MEAL

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1. BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT

Nutrition Action Zimbabwe (NAZ) is a National Local non-governmental organization implementing humanitarian, development, and resilience-building programs across multiple districts in Zimbabwe. NAZ’s programming addresses a range of community needs, including Nutrition, Food Security and Livelihoods (FSL), Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH), Biodiversity Conservation, Protection, Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR), Emergency Response, and Anticipatory Action. Through these interventions, NAZ responds to both chronic vulnerabilities and acute shocks and emergencies affecting communities across the country, while supporting households and communities to strengthen their resilience and capacity to cope with future shocks.

NAZ implements its programs in collaboration with a range of national, international organizations, Government departments and other donor-funded partners. These partnerships support the implementation of diverse interventions, including Emergency Response Projects, Nutrition Projects, Food Security and Livelihoods (FSL) Projects, WASH and Protection interventions, Disaster Risk Reduction initiatives, and Anticipatory Action Plans. Collectively, these programs aim to address immediate humanitarian needs while contributing to longer-term resilience, improved wellbeing, and reduced vulnerability to shocks.

As part of its commitment to evidence-based, accountable, and learning-oriented programming, NAZ places strong emphasis on Evidence generation and data driven decision making. This ensures that programs are informed by reliable evidence, implemented to appropriate quality standards, accountable to affected populations, and supported by learning that can strengthen current and future interventions.

In line with this commitment, NAZ seeks to engage an Individual Consultant to conduct a baseline survey for an Emergency Project. The baseline will establish reliable pre-intervention data on the selected indicators and target population, providing a basis for measuring program progress, assessing changes over time, strengthening evidence-based decision-making, and supporting accurate program reporting.

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2. OBJECTIVES OF THE CONSULTANCY

The purpose of the baseline survey is to establish reliable pre-intervention data on the conditions, vulnerabilities, capacities, knowledge, practices, and access to relevant services among households and communities targeted by the Emergency Project. The baseline will provide a clear starting point against which changes resulting from the program can be measured and assessed in the endline survey.

Specific objectives include:

1. Establish baseline values for the program’s key outcome and output indicators.
2. Assess the socio-economic, food security, livelihood, nutrition, and vulnerability conditions of targeted households and communities.
3. Assess households’ exposure and vulnerability to anticipated hazards and shocks, as well as their existing coping capacities and preparedness measures.
4. Understand community knowledge, perceptions, and practices related to early warning information, early action, and disaster preparedness.
5. Assess access to and use of early warning systems, climate information, and other relevant information sources.
6. Identify existing household and community capacities, resources, and mechanisms that can support timely anticipatory action.
7. Generate evidence to inform the design, targeting, and implementation of anticipatory actions under the program.
8. Provide a benchmark for measuring program progress, outcomes, and effectiveness through subsequent monitoring and evaluation exercises.
9. Support evidence-based decision-making, adaptive programming, accountability, learning, and donor reporting.
10. Overall, the baseline will provide an evidence-based understanding of the pre-intervention situation of the target population, enabling NAZ and its partners to track whether the Anticipatory Action program contributes to improved preparedness, reduced vulnerability, and strengthened capacity to anticipate and respond to forecasted shocks.

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3. SCOPE OF WORK (SOW)

The baseline survey will cover the target communities and households identified under the Emergency Project Plan and will establish the pre-intervention situation against which program progress and outcomes will be measured. The scope of the study will be aligned with the program’s objectives, theory of change, results framework, and key monitoring indicators.

The survey will cover the following key areas:

• Household and Respondent Characteristics
  The survey will collect relevant demographic and socio-economic information, including household composition, age and sex of household members, gender of the respondent, disability status, livelihood sources, and other characteristics relevant to program vulnerability and targeting.
• Vulnerability and Exposure to Shocks
  The study will assess households’ exposure to and experience of relevant hazards and shocks, including the frequency and severity of past shocks, their effects on livelihoods and household wellbeing, and factors contributing to household vulnerability.
• Food Security and Livelihoods
  The survey will establish the baseline status of household food security, livelihood sources, agricultural and/or livestock activities, income sources, productive assets, and coping strategies. Where relevant, appropriate food security and livelihood indicators will be used to measure the pre-intervention situation.
• Preparedness and Anticipatory Action Capacity
  The study will assess the extent to which households and communities are prepared to act ahead of forecasted shocks. This will include existing preparedness measures, household contingency plans, access to resources, early action practices, and barriers that may prevent timely action.
• Early Warning and Climate Information
  The survey will examine households’ access to, understanding, trust, and use of early warning and climate information. It will also assess the channels through which communities receive information and whether the information is timely, accessible, understandable, and actionable.
• Knowledge and Practices Related to Risk Reduction
  The study will assess community knowledge and practices related to disaster preparedness, risk reduction, shock mitigation, and other measures relevant to the Anticipatory Action Plan.
• Access to Services and Support Systems
  The baseline will assess access to relevant government, humanitarian, community, and other support mechanisms that contribute to household preparedness and resilience. This may include social protection, agricultural extension, markets, financial services, health and nutrition services, and other program-relevant services.
• Coping Mechanisms and Resilience
  The survey will establish how households currently cope with shocks and stressors, including the strategies they employ, resources available to them, and factors that influence their ability to recover. Particular attention will be given to potentially harmful coping strategies that may increase vulnerability.
• Gender, Disability, and Social Inclusion
  The study will incorporate appropriate gender, age, disability, and social inclusion considerations to understand whether different population groups experience risks, access information, and respond to shocks differently. The findings will support more inclusive targeting and implementation of anticipatory actions.
• Community-Level Capacities and Systems
  Where applicable, the study will examine existing community structures, local knowledge, preparedness mechanisms, and community-based systems that can support early warning dissemination and anticipatory action.
• Baseline Measurement of Program Indicators
  The study will collect data required to establish baseline values for the relevant indicators in the Anticipatory Action Plan’s Logical Framework/Results Framework and Monitoring and Evaluation Plan. These values will provide the reference point for subsequent monitoring, outcome measurement, and evaluation.
• Geographical and Population Coverage
  The survey will be conducted in the program’s selected geographical areas and among the defined target population, as specified in the Anticipatory Action Plan. The sampling approach will ensure that the findings are sufficiently representative of the intended program population, subject to the agreed methodology and available resources.

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4. KEY DELIVERABLES

• An inception report with detailed strategies, methodologies.
• Participate in the inception meeting.                                                        
• Final copies of data collection tools to be used in the evaluation                                         
• Provide enumerator training material.                                                       
• Conduct data collection.                                                
• Conduct data cleaning and analysis                                                         
• Submit Qualitative transcripts                                                     
• Submit Draft report                                                       
• Conduct Final analysis and complete written report with annexes.
• Submit a comprehensive baseline survey report presenting the key findings and analysis on household vulnerability, exposure to shocks, preparedness, access to and use of early warning information, anticipatory action capacities, gender and social inclusion considerations, together with practical recommendations to strengthen the implementation of the program.

 

Qualifications

5. CONSULTANT QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERTISE

The selected consultant must demonstrate the following:

1. PhD or Master’s degree in Monitoring and Evaluation, Development Studies, Disaster Risk Management, Social Sciences, Economics, Statistics, Agriculture, Climate Change, or related discipline.
2. Demonstrated experience in conducting baseline surveys, vulnerability assessments, needs assessments, or similar studies, preferably within humanitarian, resilience, disaster risk reduction, or anticipatory action programs.
3. Proven knowledge and experience in Anticipatory Action, including understanding of early warning systems, forecast-based action, disaster preparedness, vulnerability assessment, and mechanisms for taking timely action ahead of forecasted shocks.
4. Experience in assessing household and community vulnerability and resilience, particularly in contexts affected by climate-related hazards, food insecurity, livelihood shocks, drought, or other recurrent emergencies.
5. Strong Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL) expertise, including experience developing baseline methodologies, indicators, data collection tools, sampling approaches, and analytical frameworks.
6. Experience in quantitative and qualitative research methods, including household surveys, Key Informant Interviews (KIIs), Focus Group Discussions (FGDs), and community consultations.
7. Experience working with rural and vulnerable communities in Zimbabwe, especially in a drought- and climate-vulnerable setting.
8. Ability to analyze quantitative and qualitative data and translate findings into practical recommendations for program design, targeting, preparedness, anticipatory action, and resilience building.
9. Experience with digital data collection platforms, such as KoboToolbox, ODK, SurveyCTO, or similar platforms, will be an advantage.
10. Strong understanding of safeguarding, ethical research, informed consent, confidentiality, and the Do No Harm principle, particularly when engaging vulnerable populations and collecting sensitive information.
11. Demonstrated ability to work collaboratively with government departments, NGOs, community structures, and other stakeholders involved in disaster preparedness, early warning, food security, livelihoods, and emergency response.
12. Excellent report writing, communication, analytical, and presentation skills, with the ability to communicate findings clearly to technical teams, program stakeholders, communities, and donors.

6. APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS

Interested and qualified candidates should submit the following to the smartrecruiters platform.

An expression of interest together with the technical and financial proposal. While submitting the proposals, the applicant shall, in particular, ensure to attach the following:

• Profile of the Consultant (max 2 pages) explaining why they are the most suitable for the work.
• Relevant experience (max 2 page).
• Methodology with expected deliverables and timelines, work-plan
• Budget
• Current CV

7. Evaluation Criteria

The evaluation of applicants will be based on a weighted scoring approach, as outlined below:

Key Considerations & Weight

Quality of Proposed Methodology and Understanding of the Emergency Programming, Anticipatory Action and Humanitarian Context- 40%

• Demonstrated understanding of Emergency Programing, Food Security and Livelihoods Projects, Nutrition and Health Project, Anticipatory Action Programming.
  Clear approach to assessing vulnerability, exposure to shocks, preparedness, early warning access and use, and anticipatory action capacities.
  Appropriate integration of quantitative and qualitative methods.
  Clear sampling strategy and data quality assurance measures.
• Integration of gender, age, disability, and social inclusion considerations.
   Ethical, safeguarding, confidentiality, and Do No Harm considerations.

Qualifications and Relevant Experience-25%

• Relevant academic qualifications and technical expertise.
• Proven experience conducting baseline surveys, vulnerability assessments, or similar studies.
• Demonstrated experience in Anticipatory Action, Disaster Risk Reduction, resilience, humanitarian response, or climate-related programming.
• Experience conducting similar task in rural Zimbabwean communities.
•  Experience engaging government, NGOs, community structures, and other stakeholders.
• Demonstrated capacity to manage fieldwork and multi-stakeholder engagement.

Technical and Administrative Proposal-20%

• Clear and realistic work plan and timeline.
  Clearly defined methodology, deliverables, and responsibilities.
  Appropriate fieldwork and data collection arrangements.
  Clear approach to data management, analysis, quality assurance, and reporting.
  Consideration of logistical challenges, including accessibility and field coordination

Financial Proposal-15%

• Demonstrates value for money and cost-effectiveness.
• Clear and detailed breakdown of professional fees, fieldwork, transport, accommodation, data collection, analysis, and reporting costs.
• Budget is realistic and aligned with the proposed methodology and scope of work.

Additional Information

HOW TO APPLY 

Use this smart recruiter’s platform link  to upload the requuired documents as higlighted above 

The consultant should prepare both the “Technical” and “Financial” proposal. Also include the electronic copy of Technical Proposal (in word version) and send it to NAZ. Interested Candidates should send the proposal no late than 23 September 2026. Selection of the consultant is on a rolling basis.

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Nutrition Action Zimbabwe (NAZ) upholds the highest standards of integrity and accountability in all its operations. We maintain a strict zero-tolerance policy towards fraud, sexual exploitation and abuse, harassment—including sexual harassment—and discrimination. To safeguard our values and ensure transparency, all candidates selected for recruitment will undergo comprehensive reference and background checks.

It is important to note that NAZ does not request, require, or accept any form of payment at any stage of the recruitment process. Any solicitation of payment in exchange for recruitment consideration is fraudulent, undermines our principles, and must be reported without delay. This safeguard ensures that our recruitment practices remain fair, merit-based, and free from exploitation.

For verification or reporting concerns, please contact:

Toll Free: 0808 0418   |   Phone: +263 24 2886 541