Consultant - Livelihood Markets and Value Chain Assessment at Cooperazione Internazionale (COOPI)

Cooperazione Internazionale (COOPI) - Over the past few years, the humanitarian situation in Nigeria has been increasingly deteriorating because the conflict between government forces and the Boko Haram armed group has intensified. Recently published IOM data has identified over 2.1 million IDPs, the majority of which are in Borno and Yobe states. Humanitarian actors estimate 17 million people affected by the conflict are food insecure, while 3 million young people have dropped out of the school system and 500,000 children suffer from severe malnutrition.

COOPI Cooperazione Internazionale is a humanitarian, non-confessional and independent organization founded in 1965 in Milan, Italy. For more than 50 years we have been dedicated to breaking the cycle of poverty and to supporting populations affected by wars, socio-economic crises or natural disasters in their path to recovery and sustainable development, by making use of the professionalism of local and international operators, and through our partnerships with public and private bodies and civil society organizations. COOPI has been responding to this emergency in the States of Borno and Yobe since July 2014. The program implemented focuses on livelihood, food distribution, malnutrition prevention and care, education in emergency and protection of minors affected by the conflict.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Consultant for Livelihood Markets and Value Chain Assessment

Location: Yobe (Damaturu, Potiskum, Bade, Nguru and Geidam LGA)
Employment Type: Part-time

Project Description

• COOPI is implementing WFP funded project in Geidam and Damaturu local government areas of Yobe state to strengthen the resilience of 2956 vulnerable households (14,780 beneficiaries) through improved climate-smart agricultural production, innovative income generating activities for livelihood assets and capacity building.
• COOPI has been working in Yobe state in close collaboration with WFP since 2019 to restore, improve and strengthen the livelihood source of targeted population to alleviate their sufferings and enable the targeted communities / beneficiaries to sustain their livelihood sources.
• The assessment will help COOPI in implementing 2021 livelihood project in Yobe state, especially in the area of linking farmers to farms off takers and identifying major agricultural and small business value chain.

Background

• The Western and Central Africa region, one of the poorest and most fragile regions in the world, continues to be affected by major protracted humanitarian crises driven by conflicts and exacerbated by food insecurity, under nutrition, natural disasters, epidemics, and climate change. There are close to 40 million people in need of humanitarian assistance across the region.
• The main conflicts and violence across the region affect the Central Sahel (Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger), the Lake Chad Basin (Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon and Chad), the Central African Republic (CAR) crisis with refugees in neighboring countries, the Northwest/Southwest (NW/SW) provinces of Cameroon, and North Central and Northwestern Nigeria (with displacements into Niger).
• COOPI has been working in Yobe state for the past five years and have implemented number of projects in collaboration of different donors to support small holder farmers (Agriculture & Livestock) and provided small level income generation opportunities under various trades.
• COOPI has also provided to training on specific trades/professions and business skills increase / strengthen the capacity of targeted beneficiaries. After the continuous support provided, beneficiaries are now able to produce the desired on-farm and off-farm products and services. However, there is need to build the linkages between the targeted beneficiaries and various market actors to increase their profit margin by adding value to their products/services and minimize the role of middlemen.

Scope and Intended Assessment Output:

• The assessment on commodities and services value chain in the agriculture sector (Livestock & farm produce) for small holder farmers and small business owners (IGA beneficiaries) for identification and mapping of actors and stakeholders, value chain, capacity, and services assessment across major commercial locations of Yobe state (Damaturu, Potiskum, Bade, Nguru and Geidam LGA).

Intended Assessment Objectives:
The selected consultant shall publish an assessment report, analysis and data source that speaks to addressing the below highlighted focus areas:

• Identify market actors in each major market of Yobe state.
• Identify the development and provision of agriculture and small business inputs required.
• Determine the market for food/non-food items/raw materials required in each market.
• Ascertain the value chain on each agricultural produce.
• Identify the road map to build sustainable market linkages at least state level.
• Identify the gaps to access the potential Input Suppliers/Premium traders/Major Markets.
• Provide road map to improve the viability of the business relationship (Beneficiaries-Market Actors) on sustainable basis.
• Identify financial constraints / investment opportunities.
• Identify gaps in information flow (Inward-Outward) of major’s trends in consumption / purchases.
• Identify the various services are available for the capacity strengthening / Development.

It is Expected that:

• Data collection methods will be age and gender and protection appropriate.
• Assessment activities will provide a safe, creative space where children feel that their thoughts and ideas are important.
• Informed consent will be used where possible.
• The consultant will not be required to obtain approval from a Human Research Ethics Committee. COOPI will work with the relevant agency and provide assistance with this process.

Intended Assessment Output:

• These assessment data collection, analysis, and submission of the final report are expected to be completed within a period of three weeks upon signing of the contract by the consultant.

Expected Deliverables by the Consultant/s
The consultant/s is responsible for the timely delivery of the following:

• An inception meeting report, assessment matrix (maximum 5 pages), data collection tools, methodology and timelines for all the deliverables.
• An inception meeting with COOPI team to present the inception report.
• Databases in excel or other software for qualitative and qualitative data and corresponding analysis.
• A feedback workshop/ presentation meeting with COOPI team to highlight on the major findings and recommendations of the assessment.
• A draft report (maximum 60 pages with an executive summary of no more than 3-4 pages) including findings, conclusions, and recommendations.
• A final report that incorporates comments from COOPI alongside a response matrix detailing how each comment was handled in the revising of the draft report.
• Databases with quantitative and qualitative evaluation data.

Specific Objectives of the Assessment:

• Providing a single, comprehensive, methodologically sound, and impartial overall assessment of agriculture commodities and small business owners value chain to inform strategic decisions funding application decision and proposal development.
• Provide detailed technical market analysis of the major markets and market actors including but not limited to major raw material/inputs, commodities, and services.
• Provide a detailed value chain analysis of major agricultural livelihoods products/commodities and income generation activities in the identified communities and LGAs.
• Identify market systems and value chain weakness and gaps, opportunities, threats, and trends that are relevant for small holder farmers and income generation activities population within the assessment target areas.
• Identify, map, and analyze the involvement of middlemen in the values chain of small holder crop and livestock agriculture and livelihoods activities in the targeted locations. This should also elucidate the economics behind the middlemen practices.
• Analyze the components of inclusion, protection, gender and age in the markets and value chain systems and proffer recommendations based on findings and literature reviews.

Methodology and Timeline

• The Consultant will work with COOPI to expand upon the ToR as required. The methodology adopted should be in line with the Inter-Agency Standing Committee SOPs and CaLP for markets and value chain assessment.
• The assessment should include a mixed method approach comprising of both qualitative and quantitative methods. The methods suggested can include e.g.: document review for secondary data, household surveys, semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions. Triangulation shall be done in the analysis phase.

The assessment should take place in three phases:
Week one (1):

• Inception planning
  • The Consultant will develop an inception report, including an assessment matrix, work plan and data collection tools. These documents will be validated by the project manager prior to the data collection phase.
• Inception meeting
  • The Consultant will participate in an inception meeting, where the methodology, data collection plan and analysis plan will be presented and validated.
• Literature review
  • The Consultant will source and review relevant literature and existing document/report to guide on the value chain assessment.
• Adhoc staff mobilization and training
  • The Consultant will be supported to recruit and mobilize enumerators where necessary for training and data collection with the support of MEAL team from COOPI.

Week Two (2):
Data Collection and Analysis:

• The Consultant(s) will coordinate with COOPI will undertake quantitative and or qualitative data collection, under the control and responsibility of the Consultant and with the support of COOPI, MEAL units.
• FGDs, interviews and other qualitative methods should be carried out by the assessment team. The assessment team is fully responsible for data cleaning, as well as quantitative and qualitative analyses.
• The Data collected will need to be disaggregated per locations, beneficiary type (e.g. age, sex, PWDs, and type of population) and sector of intervention. The selected locations will be linked to each sector to make clear where exactly (in which part/region/district) the sectoral activities take place and how many beneficiaries are estimated.

Week Three (3):

• Assessment Report and Validation Meeting.
  • The Consultant and the Assessment team will draft the report, present, and share with the programme team. The final assessment report shall be validated by the focal persons from COOPI.
  • The Consultant will be presenting the final report at a joint session with the Early Recovery and Livelihoods Sub-Sector of the Food Security Sector for Northesat(Yobe State).

Contracting Organ Obligations:

• The COOPI MEAL Team Lead will be the key contact person for the consultant to ensure that the assessment takes place as planned.
• COOPI will coordinate the process and schedule all the logistic arrangement including field trips and respondent identification and clearance for the assessment. MEAL Team Lead will be the key contact on logistic arrangement for the consultant to facilitate the assessment.

COOPI will Support the Consultant through the following:

• Compilation of background documentation and relevant data.
• Scheduling and logistics support for initial interviews and inception work planning.
• Arranging accommodation requirements for the consultant/s during the duration of the fieldwork.
• Rapid review and commenting on outputs and deliverables.
• Scheduling and logistics support for the review/ validation workshop/meeting.

Ethical Considerations

• The consultant/s will make it clear to all those participating in the assessment as respondent that they are under no obligation to participate in the assessment if they do not wish to. All participants will be assured that there will be no negative consequences if they choose not to participate. Informed consent shall be obtained from the study participants after explaining the purpose of the study. Participation of all respondents in the assessment shall be on a voluntary basis and respect, dignity, confidentiality, and freedom of each assessment participant will be maintained during and after the survey. No names will be mentioned in the report and other documents presentations to be prepared and as part of this assessment.
• Avoid causing harm with humanitarian interventions. Consultant/s will have to receive prior permission for taking and use of visual still/ moving images for specific purposes, i.e., ‘for assessment report and presentations. Consultant/s will assure the participants’ anonymity and confidentiality and will ensure the visual data is protected and used for agreed purpose only.
• Communities and local authorities, including the ministry of humanitarian affairs and the national emergency management authorities and the State Emergency Management Authority will be informed about the assessment and prior approval shall be obtained.

Consultant's Qualifications, Skills and Experience
COOPI seeks expressions of interest from individual / companies with the following skills/qualifications.

• A Master's Degree or PhD in a field related to Social Protection (Economics, Social Sciences, Public Policy and/or International Development Policy), Social and Developmental studies, Humanitarian Aid Studies, Statistic or other fields related to Developmental & Humanitarian Aid, Monitoring & Evaluation Studies and Social Scientific Research Studies.
• At least 5-10 years of relevant experience and proven expertise in conducting assessments and studies in relation to Humanitarian Aid Programming and Developmental Programming.
• Previous research experience on poverty aid/development, experience in quantitative or qualitative data collection and analysis,
• Excellent written and oral communication skills in English are required,
• Ability to work independently and respond to feedback in a timely and professional manner,
• Team Player with excellent organizational skills, attention to detail and ability to contribute to a team.

Application Closing Date
28th July, 2021.

How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should:
Click here to apply online

Application Instructions
Interested applicants are required to:

• Please apply online at our job portal by submitting your Application (CV, cover letter and three professional references) online until the closing date stated above.
• Upload a 4-page maximum expression of interest detailing the modality that will be adopted to conducting this assignment.
• Consultancy firms applying are required to share the profile of the lead consultant on the expression of interest document.
• Shortlisted candidates will be required to share samples of similar consultancy undertaken.