Tenders Are Invited For Feasibility Study Beyond Aid: Building Resilient Livelihoods (Brl)

Tenders are invited for Feasibility Study Beyond Aid: Building Resilient Livelihoods (BRL) Independent feasibility study commissioned prior to full proposal submission, in line with bengo/BMZ requirements for PT / PT-LDC funding EUR 1,611,111 (BMZ contribution 90% = EUR 1,450,000 / Cordaid & Gesundes Afrika own contribution 10% = EUR 161,111, incl. own contributions, project visits and admin costs in Germany) Target Population 10,400 individuals in total, including 400 direct-beneficiary households (2,400 people: 70% women, 15% youth, 15% persons with disabilities) and 8,000 additional individuals reached through nutrition and womens socio-economic empowerment campaigns Specific objectives 1. Assess the extent to which the proposed BRL approach can plausibly achieve its intended objective and goal under the prevailing conditions in Yambio and Magwi Counties. 2. Verify and deepen the context, problem and stakeholder analysis presented in the Concept Note at micro, meso and macro levels. 3. Critically examine the project design against the OECD DAC criteria of relevance, coherence, effectiveness, efficiency, impact and sustainability. 4. Assess the capacities, comparative advantages and ownership of the local project partner(s) Cordaid and ACH and the strength of the proposed private-sector partnership with ETC. 5. Validate the beneficiary selection criteria, targeting approach and inclusion mechanisms for women, youth and persons with disabilities. 6. Formulate concrete, actionable recommendations for adjusting the project concept, impact/results matrix, and monitoring, evaluation, accountability and learning (MEAL) approach, for direct incorporation into the full proposal. 7. Identify risks contextual, institutional, financial and personal/security and propose feasible mitigation measures. Terms of Reference Feasibility Study | BRL Project Page 3 of 10 8. Identify mechanisms to ensure the safeguard of project stakeholders including project beneficiaries against exploitation in whatever form 9. Determine the community and government interest and support of the proposed project intervention to determine its feasibility, effectiveness and alignment towards the project objective 10. Determine whether private sector actors and markets exist for proposed agricultural interventions beyond the proposed ETC partnership on coffee, legumes and teak. 11. Determine the presence of cooperatives and determine if the current coffee and teak out growers are members 12. Determine the satisfaction levels of the current coffee out growers in relation to coffee payments and other support including extension services received from ETC 13. Evaluate the strategic partnership with ETC as a coexisting, mutually beneficial arrangement -- assessing how strengthening farmers production and organizational capacity increases the volume and quality of produce supplied to ETC, and how this reciprocity can be clearly articulated to meet BMZs strict requirements on private-sector engagement under this funding line. 14. For Magwi County, where the project does not include coffee production in partnership with ETC, investigate the specific challenges and approaches needed to strengthen the resilience, health and long-term livelihood capacities of beneficiaries at micro, meso and macro level, building on lessons from earlier Cordaid/ACH/Gesundes Afrika interventions in the county (see Section 1). 3. Scope of the Study The study shall cover the intervention areas of Yambio County (Western Equatoria State) and Magwi County (Eastern Equatoria State), and shall analyze the proposed project at three interlinked levels: Macro level: national food security, agricultural policy, land tenure, climate change and related risks and conflict dynamics in South Sudan, and their bearing on project feasibility. Meso level: county-level institutions, government extension services, private-sector actors (including ETC, agro-dealers and financial institutions), producer-group and cooperative structures, and coordination among humanitarian/development actors. Micro level: household- and community-level realities, including existing producer groups, VSLAs, gender and protection dynamics, and the specific constraints faced by women, youth, returnees, refugees, IDPs and persons with disabilities. The study should draw on and avoid duplicating existing evidence, including prior evaluations from earlier Cordaid/Gesundes Afrika/ACH interventions in Magwi, and should clearly indicate where it is generating new primary evidence versus validating existing findings. 4. Key Guiding Questions The consultant(s) shall use the following areas of inquiry adapted from Section 4 of the bengo guideline to structure data collection and analysis, prioritizing those most relevant to closing the evidence gaps in the Concept Note. 4.1 Purpose and use of the study Terms of Reference Feasibility Study | BRL Project Page 4 of 10 How conducive is the context in Yambio and Magwi to achieving the project objective of strengthened, market-oriented and resilient livelihoods for women and youth? What additional design or implementation questions, beyond those already answered in the Concept Note, need to be resolved before full proposal submission? 4.2 Methodology of the study itself What participatory methods and tools will be used for data collection with producer groups, VSLAs, ETC and government stakeholders? Which stakeholders, and how many, will be consulted, and how will their backgrounds and interests be captured? 4.3 Initial situation and problem analysis Which of the nine problem areas identified in the Concept Note (food insecurity, climate vulnerability, soil degradation, weak market access, extension gaps, limited finance, weak sustainability of past interventions, land access constraints, limited livelihood diversification) are most pressing, and are there others not yet captured? What existing producer groups, VSLAs and community structures in Yambio and Magwi can realistically be built upon, and what specific institutional gaps must be addressed? What conflict, displacement and intercommunal dynamics must be factored into implementation planning? In Magwi specifically, where coffee production in partnership with ETC is not part of the project, what challenges and approaches should be investigated to strengthen the resilience and health of beneficiaries, and to support their capacities at micro (household), meso (community/institutional) and macro (systemic) level over the long term -- drawing on lessons from BMZ project 7388? Tender Link : https://comms.southsudanngoforum.org/c/tenders