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Consultant-DMI Project Vétérinaires Sans Frontières Belgium

Terms of Reference for a Consultancy

THE TURKANA-POKOT DROUGHT MANAGEMENT INITIATIVE (DMI) PROJECT: MITIGATING THE IMPACTS OF CLIMATE SHOCKS IN LIVESTOCK BASED LIVELIHOODS

The Turkana-Pokot Drought Management Initiative (DMI) Project: Mitigating the impacts of climate shocks in livestock based livelihoods is a project being implemented in Kenya. It covers the greater Turkana districts (Turkana North, Turkana West, Loima, Turkana Central, Turkana South and Turkana East); Pokot North and Pokot Central in Pokot County; Pokot East in Baringo County; and Samburu Central and Samburu North in Samburu County.

The overall objective of the Consultancy

- To improve effectiveness and efficiency of the drought management in Kenya by strengthening the capacity to intervene in an appropriate, effective and timely fashion before and during the drought cycle. Specifically the project is intended to build the capacity of the local communities in Turkana and Pokot to proactively address their own needs in relation to improved disaster preparedness and response.

The project targets, principally, the pastoralist communities identified as being highly vulnerable to resources based conflicts and drought induced poverty with insufficient access to adequate grazing or water for both household and livestock which exacerbate risks associated with highly food insecure situation. The project also targets former pastoralists who have dropped out of pastoral livelihoods. At secondary level, beneficiaries include international NGOs within the project area, the District Steering Groups, Arid Land Resources Management Programme, among other organizations in the project area.

At the inception, it was anticipated that 120,000 people will directly benefit from through:
1. Increased sustainable access to dry season grazing and water through provision of water and minimized inter-community conflicts;
2. Protection of key livelihood assets through privatized support systems and alternative sources of income;
3. Improved community based drought preparedness and harmonization of approaches for key stakeholders; and, 4. Improved conflict mitigation and peace building.

This project is being implemented as a joint collaborative activity involving 5 partners:
1. Vétérinaires Sans Frontières – Belgium- as the lead agency (VSF-B)
2. Vétérinaires Sans Frontières – Germany- (VSF-G)
3. OXFAM GB
4. Agency for Technical Cooperation and Development (ACTED)
5. Practical Action

In order to successfully implement this project, the partners are using 4 participatory approaches, which are:
1. The Village Land Use Planning – through the formation and training of Village Land Use Planning Committees; 2. Pastoral Field Schools (PFS);
3. Community Animal Health Workers (CAHWs);
4. Village Community Banking (VICOBA).

Timeframe

The exercise is expected to be completed with one calendar month.

One of the main outputs of this project is:

Development and production of the best practices manual that will document the successes of the approaches used, pointing out the methodologies and success case studies.

In order to develop and produce the best practices manual, VSF-Belgium requires the services of a highly qualified and experienced consultant or consulting firm.

The following comprise the terms of reference for the consultant:

1. The consultant or the consulting firm shall review all reports that have been produced during the implementation of the project. These include the annual reports, mid-term reports, quarterly reports and any other document produced so far that may be necessary in the development and production of the best practices manual.
2. The consultant or consulting firm shall carry out extensive review of similar work carried out elsewhere that may be necessary in the development and production of the best practices manual.
3. The consultant shall consult widely with the project partners in order to tap on the information and knowledge gathered during the implementation of the DMI Project.
4. The consultant shall explore the extent to which the programme design, i
mplementation and monitoring have taken the following cross cutting issues into consideration: - Human rights; - Equity; - Capacity development; - Institutional strengthening; - Innovation and added value to national development
5. The consultant is expected to point out the challenges that may need to be addressed when implementing such a project in future. The consultant is also required to give suggestions that may help in addressing such challenges in future.

Key activities

- Prepare a detailed work plan for the mission
- Conduct field visits (where necessary) to the above locations to facilitate discussions with communities, local leaders VSF staff and the partners.
- Develop the technical content according to local context.
- Design/layout the manual.
- Submit a draft for review.
- Integrate any feed-back into the final product.

Qualifications of the consultant

1. The consultant must show proof of having carried out such an exercise in the past. Production (proof) of such exercise will be necessary.
2. The consultant must have high competence of written and spoken English.
3. A minimum of a Masters level of study (M. Sc. or M.A. degree), particularly in natural resources management, livestock production and/or education is a must, with a Ph. D level giving a definite advantage but with emphasis of relevant experience.
4. At least 10 years experience doing similar work
5. Having published in renown journals is necessary
6. Ability to travel in extremely rough terrain in north-western Kenya a condition

VSF Belgium will organize the logistics of the mission, and cover the transportation and accommodation costs of the consultant while in the field locations.
How to apply
Contact Information

Interested expert(s) should submit proposals indicating relevant qualifications and experience as well as a detailed execution plan. They should also indicate daily consultancy rates and possible starting dates. The proposals, CV and letter of motivation as well as three (3) referees should be sent electronically to recruitement@vsfb.or.ke Ref: DMI Best Practises Consultancy 2011 before the closing date 23rd March 2011.