Job Summary
The purpose of the assignment is to enable local level industry and government stakeholders in the four project regions to evaluate the contract farming innovation, in terms of its contribution to inclusive growth of the sunflower sector and the trajectory for impacts on regional development, in order to enable sub- national players to advocate the potential of contract farming for improving sub-sector competitiveness and increasing employment opportunities and smallholder farmer income.
- Minimum Qualification: Bachelor
- Experience Level: Management level
- Experience Length: 10 years
Job Description
1.0. Introduction
SNV is implementing a two-year project called Transforming Agricultural Markets (TAM), which started in August 2018, and is funded by UKAID. The TAM project aims to improve livelihoods and economic opportunity for smallholder farmers by empowering them to effect changes in the dairy and sunflower market systems through engaging with government and private sector providers.
This short-term consultancy assignment focuses on a participatory review of the use of the contact farming model in the sunflower sub-sector in Mbeya, Songwe, Rukwa and Katavi Regions, with the aim of promoting its role in improving sub-sector competitiveness and increasing employment opportunities and smallholder farmers’ income.
2.0. Background
SNV, Netherlands Development Organization is an international, not-for-profit, development organization, working in 36 of the poorest countries worldwide, including 17 countries in Sub Saharan Africa. We focus on achieving impact in Agriculture; Energy; and Water, Sanitation & Hygiene. By sharing our specialist expertise in Agriculture; Energy; and Water, Sanitation & Hygiene, our global team of local and international advisors works with local partners to equip communities, businesses and organisations with the tools, knowledge and connections they need to increase their incomes and gain access to basic services – empowering them to break the cycle of poverty and guide their own development.
The TAM project Theory of Change is that by working with citizens, private sector and government at sub- national level on specific, actor-led systems issues to produce data and facilitate stakeholder analysis the project can broaden understanding, build consensus, and strengthen accountability relationships for collective action to:
i) make existing policies work at the local level, and to ii) provide documented evidence for national level policy dialogue and reforms. The project aims at achieving the following impact and
outcomes:
Impact: Improved livelihoods of SHFs and SMEs in the dairy and sunflower market systems
Long term outcome: Increased access and inclusiveness to basic services (production, financial, capacity services) and strengthened business environment for SHFs and agribusinesses in dairy and sunflower market systems.
Outcomes:
a) Increased responsiveness of Government to the issues of smallholder farmers and SMEs.
b) Increased collective actions of stakeholders for the improvement of access to basic services and entitlements, and business environment.
The TAM project focuses on making policies work for SHF and SMEs by enhancing good governance, accountability and responsiveness by government, local organisations, private sector and stakeholders in dairy and sunflower market systems. The targeted areas for increased responsiveness and accountability relations are, functional cooperatives and harmonization of regulations in the dairy market system, contract farming and women access to finance in the sunflower market system.
SNV promoted a Village Based Contract Farming (VBCF) arrangement which is a pro-poor market arrangement, first introduced by SNV in Singida Region in 2011 and later in Morogoro, Ruvuma, Mbeya, Iringa, Rukwa and Njombe Regions in 2013, engaging with sunflower value chain actors. In 2017, through its AMDT-funded work on market development, SNV conducted a Systemic Market Analysis of the sunflower market in Songwe, Mbeya, Rukwa and Katavi. The analysis indicated critical market constraints limiting greater uptake and/or increase in sunflower market development:
Supply side issues
• Availability and accessibility of high-quality certified sunflower seeds • Availability of agricultural inputs, including fertilizers and pesticides • Management capacities of producer groups and farmers’ associations to sustainably increase sunflower production • Adoption of Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) • Access to finance • Postharvest losses
Businesses environment
• Coordination of the sector • Trust and transparency between producers and processors • Complex and discriminatory application of fees and taxes • Capacity of key support institutions in the sector
Market development
• Industry clustering to promote collective production and marketing of sunflower products • Targeted market development interventions
SNV found that a major issue in unlocking these constraints was the weak relations between producers and buyers/processors evidenced by lack of trust in the sector as a result of, the absence of
premium/discount rates based on quality of seeds; and sufficient market information that would empower the farmers and other local stakeholders. SNV found – as have other key players in this industry – that much of the problem of mistrust comes from the absence of linkages and transparency across the sector, which would allow each party to better see and understand each other’s needs and realize that all parties benefit from improvements. The development of contract farming in the sunflower sector was considered essential to better match producers’ capacities with processors’ needs.
In the 2017 season, SNV pioneered activities in Rukwa, Katavi, Songwe and Mbeya, supported by AMDT, that demonstrated an approach to contract farming that addressed the issues above through an alternative deployment and engagement of Local Government’s legal and extension resources in the process. By early 2018, over 4,600 farmers had signed contracts, and 1,067 farmers had made an upfront cash investment using their own funds to procure subsidized hybrid seed. Also ByTrade, input suppliers, had invested in extension services promoting good agricultural practices to farmers who had signed.
It is therefore against this background that SNV is seeking the services of a consultant to carry out a participatory evaluation of the contact farming innovations in the sunflower sub-sector in Mbeya, Songwe, Rukwa and Katavi Regions, as detailed below.
3.0. Purpose and objectives of the assignment
The purpose of the assignment is to enable local level industry and government stakeholders in the four project regions to evaluate the contract farming innovation, in terms of its contribution to inclusive growth of the sunflower sector and the trajectory for impacts on regional development, in order to enable sub- national players to advocate the potential of contract farming for improving sub-sector competitiveness and increasing employment opportunities and smallholder farmer income.
The objectives of the assignment are:
a) An evaluation of SNV supported contract farming in the four regions, with particular focus on: i) effectiveness including outcome results; ii) processes: what worked well and what didn’t and why
(contributing factors), and iii) behaviour change that is consistent with a more inclusive decision- making, planning or policy process e.g. instances of meaningful procedural improvements, relational change1 and transformative participation of key stakeholders, and the contributing factors and iv) policy issues, e.g. contract guidelines, laws, levies, by-laws and regulatory structures that favour or hinder the operation of the contract farming arrangement.
b) Projected potential LGA revenue and stakeholder income per project district (Mbeya, Chunya; Songwe; Sumbawanga and Mpanda and Tanganyika District Councils) that could be generated from scaling the contract farming model, disaggregated across region, LGA and market players.
c) A policy brief for regional and national level advocacy for contract farming for improving sub- sector competitiveness and increasing employment opportunities and smallholder farmer income
4.0. Scope of work
The consultant will be required to undertake the following key activities and produce the related deliverables:
Key Activity 1: Inception: desk review, consultation and planning
i. Desk review: familiarisation with the TAM project and the Edible Oilseeds Programme documents, including the Village Based Contract Farming Study 2017. Review of relevant literature on the
sunflower value chain and contract farming in Tanzania.
ii. Consultation with TAM project staff: seek clarification on the TAM project and Edible Oilseeds Programme approach, process and results, and on the ToR objectives and deliverables.
iii. Draft an inception report
Deliverables: An inception report, not exceeding 8 pages, which provides details on: a) the participatory evaluation methodology and main evaluation questions, b) consultants understanding of
the contract farming model and theory of change, c) an evaluation report format and d) a policy brief format.
Key activity 2: Individual and Focus Group Discussions (FGD) and district consultation workshops (one per region).
i. Identify the key contract farming stakeholders in the contract farming model. In collaboration with the TAM project team agree on the FGD and workshop participants and invitation modalities.
ii. Develop individual and FGD format and guiding questions, a workshop agenda and process, and select facilitation tools.
iii. Facilitate FGD and consultation workshops in collaboration with TAM project staff.
iv. Produce a reports on the FGD and workshop process and outputs.
Deliverables: Individual and FGD format and guiding questions; workshop agenda and process; and FGD and workshop reports detailing the process and key findings.
Key activity 3: Draft evaluation report: data analysis and synthesis
i. Analyse data to answer causal questions about what has produced the outcomes that have been observed: i) what worked well and what didn’t and why (contributing factors) and ii) which policy
issues favoured or hindered the operation of the contract farming arrangement, e.g. contract guidelines, laws, levies, by-laws and regulatory structures.
ii. Synthesise: combine data collected to form an overall assessment of the intervention with particular focus on effectiveness and behaviour change i.e. change that is consistent with a more inclusive decision-making, planning or policy process e.g. instances of meaningful procedural improvements, relational change and transformative participation of key stakeholders, and the
contributing factors.
iii. Develop policy recommendations
iv. Develop and present the findings in a report in a way that is useful for the intended users of the evaluation
Deliverables: a draft evaluation report, not exceeding 25 pages. The evaluation report will present the main findings which respond to the evaluation questions, and the policy recommendations.
Key activity 4: Validation workshop
i. In collaboration with the TAM project team agree on the workshop participants and invitation modalities
ii. Develop a workshop agenda and process and select facilitation tools.
iii. Facilitate a validation workshop in collaboration with TAM project staff
iv. Incorporate stakeholder feedback and recommendations in the draft evaluation report
Deliverables: a final draft evaluation report, not exceeding 20 pages, excluding annexes.
Key activity 5: Develop a policy brief for use by regional and district stakeholders to advocate the potential of contract farming for improving sunflower sub-sector competitiveness and increasing
employment opportunities and smallholder farmer income
i. Draft the policy paper based on the evaluation findings and recommendations and validation workshop output.
ii. Prepare and present a power point to selected stakeholders (4 from each region) and the TAM project team on the main points of the policy paper
iii. Finalise the policy paper based on the feedback
Deliverables: a final draft policy brief not exceeding five pages.
5.0. Methodology
The evaluation will be a participatory evaluation whereby the project stakeholders are the key participants in the evaluation and the main users of the evaluation findings. The consultant will propose a methodology for the evaluation and provide justification for the proposed methodology.
6.0. Time Frame and reporting
6.1 Timeframe
The assignment period is for a total not exceeding 20 working days, delivered within the period Monday 13th January and Friday 14th February 2020.
6.2 Reporting
The consultant will work under the direction of and report to the TAM Project Manager, Mr Tom Ole Sikar.
7.0. Competence required
The consultant must clearly demonstrate skills and experience for this assignment in:
• Proven experience in conducting participatory evaluations with a high degree of validity, reliability and usefulness.
• More than 10 years’ experience in governance projects in East Africa, including Tanzania
• Proven experience in agriculture sector development in East Africa, including Tanzania
• Proven ability to produce high quality analysis and documentation
8.0. Selection criteria for engagement
Applicants are advised that applications will be evaluated using the following criteria:
COPY & PASTE TO A NEW TAB TO VIEW THIS CRITERIA - https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bz0n2K1Q9FOnU2h1R2VTNlJLSG45UFJEOVFuSWJaWGlldnFF/view?usp=sharing
9.0. Applicants are requested to submit:
A. An application letter
B. The CV of the registered consultant and CVs for key personnel and clearly specified roles for team members, where applicable
C. A sample of a previous similar scope of work produced by the consultant within the last 24 months.
D. Names and contact details for at least three relevant references
E. Mandatory requirements: copies of:
• Tax Identification Number (TIN);
• The completed and filled Conflict of Interest Statement
Please submit your Expression of Interest entitled “Participatory Evaluation of the Contract Farming – TAM Project” in the subject line and email to: tanzaniaprocurement@snv.org no later than 17:00 hrs on 22 nd November 2019.
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