CONSULTANT- BORROWER’S COMPLETION REPORT (BCR) AUTHOR

THE ORGANIZATION

The Alliance of Bioversity International (www.bioversityinternational.org) and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) (www.ciat.cgiar.org) delivers research-based solutions that harness agricultural biodiversity and sustainably transform food systems to improve people’s lives. Alliance solutions address the global crisis of malnutrition, climate change, biodiversity loss, and environmental degradation.

The Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT is part of CGIAR, a global research partnership for a food-secure future.

ABOUT THE POSITION

        Background and context

The Accelerating Impacts of CGIAR Climate Research for Africa (AICCRA) Project (P173398), financed by the World Bank through an IDA grant of US$100 million, will close on 31 July 2026, with most technical activities ending by December 2025. As per World Bank policy, the Borrower (or Recipient)

must submit a Borrower’s Completion Report (BCR) within six months of project closing.

The BCR provides a self-evaluation of the project’s design, performance, and results, the Borrower’s assessment of the performance of partners (CGIAR Centers, NARS, regional organizations), lessons and sustainability considerations and most importantly, serves as a critical input into the World Bank’s Implementation Completion and Results Report (ICR), which will be delivered to and approved by its Board of Directors.

The BCR must align with the ICR structure and evaluation criteria, including assessments of Project Development Objective (PDO) relevance, achieved outcomes, operational experience, Bank/partner performance, context conditions, and sustainability provisions.

 
         Objective of the consultancy

The objective of this consultancy assignment is to prepare a comprehensive, evidence-based Borrower’s Completion Report for AICCRA Parent Project and Additional Finance phases.

The report needs to:

• Assess the relevance, design, and implementation of the AICCRA project.
• Evaluate the achievement of project results relative to the PDOs and results framework.
• Include the social, environmental, and economic dimensions of the Project.
• Review the performance of key stakeholders and assess the sustainability of project outcomes.

In particular, the report will need to assess the following criteria:

Criterion

Description

Project Relevance

Evaluate project design in terms of its relevance regarding strategies defined at the national, regional, and continental levels, and its relevance to the beneficiaries. Assess whether the premise of the Project is still relevant at project closure.

Efficacy

Assess whether the PDO has been achieved. This is measured through the PDO and intermediate results indicators of the results framework as well as results from the impact evaluation, providing evidence on the results for each indicator.

Efficiency

Identify whether the resources budgeted for the implementation of the Project were used in accordance with what its objectives, in an efficient manner. Based on the ex-post economic and financial evaluation, compare the results to the ex-ante evaluation included in the PAD. Assess the efficiency of the use of project resources and execution time (have the resources been used in their entirety? Was the unit cost per intervention adequate? Was the established execution time sufficient?).

Other effects or impacts

Determine project effects (beyond the PDO) focusing on gender, institutional strengthening, private capital mobilization, poverty reduction and shared prosperity, based on overall project evidence also including the impact evaluation.

Sustainability

Determine whether, at the end of the Project, the interventions are likely to continue, including assessing key risks for sustainability after project closing.

Scope of work

The BCR Author will prepare the full report according to the structure (see Annex 1) recommended in the BCR Concept Note and in line with World Bank ICR Guidelines.

Assess Project Development Objectives (PDOs), Theory of Change (ToC) design alignment, and implementation arrangements

• Review the relevance and clarity of the PDOs and their alignment with continental priorities and national agricultural and climate strategies across the six countries.
• Evaluate the coherence of the project design, including the logic linking components to the PDOs, the feasibility of scope and geographic coverage, the integration of Climate Information Services (CIS) and Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) innovations, and risk mitigation measures.

Review implementation experience

• Assess how the project was implemented in practice, including responses to operational challenges and changing contexts.
• Describe the variations in the costs of specific components/subcomponents, or types/classes of activities, comparing with the initial estimates of the PAD, and explain the causes/reasons for these variations.
• Review the effectiveness of coordination among CGIAR Centers, other PPA partners, NARS, regional organizations, and other national/regional/continental partners.
• Identify key implementation challenges and enabling factors (including those beyond the Project’s control) that influenced project performance and delivery of results, as well as lessons learned.

Evaluate results relative to PDOs and intermediate outcomes

• Assess the achievement of PDOs and intermediate indicators using the project Results Framework.
• Integrate evidence drawn from MELIA impact assessments, Outcome Impact Case Reports (OICRs), annual reports, peer-reviewed publications, and monitoring data.
• Validate and synthesize key results with the PMU and partners, including beneficiaries reached, adoption of CSA practices, use of climate information services, productivity or resilience outcomes, and any additional relevant outcomes.

Assess the performance of the Recipient, PPA partners, and the World Bank

• Conduct a Recipient self-assessment covering project management, coordination across CGIAR Centers and PPA partners, fiduciary and safeguards compliance, monitoring and evaluation (including the quality and timeliness of the monitoring and evaluation system, and the extent to which it was effective), risk management, and stakeholder engagement.
• Review the World Bank’s support, including supervision, technical guidance, and responsiveness at preparation and during implementation.
• Assess the contributions of other national, regional, and continental partners and other stakeholders to project implementation and results.

Assess sustainability and lessons learned

• Evaluate the sustainability of project outcomes, including institutional, technical, social, and environmental aspects, and prospects for continuation under AICCRA-FSRP IV.
• Analyze contextual factors (economic, climatic, political, and institutional) that influenced project implementation and results.
• Identify and synthesize key lessons and recommendations to inform AICCRA-FSRP IV and similar World Bank programs in Africa and globally.

The BCR author will liaise with the ex-post EFA consultant and the ICR author to ensure coherence, alignment, and appropriate incorporation of findings across all final outputs.

Subject to final feedback and approval from the PMC and the World Bank, the BCR author may be required to incorporate or respond to additional donor comments beyond the duration of the contract, as reasonably requested.

Suggested Methodology

The consultant shall follow a multi-method evaluation approach, combining document review, stakeholder consultations, and empirical evidence synthesis as outlined below:

• Documents review – Review core project documents (AICCRA I and II PAD and PIM), ISRs and Aide Memoires, PMU reports, MELIA datasets, OICRs, Innovation Catalogue, relevant country technical reports, and peer-reviewed publications. The review will establish the analytical foundation and contextual understanding of project design, implementation and reported results.
• Key informant interviews – Conduct semi-structured interviews with relevant PMU, PMC, CT, participating CGIAR Centers and other PPA partners, NARS and country partners, World Bank TTLs, and MELIA specialists. At the country level, primary engagement with NARS and other country partners will be conducted through virtual focus group discussions (FGDs), with one FGD per country. These FGDs will capture collective perspectives on project implementation, partnerships, and outcomes at country level, and will complement insights gathered from KIIs at global and regional levels.
• Evidence integration and secondary data analysis – Integrate and systematically analyze existing evidence from MELIA adoption studies, impact assessments, evaluation reports and OICRs. In particular, beneficiary-level data will be extracted and synthesized from country-level baseline and endline surveys, adoption studies and impact evaluation studies, as applicable. This will ensure robust, evidence-based assessment ground in quantitative and qualitative findings derived from existing datasets.
• Beneficiary interaction and field visits – Complement secondary data with primary qualitative insights from beneficiaries through targeted engagement activities. This will include the use of semi-structured guides approved by the PMC to ensure consistency in data collection as well as targeted validation field visits in selected countries, where feasible, to deepen understanding of beneficiary experiences and contextual factors.
• Virtual validation workshops (regional) – Present preliminary findings from the BCR in two regional validation workshops (West Africa and East and Southern Africa) and integrate feedback into the draft BCR.

Deliverables & Timeline

Deliverable

Description

Inception report with early findings and next steps

(May 30, 2026)

An inception report that combines the methodological framework and data collection strategy with initial findings and emerging insights, and defines clear next steps and priorities to guide the subsequent phases of the assignment. The consultant will participate in and support the MELIA Lead in a 1-hour presentation session on June 3, 2026.

Full BCR Draft (first draft)

(June 30, 2026)

The consultant will submit a complete draft of the Borrower’s Completion Report, including the assessment of project implementation, results achieved, stakeholder performance, sustainability of outcomes, and lessons learned. This report will be accompanied by a PowerPoint presentation, which will be discussed during the validation workshop(s).

Validation workshop(s)

(July 10, 2026)

The consultant will present findings from the draft BCR at one or more technical event(s) with stakeholders, to gather their feedback and insights.

Revised BCR

(July 31, 2026)

The consultant will submit the revised BCR based on feedback from validation workshop and comments from the PMU, partners, and the World Bank. The finalized BCR will be submitted one month later to allow sufficient time for the incorporation of the World Bank’s feedback.

Annex 1: Suggested Annotated Outline of the Borrower’s Completion Report

1. Cover page (project name and number; author’s name, institution, date)  
2. List of acronyms
3. Table of contents
4.List of tables and figures
5. Executive summary (5-7 pages)

• Provide a concise overview of the report, including:
• Project Development Objectives (PDOs) and strategic relevance
• Key achievements and main results
• Summary of implementation experience and major influencing factors
• Performance of the Borrower, World Bank, and partners
• Sustainability of project outcomes
• Key lessons and recommendations for AICCRA-FSRP IV and other similar WBG operations

6. Main body of the text (max. 50 pages)

Introduction and background

Brief overview of project context, explaining the origin of the Project and its rationale, including its alignment with sectoral public policies and strategies, as well as projects previously supported by the World Bank.

Project design and implementation arrangements

Project Objectives and Design

• Overview of the PDO and PDO indicators, using the version of the original Financing Agreement
• Simplified description of project components and theory of change. As the details about component design are already included the PAD, there is no need for a detailed presentation.
• Assessment of the coherence between project components and the PDO
• Comment on innovative aspects of the Project
• Significant changes during implementation (Additional Financing)
• Revised PDO, PDO indicators (and if relevant revised outcome targets) after Additional Financing
• Revised components after Additional Financing
• Any other changes
• Rationale for changes and implications for the original Theory of Change

Implementation experience

• Implementation and Institutional Arrangements: Roles and responsibilities of Recipient, PPA partners, and other national/regional/continental partners.
• Summarize the most important factors that positively or negatively affected the Project’s trajectory (during preparation and during implementation).
  In the case of negative factors, what was done to address them, by whom, and whether these efforts were successful.
• Specific examples may include (if relevant): complexity/nature of project design, including technical aspects; degree of official commitment to the Project; fiscal and/or budgetary situation during the life of the Project; effects of the exchange rate SDR/USD; institutional capacity and/or degree of interinstitutional collaboration; receptivity of producers and other stakeholders; management of procurement and contracting; quality of contractors and technical services; bureaucratic processes.
• Summary of the main changes after Additional Financing. If possible and relevant, describe whether these changes have improved the implementation of the Project.
• Contextual conditions affecting results
• External factors (beyond the control of the Project) influencing implementation and outcomes (e.g economic, climatic, political, institutional).

Physical Outputs:

• For each component/subcomponent, summarize what has been achieved/implemented and whether its goals and objectives (as described in the PAD/Project Paper) have been achieved. This can be prepared in matrix format with comments on performance and status at the end of the Project.
• Record any activity that was planned during preparation, but was canceled or revised during implementation, and the reason/rationale for this change. 
• If relevant, describe any plan to complete unfinished work before project closure, including estimated budget.

Achievement of project results (Efficacy)

• This section should focus on analyzing the achievement of the Project Development Objectives only.
• Each distinct “objective” within the PDO should be presented separately, and the analysis should substantively record whether it has been achieved – based on the PDO indicators, any supporting Intermediate Results Indicators, and any other relevant evidence and data that can complement/strengthen the narrative (impact evaluation, OICRs, annual reports, monitoring data, other publications, etc.).
• It is crucial to focus on results that can be directly attributed to the Project. Attributability is a key priority.

Other results

Gender and social inclusion.

• Summarize available data and information to demonstrate how the Project has benefited women.
• Summarize available data and information to demonstrate how the Project has benefited youth, indigenous peoples, persons with disabilities, and other vulnerable groups.
• What are the processes of engagement with the beneficiary population?
• Did the Project have a formal approach to targeting? What are the processes and outcomes in terms of the nature of the beneficiaries and prioritization and selection criteria? 

Institutional strengthening.

• Summarize available data and information to demonstrate how partner institutions (regional, national) evolved during the Project. Provide concrete examples of capacity growth/change. 

Maximizing finance for development.

• Summarize available data and information to demonstrate private capital mobilization and private capital enabling supported by the Project. Provide concrete examples.

Poverty reduction and shared prosperity.

• Even though not a direct objective of the Project, provide evidence on the Project’s contribution towards reducing poverty and promoting equality. Evidence may come from the impact evaluation, project data, concrete examples.

Project costs and funding

• Discuss variations in the costs of specific componen