Job Description

Terms of Reference

Consultancy service for Market Systems Development Study

CAFOD seeks the services of an experienced consultant to conduct a market systems analysis (MSA) of selected value chains, existing and potential. The MSA will analyse several on-farm and off-farm products and propose a set of interventions and incentives required at the operational, strategic, and systemic levels to ensure inclusive employment outcomes. The analysis will include existing and potential enterprises, focusing on the creation of value and employment for women, young women, and other vulnerable groups in target areas.
The specific objectives of the market systems analysis are:
1. To identify and prioritize viable farm and off-farm value chains preferred/and or viable for women, men, young women and young men, and people living with disability in the project areas.
2. To conduct value chain analysis for each of the selected commodities. The value chain assessments will include value chain mapping, functional analysis of each value chain, economic analysis of potential opportunities to add value along the chain, and policy and institutional conditions necessary to create a suitable enabling environment for value chain development.
3. To identify the key services and sectors that enhance or impede the competitiveness of the identified value chains.
4. To identify the constraints and opportunities for inclusive growth for the identified value chains – including formal and informal regulations and rules and integration of women, men, young women, young men, and people living with a disability.
5. To come up with clear recommendations for intervention and leverage areas, including specific business models, to improve the competitiveness of the market system,
For each of the selected value chains, the MSA will answer the following questions
1. Sector performance:
a. What are the policy and legal frameworks, and how do they support or hinder the participation of women, youths, and other groups of interest, and job creation in the targeted value chains?
b. What is the current performance of the value chain viz its full potential? At district and national levels?
c. Who are the key players in the system, and what are their current incentive/capacity levels?
d. What is the current relationship of the target group with a special focus on women, NEET youths, and female-headed households) in the value chain?
e. What precise challenges and bottlenecks do the target group face if currently participating or potential/perceived (perspective of target groups, local leaders, and current market players, even outside the district)?

2. Opportunities and Constraints:
a. What are the opportunities, at which points along the chains, for meaningful and impactful participation of target groups? An analysis of trade-offs between the most impactful and most feasible.
b. What capacities and skills are key to success in the selected value chains? What capacities and skills exist within the community to take advantage of the opportunities identified?
c. What are the key constraints? (And therefore, opportunities for external support to enable meaningful participation.
3. Visioning
a. How will the value chains work? (The Ideal)
b. What monitoring systems should be put in place?
c. What timescales should be considered for support and changes?
d. What level of investment (for overall support and addressing constraints)

4. System-level constraints:
a) What are the most important functions and rules which are under-performing?
b) In turn, what are the underlying constraints that shape the performance of these supporting markets (root causes)?
5. Feasibility
a. What is the opportunity for change, based on the incentives and capacities of the players in the system?
b. What are the most important constraints that might be feasible to change?
c. What are the main issues that the project needs to consider if it wants to facilitate sustainable change?
CAFOD would like this study to explore non-traditional approaches to supporting participation of women, youths, and other marginalised groups in different value chains. To this end, consultants will need to demonstrate their capacity to identify latent opportunities, in addition to innovative ways of adding value and creating employment in existing products and processes.

Duties and Responsibilities

Tasks of the consultant for the assessment:
1. Develop an inception report that includes data collection and analysis tools, methodology for data collection, and schedule for carrying out the assignment considering market system development tools.
2. Identify a potentially long list of farm and off-farm commodities and prioritize them following discussions with the CAFOD team.
3. Validate the prioritized commodities and diversified economic opportunities through stakeholder workshops.
4. Identify a list of diversified economic opportunities and prioritize them following discussion with the CAFOD team.
5. Conduct primary and secondary data gathering (including program-related documents) for the selected farm and off-farm commodities using the methodology and tools agreed upon.
6. Conduct primary and secondary data gathering (including program-related documents) for the selected diversified economic opportunities using the methodology and tools agreed upon, for the potential economic opportunities.
7. Present the draft report.
8. Incorporate comments provided by CAFOD to improve the draft report and prepare the market assessment analysis report for validation workshop with relevant stakeholders.
9. Present the value chain and market assessment report to stakeholders at the validation workshop.
10. Incorporate the stakeholders’ comments into the draft report and submit the final report.

Submissions
1. Inception Report that includes a detailed methodology (Approach will be refined in Discussion with CAFOD)
2. Workplan to conduct the MSA Study
3. Detailed Budget
4. Consultancy team
5. Sample of previous work MSA conducted in the last 2 years
Deliverables
1. Inception Report
2. Value chain mapping report
3. Facilitation of a workshop to validate mapping.
4. Final report, with all findings and recommendations.

Qualifications and Experience

Profile
1. The lead consultant should have a master’s degree in agriculture, Agribusiness, Agriculture Economics, Development Studies, Social Science, or any related program.
2. Experience in conducting market system analysis in agriculture value chains or a similar tool.
3. At least five years of experience conducting surveys, research, and statistical analysis.
4. Experience with carrying out qualitative interviews.
5. Experience in integrating gender in MSA is required.
6. Excellent analytical and report-writing skills.
7. Strong communication and presentation skills

How to Apply

If you are interested, please submit your proposal, via email to [email protected] no later than 15th February 2024, clearly outlining your understanding of the TORs, your proposed methodology and your financial proposal.

The proposals should be accompanied by:

1. Detailed CV(s) with relevant experience and references.
2. A sample of similar worked conducted.
3. Any other information deemed relevant to demonstrate previous experience in similar assignments.