Consultancy: Conducting Capacity Building for Journalists in Advocacy and Creating Awareness for Critical Social and Environmental Issues in the Tea Sector in Kenya

Introduction

Solidaridad Network is an international solution-oriented civil society organization working through eight regional expertise centers to transform markets to make them more sustainable and inclusive. Our eight regional expertise centers include Asia, Eastern and Central Africa, Europe, Latin America, North America, Southern Africa, South America, West Africa and our global Secretariat in the Netherlands. Solidaridad Eastern and Central Africa, one of the regional centers, headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya with country offices and programmes in Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Tanzania and Uganda. We bring together supply chain players and engage them with innovative solutions to improve production, ensuring the transition to a sustainable and inclusive economy that maximizes the benefit for all. We facilitate strengthening of local capacity in developing countries, support the creation of enabling environments for economies to thrive, and improve market access.

Purpose

Solidaridad intends to conduct a series of engagements to capacitate the media on advocacy & creating awareness to contribute to an inclusive sustainable tea value chain and trade in an innovative way, in which the interests, voices and rights of farmers, workers and citizens (m/f) are represented and heard in decision making for sustainable use of natural resources, fair value distribution, descent work conditions and sustainable consumption under the Reclaim Sustainability! Project. This will influence the public and private sector to adopt and implement sustainability norms that will ultimately alleviate the poverty of farmers and workers.

Background

With financial support from the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Solidaridad and its partners are implementing RECLAIM SUSTAINABILITY Program (2021-2025). Within this program are five projects (Tea Project, Coffee Project, Food Products Project, Gold Project and Cotton / Textile Project) with the Tea project being implemented in Kericho County among others.

The project seeks to achieve Inclusive, sustainable, responsible supply and value chains in which the interests, voices and rights of growers, workers (m/f) and communities are justly represented, acknowledged, and heard to ensure conservation of natural resources, decent work, fair value distribution, and sustainable consumption.

Expected Project Outcomes

A responsible media fraternity that can objectively report on the issues in the Tea sector and amplify the interests, voices and rights of farmers, workers and citizens (m/f) towards sustainable use of natural resources, fair value distribution, descent work conditions and sustainable consumption.

Objectives of the media capacity building.

1. To empower Journalists with important information on how to create a sustainable and inclusive tea sector in Kenya and raise public awareness through the media about the biting issues in the tea sector.
2. To build a network of critical mass of journalists interested in creating awareness about the Tea sector including raising voices on the violations and exploitations on the rights of the stakeholders in the tea sector especially the workers and small holder tea growers.
3. To train journalists on how to best report on tea social, environmental, gender inclusivity issues & to cover stories of public tea policy and business model, financing and investment impediments for the purposes of advocacy and creating awareness.
4. To capacitate Kenya Environment and Science Journalists Association on how to organize the association in areas of human resource policy, staff engagement, motivation and rewards.

Field Approach or Methodology.

The consultant should propose a methodology to be used to carry out a physical training of 15 media practitioners to achieve the objectives as per the tasks and deliverables listed above, including a detailed breakdown of the steps he/she would follow to ensure a participatory, effective and inclusive process.

Responsibilities of Consultants/Scope of Work:

The following tasks will be done by the consultant;

• Prepare and share the capacity building training plan/methodology.
• Organize an inception meeting to discuss the training plan.
• Facilitate the learning and knowledge sharing during the capacity building workshop, field excursion and radio reporting/debate.
• Provide a final report for the capacity building.

Deliverables:

The media trainer will deliver to Solidaridad the following:

a) The work plan and methodology for training.

b) List of training materials needed for the Capacity building.

c) A detailed report indicating key milestones of the Media capacity building workshop.

d) Practical training with a local radio station including news reporting of the field excursion training findings and a topical discussion of a selected tea issue preferably by Small Tea growers Leaders and Local government leaders.

Expert/Consultant’s Profile:

• The consultant must have at least 5 year’s proven professional experience in Media practice and training on environmental, social, gender and policy issues affecting an agricultural value chain in Kenya.
• Must possess extensive experience and understanding of media dynamics and development journalism in Kenya.
• Should possess excellent pedagogical skills to facilitate knowledge transfer and learning process.
• Accurate current addresses i.e. physical, postal, telephones and email

Consultancy Period:

The training assignment is expected to take a maximum of 3 calendar days after approval by TEC.

1. Expression of Interest (maximum 5 pager showing capacity, experience) CV with References and attach a reasonable quotation for conducting the training 25th March 2022
2. Start of the assignment(Inception Meeting) 1^st April 2022
3. Training 4^th to 6^th April 2022
4. End of assignment report – 15^th April 2022