Who is SHONA?

We Identify, Guide, Back and Connect entrepreneurs, helping them build Good Businesses.

We identify high-potential ambitious entrepreneurs and give them the knowledge, tools, capital and networks they need to build skills and the capacity to grow well-run businesses that are good for customers, employees, owners, value chain partners, the environment and the local communities where they are based.

These are Good Businesses.

We believe Good Businesses create good jobs, and high-quality products & services that improve quality of life, generate wealth, build industries, protect and regenerate the environment and invest in their local communities, building prosperity.

By growing a diverse range of Good Businesses spread across East Africa and all sectors, we are contributing to an East Africa in which everyone has the opportunity to thrive by fulfilling their unique potential and playing their part in strengthening East Africa.

Our goal is to have 35 million people positively benefiting from 1,000 Good Businesses by 2030.

Background

With the support of Partnerships for Forests, SHONA is embedding tree-based enterprise development into two of our initiatives - The Neycha Accelerator & Fund and Rootical Business Builder, by supporting the growth of 14 tree-based and forest-friendly Agroecological Enterprises (AEEs), operating in the coffee, cocoa, avocado, macadamia, bamboo, and apiary commodity value chains in Uganda and Kenya.

The Neycha Accelerator and Fund supports growth-oriented AEEs to achieve economic success through increased availability of suitable capacity-building, investment, and networks. Rootical Business Builder is a startup studio that equips talented entrepreneurs with the tools, skills, networks, and capital to build food system-shaping regenerative agriculture businesses in Uganda.

We plan to support the growth of 10 existing growth-oriented tree-based AEEs in Uganda and Kenya through The Neycha Accelerator & Fund and develop 4 new tree-based Agroecological Enterprises in Uganda through Rootical Business Builder. By supporting the growth of these enterprises, we expect them to deliver outcomes across environmental, financial, and socio-economic dimensions, including:

• Approximately 54,000 hectares of land under sustainable, tree-based production and restoration, contributing to improved land use practices and reduced deforestation pressure
• An estimated 160,000 tCO2e sequestered or avoided over a five-year period, based on established methodologies
• Engagement of approximately 54,000 smallholder households through sourcing arrangements, agroforestry adoption, and restoration-linked activities, resulting in improved livelihood outcomes;
• Creation of approximately 300 direct jobs across supported enterprises, with a commitment that at least 30% of the portfolio will comprise women-led businesses, supported by targeted gender inclusion strategies.

Purpose of the Assignment

We are looking for an Impact Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning Expert to strengthen our monitoring and evaluation capacity by supporting us to: 1) Develop and implement the right methodology and tools to measure the environmental, financial, and socio-economic outcomes we plan to achieve; and 2) Generate long-term learning and evidence to replicate and scale tree-based enterprise development in our work.

We expect the methodology and tools developed to:

• Enable us to track, measure, and report on performance and impact across all result areas (land, carbon, finance mobilised, livelihoods, biodiversity, jobs, enterprise performance, and gender and social inclusion).
• Align with SHONA’s and Partnerships for Forests’ Theory of Change, results frameworks and reporting requirements.
• Be designed to be implemented by the SHONA Impact and Learning team, independent of the expert after initial design

Given the different enterprise maturity stages - Rootical (pre-revenue ventures) and Neycha (growth-stage AEEs with existing revenue), the Impact Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning system must be flexible enough to accommodate fundamentally different data profiles, risk levels, and impact pathways within a single coherent framework.

Qualifications & Experience

Required

• Master's Degree or higher in Monitoring and Evaluation, Development Economics, Statistics, Agricultural Economics, Environmental Science, Forestry, Geography or related field.
• At least 10 years of professional experience in Impact Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning with experience in entrepreneurial support.
• Expert understanding of tree landscapes, tree value chains, tree-based enterprises, agroforestry systems, and carbon reporting frameworks.
• Demonstrated experience developing; Results frameworks, Logical frameworks, Indicators and indicator tracking systems and Learning agendas.
• Demonstrated experience working in Agroforestry initiatives, Landscape restoration and Biodiversity conservation.
• Demonstrated knowledge and experience working with GIS tools and spatial data for land-use or environmental monitoring (QGIS, Google Earth Engine, or similar).
• Track record integrating gender-responsive and youth-inclusive indicators. Direct experience reporting against bilateral/multilateral results frameworks
• Excellent analytical skills and attention to data quality.
• Excellent communication and presentation skills, with the ability to guide discussions, motivate participants, and provide clear, actionable feedback. Should communicate in a manner that boosts the confidence of others.
• Familiarity with the socio-economic context of Uganda and Kenya and an understanding of the challenges faced by women-driven businesses in East Africa.
• Ability to manage complexity.

Desireable

• Knowledge of regenerative and agroecology entrepreneurship.
• Additional qualifications or certification in impact measurement frameworks such as IRIS+, GIIN IMP, ISEAL, or Gold Standard.
• Experience working with venture studios, accelerators, or business incubation programmes.
• Experience with agricultural-SME impact measurement tools.
• Professional certification in IMEL, Data analysis, GIS etc

Confidentiality and Data Ownership

All data, tools, frameworks, reports, and other outputs produced under this assignment are the property of SHONA Group Limited. The Consultant shall maintain strict confidentiality regarding all project data, enterprise information, and farmer-level data encountered during the assignment. A non-disclosure agreement will be signed prior to contract commencement. All data handling must comply with the Uganda Data Protection and Privacy Act (2019) and Kenya's Data Protection Act (2019).

Proposal Submission

Interested consultants (individuals or firms) should submit a proposal comprising:

Technical Proposal (maximum 12 pages, excluding annexes):

• Demonstrated understanding of the assignment and the dual-purpose Impact Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning requirement (programme accountability and long-term learning for replication).
• Proposed methodology for each workstream. Proposed work plan with a clear timeline, milestones, and level of effort (days) per workstream and phase.
• Risk assessment and mitigation measures for the assignment.

Team Composition (if a firm or team):

• CVs of all proposed team members (maximum 3 pages each), clearly stating roles, responsibilities, and relevant experience.
• Indication of who will serve as team lead and primary point of contact.

Financial Proposal:

• Detailed budget breakdown by workstream, including professional fees (daily rates and number of days), travel and accommodation, tool/license costs, training delivery costs, and any other direct costs.
• All costs must be presented, inclusive of applicable taxes.

References:

• At least two references from comparable assignments, including contact details.

Evaluation Criteria

The successful evaluator (individual or firm) will be selected based on a transparent assessment of their technical proposal, financial proposal, and demonstrated qualifications

Category

Evaluation criteria

Key consideration Points

Technical Approach, Methodology and Detailed Work Plan

Understanding of the Assignment

Demonstrated understanding of the assignment and the need for a system that serves both programme accountability and long-term learning for replication.

• Develop and implement the right methodology and tools to measure the environmental, financial, and socio-economic outcomes.
• Generate long-term learning and evidence to replicate and scale tree-based enterprise development.
• Track, measure, and report on performance and impact across all result areas (land, carbon, finance mobilised, livelihoods, biodiversity, jobs, enterprise performance, and gender and social inclusion).
• Align methodology and tools with SHONA’s and Partnerships for Forests’ Theory of Change, results frameworks and reporting requirements.
• Design the Impact Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning system to be implemented by the SHONA Impact and Learning team, independent of the expert after initial design.
• Ensure the Impact Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning system is flexible enough to accommodate different enterprise maturity stages (Rootical and Neycha) within a single coherent framework.

• Expert understanding of tree landscapes, tree value chains, tree-based enterprises, agroforestry systems, and carbon reporting frameworks.
• Demonstrated experience developing Results frameworks, Logical frameworks, Indicators and indicator tracking systems and Learning agendas.
• Demonstrated experience working in Agroforestry initiatives, Landscape restoration and Biodiversity conservation.
• Demonstrated knowledge and experience working with GIS tools and spatial data for land-use or environmental monitoring (QGIS, Google Earth Engine, or similar).
• Track record integrating gender-responsive and youth-inclusive indicators.
• Excellent analytical skills and attention to data quality.
• Excellent communication and presentation skills, with the ability to guide discussions, motivate participants, and provide clear, actionable feedback.
• Familiarity with the socio-economic context of Uganda and Kenya.
• Understanding of the challenges faced by women-driven businesses in East Africa.
• Ability to manage complexity.
• Knowledge of regenerative and agroecology entrepreneurship (Desirable).
• Experience working with venture studios, accelerators, or business incubation programmes (Desirable).
• Experience with agricultural-SME impact measurement tools (Desirable).

• Master's Degree or higher in Monitoring and Evaluation, Development Economics, Statistics, Agricultural Economics, Environmental Science, Forestry, Geography or related field.
• At least 10 years of professional experience in Impact Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning with experience in entrepreneurial support.
• Direct experience reporting against bilateral/multilateral results frameworks.
• Additional qualifications or certification in impact measurement frameworks such as IRIS+, GIIN IMP, ISEAL, or Gold Standard (Desirable).
• Professional certification in IMEL, Data analysis, GIS etc (Desirable).