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Annual Progress Review and Risk Assessment of the MaYEA Program

1. Background

Ethiopia’s labor force is expanding by roughly two million young entrants each year, yet many—especially young women and vulnerable groups—face persistent barriers to access dignified, fulfilling work. In apiculture and allied value chains, these barriers include gaps in practical skills and business readiness; limited access to youth-friendly finance and starter inputs; weak market linkages and value addition; uneven adoption and enforcement of honey quality standards; fragmented coordination across public–private actors; and exposure to climate and environmental risks that depress productivity. The MaYEA Program responds to these constraints at scale—targeting to reach 1.86 million youth and enable 1.05 million youth secure dignified and fulfilling work (80% women)—by coupling skilling with access to finance and technologies, strengthening quality infrastructure and policy, accelerating market-driven aggregation and processing, and integrating apiculture with complementary enterprises so youth can translate training into sustainable incomes.

The International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (icipe) and its partners have been implementing the Mass Youth Employment in Apiculture (MaYEA) Program since November 2023 with financial support from the Mastercard Foundation. MaYEA builds on the achievements of the More Young Entrepreneurs in Silk and Honey (MOYESH) Program and aims to reach 1.86 million youths and enable 1.05 million unemployed young people (80% women and vulnerable groups) to access dignified and fulfilling work in apiculture and allied value chains. The program is implemented through eight Implementing Partners (IPs) across 135 woredas, divided into two Sub National Hub and nationally coordinated by icipe.

The program has made significant progress in reaching and engaging youths, particularly women, and establishing partnerships with public and private institutions. However, challenges persist in transitioning youth into actual employment due to finance, inputs, and enabling environment constraints. Promising contributions are emerging in systems change through policy development, honey standards, colony multiplication, digital finance, and integrated value chains. To ensure accountability and adaptive management, icipe and the program partners seek to commission an Annual Progress and Risk Assessment aligned with the program’s Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) Plan. 

2. Current Status and Challenges

Down 2 years since the program inception, evidence from periodic monitoring and progress monitoring surveys with MaYEA IPs, public and private institutions shows expanded outreach, strengthened local capacity, and policy/system infrastructure advancements. To date more than 200,000 youths (more than 80% young women) are reached across 135 woredas in 10 regions. System level interventions in honey quality standards and policy reviews provided early promising results. Yet persistent bottlenecks remain around youth financial inclusion, input supply, last-mile adoption of honey standards, and uneven engagement of regional and national partners. Addressing these challenges while leveraging systemic gains will be crucial for translating reach into sustainable employment outcomes.

2. Rationale for the Assignment

The assignment aims to provide an evidence-based, independent assessment of the program’s progress, challenges, and lessons in line with the MEL Plan. It will also revisit and update the program’s risk register, identifying likelihood, impact, and mitigation measures for emerging risks. For this extensive desk review, consultation with program implementing organizations and regional stakeholders. A representative survey of youth reached in Years 1 and 2 will be conducted to better understand outcomes and gaps in transitioning youth into dignified and fulfilling work. The assessment will be conducted in collaboration with MaYEA Implementing Partners’ MEL Working Group to ensure ownership and collective learning.

3. Objectives of the assignment

The objectives of the assignment are to conduct comprehensive assessment of the Program against its key output and outcome targets, identify key lessons and challenges and update the program risk profile. 

1. Assess progress against output and outcome indicators as per the joint MEL Plan.
2. Identify key achievements, challenges, and lessons learned, including contributions to systemic change.
3. Conduct a survey of youth reached in Year 1 and Year 2 cohorts to assess transitions to dignified and fulfilling work.
4. Review and update the program’s risk register, covering programmatic, operational, financial, and safeguarding risks with severity and mitigation measures.

5. Provide actionable recommendations for improving program delivery and sustainability in the remaining implementation periods.

   4. Scope of the Work

The consultant/firm will undertake the following tasks:

1. Desk review of program documents including project proposal, MEL Plan, outcome monitoring reports, quarterly technical reports and workshop proceedings and technical studies.
2. Analyze progress against MEL indicators, disaggregated by gender, vulnerability status, Implementing partners and region.
3. Conduct a survey of youth reached in Year 1 and Year 2 cohorts, using mixed methods (quantitative and qualitative).
4. The assignment is expected to cover all Implementing Partners across the ten program regions and 11 clusters. Sample data collection area should represent the program as a whole.
5. Hold consultations (in-person/virtual) with IPs, government counterparts, private sector partners, and youth beneficiaries.
6. Document key achievements, challenges, lessons learned, and contributions to systemic change.
7. Review and update the risk register, rating risks by likelihood, impact, and proposing mitigation measures.
8. Facilitate validation workshop with the MaYEA MEL Working Group and program management.

9. Produce two separate reports: (i) Progress, Challenges and Lessons Report, and (ii) Risk Assessment Report.

   5. Methodology of Assessment

The assessment will adopt a mixed-methods, utilization-focused and formative review approach that jointly examines/document progress against the MaYEA results framework and updates the program’s risk register. The emphasis is on timely, decision-oriented evidence that supports adaptive management by icipe and Implementing Partners (IPs). The contractor will co-create a study design with the MaYEA MEL Working Group, clarify priority learning questions, and map evidence needs to the project MEL results chart (indicator definitions, baselines, targets, and disaggregation) to ensure findings directly inform performance tracking and course corrections.

Quantitative and qualitative methods will be integrated to provide comprehensive standing of the program to date. The quantitative stream will draw on program administrative data and a structured survey of youth/enterprises and facilities sampled in a way that reflects regional and IP coverage, cohort (Year 1 and Year 2 targets), and gender and inclusion priorities. The qualitative side will use interviews, focus group discussions, and guided sense-making conversations with implementers and stakeholders to explain patterns, surface bottlenecks, and validate emerging insights. The contractor is encouraged to propose efficient sampling strategies and innovative data-collection modalities (e.g., data extraction from partner MEL systems) appropriate to cost, time, and data quality constraints.

Analysis will triangulate across sources to assess progress toward outputs and outcomes, identify variance across strata (e.g., geography, cohorts, gender), and generate actionable lessons for improvement. In parallel, the review will update the risk register by synthesizing existing risk logs and stakeholder inputs, clarifying risk ownership and mitigation status, and highlighting any new or evolving risks (including operational, market, environmental/bee-health, safeguarding, and data/privacy). The contractor should propose a pragmatic approach for rating, prioritizing, and communicating risks that is consistent with icipe practice yet light enough to maintain routinely.

Quality assurance, ethics, and data protection are expected throughout (tool piloting, basic data quality checks, informed consent, secure data handling). While this ToR describes the minimum expectations, bidders are expressly invited to propose their own innovative and cost and time effective methods to enhance rigor, relevance, and timeliness without increasing respondent burden.

6. Expected Deliverables

The consultant/firm will deliver the following key outputs:

• Inception Report (methodology, sampling design, tools, work plan, timeline).
• Draft Progress, Challenges and Lessons Learned Report.
• Draft Risk Assessment and Risk mitigation report.
• Presentation of findings in a validation workshop.
• Final Progress, Challenges and Lessons Report (revised with stakeholder feedback).
• Final Risk Assessment and Mitigation Report.

7. Duration and Timeline

The assignment is expected to take place over three months, starting January 2026 and concluding by end of March 2026. The consultant/firm will work closely with icipe and the MaYEA MEL Working Group throughout this period.

8. Reporting and Coordination

The firm will report to the national MaYEA Program Coordination Unit at icipe operationally and collaborate with the MaYEA MEL Working Group in technical matters. icipe will provide oversight and ensure the assignment aligns with program expectations and program needs.

The consulting firm or team of individual consultants should demonstrate:

• Strong experience in reviewing and evaluation of large-scale, multi-partner programs.
• The team leader should demonstrate a minimum of 10 years experience in program review, evaluation and MEL, preferably in the agriculture sector
• The team leader should have MSc and above in any of the related areas such as Agricultural Economics, Economics, Sociology, M&E, Development Economics and Agriculture/apiculture. 
• Team members should have at least 5 years experience in progress review, evaluation, and socioeconomics research in agricultural and MEL. 
• Team members should have MSc/MA and above in agricultural Economics/Economics, Agri business and statistics, impact evaluation and survey designs
• Team members should demonstrate strong analytical skills including using digital tools, risk analysis and application software used in evaluations.
• Expertise in agricultural value chains, preferably apiculture or livestock development sectors in Ethiopian context
• Knowledge of youth employment, gender inclusion, and systems change approaches in agriculture/apiculture and food system landscape.
• Proven capacity in risk assessment and adaptive program management.
• Proficiency in survey design, data analysis, and reporting.
• Strong facilitation and stakeholder engagement skills. Experience in consortium led program review, evaluation is a plus.
• Both firms and team of individual consultants qualified to do the assessment are invited to submit separate technical and financial proposals

How To Apply

Interested and eligible firms are invited to submit:

• Technical proposal (understanding of the assignment, methodology, workplan, team composition).
• Financial proposal with detailed budget.
• Organizational profile and relevant track record of the firm and consultants.
• CVs of proposed team members. The role and responsibilities of each team member should be specified.
• Evidence of similar and relevant assignments conducted in Ethiopia or comparable contexts.

• The technical proposal should not exceed 15 pages without annexes. Annex only relevant documents. 

• Submission deadline

  Applicants must submit their application details via emails to icipe-ethiopia@icipe.org in PDF format by 6th December 2025. Lately submitted applications will not be considered for evaluation.

  Safeguarding Statement: icipe upholds a strict zero-tolerance policy against all forms of harassment, violence, abuse, neglect, and exploitation involving vulnerable persons, including children, youth, and vulnerable adults. All staff, collaborators, and partners working with or through icipe are required to read, understand, and fully comply with the organization’s safeguarding policy, code of conduct, and related guidelines. This commitment includes a shared responsibility to respect, protect, and promote the rights and well-being of vulnerable persons. As part of this commitment, icipe integrates thorough reference checks into its recruitment and partnership processes for any role involving contact with vulnerable groups, ensuring strong preventive measures against abuse and exploitation. 

  icipe is an equal-opportunity employer. The Centre fosters a multicultural work environment that values gender equity, teamwork, and respect for diversity. Consideration for employment is given to qualified applicants regardless of race, color, age, gender, religion, disability status, nationality, ethnic origin, or social status