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Consultancy for the facilitation of the co-creation process for the Mandera Cluster Co-Creation Corridor Action Plans and Cluster Master Plan

Location: Ethiopia, Kenya & Somalia

Deadline:

Job Description

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL

Reference No: RACIDA/CBCR-23-MDR2023/2024-001

Terms of Reference (ToR)

For the Development of Mandera Cluster Co- Creation Corridor Action Plans and Cluster Master Plan for Strategies for Rural Agency for Community Development and Assistance (RACIDA).

Document Release Date: 31st July 2023

Deadline for Submission of Bids: 14th August 2023

Time: 23:59 PM EAT

Submission Method: Email

Disclaimer: RACIDA reserves the right to determine the structure of the process, the number of short-listed participants, the right to withdraw from the proposal process, the right to change this timetable at any time without notice, and reserves the right to withdraw this tender at any time, without prior notice and without liability to compensate and/or reimburse any party

Synopsis of the Request for Proposal (Individual Consultant / Registered firm)

Solicitation Reference No.

RACIDA/CBCR-23-MDR2023/2024-001

Title of Solicitation

Consultancy for the facilitation of the co-creation process for the Mandera Cluster Co-Creation Corridor Action Plans and Cluster Master Plan

Areas of travel/Target Areas:

  1. Elwak Kenya
  2. Mandera East (Mandera town)
  3. Mandera North (Rhamu town)
  4. Malkamari (Banisa)
  5. Dollo-Ado (Ethiopia)

N/B: This sites may change subject to context

Issuing Office & Address

Rural Agency for Community Development

AssistanceWebsite: www.racida.org

Point of contact for clarifications, questions, and amendments

RACIDA General Procurement, Procurement@racida.org

Email Address for submission of Proposals/ Quotes

RACIDA General Procurement, Procurement@racida.org

Solicitation Issue Date

31st July 2023

Initial Deadline for Submission of Proposals

14th August 2023 23:59 pm EAT

Anticipated Award Type

Consultancy Agreement

Submission and Evaluation Criteria

Bidder must provide the below-listed information:

Mandatory Eligibility Requirement

  • Must be an Individual Consultant/ Registered Consultancy Firm
  • Must submit CV of Key Personnel
  • Must submit a certificate of Incorporation/ Business Registration
  • Must submit a certificate of Tax Compliance.
  • Must Submit Business KRA PIN/ Individual KRA PIN
  • The firm/individual shall not be sanctioned or blacklisted by any government or institution

Technical Evaluation Criteria

  1. Consultant Academic and Professional Qualification-20%
  2. Consultant’s Prior Work Experience- 30%.
  3. Methodology/Approach- 30%
  4. Budget and Workplan – 10%
  5. Language and analytical skills -10%

NB. The minimum technical score shall be 75%. Only the best candidate shall be engaged for financial negotiations.

1. Background

Rural Agency for Community Development and Assistance (RACIDA) was registered as a local non-governmental organization in Kenya in the year 2005. The organization, then, was the brainchild of local professionals and local leaders from the communities of Northern Kenya in the counties of Mandera and Wajir. RACIDA is founded on the need to address poverty and public distress in Kenya, with specific reference to pastoralist communities in the Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASALs) in the Horn of Africa. These are attained through the development and implementation of community-based programs for self-reliance and sustainable development. RACIDA has now gone regional working in Northern Kenya, Southern Ethiopia, and Gedo Region of Somalia.

It’s RACIDA’s desire to nurture a culture that favours proactive and innovative developmental action. We work in participative, consultative, and collaborative ways with our stakeholders, development partners, governments, and civil society organizations through sharing of information, best practices and continue learning. We ensure that the presence of women and their views is an equal part of the RACIDA organization at all levels. We hold ourselves individually and collectively accountable for the promotion of this internal culture.

RACIDA’s programs revolve around drought mitigation and strengthening the capacities of local people, communities, and Community-Based Organizations to enable them effectively manage and prepare for rehabilitation and development. RACIDA uses unique participatory approaches to empower communities to control and manage their local (natural) resources relevant to the region’s harsh climate & remoteness.

2. Project Background

The Cross Border Community Resilience (CBCR) is a project aimed at jointly working with communities and grass-root organizations for joint programming on the pathway to foster border community-led, community-managed, and community-owned resilience initiatives that reduce over-reliance on humanitarian aid in the border region. CBCR embraces locally-led development approaches in which local actors encompassing individuals, communities, networks, organizations, private entities, and governments set their agendas, develop solutions, and bring the capacity, leadership, and resources to make those solutions a reality. CBCR recognizes that local leadership and ownership are essential for fostering sustainable results across development and humanitarian assistance work. Locally led development is a collection of approaches that USAID, its partners, and communities can use to shift the agenda-setting and decision-making power to local actors. The CBCR Activity is financed by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and implemented by Chemonics International Inc and ACDI/VOCA through Rural Agency for Community Development Assistance (RACIDA). The project uses the concept of “Co-creation” which is an intentional, collaborative design approach that brings people together to collectively produce a mutually valued outcome, using a participatory process that assumes some degree of shared power and decision-making. Co-creation can be used across the program cycle in both competitive and non-competitive situations to help advance USAID priorities and innovations. Co-Creation aligns to USAID’s priorities as follows;

  • Creates a platform to help development practitioners and the private sector to identify areas of mutual interest and speak the same language.
  • Elevates diverse local voices across the program cycle, enhances their power in the process, and facilitates joint ownership of USAID investments.
  • Reduces barriers to entry for new and underutilized partners to engage and work with USAID while attracting those with new, needed voices to USAID to design and test innovative ideas.
  • Can be used to facilitate new partnerships and generate mutually beneficial outcomes not only between USAID and partners but also among groups of stakeholders.
  • Aligns closely with Collaborating, Learning, and Adapting (CLA) and can be directly integrated into CLA tools and approaches (e.g., using pause-and-reflect sessions to also co-create activities).

3. THE CONTEXT OF THE CONSULTANCY

To address the myriad of issues affecting cross-border communities in the Mandera cluster, there is a need to bring together stakeholders including individuals, communites, organizations, and governments to find solutions to development challenges and foster local ownership. Co-creation brings local communities together to design solutions to specific development challenges collectively. Through co-creation, we can capitalize on shared knowledge and experiences to produce great outcomes.

Co-creation workshops will be conducted with communities and other stakeholders where the root cause analysis shall be done to identify long-term development challenges, opportunities, and learning and solutions suggested related to social cohesion, livelihood and employment opportunities, management, and equitable sharing of natural resources and cross-border collaboration, private sector engagements and expansion of livelihoods. Participants from the various corridors will recommend and prioritize activities and develop community action plans for potential funding by the CBCR Activity. The corridor plans shall then be consolidated into the Cluster Master Action Plan which shall be validated by cluster stakeholders who shall have an opportunity to discuss, refine and prioritize activities identified from the grassroots level. The different stakeholders, including CBCR research organizations, participating in the co-creation will also identify opportunities for collaboration in the implementation of the identified priorities. RACIDA will recommend to CBCR general topics as well as highlight specific activities CBCR should fund.

To effectively conduct the corridor and cluster-level co-creation workshops, RACIDA is seeking a consultant to facilitate and document the process to achieve the desired outcomes of co-creation. The consultant shall clearly define the parameters of co-creation and ensure that those involved understand them from the beginning, establishing a shared understanding as a core goal of the communications plan, and validating the parameters with other stakeholders who could not participate in the dialogue about the 5Ws. These outcomes will therefore guide co-creation planning and management

4.0. CONSULTANCY DURATION

This assignment is expected to be carried out within 26 working days spread over 2 months.

5. Scope of the Assignment:

The main objective of this consultancy is to facilitate co-creation workshops/meetings for the development of 5 Corridor plans, and the Cluster level master plan to identify community-driven resilience activities. The activities milestone to be undertaken will include:

  1. Conduct introductory meetings with key government officials, community, and key stakeholders on the co-creation process.
  2. Develop the co-creation guides to regulate the discussions in the various workshops.
  3. Organize 5 corridor level co-creation workshops (2 days each) and complete the root cause analysis to inform Corridor plans and produce a report for each of the corridors. The corridors are as follows;
  4. Corridor 1– Banisa, Malkamari, Kiliweheri Kenya, Mubarak and Malkamari Ethiopia, and the adjacent villages on both sides of the border.
  5. Corridor 2 – Rhamu Kenya & Sade – Ethiopia (all villages on the cross border included).
  6. Corridor 3 – Mandera-Kenya, Suftu/Dollo- Ethiopia, Bulahawa-Somalia
  7. Corridor 4 – Elwak, Lafey, Kutulo in Kenya & Elwak in Somalia.
  8. Corridor 5 – Dollo -Ethiopia, Dollow-Somalia
  9. Facilitate and document the cluster-level Master Action Plan validation workshop in Mandera town (3 days) to validate the corridor-level action plans and develop a cluster-level Cluster Master Action Plan. The cluster-level stakeholders shall have an opportunity to discuss and further refine the priorities identified from the grassroots level and prioritize them in the cluster master action plan.
  10. Develop and submit a final Mandera Cluster Master Action Plan report.

6.0. EXPECTED DELIVERABLES

The following are the main deliverables of the consultancy:

  • 5 Corridor action plans
  • Cluster Master Action Plan
  • Learning report on the process, including stakeholder consultations and workshops.

7.0. Co-creation Process Target Audience

The populations of interest for this assignment are the population living within the Mandera Cluster/Five Corridors (refer to section 5), with a focus on women, youth, livestock owners, farmers, people living with disabilities, private sector players, and relevant government/partner stakeholders.

8.0. APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS

8.1. Submission of Proposal:

Firms/individuals interested in the consultancy must include in their application a detailed technical and financial proposal with the following components

8.2. Technical Proposal:

  • Understanding and interpretation of the TOR
  • Methodology to be used in undertaking the assignment
  • Sample facilitation guides.
  • Time and activity schedule
  • Share at least 3 references of similar work done previously.

8.3. Financial Proposal

  • Consultant’s daily rate

Note: Transport/logistics shall be provided by RACIDA while the consultant shall cater for his/ her own accommodation and meals

9. Process Quality and Ethical Standards

9.1. Ethical Standards

The consultant shall take all reasonable steps to ensure that the co-creation process is designed and conducted to respect and protect the rights and welfare of the vulnerable people and communities involved and to ensure that the approach used shall be technically accurate and reliable, shall be conducted in a transparent and impartial manner, and contributes to organizational learning and accountability. Therefore, the consultancy team shall be required to adhere to the community engagement/ approaches standards and applicable practices as recommended by community development practitioners.

  • The engagement must be realistic, diplomatic, and managed in a sensible, cost-effective manner.
  • Ethics & Legality – the process must be conducted in an ethical and legal manner, with particular regard for the welfare of those involved in and affected by the process. Consent should be sought from all those willing to attend and the community leadership.
  • Transparency – The co-creation process activities should reflect an attitude of openness and transparency.
  • Accuracy – the information collected and the plans developed should be technically accurate, providing sufficient information about the data and information collection, analysis, and interpretation methods so that its worth or merit can be determined.
  • Participation – Community members including women andStakeholders should be consulted and meaningfully involved in the co-creation process.
  • Collaboration – Collaboration between key operating partners in the co-creation process improves the legitimacy and utility of the process.

10.0. Future Use of the Data

All data collected will be the sole property of RACIDA & USAID /Chemonics. The consultant must not use the data for their own research purposes, nor license the data to be used by others, without the written consent of RACIDA and USAID/ Chemonics.

11.0. Qualifications and Experience of Consultant

The lead consultant must have a background and experience in economics, DRR, community development, M&E, humanitarian aid, development, facilitation skills, or any other related field. Past experience in conducting similar assignments as well as in Emergency Response and Recovery programming, with a broad understanding of Agriculture, Food Security, and livestock will be an added advantage.

11.1. Key Selection Criteria

The independent consultant/consultancy firm must demonstrate experience and expertise as follows:

  • Preferably a Master’s Degree in Economics, statistics, social sciences, community development, Public Policy, DRR, agriculture, livestock, or any other related field.
  • Demonstrated experience in conducting community engagement processes or related projects in the past three years (sample reports are required during the bid analysis).
  • Previous experience in the development of community action plans (samples to be provided)
  • Experience working in Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia is preferred. A good understanding of the political, social, and cultural context of the Mandera Cluster.
  • Fluency in English is Mandatory, and understanding of the local languages and culture is an added advantage.
  • Strong interpersonal and communication skills.
  • Ability to write clear and useful reports (please provide examples of previous work).

11.3. Proposed Team Composition Format

  • Name of Team Member
  • Qualifications
  • Years of Experience Related to Consultancy
  • # of Days to be Engaged
  • Roles(s) under this assignment

11.4. Duration of the Consultancy

The Evaluation will be conducted for 26 days spread over two months from contract signing to delivery of the final deliverables.

11.5. Corruption or Fraudulent Practices

RACIDA requires that Bidders observe the highest standards of ethics during the procurement process and execution of contracts. A tenderer shall sign a declaration that he has not and will not be involved in corrupt or fraudulent practices.

RACIDA will reject a proposal for an award if it determines that the tenderer recommended for the award has engaged in corrupt or fraudulent practices in competing for the contract or completing any contract awarded.

A tenderer who is found to have indulged in corrupt or fraudulent practices risks being debarred from participating.

Please report any malpractices to complaints@racida.org.

How to apply

  • Proposals MUST be submitted via email to RACIDA General Procurement: Procurement@racida.org on or before the deadline indicated on the synopsis of the RFP
  • Bidders’ submissions of the technical and financial proposals should be submitted via email with the subject line “RACIDA/CBCR-23-MDR2023/2024-001”
  • All bidders must use the RFP reference number as the subject line of their email submission.
  • Neither technical nor financial proposals should exceed 10MB. The proposal with any subsequent modifications and counter proposals, if applicable, shall become an integral part of any resulting contract.
  • Proposal must be written and submitted in English.