Gender Strategy Consultant at Heifer International

1.0  General Information

This document is being issued to solicit applications from potential consultants to develop a Gender Strategy for Heifer International – Africa. The strategy will provide the required framework for integrating gender into our signature programs and profiling Heifer as a development organization with a strong focus on women and gender issues. The terms of reference contain background information, the desired methodology, including objectives, the timeframe, and a list of deliverables. This document also contains information about the kind of expertise that Heifer seeks for this activity and guidance on how to submit a proposal to conduct the activity. Heifer anticipates awarding a fixed term contract for the study and make payments based on submission and Heifer’s approval of deliverables. The award agreement will include a payment schedule with specific deliverables; all payments require 10 business days processing after approval of deliverables.

1.1  Background of Heifer International

Heifer was established 75 years ago to end hunger and poverty in a sustainable way by supporting and investing alongside local farmers and their communities. From providing relief to the poor in disaster and war- torn countries, Heifer’s founder realized that the poor have the power to transform their own lives and that of their communities. Since 1944, Heifer has helped 20.7 million households – more than 105 million people – in over 125 countries, through community-based training, appropriate technologies, and agricultural resources, enabling communities to lift themselves out of poverty and hunger on to a path of self-reliance and economic prosperity. Heifer has worked to empower smallholder farmers with opportunities and skills needed to reach a living income. This is because Heifer believes ending poverty begins with agriculture and investing in women is key to ending hunger and poverty. Women play important roles within the food and farming sectors in the Africa region and have a significant impact on their family’s food security and nutrition. Despite this, they do not have access to agricultural opportunities and productive resources in many countries. These inequalities are reinforced by social and cultural norms, imposing a cost on women, their families, the agricultural sector at large and the wider economy. Heifer International works to close the gender gap in agriculture and is committed to promoting gender equality as a human right. It invests in women, enabling them to improve their livelihoods and support their families. The emphasis on social and economic outcomes is important for ensuring women are not disenfranchised during the commercialization of agriculture. It also ensures they can access new opportunities and that gains are safeguarded.

More Info on Heifer: www.heifer.org

1.2  Heifer International Africa Program

Heifer International Africa works in ten countries across the continent. These are Senegal, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

In 2010, Heifer started a journey of transformation, repositioning the organization to focus on accelerating the path to living income for smallholder farmers by working with them to form cooperatives and identifying opportunities across the value chain to increase their income. The vision focused on impacting 10 million people, working with smallholder farmers and women whilst caring for the earth.

With Aspiration 2030, the vision is now focused on implementing signature programs that have scale, partnership, and permanence. There is also a strong focus on the work that Heifer will do in Africa where most of her target group will live by 2030. This strategic focus on Africa, is basis of the “Heifer Africa” Strategy for 2030 and the basis for the development of the Gender Regional Strategy. From that standpoint, Heifer ensures that 50% of all small holder farmers we work with across the ten countries in Africa are women; and that it strategically selects agri-business value chains with predominantly women farmers; identify opportunities to support areas across value chains that impact women from production to transformation and enable women to access relevant skills and education.

1.3. Commitment to Gender Equality.

Heifer International is a global development organization on a mission to end hunger and poverty in a sustainable way. Working with farmers and their communities to identify and invest in business opportunities that deliver living incomes, Heifer International and its partners create solutions to local challenges designed to build inclusive, resilient economies. Since launching in 1944, Heifer International has assisted more than 36 million families, with millions more now on a pathway to living incomes — the amount of money each person in a household needs per day to live a dignified life.

From July 2019 to June 2020, Heifer International directly supported 416,176 families in its active projects in Africa, providing farming families with technical assistance, increased access to finance and markets, as well as opportunities to strengthen essential skills, including finance and business management. Heifer International’s Values-Based Holistic Community Development (VBHCD) model is used to identify and solve problems within communities. Grounded in a set of core values and focused on building social capital, the model helps strengthen relationships between community members as potential investors, suppliers, and customers. Women play important roles within the food and farming sectors in the Africa region and have a significant impact on their family’s food security and nutrition. Despite this, they do not have access to agricultural opportunities and productive resources in many countries. These inequalities are reinforced by social and cultural norms, imposing a cost on women, their families, the agricultural sector at large and the wider economy. Heifer International works to close the gender gap in agriculture and is committed to promoting gender equality as a human right. It invests in women, enabling them to improve their livelihoods and support their families. The emphasis on social and economic outcomes is important for ensuring women are not disenfranchised during the commercialization of agriculture. It also ensures they can access new opportunities and that gains are safeguarded. 

Heifer International’s programming is adapted to the local context, but the following four strategies are consistent across all programs:

• Directly addressing the needs and constraints women farmers face, with the understanding that treating women and men equally is an insufficient strategy for ending inequality and that specific and deliberate measures must be taken to support women’s capacity to make their own decisions so they can access opportunities to improve their lives.
• Supporting women to mobilize into women-led, self-help groups that serve as a collective platform to obtain assets, resources, and credit, to learn practical skills and gain experience while supporting each other, and to develop a collective voice to advocate for themselves and market their products.
• Ensuring the involvement of boys and men in gender equality efforts through education, discussion and buy-in on issues ranging from the sharing of household benefits and responsibilities to generating and reinforcing a more inclusive definition of masculinity. Participatory engagement enables communities to identify and rally around common goals, which are then documented in a Gender Action Plan.
• Developing monitoring and evaluation systems that include sex-disaggregated data, gender audits and qualitative and participatory techniques to assess economic and social change in a contextual and meaningful manner. 

2.0  Assignment Objective

The objective of this assignment is to develop a strong framework for integrating the gender work into our signature programs across the ten countries in Africa where Heifer International works. 

Consultant will also work with the Heifer Africa Women Development Lead and other relevant staff, to be able to understand Heifer’s signature programs, Heifer’s Strategic Framework 2030, Heifer Africa’s Strategy, and other country specific gender related issues.

2.1 Specific Tasks

Task 1: Work planning

The Consultant will conduct a preliminary work-session with the Heifer Africa Senior Vice President and the Women Development Lead for Africa to refine the scope of work, fully understand Heifer’s requirements for the consultancy. This will entail reviewing any applicable documents, tools, and templates, which will be provided. 

Task 2: Desk review

Review secondary data/information on all the documents mentioned under 2.0 above, as well as specific focus on the selected value chains across the 10 countries. The review should result in a 5–10-page report.   

2.2         Deliverables (all in electronic format when applicable)

• Inception report following preliminary work session with Heifer’s Women Development Lead.
• Draft Report in word that documents the proposed gender strategy framework that will enable Heifer to incorporate Gender in the Signature Programs.
• Prepare and conduct a Consultative Presentation via zoom of the Gender strategy framework to Heifer via one of our regional meetings for receiving feedback and providing clarification pertaining to questions that may arise.
• Prepare final Gender Strategy framework report in word that incorporates the feedback from the Regional and submit for approval via the Women Development Lead -Africa.

2.3         Team composition

Heifer International – Africa is looking for an individual consultant with substantial experience in Gender issues, specifically in Agriculture. She / He should be experienced in developing Gender frameworks that will enable an organization like Heifer to incorporate Gender into its Signature Programs. More specifically, the consultant should have a proven track record in Gender issues on the African Continent (especially the ten countries that Heifer works with), and should have expertise in analytical, presentation   and report writing skills in English.

The assignment will not require any travel (i.e., the consultant will be working from where she / he is).  Other than related documents and resources (aside what HI staff will provide) should be arranged by the consultant and factored into the financial proposal.

 Required expertise, skills and knowledge are as follows:

• Minimum five (5) years of work experience in working on Gender issues in Agriculture internationally (especially in Africa).
• Evidence of success in completing similar work.
• Strong qualitative research and analytical skills.
• Proven record of excellent management, leadership, decision-making and interpersonal skills.
• Proven strong, clear technical writing and oral presentation skills in English.
• Proven ability to prepare high-quality technical reports on time.

3.0       Consulting firm Submission Requirements:

All interested individuals will submit his/her profile with the following information:  

Technical Proposal (not to exceed 5 pages)

3.1.1     General information (not to exceed 2 pages):

• Organization overview highlighting related assignments completed with client name, contact person and mobile number
• Capacity statement

3.1.2    Approach (not to exceed 2 pages):

• A detailed methodology on how the assignment will be conducted as well as documentation of the work.
• Maximum 5-page CV (as annex) highlighting related assignment completed, role in the completed assignment. 
• A clear and comprehensive work plan (draft), outlining the major activities and time schedule. 
• Technical capacity statement, including past experiences and activities related to the theme of the study. Reference information must include the location, award numbers, and brief description of work perform.
• At least three references of other clients for which similar assignments were undertaken with contact information for each.

3.2         Financial Proposal (in USD)

• Proposed a daily pay for this assignment