Somalia: Short term Consultancy- Rapid Value Chain Assessment

ORGANIZATIONAL BACKGROUND

Adeso is a humanitarian and development organization that is changing the way people think about and deliver aid in Africa. We are an NGO in Africa working in a very different way than most. We believe that development must come from within, not outside African communities. That it is Africans themselves who must determine Africa’s future, and that while international aid has provided much-needed support, it often falls short of enabling lasting change at grassroots level. We want to change this, and our strong bonds with African communities mean we are uniquely placed to do so.

PROJECT SUMMARY

Natural Resource Management (NRM) is a four year EU funded intervention that seeks to reduce hunger and food insecurity by improving rangeland conditions in Puntland regions of Somalia. The project will improve the state of natural resource management through the implementation of land rehabilitation and restoration work on degraded rangelands, improving sustainable use of natural resources through community based range management programs, integration of environmental considerations into all economic planning and programming activities in the region and galvanizing community support for environmental protection and sustainable use of resources. The intervention will also improve the capacity of the communities to avert resource-based conflicts and to protect their rangeland resources through implementation of local customary laws, establishment of community based environmental courts and building the capacity of communities to prevent misuse of natural resources at local level. Furthermore, the NRM will support development of alternative source of energy that can create jobs and reduce the current dependency on firewood and charcoal. An awareness raising campaign branded as “Stewardship Puntland” will also be launched to sensitize both rural and urban communities on environmental issues and to instill a general public sense of environmental ownership and stewardship.

CONSULTANCY BACKGROUND

The environmental conditions in Puntland are catastrophic and deteriorating at a rapid pace. Deforestation by charcoal production has caused massive and nearly irreversible degradation of grazing lands of the country where majority of the population depends on sheep, goats and camels for their livelihood. Charcoal production also causes resource-based conflicts over diminishing forests; thus many charcoal producers have lost their lives triggering clan clashes. The sequence of violence charcoal production, coupled with prolonged droughts is not only permanent threat to the environment but it also endangers the sustainability of the livelihoods of the rural communities and hence leads to abject poverty. To address the problem of deforestation due to charcoal production, the Somali Federal government has recently banned charcoal export and has encouraged solar cooking projects funded by UN agencies and international and local NGOs. There have been also other initiatives to improve the charcoal stoves and raise the energy efficiency of charcoal production methods with the aim of reducing the rate of the damage to the rangelands.

Many households that are currently engaged in charcoal production are pastoralists that have lost their livestock and are producing charcoal as an alternative source of income. For a recovering state it becomes imperative that food security; income diversification; increased national productivity as well as job creation should be given the necessary attention they deserve. Agriculture offers all of these possibilities. This however has not been the case due to the seemingly poor performance of the agricultural sector due to a number of reasons and factors notable amongst them are: poor technologies; high post harvest losses; poor value adding policies; lack of access to markets and market information; lack of access to financial services and generally poor enabling environment to stimulate the growth of the Somali markets. One identified approach to achieve this is the value-addition to their commodities with the beneficial aim of increasing their incomes, and gain better access to input and output markets through the development of private sector service providers.

This result of this consultancy is designed to provide an alternative viable source of income that enables households to move away from charcoal production. Because some of the most viable alternative sources of income (e.g. honey & gum Arabic) are also based on natural resources, this activity will be phased to follow upon the improvements in rangeland management initiated in other activities of the program. Rehabilitation of eroded lands and soil and water conservation will strengthen the local natural resource base which will make non-timber forest products a more viable livelihood strategy. The income generated by these non-timber forest products will in turn provide an added incentive for continued and better management of the local natural resource base. The consultant will conduct a rapid value chain assessment to develop a more detailed understanding of markets for local non-timber forest products; in particular whether there is sufficient demand that it would be possible to increase supply without driving down prices to producers as well as whether there are opportunities for collective marketing or simple quality assurance / grading of produce in order to access better prices. Beneficiaries for this activity will be self-selected from amongst existing charcoal producers in the 100 villages where rangeland management plans have been developed and erosion control / soil and water conservation structures have been constructed.

METHODOLOGY

The main purpose of this is to carry out an analysis and assessment of potential value chains and linkages in the agricultural and agro-based sector of the Puntland economy to determine which income generating activities (IGAs) are best suited to substitute charcoal production and trade.The assignment will start with a detailed literature review and market survey using customer panels and one-on-one interviews.

SCOPE OF WORK

Value chains encompass the full range of activities and services required to bring a product or service from its conception to sale in its final markets—whether local, national, regional or global. Value chains include input suppliers, producers, processors and buyers actively supported by a range of technical, business and financial service providers. The Value Chain Analysis looks at the whole process of effective utilization of resources to create a competitive advantage that would provide a lower cost and better improved profit margin. Value addition tends to take advantage of geographic locations, institutional factors (regulations, tax regimes etc) to create the following: • Economies of scale; • Capacity utilization; • Linkages among activities including vertical integration; • Learning processes; • Interrelationships among business units; • Marketing outlets.

The consultant will undertake a Value Chain Assessment utilizing relevant research methodologies focusing on the following: • Identification of the basic agricultural produce in Puntland that can be processed into other end products for both the domestic and international markets; • Identification of Puntland’s suitability and comparative advantage in the establishment of income-generating activities;
• Collation and documentation of statistical evidence on cultivable land availability; production inputs necessary and; handling and storage facilities availability and adequacy; processing capacities available and adequacy etc; • Identification of the local production linkages that abound in Puntland and assess their relevance; adequacy; strengths and challenges etc; • Development of a value chain framework/system that would integrate all the identified activities and processes including primary and support services that are capable of encouraging entrepreneurs desirous in taking advantage of the numerous potentials available in the State; • Identification of the obstacles and proffer remedial actions to the development and implementation of a value chain process/framework; • Identification of funding linkages and opportunities available; • Identification of the level of employment and access factors (income distribution, employment, or gender relations) of production by operators along the value chain line.

QUALIFICATIONS:

It is expected that the consultant will have good understanding of value chains. The ideal candidate(s) should possess the following qualifications and experience: • Masters or PhD in Agricultural Economics or Social Science especially in Economics, Development Economics, Management with bias for SME Development; • Diverse understanding and clear knowledge of Commodity Market or Agro Processing; • Extensive knowledge but not less than 10 years of development experience with international agencies and programs; private sector on processing technologies and marketing; • Sound analytical and technical competence in the subject matter; • Have conducted similar exercise in the recent past; • Requisite experience in design of value-chains and frameworks for agro-allied sector of the economy.

CONSULTANCY PERIOD

The consultancy will be for a maximum duration of 60 days. Days required for preparation, reporting, and editing to be included in the quote. All travel, accommodation and meal expenses will be covered by Adeso. Note that travel days to and from Somalia will not be remunerated, dates might change based on flight schedules to Somalia, and travel might be required over the weekend.

DELIVERABLES

1. Develop database of agricultural production showing the Puntland’s comparative advantages and suitability;
2. Develop database of the potential value-addition derivatives from these produce and the appropriate technologies and processes;
3. Develop a value-chain framework and identify primary/support services and enabling environment precedent to its actualization;
4. Develop database of funding linkages and opportunities available;
5. Submit a detailed final report.

COPYRIGHT AND INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS

In consideration of the fees paid, the Consultant expressly assigns to Adeso any copyright arising from the works the consultant produces while executing this contract. The consultant may not use, reproduce or otherwise disseminate or authorize others to use, reproduce or disseminate work without prior consent from Adeso.

Applications should be submitted by 25th September 2013. The selection committee will review all applications as they arrive. All applicants must meet the minimum requirements described above, and those unable to meet these requirements will not be considered. Adeso is an equal opportunity employer.

Each application package should include the following: • An application letter (maximum 2 pages) addressing the selection criteria including how the consultant’s previous experience matches the consultancy objectives, the interest in the position, availability and consultancy rates. • A sample of recent work. • Updated CV (maximum 3 pages) including relevant work experience and qualifications. • Contact details of 2 referees.

Applications not including all of the above information will not be reviewed.

All applications should be sent to Adeso at consultancy@adesoafrica.org with the subject line: Rapid Value Chain Assessment, Puntland.