Vacancy Announcement: Service Provider for undertaking Market Systems Analyses (MSAs) in Nyanza, Nairobi and Mombasa – Kenya

Description

Undertake three MSAs that will make recommendations for interventions to support returnees and host communities in accessing economic, entrepreneurship and decent work and employment opportunities in each of the three selected regions (Nyanza, Nairobi and Mombasa) in Kenya.

The assessment will, on the one hand, identify the target groups’ skills and capacities, and, on the other, identify specific value chains where such skills are sought after. It will also provide a realistic picture of the type of support that would be required so that returnees and host communities can access such economic opportunities. In addition to the assessment, an action-planning workshop will also be conducted to further develop plans for interventions and gain feedback from relevant stakeholders.

Scope of Work

The assignment will culminate MSA in Kenya focused on Nyanza, Nairobi and Mombasa and proposals for targeted interventions based on data and findings gathered from technical field missions, desk and secondary research. The target group for analysis and the eventual interventions is returnees and host communities, with particular emphasis on women and youths. The MSA will focus on but not be limited to the following:

Socio-economic assessment and context analysis/rapid market assessment:

1. A Socio-economic assessment of the target group should give an overview of the target group’s profile including their age, educational background, capacities, skills, professional experience, legal status, current income-generating activities as well as key challenges and constraints. For this target group assessment, service provider can draw upon already existing profiling exercises and studies. Missing data will be collected through field visits and interviews.
2. Rules and regulations pertaining to returnees’ access to economic opportunities in the three target regions. An assessment of relevant rules and regulations should lead to a comprehensive idea of the legal environment that governs access to the labour market, while also including an analysis of informal rules and social norms that affect returnees’ economic inclusion.
3. Access to market supporting functions for returnees. An assessment of supporting functions available to returnees should result in a thorough understanding of the type of support that returning migrants can or cannot draw on to build livelihoods. Supporting functions include but are not limited to access to finance, access to information, access to skills development and to business development support services. Through focus group discussions and key informant interviews, the assessment will elucidate the availability and quality of market supporting functions, as well as whether and how they are available to the target group.
4. Identification of high-potential value chains in each region’s economy: The value chain selection exercise (market assessment) will identify value chains which have potential for profitability, growth and decent employment for the target group. Selection criteria should include the following: relevance to the target group, potential for employment creation and feasibility for intervention. Validation workshops will be held for each target region to present the socioeconomic assessment and context analysis and sector selection exercise and agree on the two VCs prioritized in each target region.

Value chain analysis and recommendations for market-based returnees, potential migrants’ and host communities’ livelihoods interventions:

1. Value Chain Analyses will be conducted for at least two selected value chains based on the methodology outlined in the ILO publication “Value chain development for decent work”. Value chain analyses will explore the existing business linkages and employment opportunities for returnees and host communities. This should include an overview of existing financial and business support services as well as regulatory constraints and opportunities for the economic development of the value chain. All findings and collected information should be discussed and validated during a VC stakeholder workshop.
2. Recommendations for market-based livelihoods interventions. Based on analysis of the above, the assessment will make actionable and realistic recommendations to support the development a market-based livelihoods strategy for returnees, potential migrants and host communities. The analysis will be concluded with an action-planning workshop that will focus on presenting and discussing results of the assessment and developing an action plan for market-based livelihoods interventions in each target region.

The service provider is expected to work in close consultation with the project team from the ILO.