Consultant at Saferworld

Terms of reference: technical review of policies in Samburu county in relation to rangeland management and pastoralists' livelihoods

This project will be implemented over a period of 15 months (July 2018 – September 2019) in Samburu County where customary mechanisms have been instrumental in natural resource management. The impact of the project is ‘Inclusive and effective governance of rangeland resources such as pasture and water which guarantees community needs, including needs of women, youth and other excluded groups in Samburu County and the outcome is ‘County government of Samburu formulates and/or adopts inclusive policy/legislation on rangeland management that addresses communities’ needs and priorities including the needs for women, youth and other excluded groups.

Purpose and Objective of the Review

Saferworld would like to engage an expert or a team of experts to review existing policies both formal and informal affecting rangeland management in Samburu County with the aim of identifying existing gaps, overlaps and strengths and make practical recommendations on how they can be developed, re-drafted, merged or amended to ensure they are responsive to pastoral community needs.

Specifically, the expert will:

• Broadly review policies and strategies that influence rangeland management among pastoralist communities in Kenya and other countries with similar ecological characteristics.
• Identify policies, guidelines and practices related to the rangeland management in Samburu county and the region.
• Interrogate the formulation process of existing policies, guidelines and strategies that influence rangeland management and their implementation with a specific focus on strengths and gaps in regulating rangeland management.
• Identify areas of complementarity/conflict and consistency between different policies and in their implementation at both county and community levels
• Propose practical policy, strategy formulation/ review process and relevant support to the county government (that can be undertaken in the short term) for improved and sustainable management of rangeland resources in relation to laid down procedures in the national and county government laws.

Scope and Focus

The expert will develop an expert paper to inform strategies to engage the county government, pastoral community and other stakeholder in the Samburu county in strengthening policy framework that will ensure inclusivity and conflict sensitivity in the rangeland management. The review will be done through consultations with national and county governments in Samburu county, Civil Society Organisations, private sector and different community groups among other stakeholders. During the consultancy period, the expert(s) will be expected to look at existing policies from national and county government as well as those from the neighbouring counties especially those counties which are members of FCDC and ATI to get their perspectives on the practicability of current policy framework/mechanisms and firm up the rationale of developing a more inclusive policy that supports enforcement across all pastoralist communities. The expert will be expected to conduct extensive desk review for existing policies touching on sustainable rangeland management and engage relevant county authorities on the same. He/she will be expected to look at other legal frameworks from other countries where sustainable rangeland management is being practiced and borrow such best practices as he/she make recommendation for this assignment. Few interviews will be conducted at Nairobi, Samburu County and in the target wards for clarification on gaps in the current policy frameworks as well as the implementation at community and county levels.

Technical review process

The expert will be expected to take a period of 20 working days spread across three months starting from February to April 2019 to do and not limited to the following specific activities:

• Hold initial meeting with project team to explain context of the review, particular issues to be looked at, challenges, expected outcomes, agreement on the scope of work and contents of a work plan.
• Conduct desk research to familiarise her/himself with the county governments operations especially around county Assembly and policy formulation, taking stock of the existing policies, identify key informants (experts, institutions) to interview during the consultancy period.
• Hold initial consultation with county authorities and relevant stakeholders on existing rangeland management practices, strategies, needs and priorities to inform the review and recommendation process.
• Conduct targeted key informants on some of the grey areas realised during the desk review research.
• Conduct field visits to observe how the policy and regulations are implemented at both county and community levels.
• Conduct a participatory feedback session with the project team and other stakeholders to share key findings before writing the expert paper

Key Deliverables

• A comprehensive workplan for the technical review process indicating specific tasks, responsibilities and dates and resources required
• Key findings identified and verified during the participatory session with project team and the experts to allow the expert write a draft policy review report.
• Written interim report indicating strengths, weaknesses of the current policy framework and areas of improvement (short term and long term).
• Submit a comprehensive technical review report (expert paper) with the set deadlines consistent with the TORs, including recommendations.

Consultant Qualifications

The suitable person/ team should have the following qualifications:

• Postgraduate or other advanced university degree and/or professional training in governance, environmental science, legal studies and political science
• Experience in developing policies in the developing countries in particular Kenya context
• Experience in rangeland management issues).
• Experience in communication and writing of public policy
• More than 5 years of professional experience in strategic management, public policy, governance, organizational management and institutional/organizational development
• Extensive conceptual and practical knowledge of responsibility of and workings of county government
• Experience of working and collaborating with stakeholders including governments; civil society and communities in Kenya
• Demonstrated ability of analytical and report drafting work from the previous work done on the policy review engagements