TOR Consultant - Review of Country Strategy

Description

Terms of Reference

Title

Short-term consultancy for the review of Country Program strategy for 2026-2030 at Heifer Nigeria

Type of Appointment

Independent Contract Agreement

Duration of the Assignment

Not more than 60days

Eligible Service providers

Consultant

Location

Abuja, Nigeria

I. INTRODUCTION

1.1 About Heifer International

Heifer International is a global non-profit organization on a mission to end hunger and poverty and caring for the earth. Since 1944, Heifer International through its work in 21 countries (in Africa, Asia, and the Americas) has supported more than 46 million people around the world to achieve sustainable living incomes or be on the pathway to sustainable living income. Working with rural communities across Africa for the past 50 years, Heifer International supports farmers and local food producers to strengthen local economies and build secure livelihoods for farming families. Heifer’s foundation was built on the belief that ending hunger begins with giving people the means to feed themselves, generate income and achieve sustainable livelihoods. Heifer’s global vision for 2020 - 2030 is to close the living income gap for additional 10 million families. This vision is a focused approach for the African continent to support at 6.47 million smallholder farmers in Africa reach sustainable living income. As a part of this commitment, Heifer has expanded its presence in Africa to include Nigeria, with a goal of supporting at least two million farming households to achieve sustainable living income by 2030, through (a) strategic private and public sector partnerships, (b) unlocking demand and market opportunities, (c) investing in priority value chains, and (d) leveraging innovation and emerging agricultural technologies to reach transformational scale. More information about Heifer is available at: www.heifer.org

1.2 About Heifer Nigeria

Heifer International established its Nigeria Country Program in 2021, and its Signature Program for Nigeria, named “Naija Unlock”, was designed, and launched. Naija Unlock program’s aim is to support the unlocking of the potential in Nigeria’s agricultural sector to achieve food self-sufficiency by working with smallholder farmers and local value chain actors to increase their productivity to meet local demand for food and raw material while closing the living income gaps for families in the rice, tomato, and poultry, as well as cattle, sheep, and goat value chains. Naija Unlock is an evidence-based Signature Program designed to close the living income gap of smallholder farmers at scale with the permanence of impact. The goal is to assist more than one million households to achieve sustainable living income by 2025, and scale to two million households by 2030, through strategic private and public sector partnerships to (a) build the social capital of smallholder farmers, (b) unlock farmers access to innovative financing, (c) unlock demand and market opportunities, (d) increase farmers access to mechanization and emerging agricultural innovations, and (e) increase farmers knowledge and adoption of climate-smart agricultural practices. Naija Unlock program activities are being implemented currently in five (5) states in Nigeria which include Edo, Nasarawa, Benue, Ogun, and Lagos States. It is implementing activities in other states with the potential to increase impact at a transformational scale through strategic private sector partnership. The desire of Heifer Nigeria to improve program implementation in alignment with country stakeholders’ priorities, informs its plan to review and update its current 5-year (2021-2025) country program strategy to cover another 5-year period (2026-2030) for which it is seeking the service of consultant strategy expert(s) to support the team.

II. PURPOSE OF THE ASSIGNMENT

The purpose and objectives of this activity are as outlined below.

• Review of current strategy document
  
  

The consultant will review the current country strategy (2021-2025) in alignment with country operation and the implementation of program, projects, and activities. The consultant is expected to identify operational and program implementation gaps and challenges in comparison with stakeholders’ priorities and Heifer International goal strategies.

• Conduct landscape assessment of agricultural sector in Nigeria
  
  

The consultant will conduct a desk review of relevant current policies and programs of the government at both national and state levels to identify priorities areas. This will also include a review of the activities of organizations involved with agricultural development in the country including the locations of the identified activities, and areas of potential synergies with Heifer’s priorities.

• Updating of country strategy
  
  

The third objective of this activity is the development of an updated country strategy which is expected to be shaped by the results from objectives one and two, the learnings from program implementation in the first period- 2021-2025, and should incorporate inputs from Heifer team and select partners as may be identified by Heifer Nigeria leadership. The updated strategy document will be outlined in alignment with Heifer Africa’s 5-strategic pillars of “People, Program, Process, Presence, and Partnership” and Heifer International’s current operating and program models.

III. SCOPE OF WORK

Heifer Nigeria is interested in engaging the services of an experienced consultant to support the review of its 2021-2025 strategy and to develop an updated version of it for 2026-2030. The consultant will conduct a review of Heifer Nigeria’s operation and program implementation from inception and the learnings thereof in support of this assignment. The consultant will also conduct a review of how well the country team is doing with reference to Heifer’s mission, and values, and evidence of its adherence to its signature program pillars. The consultant shall work with Heifer Nigeria team and other relevant stakeholders to identify learnings and priorities. The result of these reviews will support the development of a new strategy and plan that will guide the operation of the country office and the implementation of its programs and projects from 2026 to 2030 fiscal years.

IV. EXPECTED DELIVERABLES

The consultant will be expected to produce reports around the following areas:

• a review of country context and opportunities
• a review of country program focused value chains and relevance to country economic growth
• systemic constraints in the agricultural sector in Nigeria and potential solutions
• agricultural and agribusiness stakeholder landscape and focus
• a review of Heifer Nigeria’s signature program implementation- 2021-2025
• a review of gender and social inclusion strategy
• a review of country risk management strategy
• a review of Heifer Nigeria’s partnership status and strategy
• a review of country program positioning status and strategy
• Timelines
  
  

The successful candidate/firm will adhere to the timelines listed in the table below.

Activity

Duration (Days)

Contract signing

0

Inception meeting

1

Submission and review of detailed work plan

5

Submission of report from the review of country context and opportunities

5

Submission of report of the review of country program focused value chains and their relevance to current stakeholder priorities for country economic growth

3

Submission of report of analysis of systemic constraints in the agricultural sector in Nigeria, potential solutions, and implications for Heifer program development.

7

Submission of report of the analysis of agricultural and agribusiness stakeholder landscape and focus

7

Submission of report of the assessment of Heifer Nigeria’s signature program performance.

7

Submission of an assessment report of Heifer Nigeria’s gender and social inclusion performance

5

Submission of a report of the assessment of country risk management strategy

5

Submission of report of assessment of partnership engagement status and positioning strategy.

5

Submission of comprehensive strategy document.

10

Qualifications

VI. REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCES

Education: Advanced degree- Master’s or higher degree in agriculture, sustainable development, project management, sociology, economics, etc.

Experience

• At least 10 years of experience in strategic planning, program design and development, project assessment, and stakeholder engagement. A strategic thinker, capable of understanding the “big picture” and working out detailed solutions.
• Experience in market system development projects will be an advantage.
• Fully proficient in Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and Excel, MS Access.
• High level of proficiency is required with excellent writing and communication skills
• Good analytical ability and high sense of discretion
• Good computer and report writing skills;
• Ability to work with minimal supervision and under pressure.
• Eligible to work in Nigeria
  
  

VII. PAYMENT

Heifer International will pay to the consultant, a fee that is based on agreed daily consultants competitive market rate and is aligned with level of education and experience doing similar assignment. Payments will be tied to the completion of outlined deliverables and submission of invoices.

Viii. How To Apply

Interested consultants legally eligible to implement this assignment in Nigeria are requested to submit a duly signed Application indicating current consultancy rate per day. Submissions must be in English and typed single-spaced using Times New Roman font size 12, with a complete set of appendices/attachments as applicable. Proposals received after the submission deadline will not be considered. Applicants are responsible to ensure their applications are submitted according to the instructions stated herein. Heifer retains the right to terminate this call for applications or modify the requirements upon notification to the Offerors.

Deadline for Application: 27th February 2025










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