Consultants at Mercy Corps

Location: Southern Borno (Biu LGA)
Position Status – Master Trainer Farmer Business School (FBS)

Program / Department Summary

• Mercy Corps has been present in Nigeria since 2012, focusing its interventions on humanitarian assistance, economic development, and conflict mitigation. With the ongoing insurgency in Northeast Nigeria; causing the displacement of millions of individuals, Mercy Corps started its humanitarian response in 2014 to address the rising humanitarian needs.
• As the crisis has persisted, Mercy Corps’ strategy has also expanded to address the root causes of the conflict and seek to build the long-term resilience of communities with integrated programs, focusing on governance, the recovery of markets and livelihoods, social cohesion and social protection, youth empowerment, and local conflict management.

General Position Summary

• The Borno Agricultural Development Initiative (BADI) whose goal is to introduce food insecure communities to sustainable, context-appropriate smart agricultural practices and to catalyze the market for seeds and other agricultural markets in Borno State is seeking for the services of a master trainer to strengthening the knowledge and skills of three Agricultural extension workers and three lead farmers Including three Mercy Corps team members on adapting and applying the Farmer Business School (FBS) curricula to provide trainings on modern farming techniques and tested agricultural practices.
• The extension workers and lead farmers will train 20 seed multipliers and 120 selected vulnerable farmer households including IDPs, returnees and host communities to improve their livelihoods for increase income.

Trainers’ Responsibilities:

• The trainer will use Farmers Business School training manual to provide the training and should be able to use both or any of the local language (s) - Bura and Hausa.
• The Trainer will facilitate off field training on post-harvest management, farm record keeping and documentation.
• All trainings will be in collaboration with the Agric Extension Workers (AEWs) assigned to the project.

Master Trainers’ deliverables:

• Communicate to Mercy Corps the results of pre and post-tests.
• Conduct 6 days training using the Farmer Business School (FBS) training manual.
• Developed and share training reports in soft and hard copies (3 bound)

Required qualifications
The master trainer should have the following qualifications:

• University degree in Agricultural Economics, Business Management, Marketing, or related field. Candidate with Msc will have an added advantage.
• Good understanding of the Nigerian agricultural sector, rural development and good knowledge on the farmer entrepreneurship specifically in maize/Rice/ legumes / cowpea/vegetables production and marketing in North East Nigeria region.
• Previous experience in FBS training supervision and experiences in conducting FBS training
• Good understanding of the concept, methodology and tools of FBS training.
• Proven experience in developing and conducting participatory training methodology
• Very good command of Hausa and English; additionally, Cultural sensitivity and gender sensitivity of Northern Nigeria are must.
• The consultant certification and testimonies on FBS training knowledge and skill as well as engagement as FBS trainer is an input.
• Proven experience in taking part during FBS training as master trainer and properly translate the technical terms meaning by the local language to the local farmers and extension worker.

Interested and qualified candidates should send their Applications online via: ng-pr-biu@mercycorps.org
Or
Drop the Hard copy of your CV and Application Letter in one single document at Mercy Corps Biu Field Office besides forestry Office Biu Borno State addressed to:
The Program Manager,
MALL Project.
Mercy Corps Office, Biu,
Borno State.

Note

• All applications must include the position title in the subject line. Please note that only short-listed candidates will be contacted.
• We are an equal opportunity organisation. Women are strongly encouraged to apply.

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Job Description

• Mercy Corps(MC) and its consortium partners (IFDC and Save the Children) are implementing USAID’s Feed the Future Nigeria Rural Resilience Activity (RRA) a 5-year project that will directly benefit more than 90,000 households across the four states of Adamawa, Borno, Gombe and Yobe. RRA aims to facilitate and protect economic recovery and growth in vulnerable, conflict-affected areas and sustainably move people out of chronic vulnerability and poverty via extended opportunities.

Purpose of Study:

• Based on the background , It is, therefore, essential to conduct an evidence-based value chain actor mapping assessment/market systems market actors’ study to aid in the selection of markets, economic opportunities and livelihood for resilient growth and carry out a value chain actor mapping assessment and comprehensive market systems assessment in four states in North-East Nigeria (Adamawa, Borno, Gombe, and Yola), using GIS and other tools across Crops, (Soybeans, cowpea, groundnuts), Cereals (rice, maize, sorghum), livestock (small ruminants, aquaculture), Agricultural inputs (fertilizers, seeds, storage facilities), Micro enterprises, and Financial services sectors. It would analyze the range of market components, including institutional capacity, end-market demands, and risk for different groups.

Objectives
There are three objectives for this Contract for Services:

• The technical consultancy firm will produce a textual analysis of the assessment findings on the targeted value chains/market systems. This report should provide in-depth information about the key actors, their market functions, potential shocks and stresses, key gender, age and other social dynamics, existing programs working in these sectors, policies, risks and main trends.
• The study would produce two types of maps led by the T4D team and supported by the RRA MEL team.
  • Focused interactive value chain type maps for the targeted value chains overlaid over geographic representations of the four states (Adamawa, Borno, Gombe and Yola).
  • Map the structure of the selected market systems including the core, supporting functions, rules and norms, providing an overarching system of “donuts”.
• Present a lead workshop to present findings to MC, RRA and its consortium partners, brainstorm priority interventions, and write-up recommendations in line with market systems approach for the targeted market systems/value chains. This will be led by the technical consultant/team and T4D.This includes data analysis, synthesis of key learnings and workshops with the team to ensure that assessment findings are integrated into a revised result chain and work plan.

Deliverables:

• Geo-referenced dataset that lists identified value chain actors and GPS locations
• Interactive Value chain maps.
• Final market assessment tools for each of the target market systems (e.g. interview guides tailored to the local context).
• Draft narrative report to be reviewed
• Workshop presentation to RRA and its partners. Note that the cost of the workshop will be borne by Mercy Corps Nigeria including accommodation and travel of consultants to the workshop venue.
• Final narrative report with recommendations for each of the target market systems.

Budget:

• Please note that consultant would be responsible for accommodation/feeding and local travel cost for the duration of the assessment study.

Qualifications, Skills and Experience
We envisage that the assessment would be carried out by a consultancy firm who have:

• Solid expertise in value chains and markets systems approaches with focus on agriculture and MSME sectors.
• Prior experience in undertaking similar assessments in post conflict and conflict settings and good understanding of the links between market systems, resilience and conflict
• Skill and experience in leading and conducting a collaborative research process with program implementation teams
• A good command of the English Language and strong writing skills.
• A strong background and experience in conducting similar market/business research. Reference work on similar projects would be an added advantage
• Postgraduate qualification in Agriculture or its equivalent and 5 years-experience in market system and agriculture sector.
• Should have experience in developing data collection tools and in basic data analysis
• Prior experience and contextual knowledge of the northeast states
• In addition to meeting the technical requirement for this assignment, priority would be given to Nigerian nationals who reside in Nigeria with a view of working within the constraints of limited travel movements, logistics, security and access situations across Nigeria and especially in the North East. This study should be in 2 phases; First phase would be primarily about extensive secondary data collection while the second phase would be field activities to validate already collected data as well as gather additional data for a more robust report.
• The Consultancy firm’s assessment team will interview actors at all stages of the value chain to ensure resilience capacities are identified at the individual, business, institutional and system levels. The firm will advise on possible methods to ensure the completion of the study.

Interested and qualified candidates are encouraged to submit their CV and Cover Letter in one document, addressing the position requirements to: ng-gmbprocurement@mercycorps.org using the "Job title" as subject of the email.

Expressions of interest should outline the following:

• A work plan showing an indicative timeline for each part of the assignment
• Capability statement including how to complete the study in view of the travel, logistic, security and access limitations.
• Samples of similar assignments/projects
• Evidence of previous rates for similar jobs
• Competency profile/CVs of team members
• Proposed budget for the assessment study.