Overview : During the COVID-19 pandemic, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Institute of Natural Resources (INR) partnered to implement a sustainable household garden project that sought to strengthen the resilience of vulnerable communities. Three types of gardens were constructed and installed at 127 households around the KwaZulu Natal (KZN) province in South Africa, between September and December 2020. To effectively evaluate the impact of the interventions on household nutrition, food security and COVID 19 infections, a company is required to undertake a 3-month monitoring and evaluation (M&E) exercise for this project. The three garden types included trench beds, tower gardens and keyhole gardens. In addition, three small livestock options (egg laying hens, indigenous chickens and meat rabbits) were provided to households. The company is required to assess the impact of all interventions on the participating households. Impact as it relates to household food security and nutrition, income/financial savings, skills development, social cohesion and COVID 19 resilience must be evaluated. Due to the urgent nature of COVID-19 relief projects, this project was done using a “rapid-implementation” modality to ensure lives and livelihoods were protected timeously. The company is expected to examine this implementation modality, and unearth lessons, challenges, successes, and areas of improvement to guide future projects of this nature. (Detailed iinformation can be ound in the Terms of References) |