Project Baseline Assessment at Practical Action Kenya

Scope of work

The assessment will be conducted in two phases:

Market systems analysis

The market systems analysis will support two objectives

• It will provide data that informs the baseline survey, principally by helping us target young people in targeted value chains.
• It will provide a preliminary assessment of market systems and market actors that then informs further market analysis and planning.

The market systems analysis will include, for each value chain, the following:

• Mapping of the core market -the ‘value chain’ – including an assessment of all of the actors involved from production, through processing and value addition to the final retail operations.
• Mapping of the associated input and services markets for each value chain including but not limited to, providers of finance, training support, inputs and energy.
• Mapping of the ‘enabling environment’, the rules, regulations, policy and social norms which influence the nature of market activity and are specific to that value chain.

For each of these sections of the market system, the analysis will identify the following:

• The role and importance of different actors and their interconnection
• The presence and role of young people, specifically identifying where they are located (which economic activities) and type of roles they have. This will include an assessment of the value they are obtaining and the ‘decency’ of the work they undertake – are their jobs temporary, permanent, voluntary etc.
• Constraints to the participation of young people in specific parts of the market system. This will include factors that hold back young people from either participating, from gaining fair reward or from getting ‘decent’ work.
• Opportunities to increase the participation of young people in specific parts of the market system. This needs to focus on the potential, of specific roles in the value chains to: increase absolute numbers of young people participating; improve the value captured by young people; improve decent work for young people.
• General constraints that are impeding the growth of the sector. This includes factors that may be appropriate for market systems interventions led by combinations of the private sector actors and national and county governments.

Profile of potential consultant

This baseline should be undertaken by a senior consultant who has the range of skills and experience in order to deliver an insightful baseline assessment for the project. They should be experienced in gender sensitive data collection techniques and can lead the data collection team. It is expected that the consultant will have the following qualifications and experience:

• Extensive and demonstrated experience in designing, facilitating, and coordinating baselines/evaluations in the development sector by non-governmental and donor (bi-lateral and multilateral agencies)
• Extensive experience in conducting market systems analyses.
• Extensive and demonstrated experience in the use of mixed methods approaches (integrating quantitative and qualitative data), statistical analysis and interpretation of results.
• Experience using digital data collection methods, for example, ODK.
• Demonstrated ability to lead and coordinate a multi-disciplinary team in DME activities.
• Team members comprising market systems development practitioners. agricultural economists, youth experts, policy and gender experts who possess more than 10+ of experience with Masters’ and above level education, lead consultant with PhD level education
• Have a well-versed understanding and extensive knowledge of the target counties geographically, interns of terrain, local population, and other details of the counties, and has carried some related or similar work in the lake region.