Consultant at Mercy Corps Nigeria

Mercy Corps is a leading global organization powered by the belief that a better world is possible. In disaster, in hardship, in more than 40 countries around the world, we partner to put bold solutions into action - helping people triumph over adversity and build stronger communities from within, now, and for the future.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Consultant - Investible Business Case and Gombe Abba / Malala River Canalization into Wawa-Zange Grazing Reserve

Location: Gombe
Employment Type: Contract
Project / Consultancy Title: Investible Business Case and Gombe Abba / Malala River Canalization into Wawa-Zange Grazing Reserve

Background

• According to available data, Nigeria has the highest number of livestock in West Africa, with the number of cattle estimated at 19.5 million. This official figure must be taken as a rough approximation, because it is many years since a comprehensive livestock survey was carried out in Nigeria, but it does suggest a much larger cattle population than any other ECOWAS country.
• The entire Nigerian Livestock industry is still rudimentary, with little modernization in the key areas, such as modern animal husbandry, cross breeding technology, dairy and beef processing, packaging and marketing for socio-economic benefit.
• In Nigeria (especially in Northern part) the practice of preserving land for pastoralist exclusively use by livestock existed prior to colonial times. Allocation of land of grounds to pastoralist around towns and villages for use particularly during the cultivation season was socially endorsed since then. World Bank argued that Government would make it easier to provide pastoralist with social infrastructure, schools, skill acquisition as well as control of animal disease though effective veterinary services. The general idea behind the program is that of better management practices would be provided under conditions favourable to cattle production and reproduction. Facilities such as fodder, feed supplements, regular water supply and veterinary services would he readily available to enhance cattle health, production and productivity. With the provision of all these facilities, it was hoped that pastoralist could be induced to sedentary and introduced to improved management practices of cattle husbandry.
• Till date, pastoralists in Nigeria have struggled to effectively engage in commercial value chains and their participation has been marred by their limited access to inputs and their exposure to climate-related risks. However, there is an increasing demand for meat in the country and a growing middle-class is increasingly concerned with food safety and is interested in higher-value products. The key question for Nigeria is whether it is possible to modernise and improve productivity in the livestock sector in a way that enables the million pastoralists to participate and benefit from the sector. The cultural way of life for pastoralists is already starting to change – and as a result, there is a growing opportunity for pastoralists to engage in the livestock industry on a more commercial basis.
• Gombe State is located in North Eastern part of Northern Nigeria and lies between latitude 9°30’ and 12°30N and longitude 8°45’ and I l°45’E. it is on an altitude of 540m above sea level. Gombe State covers an estimated land mass of 20.26km2 and has a population of around 2,353,000 people as of 2006. The State has a mean annual rainfall of 818.5mm, the mean maximum monthly temperature of 37°C, and relative humidity of 94% in August and 10% in December. The climatic factors were favourable for crop and livestock agriculture. The Jewel in the Savannah was formed in October 1996 by the then Abacha military government. The state shares common borders with Borno, Yobe, Taraba, Adamawa and Bauchi states. The State is currently headed by the Executive Governor Alhaji Mohammed Inuwa Yahya and also has 24 State House Assembly members. Gombe has 11 Local Government Areas, 117 political wards and 14 Emirates /chiefdoms. It has 3 Senators and 6 Members in the National Assembly.
• Gombe State is blessed with natural resource and rearing of indigenous livestock is one of the activities which the people of the State are so much interested in, due to the increase demand and favourable condition for livestock farming compared to other states in the Country.
• Gombe State Government partnered with the Feed the Future Nigeria Rural Resilience Activity to develop 3 to 5 investable projects in Wawa-Zange, a 146000-hectare grazing reserve. The State has demonstrated commitment and ability of different to catalyse livestock sector competitiveness and investments by revamping the grazing reserve. Both the Federal and the Gombe State governments have taken deliberate and conscious effort by to bolster livestock production by prioritizing Wawa-Zange Grazing Reserve.

Project Description

• The Feed the Future Rural Resilience Activity is a five-year, $45 million initiative funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) within the states of Adamawa, Borno, Gombe, and Yobe in North Eastern Nigeria. The goal of the Activity is to facilitate economic recovery and growth in vulnerable, conflict-affected areas. The purpose of the Activity is to sustainably move people out of chronic vulnerability and poverty in NEN. This will be accomplished through expanded economic opportunities. Its overarching approach involves strengthening resilience capacities at household, community, and market-systems levels to ensure the sustainability of poverty reduction and economic recovery efforts.
• Although Nigeria is home to one of Africa’s largest livestock herds, the country remains a net importer of meat, and its meat trade deficit is growing. Factors like inadequate finance, high cost of animal feeds, animal diseases, lack of infrastructure, cost of important resources such as water and other factors militating against animal production. Prioritizing investments in areas that improve return on assets for Wawa-Zange Grazing Reserve can trigger several benefits.

Project Goals:

• Economic viability study and Design of Wawa Zange Grazing Reserve into modern and industrialise Dairy and Beef Production.
• Economic viability study and Design of Gombe Abba/Malala River Canalization into Wawa Zange Grazing Reserve
• Improvement of cattle product and by-product marketing, job creation, education and pastoralist living standards.
• Promotion of sustainable livelihoods and peaceful coexistence between pastoralist and crop farmers and among pastoralist themselves.
• Improvement of awareness/knowledge of the pastoralist into modern cattle production, reproduction and management for socio-economic purposes
• Improvement on the security challenges currently facing pastoralist and pastoralism in Northern part of Nigeria.

Project Justification:

• Pastoralist in Nigeria faces growing political and ecological pressure, as traditional grazing lands and transhumance routes are reduced or lost through cultivations due to the expansion of agriculture or due to urbanization or land grabs by elites. The effect of desertification and climate change in rangeland of the Northern Savannah and Sahel have accentuated pressure on land in those areas and further to Southern part of the Country as Pastoralist look for new pastures. These varied, inter-linked trends have been accompanied by a sharp increase in violent conflicts between pastoralist and crop farmers and between pastoralist themselves in part of the Country. Security level in Nigeria particularly Northern part of the country is always growing especially within the marginalized set of people outlined, despite the effort being made by the present administration.
• The cattle milk for cheese, cream, butter, Ghee; Dung for fuel and manure; Hides for leather; Beef/offal’s for human consumption; Blood, Bones for animal feeds; Hoofs and Horns for ceramics; Veal, Stockfeed, for fertilizer, glue, and tallow. These have been known wide for their high values since the colonial period. However, these commodities have not made the desired contribution expected of them to the Nigerian animal protein supply and the economy, despites the favorable conditions for doing that.
• The need to evolve ways and means for making the pastoralist to adopt and accept modem methods of cattle production and reproduction for economic purposes with the assurance of preserving their culture, norms and values. Before this can be done, special pastoralist cattle base program must be designed for implementation with the involvement of the Pastoralist, Foreign Investors, Federal Government and the Gombe State Government.

Project Aim:

• Transforming the dairy, beef and breeding value chain of the pastoralist through the creation of more jobs, increasing animal productivity, reducing environmental impact and animal husbandry education. Improvement of National food security through efficient supply of cattle product (meat and milk) based protein. Transforming the pastoralist cattle rearing into investment capabilities and knowledge of modem livestock husbandry.

Consultant Activities

• The broad objective of the consulting assignment is to attracting large scale private investment into the livestock industry in Gombe to increase product value and open up more efficient routes to market. Though the process of livestock transformation, the sector is able to move from the limitations of operating within the existing space to migrate towards greater value improvement and eventually towards creating new value opportunities that did not exist in the past – this is the step change in scale.
• The overall consulting assignment will target Wawa-Zange by addressing two specific objectives:
• Specific Objective I: Developing investment plan for canalising water into Wawa-Zange Grazing Reserve
• Specific Objective II: Analysing 3 – 4 investment/bankable projects backed with robust financial models.
• However, this consulting assignment will specifically target activities addressing Objectives I.

Specific Objective Activities I:
The Consultant will:

• Analyse water supply/canalisation and livelihood options within the corridor into Wawa-Zange Grazing Reserve and determining the most economical viability;
• Identify constraints and actions to address constraints that are realistic and actionable, including quick wins and are realistically addressable given the time and financial resource constraints.
• Developing financial and investment model for the most promising options.
• Participate in other reform related plans or interventions as may be directed by the Executive Governor or his designee.
• Illustrative deliverables include water channel investment plans on how to approach, roadmap, investment requirements, organized financial models, and pitch decks to motivate relevant stakeholders to engage in investment efforts. Also, implementation plans that identify prioritized actions for Specific Objective 1.

Consultant Deliverables:
The Consultancy Firm will conduct the following tasks:

Timeframe / Schedule:

• Due dates for deliverables and activities – no tables or charts because they don’t load into Jobvite
• 21 working days (within 3 months July – September 2022).

The Consultant will report to:

• The Consultancy Firm will report to the Deputy Chief of Party and Chief of Party.

The Consultancy Firm will work closely with:

• The Senior Intervention Officer Transaction Advice, Senior Intervention Officer Livestock and Deputy Chief of Party who will be providing oversight support functions throughout the duration of this assignment.

Qualifications, Skills, and Experience

• Minimum of MSc in Social Sciences, Agricultural Economics, Economics, Law or a related field (PhD preferred)
• 20+ years of relevant policy reform and/or agribusiness work experience in Nigeria
• Work experience with USAID and/or other donor-funded projects is strongly preferred
• Experience working collaboratively with institutional and private‐sector partners and stakeholders in Nigeria, preferably on government policy matters
• Demonstrated knowledge of agricultural value chains and an understanding of the agribusiness enabling environment
• Excellent analytical, written and oral communications skills in English is a top priority
• Ability to work well in diverse teams but also able to work productively as an individual with minimum supervision
• Well organized, strong analytical skills, creative thinker, innovative, demonstrated personal initiative, with unquestionable integrity and ethics
• Ability to communicate in other Nigerian local languages is a plus
• A relevant network of policy related influencers and decision makers in Nigeria

Financial Proposal:

• Related to financial proposals, please note that Mercy Corps will directly cover the costs of travel, accommodation, meals, and incidentals for a maximum of three people per firm. Other costs such as halls for conducting digital literacy training and associated logistics and refreshment costs will be covered by Mercy Corps. Thus, financial proposals should focus more on the overall daily rates while providing an indication of other costs which will be covered by Mercy Corps.

In addition to the Technical and Financial Proposal, expressions of interest should include the following:

• Consulting firms should include, a company profile demonstrating relevant qualifications, skills, and experience of similar assignments conducted by the firm, or CVs of individuals representing the consulting firm on this assignment. Please note that firms are allowed to collaborate with other firms to deliver this assignment, however, payments for any services will be to one firm and not multiple firms.
• A work plan showing an indicative timeline for each part of the assignment
• Daily rate / fees.

Application Closing Date
13th July, 2022.

Method of Application
Interested and qualified consulting firms should send their technical and financial proposal to: [email protected] indicating application for Objectives I.

Note: Only Consultancy firms shall be considered.