Consultancy for a FIRM/Organization or Individual to Lead a Two-Day Dialogue on Youth Engagement in Agripreneurship in Zimbabwe
Ukama Ustawi Work Package 5 is seeking a consultant [firm/organization or individual] to lead a dialogue to develop specific interventions for youth engagement in agripreneurship in Zimbabwe. This requisition is open to applicants based in Zimbabwe only.
Background:
The CGIAR Regional Integrated Initiative on Diversification in East and Southern Africa, also known as Ukama Ustawi, aims to address food and nutrition security risks in the region arising from an overreliance on maize through a climate-resilient, water-secure, and socially inclusive approach.
One of the research activities in Ukama Ustawi is Work Package 5: Empower and Engage. The work package seeks to empower and engage women and youth in agribusiness ecosystems. It addresses widespread gender and social inequalities in the region’s agribusiness ecosystems. Different local and national contexts are being assessed to map multidimensional challenges and opportunities for coordinated transformative change interventions.
The Work Package helps identify pathways to transformative change according to local demand, informed by a robust gender equality and social inclusion (GESI) framework, and designed to adaptively scale up and scale out inclusion throughout the agribusiness ecosystems.
Part of this work includes engaging young agripreneurs in agricultural value chain activities. This is critical for livelihoods in rural areas where youth are unemployed and face barriers to entry into agriculture. Major constraints to entry that rural youth face include limited education, lack of assets such as land or cash, and negative perceptions of agriculture.
Objective and Tasks:
For ongoing work in Ukama Ustawi through Work Package 5, led by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and with the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), we are seeking a consultant/individual, or team from a firm/organization, to lead a dialogue to develop specific interventions for youth engagement in agripreneurship in Zimbabwe. This will be based on a dialogue report produced in 2022 by IFPRI and IWMI.
The dialogue should:
· Engage key stakeholders in youth engagement in agripreneurship in Zimbabwe
· Use the report of the 2022 dialogue as the starting point
· Use roughly .5 days to validate the report
· Use roughly 1.5 days to discuss potential interventions
· Identify the best interventions, partners, geographic locations and/or value chains or sectors, and cost factors for the interventions, using the GESI framework as a guiding framework (e.g., organizing interventions by agency/capabilities, resources, and formal and informal institutions/policies)
· Result in a report detailing the above (outline to be provided upon successful bid)
Specifically, in consultation with IFPRI and IWMI, the consultant [individual or firm/organization] will:
· Familiarize themselves with Ukama Ustawi, the GESI framework, and the Zimbabwe dialogue report
· Use the related Malawi work as a reference (provided upon request upon successful bid)
· Draw up a list of key stakeholders to engage with
· Organize the venue, logistics, and materials for the dialogue
· Invite participants in good time to the dialogue
· Facilitate the dialogue to (a) validate the 2022 dialogue and (b) draw up specific interventions to engage young people sustainably in agricultural entrepreneurship in Zimbabwe. Considerations should include
o Using the GESI framework developed by WP5, and consider how to include marginalized youth, especially women
o Developing specific activities addressing agency/capabilities, resources, and formal and informal institutions/policies. Consider:
§ Skills
§ Finance
§ Mentoring, coaching
§ Social networks
o Setting up a timeframe for/sequencing the proposed activities (e.g., do we need capacity before finance? etc.)
o Costing the activities (rough figures at high level)
o Describing roles and how different institutions can contribute in different ways to the interventions (e.g., which programs or NGOs should work on financing?)
o Identifying specific partners for the intervention
o Addressing issues of sustainability – how can the intervention continue after external funding ends?
· Produce a report that addresses all of the above
Definitions:
Youth: As defined by the Zimbabwe government and the cultural norms in the country.
Agripreneurship: The creation of new business enterprises in agriculture by individuals or small groups, leading to concentration of opportunity, innovation, growth, and value creation (Kent et al., 1982; Lumpkin and Dess 1996).
Deliverables:
Task
Activity
Deliverable
Due date
1.
Organize the dialogue
List of stakeholders to invite to the dialogue, dialogue agenda, invitation letter
March 28, 2024
2.
Hold the dialogue
Dialogue report and list of participants
April 30, 2024
3.
Report on proposed interventions
Final report
May 15, 2024
Duration of period: Receipt of signed contract to May 31, 2024.
Required Qualifications (Principal investigator or individual consultant):
1. Advanced degree in agriculture, gender, economics, or a closely related field
2. At least 10 years of experience in relevant work such as youth, agribusiness, gender equality and social inclusion
3. Deep knowledge of actors and issues in agriculture in Zimbabwe
4. Demonstrated ability to facilitate processes leading to results
5. Excellent English writing skills
6. Demonstrated professional level of attention to detail and accuracy of work
7. Ability to work independently, with initiative and minimal supervision
Preferred Qualifications:
· Familiarity with the Ukama Ustawi work
Application:
Please develop a cover letter detailing how you fit each of the required qualifications above. Submit the cover letter and your CV (and institutional profile if submitting as a company/NGO), along with a brief technical and detailed financial proposal, and writing sample, with your online application. The financial proposal should include daily rates and estimated number of days, cost for the dialogue (any travel or per diem costs, venue, accommodation, lunches and teas, equipment, etc.). Candidates/firms must be based in Zimbabwe; applicants outside Zimbabwe will not be considered.
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Note: We are unable to respond to every applicant individually; only the selected applicant will be contacted