West Africa is one of the most vulnerable regions in the world due of its climate, demographic, institutional, economic, environmental context and means of subsistence. This region has more than 360 million inhabitants, of which 55% live in rural areas and rely on natural resources for their socio-economic development. Agriculture accounts for 29% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the region and constitutes the main source of subsistence for more than 60% of West Africans.
Climate, agricultural and market risks are causing performance of agriculture to be very volatile, triggering more frequent and severe food crises.
Aggravation of food insecurity is due to multiple factors, playing a major role, and involving a drop of per capita food production.
In 2020, approximately 16.7 million West African were in need of emergency food assistance because of a non-atypical combination of drought, poverty, high prices of cereals, degradation of environment, displacements, weak trade integration and conflicts.
Thus, the West African region is characterized by large scale vulnerability related to a very slow increase of food system productivity involving a reduction of per capita food availabilities.
Market imperfections (variation and volatility of basic commodities prices) constitute one of factors contributing to push households in food and nutritional insecurity. Indeed, the greatest part of intra-regional food products trading is informal and hampered by many obstacles to free movement. As a consequence, food markets are fragmented making it difficult for adaptation to great variations of local food production, which occur from one year to another. Effective distributing of food from surplus zones to deficit zones could be envisaged. Localized food shortages and prices volatility are frequent, while producers’ prices remain low.
The COVID-19 pandemic is exerting an additional pressure on food system, threatening to increase malnutrition and food insecurity among vulnerable populations. The pandemic caused medical and economic crises which reduced access to food - for example, by increasing unemployment and by reducing purchasing power - in particular among urban poor people. Fragile countries will record a more drastic decline of their growth, because COVID-19 exacerbates fragility factors. The number of people living in poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa should considerably increase, up to 40 million additional people, which will have a negative impact on food security in short and long terms.
In addition to its quasi-permanent nature, vulnerability in West Africa stand out by an inequality among social groups. This demarcation is related to incapacity in acquisition of productive resources. Indeed, great inequalities persist between women and men in terms of access to resources to help improve living conditions through agriculture – including in particular access to land, equipment, credit, markets and provision of consulting and support services.
Faced with these observations, the region made strong commitments to transform agriculture and to build resilience of food system. Thus, three mutually-reinforced fields of intervention were proposed as priorities to reinforce resilience of the food system in West Africa:
- Supporting productive base of food system while investing in climate-smart agriculture, exploitations and landscapes.
- Promoting a conducive environment for development of value chains and intra-regional trade.
- Reinforcing regional capacity to manage agricultural risks.
To handle these priorities, the region received financing from the World Bank, to implement the West Africa Food System Resilience Programme (FSRP).
Brief overview of the Programme
Initiated within the framework of implementation of the region’s commitments, development objectives of the West Africa Food System Resilience Programme (FSRP) seek to increase preparedness to food insecurity and to improve resilience of actors of food system, priority landscapes and value chains in the Programme intervention zones.
The first phase of the Programme covered four (4) countries (Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, Togo) and regional actions carried by ECOWAS, CILSS and CORAF. The Programme is financed by the World Bank at a cost of approximately 570 million dollars over a period of five (5) years. It is organized around the following five (5) components:
Component 1 (managed by CILSS): Provision of digital consulting services for prevention and management of agricultural and food crises, with the following main targets: (i) improving systems for assistance in decision-making with demand-based information services in order to improve effectiveness of prevention and management of agricultural and food crises, while integrating data and drawing from science, innovation and state-of-the-art technologies; and (ii) building regional capacity and institutional sustainability, as well as capacity of adaptation to climate change.
Component 2 (managed by CORAF): Sustainability and adaptation capacity of Food System productive base which main aims are: (i) building national and regional systems for agricultural research; (ii) strengthening political environment to achieve governance of landscapes (inclusive multisector policies and regulations to avoid, reduce and reverse land degradation); and (iii) creating/reinforcing integrated landscapes management units to sustainably achieve multiple goals (food production, provision of eco-systemic services, protection of biodiversity and improvement of local means of subsistence).
Composing 3 (managed by ECOWAS ): Integration of regional food markets and trade with the following targets: (i) supporting drafting and implementation of sound regional policies and regulation in order to facilitate trading of goods and agricultural inputs within and beyond national borders in West Africa, through the main corridors, (ii) consolidating food reserve system; and (iii) supporting development of regional strategic value chains, with tangible positive potential impacts on regional food security and nutrition.
Specifically, activities to be undertaken by the ECOWAS Department of Agriculture, Environment and Water Resources are the following:
- Facilitate trade through the main corridors and consolidate food reserve system:
- Supervise development and implementation of the evaluation scorecard on trade and agricultural market of ECOWAS (EATM-Scorecard);
- Reinforce and operationalise the ECOWAS Observatory on rice for West Africa by improving its capacity for coordination, data acquisition and regular communication on development of rice value chain;
- Stimulate harmonization of agricultural regional marketing policies on critical issues of food system resilience;
- Support ECOWAS dialogue and multi-actors’ political consultation. The FSRP will support the ECOWAS facilitation capacity to organize inclusive mechanisms of dialogue and multi-actors’ consultation, negotiations related on the continental free trade zone and the World Trade Organization (WTO);
- Improve performance of the regional food security reserves on the three levels (local, national and regional food security Reserve - RFSR).
- Support development of strategic and regional value chains:
- Improve organization and financing of strategic regional value chains;
- Promote agricultural competitiveness and market infrastructures, through support for regional agricultural trade platforms;
- Reinforce multi-actors’ coordination and promote an environment favourable to private sector.
Component 4: Contingent Emergency Response Component (CERC) which is a finance mechanism for eligible expenditure in the event of urgency caused by a natural disaster. Activation of this component makes it possible to quickly release funds to reduce damage caused to infrastructures, to ensure continuity of activities and to recover more quickly from a disaster. Following a major disaster, the affected country may request the World Bank to channel resources of other components of the FSRP towards the CERC. As a condition for release of funds, an Emergency Response Manual (ERM) will be prepared for each country, stipulating fiduciary, safeguard, monitoring and reporting requirements on using the CERC, and any other key provision on coordination and implementation.
Component 5 (managed by ECOWAS): Programme management which will delegate technical work within the framework of components 1 and 2, to mandated organizations (notably CILSS for component 1 and CORAF for component 2). Component 5 seeks an effective management of the Programme and close monitoring of performance and impact.
For the Programme overall coordination, a Regional Coordination Unit (RCU) will be established. It is made up of: I) one Regional Coordinator, II) one Expert in monitoring-evaluation, Capitalization and Knowledge management, III) one Expert in Communication and Visibility, IV) one Coordination Assistant, V) one Expert in Environmental Protection, VII) one Assistant in Administration and Finances, and VIII) one Assistant in Procurement.
The following positions will be based in Abuja (Nigeria) at the ECOWAS Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DADR), responsible for implementation, coordination and management of the Programme:
- Regional Coordinator.
- Expert in Monitoring-evaluation, Capitalization and Knowledge management.
- Expert in Communication and Visibility.
- Coordination Assistant.
- Expert in Environmental Protection.
The following positions will be based in Lomé (Togo) at the ECOWAS Regional Agency for Agriculture and Food (RAAF), which ensures the Programme administrative management and financial:
- Administration and Finances Assistant.
- Procurement Assistant.
These terms of references describe the conditions for recruitment of four (4) of these positions within the framework of the FSRP.
Recruitment of staff for the Regional Coordination Unit (RCU)
List of staff
| N° Order | Positions of Consultants | Number |
|---|---|---|
|
1 |
Regional Coordinator |
01 |
|
2 |
Expert in Monitoring-evaluation, Capitalization and Knowledge management |
01 |
|
3 |
Coordination Assistant |
01 |
|
4 |
Expert in Communication and Visibility |
01 |
Consultant, Regional Coordinator
Duties/Responsibilities
The Coordinator is the Head of the Programme Regional Coordination Unit (RCU). His/her role is to ensure implementation of operational Component 3 and the Programme overall coordination. He/she is under the line authority of the Director of Agriculture and Rural Development of ECOWAS, and will work in close cooperation with RAAF teams.
The duty station will be in Abuja, Nigeria, at the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DADR) of ECOWAS.
In this capacity, he/she will be in charge of the following tasks:
- Coordinate technical and financial execution of activities of the Programme in relation with various implementation institutions (CILSS, ECOWAS, CORAF, countries participating in the FSRP) in order to reach expected outcomes in accordance with the Project Paper (PAD) and the Convention signed with the World Bank.
- Prepare documents to be submitted for non-objection notification from the World Bank, work programme (PTBA), procurement plan; etc.
- Monitor service providers who may be mobilized to accompany the Programme implementation (drafting of TDR, monitoring of services).
- Ensure mobilization of partner organizations, operational coordination of activities, and effective and efficient the FSRP stock management.
- Ensure daily management of the Programme, including activities of team management.
- Ensure monitoring of activities at regional level (ECOWAS, CILSS, CORAF) and maintain close relationships with Programme managers in recipient countries.
- Supervise and contribute in drafting progress reports and final reports of the Programme implementation, in accordance with contractual provisions applicable to financings received from the World Bank.
- Supervise production, within deadlines, of periodic reports of the Programme implementation, as well as reports presented during meetings of the Programme Regional Steering committee (RSC).
- Contribute to practical organization of meetings of the RSC, Technical Follow-up Committees of (TFC) and meetings with various implementation partners of the Programme.
- Facilitate discussions, information flow and coordination (drafting minutes of meetings, reports of missions or visits, etc) among all actors involved in the FSRP implementation.
- Develop consultation and collaboration with all the FSRP recipients and donors.
- Organize and contribute to good organisation of joint missions for support, mid-term review and completion.
- Ensure continuous filing of the Programme files.
- Ensure synergy and complementarity with programmes and projects financed by the World Bank and other donors in countries and in the West Africa region.
- Ensure effective inclusion of environmental and social aspects in the implementation of activities.
- Represent the Programme in its relations with external partners.
- Carry out all other tasks in connection with achieving objectives of the Programme.
Qualifications, experience, competence
Qualifications
- Hold a diploma from a recognized University with a minimum level of Master’s degree, GCE + at least 5 years in a field of rural development or related fields (agronomy, agroeconomics, science of the environment, economics, etc); holding a diploma of doctorate/PhD in the field of the programme would be an advantage.
Experience
- At least ten (10) years of experience in the field of management of programmes/development projects in rural development, natural resources management, or in fields related to resilience to food insecurity;
- Practical experience in support to management, or coordination, or monitoring-evaluation of regional projects or programme on food and nutritional security and or rural development in West Africa;
- Practical knowledge on financing of projects by donors; practical experience in a project financed by the World Bank would be an asset.
Competence
- Good knowledge on issues and challenges of food and nutritional security, resilience in West Africa;
- Knowledge in analysis of agricultural policies and resilience;
- Good knowledge of agricultural policies, food and nutritional security and resilience in CILSS-ECOWAS -UEMOA countries;
- Knowledge in planning and implementation of projects/programmes (in particular methodology of logical framework, results-based management and project cycle methodology);
- Excellent leadership skills (autonomy, leadership of a multicultural team, activate listening, ECOWAS representation, conflicts management, delegations, etc)
- Excellent communication skills (written/spoken, interpersonal competence, negotiation, networking and presentation);
- Good command of office automation tools (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc);
- Familiar with a multicultural work environment;
- Perfect command of French and English.
Consultant, Expert in Monitoring-evaluation, Capitalization and Knowledge management
Duties/Responsibilities
Under the line authority of the Regional Coordinator and in close cooperation with the ECOWAP monitoring-evaluation service within DADR and RAAF, the Expert in Monitoring-evaluation, Capitalization and Knowledge management has the mission of ensuring planning of activities, monitoring-evaluation, and capitalization of the Programme achievements.
The duty station will be in Abuja, Nigeria, at the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DADR) of ECOWAS.
In this capacity, his/her duties and responsibilities are presented in five (5) large domains:
Planning and monitoring of the Programme activities
- Provide support in drafting workplan, annual, semi-annual and quarterly budgets, while defining from the beginning, a framework for measurement of the Programme performance.
- Ensure regular follow-up on these plans, identifies difficulties of implementation and proposes recommendations for improvements.
- Prepare and organize meetings for review of activities of the Programme and provides results matrices.
- Support implementation teams and build their capacities in monitoring of their activities.
- Coordinate monitoring missions in the field and follow-up on recommendations.
- Oversee application of provisions contained in the Programme implementation manuals and procedures in force.
- Provide support for the Programme administrative execution.
- Undertake in collaboration with the Coordinator, any other initiative in relation to monitoring-evaluation, likely to promote effective and good execution of the Programme.
- Ensure documentation and filing of the Programme.
- Carry out any other duty which will be entrusted to him/her by DADR and RAAF.
Monitor indicators of performances and coordination of reporting
- Define a framework for measurement of the Programme performance, consistent with ECOWAP indicators.
- Inform and analyse performance indicators.
- Elaborate methodological tools and capacity building tools as regards monitoring-evaluation, capitalization and management of knowledge.
- Coordinate drafting of various mandatory reports: final report, quarterly/semi-annual/annual reports of the Programme.
- Use monitoring-evaluation software (MESECOPS, ECOWAP M&E platform, KoBoToolbox, etc) used at the ECOWAS Department of Agriculture, Environment and Water resources (DAERE) or as required by the Bank.
- Generally, contribute in the M&E system of the ECOWAP.
Coordination of monitoring missions (supervision, field visit, et and evaluation (baseline, mid-term and, final)
- Prepare independent evaluation missions and support planned mandatory evaluations (ToR, documentation, field visit).
- Manage evaluation process, ensure quality reporting and sharing.
- Ensure implementation of recommendations.
- Facilitate conduct of annual technical audits of the Programme.
Conduct of impact studies on recipients of the Programme actions
- Prepare planned impact evaluation missions (ToR, recruitment of consultants, methodology, field study, etc).
- Organize and facilitate impact evaluation studies on recipients, and the Programme sustainability.
Capitalization and Knowledge management
- Develop and implement, in collaboration with the Expert in Communication and Visibility, an effective knowledge management strategy, by ensuring capitalization and dissemination of achievements, success stories and failures (selection of information to be capitalized, learning event, exchange networks, dissemination of best practices on various communication mediums and channels, etc).
Qualifications, experience, competence
Qualifications
- A university degree (GCE+5 years) in monitoring-evaluation, project management, agricultural economics, rural development, economics, agronomics, agri-economics, statistics or in any related field.
Experience
- At least eight (8) years in planning, monitoring-evaluation in agricultural development projects or resilience;
- Experience in development and implementation of monitoring-evaluation systems;
- Experience in a project financed by the World Bank would be an asset;
- Experience in impact evaluations.
Competence
- Knowledge of West African agricultural sector;
- Experience in monitoring-evaluation databases management for complex programmes;
- Prior knowledge of statistical analysis, quantitative and qualitative data collection, processing and analysis;
- Strong familiarity with results-based management and logical frameworks;
- Good sense of organization and good capacities of synthesis and drafting;
- Excellent competence in technical drafting and more particularly regular reporting in accordance with requirements of the World Bank;
- Very good command of office automation tools (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Publisher, etc) and statistical software (SPSS, STATA, etc);
- Knowledge of a follow-up software would be an asset;
- Proven drafting capacities;
- Familiar with a multicultural work environment;
- Command of French and English.
Consultant, Coordination Assistant
Duties/Responsibilities
Under the line authority of the Regional Coordinator and in close cooperation with RAAF teams, the Coordination Assistant has the mission of supporting the Coordinator of the Programme Regional Coordination Unit (RCU) in the daily execution of the Programme.
The duty station will be in Abuja, Nigeria, at the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DADR) of ECOWAS.
In this capacity, he/she will be in charge of the following tasks:
- Assist the Coordinator in the implementation of the FSRP daily activities;
- Assist with preparation of required documents for various meetings, including the Regional Steering Committee and ensure reporting;
- Draft administrative documents (letters, memos, reports, minutes, proceedings, etc);
- Ensure treatment, transmission of mail and ensure replies (systematic) to the various mails;
- Ensure centralization, organization and filing of documents of the Programme (filing);
- Attend organization and holding of meetings and all working sessions of the Programme;
- Ensure follow-up on treatment of technical, administrative and financial dossiers of the coordination;
- Contribute to monitoring field activities;
- Represent the Coordinator in the implementation of some activities;
- Carry out all other tasks in connection with achieving objectives of the Programme.
Qualifications, experience, competence
Qualifications
- Hold a university degree of least GCE +4 years in a field in relation with projects management, rural development or in related fields (agronomics, agri-economics, science of the environment, economics, etc). A postgraduate university diploma would be an advantage.
Experience
- Justify at least five (5) years of experience in the field of management/monitoring-evaluation of programmes/projects in connexion with food security and resilience in West Africa;
- Justify experience in a project financed by an international donor; successful experience with a project financed by the World Bank would be an asset.
Competence
- Good knowledge of issues and challenges of food and nutritional security, resilience in West Africa;
- Good knowledge of agricultural policies, food and nutritional security, resilience in CILSS-ECOWAS -UEMOA countries;
- Knowledge in planning and implementation of projects/programmes (in particular methodology of logical framework, result-based management and cycle project methodology);
- Good communication skills (written/spoken, interpersonal competences, negotiation, networking and presentation)
- Very good command of office automation tools (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc);
- Familiar with a multicultural work environment;
- Perfect Command of French and English.
Consultant, Expert in Communication and Visibility
Duties/Responsibilities
Under the line authority of the Regional Coordinator and in close cooperation with RAAF Communication Service, the Expert in Communication and Visibility has the role of ensuring planning of activities, communication/visibility of activities, and capitalization of FSRP achievements. Generally, the Expert in Communication and Visibility will define and implement the Programme strategy and communication plan focusing on two (2) main pillars which contribute in ECOWAP implementation: (i) visibility of activities, results and achievements of the Programme, and (ii) implementation of a knowledge dissemination management system (internal and external).
The duty station will be in Abuja, Nigeria, at the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DADR) of ECOWAS.
The following results are expected:
- The Programme visibility of is increased with the public and the various actors involved its implementation;
- The public and the media understand the Programme objectives and changes achieved;
- Communication tools and mediums are regularly developed and disseminated.
In this capacity, he/she will be in charge of the following tasks:
Propose a strategy and communication plan
- Define a strategy and a communication plan in order to communicate with all public likely to be interested by the Programme activities (decision-makers and countries recipients covered by the Programme, technical and financial partners, civil society, agricultural professional organization, etc).
Internal communication
- Ensure management and good information flow within the Programme team and ECOWAS, CILSS and CORAF;
- Facilitate communication with all actors involved in the Programme implementation,
- Produce or revise communication mediums intended for recipients and partners, and guarantee conformity of mediums with ECOWAS graphic charter in force;
- Coordinate information visits and missions of the Programme;
- Contribute in structuring a relevant information monitoring for the Programme.
External communication
- Consolidate a base of contacts for dissemination of contents produced by the Programme,
- Design and request contents for quarterly publication of a newspaper of the Programme and ensure its broad dissemination;
- Identify in a proactive way, meet, establish and cultivate relationships with the main national, regional and international medias, in order to increase the Programme visibility, by updating contacts and databases, and by ensuring availability of necessary media information. During organization or participation in international events (press conferences, press releases, social networks), this includes in particular organization of reporting, televised and or radiophonic debates in the project intervention fields, etc;
- Focus on strategy media/social networks in order to reach the maximum of targets which will be defined in the Programme strategy and communication plan, this in particular includes organization of communication campaigns on social media to engage the various recipients on the Programme activities, results and achievements;
- Contribute in the organisation of the FSRP and DADR/RAAF Web sites and social networks accounts;
- Draft press releases, analyses, blogs, stories/testimonies;
- Design multi-media and computer graphics tools (Photoshop, iMovie, etc);
- Ensure photographic and audio-visual coverage of the Programme events;
- Establish exchanges and collaboration relations with communication departments of countries taking part in the Programme, CILSS and CORAF.
Capitalization and knowledge management
- In collaboration with the Expert in monitoring-evaluation, Capitalization and Knowledge management, develop and implement an effective strategy of knowledge management, by ensuring capitalization and dissemination of achievements, successes and failures (selection of information to be capitalized, learning events, exchange networks, dissemination of best practice on various communication mediums and channels, etc).
Qualifications, experience, competence
Qualifications
- University degree (GCE+4 years) in communication or journalism or any other related field.
Experience
- Justify at least eight (8) years of experience as expert in communication/visibility;
- Experience in a project financed by the World Bank would be an asset.
Competence
- Knowledge of the West African agricultural sector;
- Knowledge in result and impacts based communication;
- Very good written and spoken communication skills;
- Very great skills of synthesis and excellent capacity of restitution of complex reports in a language accessible to the general public;
- Very good relational qualities;
- Good knowledge as well as experience on practice of print, spoken and online medias;
- Very good command of office automation tools (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Publisher, etc);
- Very good command of communication and information technologies, in particular social networks and medias;
- Familiar with a multicultural work environment;
- Perfect Command of French and English.
General conditions for all positions
Place, duration and beginning of the mission
- Staff will be based in Abuja, in Nigeria, at the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DADR) of ECOWAS;
- Duration of the mission is for the full lifetime of the Project after a probationary period of six months;
- The beginning of the mission is envisaged for June 1st, 2022;
- The position is full-time;
- The Consultant shall abstain from any situation which could put him/her in conflicts interests within the framework of the mission assigned to him/her.
Application package
Application package consists of:
- a letter of expression of interest, including the date of availability;
- a recent curriculum vitae providing details on professional experience and similar missions;
- Three professional references (full name, current and previous functions, telephone and email contacts)
- Certified copy of the highest diploma;
- Copies of work certificates or provision of services, as listed in the curriculum vitae.
Method of selection
Consultants will be selected according to selection method based on qualification as defined by the Employment Rules of Consultants in projects financed by the World Bank. An interview may be organized with shortlisted candidates.
Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. RAAF reserves the right not to proceed with this call for applications.
Kindly find below the Interest of call for application
How to Apply
Applications are received at the latest on 4 MAY 2022 at 5 PM GMT, hand-delivered or by email at the following addresses:
- Regional Agency for Agriculture and Food (RAAF), 83, Rue de la Pâture, Lomé, Togo (in a sealed envelope marked: “Application for the position of Consultant, PLEASE SPECIFY THE POSITION, West Africa Food Security Resilience Programme (FSRP)”
- Email: recrutements.FSRP2022@araa.org
- Subject: “Application for position of Consultant, PLEASE SPECIFIY THE POSITION, West Africa Food Security Resilience Programme (FSRP)