Consultant – Socio-economic Assessment at Premiere Urgence Internationale (PUI)

Premiere Urgence Internationale (PUI) is a non-profit, non-political, non-religious international NGO whose mission is to provide aid to populations affected by natural disasters, economic crises and conflicts. PUI’s overall objective is to cover the fundamental needs of populations suffering from humanitarian crisis in order to quickly restore their autonomy and dignity.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Consultant – Socio-economic Assessment

Location: Maiduguri Metropolitan Council, Borno
Start Date: October, 2020
Source of funding FFP
Author(s): FSL Coordinator, revised DHoM-P

Context
In Nigeria an armed conflict started in 2009 in the North-East region and is still on-going. This conflict has caused a humanitarian protracted crisis that has impacted negatively on the lives of millions of Nigerians. The armed conflict is characterized by massive and widespread violence against civilians and has resulted in forced displacement, destruction of infrastructures and loss of livelihoods. Borno, Adamawa and Yobe bear the brunt of the conflict[1]. It is estimated that 7.9 million persons in North-East Nigeria are in need of humanitarian assistance[2]. Borno State hosts 80% of the 1.8 million Internally Displaced People (IDP)[3]. This strains the existing social services and the resources of the host communities as 60%[4] of the IDP live within the host communities. The Covid-19 outbreak is deepening the humanitarian needs as measures taken to limit the spread of the virus such as lockdown have disrupted the livelihoods of some households particularly those who depend on daily wages.

PUI is operational in Nigeria since 2016. PUI has been responding to the needs of the crisis-affected people in Borno State through a comprehensive integrated approach, targeting vulnerable people affected by the crisis. PUI is providing to the targeted people means of subsistence (Food Security and Livelihoods) and access to basic services (Nutrition, Primary Health Care as well as Mental Health and Psycho-social Support). Protection is mainstreamed throughout all the sectors of activities.

PUI’s on-going Food Security and Livelihoods (FSL) programme is being implemented in Bolori II, one ward in Maiduguri Metropolitan Council, Borno State, with funding from the United States Govt. (Food for Peace-FFP). This programme has two components, a Cash and Voucher Assistance targeting a total of 5,835 households and a pilot Livelihoods component which supports 635 households to start a small business.

Food security and Livelihoods activities in Maiduguri, Nigeria:
The current Food Security and Livelihoods (FSL) programme is an 18 months intervention that started in June 2019 and will end in November 2020. The overall objective of the project is to provide emergency food assistance and stabilization of conflict-affected population through an integrated response. This is being achieved through an integrated approach comprised of the following elements:

• Improved Food Security, through the continuation of the e-voucher programme for a duration of 12 months to vulnerable populations in order to meet their basic food needs;
• Livelihoods Restoration and creation of economic opportunities through the establishment of Income Generating Activities (IGA) to promote self-reliance and reduce dependency on humanitarian assistance.
• Enhanced Nutritional Status, through community sensitization on malnutrition with strong focus on Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF);
• Reduced Protection risks associated with potentially damaging coping mechanisms resulting from economic limitations (integrated protection). Individuals being exposed to protection risks or having suffered rights violation incidents in result of food and nutrition insecurity or lack of access to livelihoods are identified by PUl’s Protection team through an outreach approach, internally referred to PUl’s FSL team and enrolled into the e-voucher assistance.

Here below are details of the Food Security and Livelihoods components of the programme:

• Goal: To improve the food security, nutrition status and sustainable livelihoods of the conflict affected population (IDPs and vulnerable host communities) in Borno State Northeast Nigeria.
• Outcome 1: Improved Food Security for the most vulnerable households in the target area.
• Output: IDPs and host communities affected by the ongoing crisis in target areas are supported with food assistance.

Main Activities:

• Identification and registration of the beneficiaries:

Currently 5,835 households have been selected and registered for food assistance in Bolori II, one ward in Maiduguri Metropolitan Council. These households are split in the following caseloads:

• Regular caseloads: 4,047 households
• Protection caseloads: 934 households
• Livelihoods caseloads: 635 households
• Influx caseloads: 219 households

Vendor selection and participation in the project:

• 47 vendors were selected within the 9 sub-wards of Bolori II where the programme is implemented.

Distribution of e-voucher:

• Each selected beneficiary received an e-voucher that allows the beneficiary to redeem the food and cash assistance entitlement.

Cash Transfer

• Every month, beneficiaries receive on their e-voucher a sum of money that they redeem from the partner vendors. The amount is calculated based on the size of the household and is enough to cover 70% of the Minimum Expenditure Basket of the household. This money is redeemed in two forms; from 50% to 100% of the value is redeemed as food commodities that the beneficiary is free to choose and the remaining as cash (so maximum 50%).
• Regular and Protection caseloads have received a monthly disbursement since December 2019 and will be assisted until the end of the programme. Livelihoods caseloads were initially entitled to 5 months food assistance while they are setting their small business but because this activity got delayed, we provided them with 3 additional months of food assistance. As for the Influx caseloads, they will receive 10 months of food assistance during the course of the project.

Post-distribution Monitoring:
Post distribution Monitoring is done after every 3 disbursements. A first monitoring was done in March 2020 and a second is planned in July 2020:

• Outcome 2: Reduced vulnerability to food insecurity through promoting livelihood opportunities
• Output: Targeted households are supported with income-generating activities

Mains Activities
Developing of Business Idea:

• Each of the 635 livelihoods beneficiaries proposed their own business ideas
• The project team helped each beneficiary to thoroughly study his/her business idea and assess its feasibility.

Training of Beneficiaries on IGA Management:

• The project team attended a training of trainers on small business management. This training was conducted by an external trainer
• After this training, the project team adapted the training modules received to match the beneficiaries’ capacities
• The livelihoods beneficiaries were then trained on marketing a product, estimating costs, incomes and prices as well as on bookkeeping and managing finances.

Provision of Start Capital:

• Each beneficiary will receive an amount not exceeding 250 USD as a start capital. The first part of the capital has been granted in July 2020 based on the list of material and inputs that are required to start the proposed small business.

Monitoring on the Utilization of the Grants:

• After provision of the start capital the project team will monitor how the beneficiaries use the received money
• The project team will accompany the beneficiaries through mentoring and coaching during the implementation of their small business to increase chance of success.

Map of the Zone:

• Building upon the urban social-economic study for livelihoods and economic recovery intervention commissioned by PUI in June 2018, this study will cover 4 Districts of MMC (Bolori, Galtimari, Gwange and Shuari)

Assessment Justification:

• Despite efforts from the Federal Government and Borno State to re-establish security and stability in North-East Nigeria, the security situation in Borno State is yet to reach a stability level that is conducive to a safe return of IDPs to their areas of origin. In MMC on the contrary, the security situation has remained relatively calm and stable. MMC thus continues receiving IDPs from other insecure areas of Borno State
• The current protracted crisis warrant life-savings interventions but also longer-term recovery and development actions. As part of its 2020-2021 strategy PUI in Nigeria intends to transition part of its actions from humanitarian assistance toward support to economic recovery in MMC.
• To initiate such transition, an in-depth understanding of the socio-economic situation in MMC is key. In order to achieve this purpose, PUI commissioned a socio-economic assessment in MMC back in 2018. The findings of this assessment were crucial for the project but should be updated for better decision-making.

Assessment Objectives
Overall Objective:

• To understand the current social-economic situation of the population of four districts in MMC.

Specific Objective:
This assessment shall focus on the following objectives, with gender, status (IDP/Host) and age as cross-cutting issues to be considered in the analysis:

SO1: To describe the socio-economic profiles of MMC urban households (both IDPs and Host) by providing relevant details on the following:

• Households’ demographic structures
• Access to basic services
• Characteristics of wealth groups and their access to livelihoods assets (households’ labour force, skills, availability and access to productive assets)
• Households’ expenditure structures (expenses prioritization and decision-making process about households’ expenses)

SO2: To understand current livelihoods strategies of vulnerable households in MMC. The assessment will address the following questions, among others:

• What are the current livelihoods strategies used by households in order to improve/maintain livelihoods security?
• What is the task distribution among household members, especially from a gender perspective?
• What are the enhancers/barriers of livelihoods strategies?

SO3: To describe the power structures that exist in the assessed communities:

• What are the influential power structures, among others, like the Bulama that exist in the assessed communities?
• What are the interactions (complementarity, competition) among these influential power structures?
• How do these power structures affect the livelihoods of households in general and especially for vulnerable households?

SO4: To identify baseline indicators to enable regular assessment of changes in food security and livelihoods outcomes. These indicators should measure:

• Households Food consumption patterns
• Households coping strategies in time of inaccessibility to food

SO5: To identify actionable strategies to improve the food security and livelihoods of vulnerable populations.

Tasks
Main Activities:
In the frame of this assignment, the consultant will:

• Review secondary information, research papers, policy documents, strategic planning documents, assessment reports, etc.
• Elaborate the assessment method and data collection tools
• Conduct interviews, focus groups discussion (FGD), with the different targets groups (i.e. different socio-economic groups, key informants, individuals households)
• Analyze FGD data and individual interviews data
• Write the assessment report and present the conclusions to PUI team
• Present findings to the FSL Sectors

Methodology
The consultant should provide a detailed methodology showing how the objectives of the study will be met. It is expected that the consultant will use a mixed-method including qualitative and quantitative data. The method should demonstrate objectivity and lack of biases. It should rely on different sources of information. As a guide, the method should include:

• Reviews and analysis of secondary information, research papers, policy documents, strategic planning documents, assessment reports, etc.
• Focus Group Discussions with different social-economic groups in MMC
• Key informants interviews
• Individual interviews

Organisation of the Mission
Composition of Assessment Team:

• The Consultant will be under the overall supervision of a steering committee in charge of assessments and evaluations
• The assessment can be led by one consultant or a team of consultants who must however meet the criteria specified in Section 8 (Requirements).

Logistics, Security and Administrative Organisation:

• The consultant is expected to respect the socio-cultural and security context of the mission and to act in a manner that will not affect PUI image in the country.
• The consultant is responsible for assessing her/his needs in terms of human resources and logistics and transcribe them in his/her financial proposal. PUI will provide logistical and administrative support to the extent possible.

Timetable:

• The assigned activities have to be conducted in maximum one month. The time frame to implement the following activities can be tailored by the consultant.

Expected Deliverables
Inception Report:

• The consultant must provide an inception report that includes :
• Summary of desk review (maximum 5 pages),
• Description of assessment method (maximum 2 pages)
• Data collection tools
• Time frame

Data Set:

• The consultant must provide all raw data collected from the field (possibly in electronic format). These include recordings (audio or paper) of the Focus Group Discussions and database of the individual interviews with Key Informants and other resources persons.

Final Assessment Report:

• Following the established framework, the consultant should submit an assessment report (maximum 30 pages) that includes the following sections:
  • Executive summary
  • Background
  • Objectives
  • Methodology
  • Summary of findings
  • Recommendations for actionable interventions
  • Bibliography
  • Annexes including full list of institutional and individual contacts developed throughout the assessment
• A draft of the report must be presented 1 week before the end of the consultant mission.
• The report must be provided in 2 hard copies as well as 1 soft copy sent by email to the FSL Co and DHoM-P on the date formerly agreed.
• The FSL Co, DHoM-P or Desk Manager can request corrections or modifications within one months after the report is released and the consultant must ensure that s/he is available if necessary.

Power Point Presentation:

• PPT summarizing main results and information collected. Prior to the finalization of the assessment report, an oral presentation shall be carried-out in order to collect feedbacks and comments from the Mission.

Budget

• A maximum budget of 10.000 USD is available for this study, however, a competitive selection process is expected to take place.
• PUI will provide accommodation for the consultant in guest houses while in Maiduguri.
• Meals and other incidentals will be under the responsibility of the consultant.
• The consultant will conduct his/her work using his/her own computer.
• Other miscellaneous costs directly related to the task that can include photocopying of questionnaires, etc. shall be covered by PUI. Any cost needs to have prior approval from PUI.
• The movement of the consultant and team to and from the field will be facilitated by PUI in Maiduguri.
• Consultant fee payment will be paid in two installments; First Installment 30% and the remaining 70% as the final installment. First installment will be paid after completion and validation of the inception report and final installment will be paid after production and validation of acceptable deliverables as outlined in these TOR.

A financial offer should be submitted, including a budget with detailed section (i.e. all costs related to the assessment, namely airline and other transportation expenses tickets, medical coverage expenses and insurance, the cost of food, logistics and human resources needed, as well as remuneration of expertise…).

Requirements
Education:

• Minimum of a Master’s Degree in Development Studies, Development Economics, Socio-economic Studies, or other field related to Livelihoods. Additional areas of experience could include poverty reduction; economics, business administration or management.

Experiences:

• Proven experience in socio-economic assessment and analysis for humanitarian programming.
• Minimum of five years working experience, with a focus on social and economic change/transformation for gender equality and the empowerment of women.
• Proven knowledge and practical experience in quantitative and qualitative research.

Competences & Knowledge:

• Communicating Information and Ideas: ability to initiate and facilitate open communication in the team;
• Ability to assess gender and diversity dimensions in livelihoods interventions
• Excellent organizational, analytical and communication skills.
• Excellent report writing skills.
• Experience working in emergency context but having one from northern Nigeria is as an asset.

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in English
• Speaking Hausa and/or Kanuri is an asset.

Application Closing Date
04:00 PM, Monday 24th August, 2020.