Volunteer Business Mentor Opportunities

Practical Action is a change-making organization that works in unconventional ways. We bring people together in bold collaborations, using knowledge and innovation, to build futures free from poverty and help shape a world that works better for everyone. We put ingenious ideas to work so people in poverty can change their world.

We are an international development agency with more than 50 years’ experience in development and scaling of a range of technologies appropriate to the needs of the poor. Working throughout Africa, Asia and Latin America, Practical Action improves the lives of around one million people every year through access to energy, sustainable agriculture, water, sanitation, hygiene and waste management, and disaster risk reduction.

We are a trusted partner of many communities, governments, development agencies and the private sector. We are uniquely placed as a knowledge broker with a breadth of capacities which enable us to capture and share knowledge in relevant ways for our diverse audiences. We are influential at national level where we work, and globally and considered a “go-to” agency by those seeking to improve lives for men and women living in or vulnerable to poverty.

Our vision is a world where all people have access to the technologies that enable them to meet their basic needs and reach their potential, in a way that safeguards the planet today, and for future generations.

In pursuit of our Vision and Mission, we are committed to advancing gender equality and women’s empowerment through all our work including programs, knowledge sharing, advocacy, external communications, and also through our own organizational development.

Background of the Consultancy Assignment
Practical Action was recently awarded by EnDev-GCF to implement the Kenya ICS Last Mile Entrepreneurs Acceleration Project (KILMEAP); which falls under the EnDev-GCF project ‘Promotion of Climate-Friendly Cooking in Kenya and Senegal’. The project is being implemented in Nakuru and Nyandarua Counties as the main hubs. Additionally, the project proposes to have sub-hubs in Kericho (Kipkellion and Londiani) and Baringo (Mogotio, Kabarnet and Eldama Ravine. However, the scoping exercise will advise on the specific sub-hubs to be considered by the project.

The project has been designed to tackle Green House Gas emissions from the unsustainable consumption of wood-based fuels in the household cooking sector, which is the largest single contributor to the GHG emissions in the energy sector in Kenya (70%). To do so the project will address the underlying root cause of the problem, i.e. slow and largely ODA-dependent growth of improved cook stove (ICS) sector.

Main Objective of the KILMEAP Project
The project’s main objective is to accelerate the growth of the Improved Cook Stove (ICS) sector with an irreversible market transformation that will significantly increase the level of ICS production, improve on the quality of the products and increase sales. To enable such paradigm shift, two main barriers will have to be addressed. On the supply side, the ICS sector is not capable of securing the investment required to scale up ICS production and sales, whereas the demand for ICS remains concentrated in a limited geographic locations and among more affluent and better-informed consumer groups.

Target Groups
This project mainly targets to work with ICS last mile entrepreneurs who retail and/or install ICS in their neighborhood/village in rural areas.

Technologies Promoted
The project is focusing on promoting affordable improved biomass stoves that are locally produced in Kenya, including both charcoal and firewood stoves. The stoves are expected to fulfil the following criteria:

• Firewood stoves: fuel savings of at least 40% over and above, compared to the fuel consumption of the baseline stove (i.e. three stone fire),
• Charcoal stoves: fuel savings of at least 30% over and above baseline stove (i.e., Kenya ceramic jiko).

Roles and Responsibilities

1. Training ICS LMEs on Business Skills Development, Agency Empowerment, Self-leadership and other areas based on identified capacity gaps;
2. Providing customized one-on-one business mentoring support to ICS Last Mile Entrepreneurs in the project areas as per the identified needs;
3. Coordinating the formation of Village Savings and Loaning Associations (VSLAs) among the ICS LMEs
4. Organizing for group networking and information sharing sessions among the LMEs
5. Making regular monitoring of LMEs businesses to ensure implementation as per the project goal
6. Organizing meetings in liaison with project implementation team for any planned field activities
7. Collecting data/information from LMEs for regular monitoring of project indicators.
8. Coordinating the generation of reports from the LMEs in the respective regions
9. Any other task that may be assigned by Project Manager/Senior Project Officer-Enterprise Development

Project Geographic Areas
Nakuru, Nyandarua, Baringo and Kericho

Qualifications and Experience

1. A graduate degree in Business related discipline, Sales and Marketing or any other relevant field with at least 2 years’ working experience or a Diploma with at least 3 years working experience in business development services for small and micro enterprises. Experience in financial inclusion, household energy value chains (Improved Cook-stoves) and Agency Empowerment programs for energy entrepreneurs will be an added advantage
2. He/she must be experienced in adult capacity building; especially in the fields of business skills development and Village Savings and Loaning Associations (VSLAs)
3. The incumbent will have strong communication skills in English, Swahili and local languages, training and coaching skills as well as excellent time management, organizational, networking and liaison skills
4. He/she will also have In-depth knowledge and understanding of the renewable energy sub-sector of Kenya
5. He/she will be proficient in Computer application with knowledge in use of online reporting platforms and report writing. In addition, the incumbent will be self-motivated and with the ability to work under minimal supervision
6. The person will have strong interpersonal skills and the ability to work effectively with stakeholders across different sectors
7. Immediate availability is highly desirable.