Consultancy Jobs – Rapid Assessment of Animal Health Service Delivery Systems in Karamoja – Farm Africa

Organization: Farm
Africa
Project Name: Livestock
for Livelihoods (UK AID Direct) Project
Duty Station: 
Uganda
About US:
Farm Africa is an
innovative charity that reduces poverty in rural eastern Africa by helping
farmers grow more, sell more and sell for more: we help farmers to not only
boost yields, but also gain access to markets, and add value to their
produce.  We place a high priority on environmental sustainability
and develop approaches that help farmers to improve their yields and incomes
without degrading their natural resources. Our programmes vary hugely, ranging
from helping crops farmers to boost harvests, livestock keepers to improve
animal health, and forest coffee growers to reach export markets, but core to
all of them is a focus on the financial sustainability of the farmers’
businesses and environmental sustainability.
About the project
Pastoralists in
Karamoja (Uganda) experience poverty, poor access to services and social
marginalization. Pastoralist women in Karamoja are affected by a ‘double-marginalization’
of social exclusion and low status. Women’s lack of control over productive
assets contributes to severe malnutrition. However emerging market economies
are stimulating livelihood diversification and trade, presenting opportunities
to address poverty and malnutrition through women’s economic empowerment. Women
play a key role in managing small livestock in pastoralist systems.  Goats provide an essential source of
disposable income, particularly during dry seasons because of their adaptable
feeding habits. They are also an asset for investment in household nutrition.
Goat production is however constrained by effects of climate change, land use
changes, livestock diseases, weak and unreliable vet drug supply system, and
limited technical skills among pastoralists thereby limiting women’s ability to
translate productivity into economic and nutritional gains.
Livestock for
Livelihoods project (L4L), will add value to past and present programmes in
Uganda that have focused on increasing community assets and resilience. L4L
will address these challenges and contribute towards increased household
incomes and reduction of malnutrition among women and children  through the following four principal
strategies: 1) Strengthened resilient pastoralist systems; 2) Building market
systems for livestock services; 3) Women’s economic empowerment; 4) Improved
nutrition through behavioral change.
L4L project is being
implemented in the following four districts of Karamoja; (Moroto, Kotido, Napak
and Nakapirpirit – a list of target sub-counties can be found in annex 1).
Assessment Objectives
This rapid
assessment is being commissioned in order to provide a more detailed
understanding of the current situation in four districts of Karamoja with
regards to:
  • Quality and reach of CAHW services
  • Availability of, and distribution channels for veterinary drugs and
    supplies
Findings from this
assessment will support Farm Africa to support the development of an effective
and sustainable animal health service delivery system that will help reduce
disease related production losses and increase livestock productivity.
Specific tasks:
The assessment will
be conducted in two sections;
1.          Assessment of community animal health
workers (CAHW) technical capacity, reach and training programmes
2.         Assessment of veterinary drug supply
chain.
For the CAHW
assessment the consultant is required to:
1.          Assess the coverage and geographical
reach of existing CAHWs and their effectiveness in the delivery animal health
services, and  identify gaps in delivery
in the target project locations
2.         Assess CAHW knowledge and ability
against their planned role in the project, in particular with regards to their
ability to carry out the following duties.
i.          Delivery of goat animal health
services in the project target locations
ii.         Providing breeding management support
to buck keepers and women livestock groups in the project operation areas
iii.        Training women livestock groups and buck
keepers in goat husbandry and proper goat breeding practices 
iv.        Supporting WLGs and buck keepers to keep
proper production and breeding records.
(Full details of the
planned role of CAHWs in project delivery can be found in Annex 2)
3.         Review existing CAHWs universal
technical training curriculum and materials (developed by Makerere University
& Mercy Corps) in relation to CAHWs roles in the project, identifying any
specific curriculum gaps with regards to capacity building CAHWs to deliver the
roles outlined in Annex 2, and making recommendations on how they can be
addressed.
4.         Assess work currently being done with
CAHWs by other actors in the project area – identifying areas for
collaboration, and areas of potential overlap
5.         Assess how many clients on average that
CAHWs are actively servicing at the moment, user satisfaction with CAHW
services and where they source their drugs and equipment from.
6.         Assess, from a CAHW perspective, the
main challenges they face in trying to deliver a quality animal health service
For the veterinary
drug supply chain assessment the consultant is required to:
1.          Map and characterise existing agrovet
SMEs and other suppliers of veterinary drugs and supplies such as vets and
local government veterinary staff, within the project target areas
2.         Assess a range of existing veterinary
drug supply businesses in the project area in terms of:
           Stock held (types of products,
quantity and quality
           Where they source supplies and stock
from, and where relevant, on what terms
           Basic financials – for example,
turnover, sales, costs and profits generated from sales, specifically of
veterinary drugs and supplies
           Technical knowledge of shop
owners/managers – with regards to business management and veterinary
knowledge/qualifications
           Key products and services offered to
/ used by goat keepers
           Average number of clients each month
3.         Analyse the vet drugs supply chain
system, particularly for those relating to the goats including goat vaccines
and highlight key weaknesses.
4.         Assess work currently being done by
other actors to improve the veterinary drug supply network within the project
area – identifying areas for collaboration, and areas of potential overlap
Approaches and Methodology
The consultant will
be expected to develop the overall approach and methodology for the assessment.
The consultant is expected to employ a mixed-methods approach to collect
qualitative and quantitative data to support desk research findings and
existing knowledge. Since this is a rapid assessment, the consultant is
expected to devise a methodology and data collection plan that will maximize
the amount of primary research/data collection that can be achieved within the
available time and budget.
Any future
assessments of the technical capacity, reach and training programs of CAHWs
will need to estimate the aggregate impact of the project activities and
therefore, this assessment will need to standardize both the data collection
tools and data collected to enable this. The methodology should disaggregate
the data by location and gender as appropriate. The assessment should also give
detail of contextual factors which may affect both the assessment future
indicators and project results and approach.
Expected Deliverables and Timeline:
All written
documentation is to be submitted in English using Microsoft Word in soft copy.
The main body of all reports should be written in simple, non-technical
language, with any technical material to be presented in annexes. All primary
data collected and analysis conducted for the purpose of the assessment will
remain the property of Farm Africa and must be submitted electronically and in
a clear and comprehensible format in Excel; further detail below.
Delivery of the
assignment should begin on, or ideally before, 15th October 2018. Since this is
a rapid assessment, it is anticipated that the consultant/consultancy team will
require thirty working days to complete the assignment (this does not include
days where the team are awaiting feedback/comments from Farm Africa).
The consultant will
provide the following deliverables to the program coordinator within the
timeframe stated:
1.          Inception Report: Within four working
days of the assignment start date, a detailed report on the consultants
proposed approach to the assessment will be submitted for approval. This will
provide a detailed description of the methodology and tools, assessment
questions, expected outputs, budget with a breakdown of costs and detailed work
plan for the entire exercise. Any draft data collection tools will also be
submitted for review at this stage.
2.         Revised Inception report: Within two
working days of receiving feedback on the initial inception report, a revised
inception report will be submitted incorporating revisions and recommendations
from Farm Africa.
3.         Preliminary Report and Presentation:
Within twenty working days of approval of the revised inception report, the
consultant will present the preliminary findings for discussion by the Farm
Africa team. Following this meeting/discussion, feedback on the preliminary
report will be shared in writing with the consultant.
4.         Final Report: Within four working days
of receiving feedback on the preliminary report and presentation, a detailed
report of the overall findings of the assessment will be submitted for
approval. This report should incorporate specific, practical and feasible
recommendations for improving project delivery in regards to animal health
service delivery and technical and business skills capacity development plans
for CAHWs and Agro Vet SMEs as well as a list and contacts of existing CAHWs
and Agro Vet SMEs operating in the project target locations.
5.         A copy of the questionaries’ used in
the assessment, raw data and a list of all people interviewed should be
provided to Farm Africa with the final report.
Farm Africa Bid Evaluation Process:
Farm Africa will
solicit and score technical and financial proposals from consultants who have
had experience of carrying out similar assignments. The evaluation committee
will consist of at least three project team staff, who will evaluate based on
the following criteria:
The technical
proposal will be assessed against the following criteria:
           A covering letter detailing how the
consultant(s) meet(s) the required qualifications and competencies detailed in
section six below – 30 marks available
           A full technical proposal detailing
your interpretation of the TOR and how you will approach the task, identify
CAHWs and agrovet SMEs to interview, assess their technical and business skills
expertise, map out the veterinary drug supply chain etc – 30 marks available
           A sample of an assessment report for
a similar or related project completed within the last 48 months (this will be
treated as confidential and only used for the purposes of quality assurance); –
10 marks available
Only bids that score
70% or higher in the technical assessment will proceed to the financial
assessment.
The financial
proposals will be assessed against the following criteria:
           Correlation between technical and
financial proposal
           Appropriateness of unit costs, and
the number of units (time, travel etc) allocated to different activities
           Variance of submitted budget from
available budget for the assignment.
Once the financial
proposals have been assessed the technical and financial scores will be combined
into a final score in accordance with the following weights:
a.         Technical Score (70%)
b.         Financial Score (30%)

Qualifications, Skills and Experience: 
We are looking for a
consultant/consultancy team based in Uganda or with the right to work in Uganda
to be based in Karamoja for the majority of the assessment period.
Consultants/consultancy teams for this assessment will be assessed on their
ability to demonstrate the following qualifications and competencies:
           A postgraduate qualification in a
relevant field – ideally with an animal health bias
           Extensive experience of working with
CAHWs and agrovet shops, ideally in a pastoralist context
           Experience of carrying out livestock
health assessments in pastoral areas
           Demonstrable practical experience in
qualitative and quantitative research methodology
           Strong analytical, facilitation and
communication skills
           Excellent reporting and presentation
skills
           Fluency in spoken and written English
           Experience conducting assessments in
the livestock sector in  Karamoja
           Experience conducting data analysis
in Microsoft Excel
Desirable
           A degree or post graduate
qualification in veterinary science or veterinary pharmaceuticals
How to Apply:
Interested and
qualified persons are requested to submit:
           A covering letter detailing how the
consultant/consultancy team meets the required qualifications and competencies
outlined in section six, above
           A full technical proposal detailing
their interpretation of the TOR and how they will approach the task including,
amongst other things, the methodology that will be used to :
Identify CAHWs and
agrovet SMEs to interview
Assess the technical
and business skills expertise of CAHWs and agrovets
Map out the
veterinary drug supply chain
           Copies of all relevant curriculum
vitae (CVs)
           A sample of an assessment report for
a similar or related project completed within the last 48 months (this will be
treated as confidential and only used for the purposes of quality assurance).
           Contact details for two references
(including one from your last client/employer).
           A full financial proposal, providing
a detailed budget breakdown for the assessment
All documents must
be submitted by email to our ‘sealed’ email address tenders@farmafrica.org .
The email subject line should clearly indicate “Bid for the animal health
service delivery system assessment”. Failure to include any of the above
documents may, at Farm Africa’s discretion, result in disqualification from the
selection process.
Annex 1: Target Districts And Sub Counties
           Kotido: Nakapelimoru, Panyangara,
Rengen and Kotido sub-county.
           Napak: Ngoleriet, Lokopo, Lotome and
Lopeei.
           Moroto: Tapac, Rupa, Nadunget and
Katikekile.
           Nakapiripirit: Namalu and Moruita
Annex 2 – The Role Of CAHWS in The Livestock For
Livelihoods Project
           Conducting regular home visits to
project beneficiaries to check on health of the goats and provide basic
preventative animal health care services to project beneficiaries
           Reporting of any complicated animal
health cases to the animal health technicians and or vets for immediate
attention
           Raising awareness amongst project
beneficiaries of the importance of regular vaccination and tick control and
deworming
           Mobilising project beneficiaries to
participate in vaccination, deworming and tick control campaigns
           Encouraging strategic deworming of
goats according to seasonal factors and prevailing environmental conditions
           Assisting community members with
selecting and purchasing good-quality goats
           Training of project participants on
routine animal management practices (goat housing, kid management, deworming,
spraying, hoof trimming, castration)T
           raining buck keepers on proper buck
management and breeding practices
           Encouraging beneficiaries and the
wider community to participate in the breed improvement activities promoted by
the project
           Maintaining case record files for
community animals
           Assisting buck keepers and
beneficiaries to keep proper breeding, herd health and production records
           Attending regular project and animal
health management meetings organised by the project team and government
veterinary department
           Acting as a bridge between farmers
and agrovets shop owners and vets
Deadline: 1st October 2018
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