Consultant - Market Assessment for Women’s Income Generation Activities at Save The Children

Background and Scope of Work

• Save the Children is supporting vulnerable pregnant and lactating women through the WINNN project to steadily increase their income, build long-term food security and improve their nutritional status. 
• The project supports nutrition sensitive agriculture by putting access to nutritionally rich foods and improving dietary diversity as a strategy for overcoming malnutrition and micronutrient deficiencies. 
• Nutrition-sensitive agricultural production is implemented with two main focus: Making food more available and accessible through improved households income; and making food more diverse through support for home gardening, animal rearing and appropriate extension services.
• The most vulnerable female pregnant, lactating female caregivers/mothers of malnourished children and children U2 in the 6 WINNN implementing LGAs of Jigawa and Yobe states, will be targeted for Income Generation Activities (IGAs), trained and provided with relevant start-up supplies and/or equipment for a micro-enterprise. 

WINNN is looking for a consultant to conduct labor and market assessment to guide the implementation process. The objectives of the study will be to:

• Provide analysis of the different types of businesses available currently and those that are could be created in the near future, identifying the maturity duration of each type of business.
• Map the market system and identify market opportunities for the women’s IGA products and gaps to be supported
• Collect  data  on  these  opportunities, taking into account their growth potential
• Identify constraints/challenges to starting up small businesses and provide recommendations  on how to overcome them
• Identify the key skills needed in the market to guide the training guidelines for the micro enterprise management for the IGA beneficiaries
• Identify and map local vendors with capacity to provide the required IGA equipment to the beneficiaries.
• Assess capacity of a representative sample of these vendors in the target beneficiaries’ locations.
• Determine if the existing  vendors/retailers/business have the capacity to source, transport and store materials of sufficient quality and quantity to meet the need of the beneficiaries of multi-purpose e-vouchers
• Identify the existing micro finance institutions/informal credit systems, employment, apprenticeship opportunities, skills development centers and hire purchase opportunities available in the beneficiaries’ area.

Methodology
Applicants should provide a detailed methodology showing how the assessment aims and objectives will be met as part of their technical expression of interest. It is anticipated that the proposal will include a mixture of primary and secondary data collection methods. The consultant should:

• Define  the assessment methodology and develop data collection tools
• Review of relevant material held by SC including  baseline and   monitoring reports
• Meet with key stakeholders  and beneficiaries in Yobe and Jigawa targeted LGAs and state capital
• Prepare and submit the final survey reports to SC in soft and hard copy with presentation of key findings prior to final report submission.

Deliverables
Deliverables should include the following:

• An inception report, including: planned timeline and work plan, literature review of all relevant secondary sources, detailed methodology / approach, planned stakeholders to be consulted and sampling framework, data collection and analysis tools, qualitative and quantitative protocols for data collection and analysis
• Brief presentation of preliminary findings
• Draft report written in English
• One (1) electronic file of the clean (final) qualitative and quantitative data collected
• Final report

Minimum Qualifications

• At least a Master's Degree in a relevant discipline
• Over 5 years research experience related to markets, entrepreneurship and livelihoods in both development and humanitarian context.
• Experience with socio-economic surveys.
• Good understanding of  Northern Nigeria 
• Ability to produce well written, analytical reports in English
• Strong quantitative and qualitative data analysis skills

Proposals should not be longer than 4 pages, excluding CVs, budget and example piece of work. Proposals should include:

• Up-to-date CV
• Short overview of how the candidate meets the qualifications, experience and skills requirements (no more than one page)
• Description of proposed approach and methodology
• Projected budget – including projected travel and in-country accommodation and subsistence costs. Holding tax must also be included where relevant. Payment milestones should also be included.
• An example piece of work from a similar assignment