Remote Individual Consultant, Project Completion Report Preparer

About Pula

We are an insuretech firm that provides agriculture insurance design and execution services, specialising in index based insurance and are backed by top tier VC investors who have invested more than $25 million in the business. Since 2015 we have provided climate insurance to 15.4 million smallholder farmers, 41% of which were women across 19 markets in Africa and Asia who pay an average of $6.8 per season to insure their crops. So far we’ve unlocked over $2.22 billion of capital from local and international insurance markets for climate risks since we started in 2015 and paid out $40.8 million to our client farmers.

Pula is a fast-paced space, constantly adapting to new opportunities and challenges and we are made up of a high-performance, multi-cultural team. We expect our team to value performance, results and professionalism.

At Pula, our values are:

• Obsessed with results: We are responsible for our future and therefore we get things done!
• Connect the Dots: We continuously identify different customer needs & business problems and build solutions that deliver value.
• Have a Can do Attitude! We dare to do things differently to make things work.
• We have each others’ back: We look out for each other & we share high quality, timely feedback that makes us better.

According to the UN’s InterGovernmental Panel for Climate Change more than 3.3 billion people globally live in hotspots with high vulnerability to climate change and are now already feeling the impact of climate change through increased temperatures and increasingly erratic rainfall.

Insurance is a tool for vulnerable households in these affected regions to adapt to the effects that climate change is already having today on these households. It is a tool that enables for compensation payment for losses and damages that these households had no part in causing. Insurance compensation enables these households to make adjustments to their day to day livelihoods and practices and therefore allows for an equitable and just transition.

At Pula, we are building the systems that enable farmers worldwide to access insurance, using technology to insure this previously uninsured worldwide. We work in over 17 countries across Africa and Asia, and by 2021, have facilitated crop insurance cover to over 6 million farmers, 30% of which are women, across Kenya, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Rwanda, Uganda, Nigeria, Mali, Senegal, Zambia, Ethiopia, Madagascar, Tanzania, Mozambique and Malawi. We are a for profit, and have raised over $10 million from leading venture and institutional investors as well as developed philanthropic relationships with private foundations and bilateral donors such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and German Insure Resilience Solutions Fund that have accelerated investments in our target markets.

Pula is proudly fast paced, constantly learning from the challenges we face and overcome. We are proudly culturally diverse but united in our ambition of continuous high-performance. By challenging ourselves we believe that we can overcome the hard problems we love solving.

At Pula, our culture is defined by our:

1.Obsessed with results: We are responsible for our future and therefore we get things done!

2. Ability to connect the Dots: We continuously identify different customer needs & business problems and build solutions that deliver value.

3. Our Can do Attitude! We dare to do things differently to make things work.

4. Ability to have each others’ back: We look out for each other & we share high quality, timely feedback that makes us better.

About the Program

Pula Advisors Limited received a financing of USD 1M from the African Development Bank toward the project “Empowerment of Women Smallholder Farmers through Digital Micro Insurance” in Kenya, Nigeria, and Zambia.

Pula is in the final stages of implementing the program and would like to recruit an Individual Consultant to prepare a Project Completion Report (PCR).

Pula commenced the project with Human-Centered Design (HCD) research across Kenya, Zambia, and Nigeria to understand the barriers and opportunities that impede or enable women to access digital microinsurance services and related benefits. Using the HCD insights, Pula updated existing digital tools and designed new ones that would improve women’s knowledge of insurance, the user experience, and eventual payments (using real-time data analytics). The project was executed over two years with an original target of 360,000 farmers across the three markets.

To date the project has reached over 2 M farmers in the three markets; though varied results were recorded per market. The partnership approach in the three markets was diverse. Kenya leveraged cereal programs and a partnership with an Agricultural loan company; Zambia’s progress was attained in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture, and Nigeria’s work was accomplished via a partnership with the private sector and the Central Bank of Nigeria.

The Consultant will therefore be expected to work with Pula to document core lessons and insights from the three markets and prepare the detailed Project Completion Report (PCR) within 2 months of starting the assignment.

Objectives

The objective of the Project Completion Report (PCR) is to carry out an in-depth

assessment, which covers all aspects of project management and implementation of activities, prepare a synthesis of the project’s contribution to the development goals, and learn ways of implementing similar operations in the future. The consultant will assess:

1. The extent to which the operation achieved the intended objectives and outcomes identified in the Project Appraisal Report
2. The strategic approaches to project implementation per market and replicable models
3. Sustainability of the project
4. Performance of the grantee and the ADFI.

Scope of the work

The PCR will look at areas of project management and project activities in line with the requirements of the project financing. It will address results achieved and address stakeholder’s performance. The Individual Consultant will follow the Bank’s template in preparing the PCR and will undertake the following:

• Review Project related materials to enhance his/her understanding of the Project and its context.
• Develop a detailed and comprehensive work plan for the successful execution of the assignment. The work plan will be part of the inception report.
• Undertake interviews with clients and relevant stakeholders across Kenya, Nigeria, and Zambia.
• These interviews and work should involve the review of the partnership strategy, engagement of women framers, training, and capacity building approaches, effectiveness of the adopted technologies, replicable models, and sustainability amongst others
• Presentation of the deliverables to clients, capturing feedback, and incorporating comments.
• Discuss with clients emerging issues of concern.
• Develop the Project Completion Report based on the AfDB format and methodology.
• Complete the Case Study template to be shared with the Consultant

Deliverables

The consultant will be responsible for delivering the following outputs:

1. An inception report outlining the proposed methodology, work plan, and data collection tools within 4 days of project commencement (these are non-consecutive).
2. The consultant will have 14 consecutive days to carry out desk review and field visits
3. A draft Project Completion Report for review and feedback within 14 days of data collection completion.
4. A final Project Completion Report and Case Study incorporating the feedback received within 14 days of receiving the review comments.

Deliverable

Deadline (Days from start of consultancy, consecutive)

Work Plan Preparation

4

Desk Review and Field Visits

14

Draft Project Completion Report and Case Study  for review

14

Draft the Case Study for review

7

Feedback from ADFI & Pula

7

Preparation of Final Report

14

Total

60

Reporting and Communication

The consultant will report to Pula’s Senior Partnerships Manager, who will serve as the primary contact person for the duration of the assignment. Regular progress updates and weekly meetings will be required to ensure the assignment is on track, with any significant issues or delays reported immediately.

Contract and Budget

Contractual Relationship: This contract will be between Pula and the Consultant

Payment scheduled: To be agreed on between Pula and the Consultant.

Intellectual Property

All documents, data, and information generated or collected during this consultancy will remain the property of Pula.

Confidentiality

The consultant shall treat all project-related information as confidential.

Pula Advisors Limited invites eligible consultants to indicate their interest in undertaking the Assignment (relevant documents should be provided such as a resume; details on similar services or contracts undertaken in the past, etc.).

A shortlist comprising three to six individual consultants will be created upon the conclusion of the expressions of interest process. The evaluation of prospective consultants’ proposals will be based on the following criteria:

Criteria and Selection Process

Consultants must be nationals of African Development Bank (AfDB) member countries and can be based anywhere. The consultant must meet the following:

• Have a university degree (Bachelors or Masters) in a relevant field such as design, review, and evaluation of agricultural projects, rural development, or other social sciences and must be proficient in English.
• Have at least 5 years of experience working on similar engagements in sub-Saharan Africa and demonstrate experience in designing gender intentional financial solutions in rural contexts.

The proposals will be evaluated and scored for all applications based on the following considerations and weighting:

Selection Criterion

Weighting

Academic and Professional qualifications

20%

Subject Matter Experience/Skills needed e.g Gender, Evaluations, Insurtech e.t.c

40%

Previous research and publications on the subject

20%

Network and familiarity with the target audience and stakeholders

20%

Total

100%

Skills and Competencies:

• Strong record in conducting evaluations and project management
• Excellent knowledge of monitoring and evaluation in theory and practice, and a good understanding of policy work
• Demonstrable experience in producing high-quality, credible evaluations (examples required)
• Demonstrable experience with participatory methodologies and Human-Centered Design (HCD)
• Ability to write concise, readable, and analytical reports and understanding of public communications
• Excellent writing and verbal communication skills in English

Reporting Line: The consultant will be reporting directly to the Senior Partnerships Manager

Application Instructions:

All interested parties are requested to apply through the website and provide a detailed CV stating:

• Their areas of specialization and relevant experience
• List and overview of similar engagements carried out
• List of references

Application Deadline: The applications must be received by October 30, 2024, at 1700 hours EAT.

What Pula will bring to the table

• Growth potential: At Pula, we are building the systems that enable farmers worldwide to access insurance, using technology to insure this previously uninsured worldwide. We work in over 19 countries across Africa and Asia, and by 2023, have facilitated crop insurance cover to over 5 million farmers, 40% of which are women. We are a for profit, and have raised over $25 million from leading venture and institutional investors as well as developed philanthropic relationships with private foundations and bilateral donors such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and German Insure Resilience Solutions Fund that have accelerated investments in our target markets.

• Market Leader: Not only is the opportunity massive, but Pula is by far the market leader in it’s category with 11m farmers insured as of 2023.

• Solid: Pula has been funded by leading venture capital investors (Omidyar Network, ACCION, MercyCorps) and global philanthropic institutions (MasterCard Foundation, CGAP/World Bank as well as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation). Pula closed an oversubscribed $20m series B funding despite the economic downturn.

• Respected: Winner of the Singapore FinTech Festival 2019, Winner of The InsureTech of the Award, Africa. Featured on TED talks, The New York Times, The Economist.

• Impact and creation: This is a high-impact role, that offers a unique opportunity to bring the company to the next level, whilst developing new strategies, approaches and ideas.

• Leadership: The founders & CEO foster a culture of transparency, respect, high performance, pragmatism, execution and personal development.

• Purpose: It is rare to find a professional opportunity that offers accelerated professional development and a life purpose. Pula is going through a second phase of accelerated growth that will naturally provide professional development, whilst contributing to the financial stability of small farmers in the emerging markets.

• Remuneration: Competitive base salary accordingly with seniority and experience, commission on closed sales and an employee share option plan that offers an attractive equity upside.

To learn more about Pula you can visit

TED Talk: Crop Insurance, an Idea Worth Seeding

New York Times: He Grew up on a Farm. Now, He Helps Protect Them

The Economist: The Poor, Who Most Need Insurance, Are Least Likely to Have It

How to apply

Fill out the form below, and upload a resume in English.

Pula’s mission is to provide farmer resilience. To achieve this, we put our small holder farmers that use our services and the employees that provide them at the heart of everything we do. For that purpose, Pula was created to be an equal opportunity employer that celebrates diversity and is committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.