About Hivos

Hivos is an international development organization guided by humanist values. Together with citizens and their organizations, we aim to contribute towards just, inclusive and life sustaining societies where people have equal access to opportunities, rights and resources. We work in partnership with others in the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Latin America on three impact areas: Civic Rights in a Digital Age; Gender Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, and Climate Justice. Our approach is solution driven, and we build wider movements for change by amplifying and connecting voices.

Task: Consultancy to map gender policy issues in climate resilience and food systems
Region: Kenya
Deadline: September 25

Rural Women Cultivating Change (RWCC) project

Implemented in Kenya, Tanzania and Ethiopia, the RWCC project aims to shift the cultural attitudes and structures that limit young and adult rural women (particularly women small holder farmers, female heads of households (FHHs) and survivors of Sexual Gender Based Violence (SGBV)) allowing them to take control of their own lives, advocate for themselves and others and take leadership within communities and beyond. Using gender transformative, participatory agroecological, women leadership approaches and reinforcing interventions aimed at preventing SGBV, the project focuses on the intersection between women’s rights and climate adaptation in order to better support sustainable and equitable resource management, agricultural production and access to markets. It further alleviates poverty through reduced personal and collective vulnerability to social, economic and climate shocks.

The project targets remote rural regions of Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania where farming is the primary occupation and principal use of women’s labor, to undertake work at the intersection of women’s rights and climate adaptation. The Project targets a number of areas, including North Wollo Zone of Amhara Region in Ethiopia; Baringo, Nakuru, Laikipia and Kitui counties in Kenya; and Morogoro and Gairo District Councils of Morogoro, Babati and Mbulu District Councils of Manyara and Mwanga and Same District Councils of Kilimanjaro Regions in Tanzania. The Project works in collaboration with women’s rights organizations (WROs) and agricultural based organizations to support climate adaptation, increase food security, enhance gender equality, reduce sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), and improve livelihoods for rural women.

One of the intermediate outcomes of the project is enhanced benefit for Y/A women, particularly from FHHs, in climate-resilient and local food systems including income-generation.

Purpose, scope and objective

Hivos is seeking to hire a consultant to conduct a mapping exercise to identify policy issues relating to women in climate resilience and local food systems in communities in the four project counties in Kenya (Baringo, Kitui, Laikipia and Nakuru).

Over the last few decades, a lot of research has been produced on the important role of women in food systems, the existing barriers and opportunities and the role of women in agricultural transformation. The evidence has revealed that achieving gender equality and women’s empowerment in food systems will greatly improve food security and nutrition.

Additionally, gender inequality coupled with climate change has been branded one of the greatest challenges of our time. It poses threats to ways of life, livelihoods, health, safety and security for women and girls around the world. In practice it has been difficult for policy practitioners to make the vital connection between gender, social equity and climate change.

The purpose of the study is to expose the policy gaps and opportunities in this correlation between the disparate impacts of climate change and the linkage between women’s empowerment and food systems in all the targeted 4 counties.

This assignment should provide Hivos with grounded policy analysis, insight, and perspectives to inform the design of the RWCC project in gender, climate justice, and food systems.

Tasks

The consultant will embark on the following tasks;

1. Provide an elaborate methodology and a detailed plan for the study.
2. Provide a detailed report that looks at climate change and food systems through the lens of intersectional feminism, identifying salient policy gaps and opportunities in the four counties.
3. Presentation at policy dialogue workshop in order to provide the opportunity for key stakeholders to collectively make sense of the findings.

Expected outputs

The expected outputs/deliverables from this assignment are;

• A financial and technical offer, detailing the proposed methodology and the work plan for the study. The technical offer can include contributions from relevant experts (agriculture, climate change, food systems and gender). Before the contract is signed, the selected consultants will present the technical offer and work plan to Hivos during a face-to-face or virtual work session and will review it in line with the feedback received.
• A draft report.
• A final report highlighting the key policy issues in the context analysis, the, gains, gaps and opportunities.
• PowerPoint presentation of preliminary findings to the project team and donor.
• Presentation of and discussion on the findings in a policy lab with policy makers in the four counties.

Time frame

It is expected that the report should be finished within 60 working days from the date of engagement.

Skills and qualifications of consultants

We are looking for consultants/team with the following skills and qualifications;

• Demonstrable expertise in policy research, reviewing and evaluating policies and legislation, with a minimum of 10 years record in agriculture, climate change, food systems and gender and a master’s degree in the relevant fields.
• Good knowledge and a proven track record working on climate justice and policy work at local, regional, and international levels.
• Have experience working/research among smallholder farmers especially in rural areas.
• Strong practical, analytical, research and evidence-based climate change and agriculture advisory experience.
• Extensive research and policy circle networks in the country and the respective counties are an advantage.

Application process and requirements

Qualified and interested parties are asked to submit the following:

A detailed technical and financial proposal clearly demonstrating a thorough understanding of this ToR and including but not limited to the following;

• Company profile (where applicable).
• Description of the methodology and work plan (technical offer).
• Demonstrated previous experience in similar tasks and other qualifications outlined in this ToR.
• Team composition ( if applicable)
• A detailed budget with breakdown of costs for the study.

All proposals should be sent electronically with attachments in pdf and a subject line: RWCC Project- Consultancy to map gender policy issues in climate resilience and food systems to eastafricajobs@hivos.org not later than 25^th September 2022.