Value Chain Assessment Consultant

PSEA and Child Safeguarding
CARE International in Lebanon is an Equal Opportunity Employer and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any kind. All applicants will be considered for employment without attention to race, color, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, or disability status.
CARE International in Lebanon and its employees and stakeholders abide by the CARE International Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA) and Child Safeguarding Policies.

CARE is a humanitarian non-governmental organization committed to working with poor women, men, boys, girls, communities, and institutions to have a significant impact on the underlying causes of poverty. CARE seeks to contribute to economic and social transformation, unleashing the power of the most vulnerable women and girls. Amongst CARE International’s key imperatives is putting people it serves first through implementing cutting edge programming in areas it operates. CARE International in Lebanon (CIL) has been mainly responding to the Syria crisis, but now shifting to a new strategic direction assisting as well vulnerable Lebanese households and other underserved communities.

CARE International presence in Lebanon stems from 2006, and recently it has been relaunched in 2013 to support Syrian refugees that were displaced in Lebanon from crisis. Over the course of 7 years, it has supported over half a million beneficiaries by providing protection, food security and livelihoods, and through humanitarian programming such as shelter, WASH, and the distribution of food and non-food items. CIL currently operates across six governorates; Beirut, Mount Lebanon, Akkar, North Lebanon, Beqaa, and South Lebanon, contributing to the needs of populations in complicated protracted emergency situations, delivering immediate and long-term assistance, and complementing the efforts of the Lebanese Government and other humanitarian partners. CIL’s mission is to foster and enhance the protection and resilience of the most disadvantaged people and populations, with an emphasis on the rights of women, children, and the youth. CIL’s programming focuses on enhancing community capacity and serving women, girls, boys, and men to restore stability as part of a non-discriminatory society, with a focus on social cohesion and self-reliance.

Within the framework of the World Food Programme (WFP)’s Livelihood and Resilience Programme 2022-2024, CARE International is leading the development of a Food Security and Livelihoods project proposal, in partnership with Fair Trade Lebanon (FTL) and the Association for Development for Rural capacities (ADR), in North Lebanon and South Lebanon.
This call for proposal’s purpose is to sustainably improve the resilience of individuals, households, communities, and systems in the face of economic and climatic shocks and stressors affecting the food security, nutrition and wellbeing of Lebanese and displaced women and men in vulnerable areas.

The proposed project will build on CARE, FTL and ADR’s current WFP-led AFDAL project (funded by the German Cooperation Agency BMZ). The overall objective of the 2018-2021 AFDAL project is to improve sustainable livelihood opportunities for 1,121 vulnerable community members in targeted refugee and Lebanese communities in North Lebanon and South Lebanon by strengthening competitiveness, quality and productivity of small ruminants (Goat and Sheep) value chain, while addressing immediate food consumption needs of targeted households.

Objectives of project
Under WFP’s strategy, the objectives of the proposed project are:
1. Improved ability of vulnerable groups to participate in resilience programme and increase their access to employment and income
2. Improved performance and inclusiveness of food systems
3. Enhanced management of natural resources and enhanced climate adaptation practices

The project works on three levels, individual, community and system strengthening through identifying and building the capacity and needs of individuals, cooperatives, MSMEs and Municipalities involved in the dairy, meat and fruits and vegetables value chains in the North and South of Lebanon.

Purpose of consultancy
In collaboration with the consortium’s Programs teams, MEAL, Programs and Support Departments, CARE International in Lebanon (CIL) is seeking a consultant to conduct a Value Chains Needs Assessments in North Lebanon and South Lebanon.

The consultant is expected to conduct a desk review of the Project Concept Note, WFP Call for Proposal and the current WFP AFDAL project documentation.S/he will meet with the partners’ Programs staff and participate in consultations and debriefing meetings. S/he is expected to develop a detailed assessment methodology, appropriate data collection tools, to conduct the relevant data collection and to draft a final report at the end of the assessment.

The consultant will be expected to develop a mix of quantitative and qualitative data collection methods such as surveys, focus group discussions, key informant interviews, and field observation visits.

The consultant shall provide a needs assessment report (which should not exceed 30 pages, including the narrative of the project), summarizing the methodology followed for the assessment and the results achieved.

The consultant will also be responsible for the logistical planning for the meetings, interviews and field visits with the support of CARE Program and MEAL departments.
The purpose of this needs assessment is to understand the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the following value chains: dairy, meat, fruits & vegetables in North and South Lebanon, in particular: North Lebanon: Sahel Akkar; Jered El Qaitaa; Akkar; and Dinnieh/South Lebanon: Tyre; Saida; Bint Jbeil; Nabatiyeh; and Marjaayoun.

The findings deducted from this assessment will help develop a complete proposal for WFP and feed into the details of the activities proposed.

Methodology

The methodology follows a standard value chain approach, which consists of

(1) describing the actual facts and figures related to dairy, meat and fruits and vegetables value chain performance;

(2) mapping the dairy, meat and fruits and vegetables value chain and describing operations and main actors,

(3) analyzing the value chain technical capacity,

(4) analyzing economic performance of the value chain including cost of production, profits and accumulated added-value index, and

(5) formulating an up-grading value chain for dairy, meat and fruits and vegetables value including possible interventions at micro-, meso, and macro-levels. It is important to emphasize on the processing and transformation section of each of the value chain.

Deliverables
1. Inception report, within 3 days from signing the contract. 
The inception report is expected to clearly define the assessment methodologies (qualitative and quantitative) with details of sampling (method and sample size), target groups, and assessment plan and timeline with specific deadlines for each deliverable covering both areas.
2. Data collection tools
The consultant will be responsible for developing, coding, and digitalizing the quantitative and qualitative data collection tools.
3. Data collection, cleaning, and analysis
After conducting the data collection, the consultant is expected to submit cleaned; qualitative raw data and its analysis that will be presented in excel spreadsheets and submit FGD and KII transcripts and analysis that will be reported in English.
4. Draft of the assessment report
Draft Assessment report to be submitted within 5 days of the completion of the data collection. The consultant may be expected to amend the report after the review and feedback from the consortium team.
5. Final assessment report
The report should be written in English and should include evidence based and recommendations that will feed into drafting the final proposal.

Timeline:

1. Submit the inception report - 25.10.2021

2.Draft and validate the qualitative and quantitative data collection tools in both English and Arabic - 30.10.2021
3. Collect the data, clean it, and analyze it. Present the raw and analyzed data - 10.11.2021
4. Develop a draft report - 20.11.2021
5. Final assessment report after reviews by partners 30.11.2021

The total budget available for this consultancy is $6,000. The payment will be issued on deliverables after receiving the goods received note from the Line Manager regardless the number of days worked. Please note that the consultant is required to respond to any request for modification or additional information for a period of 2 weeks after the finalization of the deliverables.

Consultant Profile
- At least 5-10 years of relevant experience of management position, especially with NGOs, academic organizations, standard-setting bodies, public agencies focused on Monitoring and Evaluation procedures and Needs Assessments.
- Great understanding of MEAL tools, Needs Assessments, and Accountability to Affected Populations frameworks.
- Master’s degree in one or several of the following areas: Agriculture, Business Development, MEAL, Management, or any related Major.

Competencies
● Experience in quantitative research methods and analysis, including relevant sampling techniques;
● Experience in qualitative methods and analysis and participatory, gender-responsive research;
● Experience in Rapid Needs Assessments;
● Experience in Value Chain and agricultural development projects;
● Fluent in Arabic and English (written, spoken, listening).
● Strong interpersonal skills, with the ability to build strong internal relationships and networks;
● Motivated self-starter who enjoys working in a collaborative and international environment.