Consultant, Strategic Resilience Assessment at Search For Common Ground’s International

Job Description

• Search is seeking a Consultant(s) that will conduct a Strategic Resilience Assessment for a project that seeks to help identify how the communities are able  to survive the impact of the conflicts in terms of livelihood, economy and social coexistence despite the shocks, stresses and difficulties exerted by the conflict.
• Focus would be on how the communities are able to learn, cope, adapt, and transform  the harsh conditions associated with food scarcity, lack of access to market, living in a hard to reach environment without reasonable government and Non-Governmental interventions, lack of development and humanitarian interventions etc.
• The assessment  will identify a set of capacities that can contribute to a shared vision for  the consortium, humanitarian and development stakeholders  which would help in developing more responses and interventions to support the communities.

The REVIVE Project

• The project Regenerative Earthworks and Vegetation for Vibrant Ecosystems (REVIVE) led by ACTED in partnership with PARE and Search aims to improve food security, dietary diversity, and nutritional intake for vulnerable households in the immediate, medium and long term through two parallel modalities, namely permaculture design and regenerative agriculture.
• ACTED’s Strategy proposes a resilience-focused program, which offers immediate, medium, and long term food security solutions by establishing resilient, diverse, and productive food production systems for the coming harvest.
• During this phase of the project, Search will at the outset of the action, conduct a Resilience Assessment that will help identify how the communities are able to survive the impact of the conflicts in terms of livelihood, economy and social coexistence despite the difficulties exerted by the conflict.
• Focus will be on how the communities are able to survive with food scarcity, lack of access to market, living in a hard to reach environment without reasonable government and Non-Governmental interventions, a lack of development and humanitarian interventions etc. In cooperation with PARE, the results of the Assessment will lead to the development of more interventions to support the communities.
• With learning from the results of the Assessment, Search will facilitate community-based dialogues to improve community resilience and attempt to respond to possible threats and outbreaks of violence in communities experiencing hostility or at risk of violent conflict due to spillover violence from neighboring areas through its proven Common Ground Approach (CMA) dialogues and other methodologies.
• Using a participatory assessment and analysis process, the Strategic Resilience Assessment will go beyond reporting assessment “findings” in the traditional sense to developing recommendations on how practitioners can meaningfully integrate risk reduction and resilience-building measures.
• It should also capture and analyze the risks communities are facing, combining local insights with an analysis of higher-level trends, systems dynamics, and the factors shaping vulnerability for different groups of people and what this means for their ability to cope and adapt over time.

Key Assessment Objectives would be to:

• Assess the current conflict dynamics within the target communities and down to household level
• Assess community and household coping mechanisms with respect to the reoccuring and impending conflict situations within the communities
• Map key drivers of conflict and main actors of conflict within these communities
• Assess community support need to improve resilience
• Recommend key indicators to track the progress on resilience during project monitoring and relevant stakeholders to be incorporated in the project

Key Questions of the Study
The assessment will consider the following questions:

• What are the household conflict dynamics ?
• What are the recurring conflict issues at the community level and how is the community addressing  these types of conflict?
• What are the  coping mechanisms that enabled community members weather the shocks;
• Who are the main actors of the conflict? What are their interests? How swiftly do local authorities respond to early warning and conflict reports in these communities?
• Recommendations related to the type of support to be provided in order to ensure that the support benefits all members of the community, including both farmers and herders, without exclusion; and
• The relevant stakeholders to be incorporated into the project (i.e. local authorities, traditional leaders).

Geographic Locations

• This assessment will cover 4 Communities (Batsari, Jibia, Daddara and Ajiwa) in 3 Local Government Areas (LGAs) of  Batsari, Jibia and Batagarawa respectively in Katsina  State Nigeria.

Methodology and Data Collection Tools

• The proposed methodology should be clearly stated in the technical offer, detailing how this assessment will be operationalized in the state and target communities.
• In addition, the technical offer should include details on logistics and roll-out of the study: who the target respondents will be and why, how they will be identified or recruited, how data collection and data quality assurance will be carried out, as well as how data analysis will be done.

The proposed methodology should incorporate:

• A Mapping of the main actors and groups involved in the conflict at the level of the intervention zones according to their roles and their geographical and political positioning, etc.
• Surveys of the different actors according to appropriate methods taking into account the sensitivity of the issues and the information to be collected.
• Focus groups for target and vulnerable groups: this will involve organizing structured discussions with the groups (numbers to be determined). The objective of the focus groups is to measure the perception of various target groups on the strategies proposed by the project and to collect suggestions for mitigation measures;
• Key Informant Interviews: These are semi-structured interviews to be conducted with women, farmers, heads of households, government officials, business leaders, youth, training center departments, line ministries, etc.
• The Do No Harm analytical framework will be used as a reference. However, the consultant has the possibility of making proposals for the integration of other elements based on his field experiences. Notwithstanding this flexibility, it is expected to provide clarification and justification of the approach opted for.
• Tools for the assessment will be developed by the consultant and/ or team in collaboration with Search’s DMEL staff and research team. The tools will be administered by the consultant and/ or team, working with a team of enumerators, while the data will be analyzed by the consultant and/or team chosen to perform this research.
• The inception and final reports will be developed by the consultant and/or team and reviewed and approved by Search.

Deliverables
Search expects the following deliverables from the external consultant(s) as they correspond to the timeline and budget:

• An inception report detailing the methodology, data collection tools, and timeline;
• Any necessary training of data collectors or set-up of systems for data collection;
• Supervision and participation in data collection;
• Oversight of data coding and analysis;
• All original data submitted to Search;
• A draft evaluation report in English, for review by Search staff and partners;
• A final report in English (40 pages max in length, excluding appendices) consistent with Search branding and standards for evaluation. The report:
• Uses the Search evaluation template
• Provides a clear connection between the conflict or context assessment and the intended results, articulate the project’s ToC, and include other relevant project specifics
• Fully explains the objectives and research questions of the study, limitations, and methods chosen for analysis,
• Findings respect Search’s evaluation standards, are structured around the main objectives of the study and are presented in relation to the intended target groups. The findings should speak to the link between the project, it’s Theory of Change, and its contribution to our strategy. Recommendations should have a clear audience and be specific, accessible, and actionable.
• Indicator table showing all indicators
• Appendices should include detailed research instruments, a list of interviewees, terms of references, and evaluator(s) brief biography.
• Present and validate the research findings to provide an opportunity for stakeholders to review and validate the findings as well as realign the project strategy based on the findings, as necessary.

Validation Workshop:

• Following the assessment, Search will convene a validation workshop with ACTED, PARE, the French Embassy, and other relevant stakeholders (i.e. local authorities, community leaders) where the consultant will present and validate the research findings.
• The validation process will provide an opportunity for stakeholders to review and validate the findings as well as realign the project strategy based on the findings, as necessary.

Logistical Support:

• Consultant(s) will be responsible for organizing their logistics for data collection (vehicles, fuel, and drivers), and this must be budgeted into the study. Search can provide support in arranging logistics as agreed upon based on the consultant’s proposal.
• One Search staff member may be available to support data collection and logistics.
•  Also, Search will share the required background materials to facilitate the assignment of the external consultant(s)

Budget:

• A detailed budget should be provided, including daily rates for personnel, and all costs related to data collection (per total number of people sampled, sites for collection, per diems, accommodation, etc.), analysis, and production of deliverables.

Requirements of Consultant
This consultancy is open to both individuals and consultancy firms who meet the following criteria. The following skills and experience are expected by Search for our evaluator for this project:

• Advanced University Degree in Social Sciences, Development Studies, International Development, or related area;
• At least 5 years of relevant professional experience working on Strategic Resilience Assessment;
• Prior experience of researching and analyzing conflict in the African context, especially within the various contexts of Northern Nigeria;
• Strong speaking and writing skills in English and Hausa.
• Familiarity with development programming;
• Demonstrated experience in applied research, especially literature reviews;
• Experience in participatory research;
• Demonstrated experience in Programme reviews;
• Demonstrated experience in developing capacities to enable the sustainable impact of analyses/assessments;
• Demonstrated experience working with INGOs;
• Demonstrated analytical and conceptual ability, good communication and facilitation skills;
• Demonstrated strong report writing skills and be able to share examples of previous work;
• Demonstrated track record of delivering high quality written outputs on time in a consultancy environment;
• Demonstrated ability to work independently and deliver on time.

Selection Criteria
Consultant proposals will be selected for:

• The relevance of the proposed methodology to the goal, objectives, and research questions for the project.
• Quality of proposed methods, conflict sensitivity approaches, and quality control measures.
• Qualifications of the candidate(s).
• The proposed budget in relation to the proposed methodology, deliverables, and team.
• Timeline for proposed activities.