TERMS OF REFERENCES (TORs) Consultancy for the Analysis of National Agricultural Investment Plans. Introduction

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1 TERMS OF REFERENCES (TORs) Consultancy for the Analysis of National Agricultural Investment Plans Introduction Agriculture remains the economic base for the majority of poor in Africa and constitutes a key economic sector in most African countries. It is widely recognised that the agricultural sector has a crucial role to play in the long-term development of most African countries. With over 70 per cent of the population in sub-saharan Africa dependent on the sector for their livelihoods, equitable agricultural growth is the best chance of fighting poverty. The vast majority of rural poor in Africa are smallholders and the majority of these smallholders are women, despite the fact that women grow up to 80 per cent of the food in Africa. However, there has been gross under-investment in the Agriculture sector in most if not all African countries over the years. Since the mid 1990s, donor contribution to the agricultural sector has declined dramatically. The under-investment in African agriculture is further evidenced by the low and sometimes declining budget allocation by governments to the sector. Few governments prioritize agriculture in their policies and spending to the extent that agriculture receives less than 10% of the national budget in many countries, yet its contribution to GDP is between 20 and 50%. In 2003, the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture and Development Programme (CAADP) was established by the Assembly of the African Union aiming to raise agricultural productivity by at least 6% per year and increasing public investment in agriculture to at least 10% of national budgets per year. CAADP is offering a renewed opportunity for countries to ensure agriculture becomes the engine of growth for African countries. CAADP represents a new way of achieving impact by enabling increased and better aligned investment in the agriculture sector. CAADP aims to exploit and expand upon recent growth to help more African countries to achieve, or at least draw nearer to, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) through sustainable development and improved food security. Positive improvement in Africa's economies and food production is an indication that the changes required to significantly reduce poverty and eliminate malnutrition are actually within the reach of many African countries. NEPAD is therefore encouraging continent wide, regional bodies and national governments to undertake the policy and investment measures necessary to speed up and broaden the growth process. At country level, the National Agriculture Investment Programme (NAIP) and the Investment Plan (IP) are the concrete expressions of the efforts aimed at making operational the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP). In order to be able to influence the process in line with the CAADP objectives and poverty eradication, there has to be realistic and relevant investment plans that will ensure that the investment is targeted to the real actors at the grassroot level, especially women small scale farmers. It is in this regard that ACORD wishes to commission this review of country investment plans to assess the extent to which they will contribute to poverty eradication, women s rights, equality, 1

2 including for indigenous people, pastoralist communities, and communities affected by the negative impacts of HIV and AIDS; and environmental sustainability (including climate change issues); and whether they realize the very principles of CAADP which are inclusiveness, evidence based and participatory. It is also necessary to assess if there is coherence in CAADP approach between regional and national levels. Analysis need to be conducted to better articulate the coherence between national compacts and regional compacts, as well as, identify gaps where a regional compact could complement national efforts. ECOWAS already has a compact while IGAD, COMESA, SADC and EAC are in the process of developing their regional compacts. Purpose and Scope of Work Within the CAADP process more work needs to be done to shape the development of national investment plans. The involvement of the actors and players has left a lot to be desired. In addition, the process and to a much greater extent the content of investment plans need to be properly designed to ensure inclusiveness and tangible results in terms of improving people s lives and their livelihoods. ACORD is implementing a Pan Africa Programme centred on agriculture and food sovereignty. Among the priority outcomes ACORD is pursuing is: Good quality investment in agriculture is increased, through CSO policy engagement, in particular small holder farmers and women, and their promotion of principles for food sovereignty, equality and ecological sustainability This review will analyse national CAADP investment plans from 5 countries with a view to assisting civil society groups, farmers and pastoralist organisations to better understand the focus of the plans, the extent to which they will contribute to poverty eradication and inclusive growth, and how much they support priorities of poor women farmers, vulnerable groups (including people living with HIV and AIDS) and climate resilient sustainable agriculture. Technical reviews of the investment plans have been carried out from a donor/government perspective. ACORD s intention is to provide an independent critical assessment from the perspective of poor smallholder farmers, especially women and other vulnerable groups whose voices have been least heard in the CAADP process to date. Countries of analysis: Burundi, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Rwanda and Tanzania Why the choice of these countries? Burundi and Tanzania will receive a grant from the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program (GAFSP) in support to CAADP to improve the food security in the nations through the NAIP. The review of NAIP could help to influence implementation of this grant. Burkina Faso could provide information on the coherence with ECOWAS Regional Agricultual Investment Program (RAIP). Ethiopia ($51.5 million), and Rwanda ($50 million) are part of the previous winners of the GAPFS along with Sierra Leone ($50 million), Togo ($39 million), Niger ($33 million) and Liberia ($46.5 million). It is good to assess whether these funds benefited small holder farmers. 2

3 Objectives of the Analysis The specific objectives are the following; Critically review and analyse national investment plans for Burundi, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Rwanda and Tanzania Assess the coherence, ambition and realism of the plans and the robustness of the multi-year spending plans, including financing gaps on the donor or government side. Guiding questions for the assessment will include: Is it a collection of many different unrelated projects or a comprehensive and well-sequenced plan? Are the programmes prioritised and if so what criteria have been used in setting priorities? Are the costings detailed or lump sums? Are expenditures linked to outputs and outcomes? Does the financing plan capture both on-budget and off-budget contributions? Are robust mechanisms for donor-government coordination set out in the plans? Is the rate of spending increase achievable? Assess the plan s beneficiary analysis. Examine which interest groups (commercial farmers, agrodealers, prosperous smallholders, marginal smallholders, etc.) and which agriculture sectors (high-value horticulture, staple grains, fisheries, etc.) will benefit most from the overall investment plans. Assess the extent to which investment plans target and/or will benefit the poorest farmers, especially women farmers, for example through increased spending on extension, credit, procurement, and inputs targeting poor farmers, especially women; examine/analyse programmes that increase women s access to and control over land, water and other inputs and/or to reduce their labour burden; food security and nutrition programmes. Assess whether the investment plans incorporate adequate and gender-targeted steps to adapt to the impact of climate change on smallholder agriculture and pastoralism; highlight any measures that could have negative environmental or climate impacts (e.g. large expansion of land area under irrigated cultivation, free distribution of chemical fertilisers, increased livestock production without a corresponding programme to promote integrated soil fertility management). Review the agrarian reform component of the strategy, if any, and highlight any other programmes or measures that could have either a positive or a negative effect on inequalities in land distribution and tenure rights. Assess whether the plans incorporate adequate, pro-poor and gender-targeted measures to improve food security and nutrition, diversify diets and reduce hunger (including through social protection). Review proposals for promoting commercial agriculture and export agriculture to assess their poverty and gender impacts, paying careful attention to tax concessions, large infrastructure development and other incentives proposed for agribusiness. Review the modalities for inclusion, participation and accountability proposed in the plan. How inclusive was the process? Extent to which the different actors (private sector, farmers organizations and CSO were involved in the development of the NAIPs. Review the mechanisms for monitoring, evaluation and reporting systems and procedures, to assess the extent to which they integrate gender and HIV and AIDS indicators. 3

4 Analyze the way in which the regional dimension and its corollaries (subsidiarity, complementarities, and comparative advantages) were correctly taken into account both in content and in the process of elaboration of plans. Identify elements in the plans demonstrating gradual transition from project approach to sectoral approach; assess the extent to which the implementation of the NAIPs have adapted the multi sectoral approach. Make recommendations for the involvement of various stakeholders (Government, RECs, TFP, Farmers organisation, CSO, etc..) in enhancing the quality of investment in the NAIP. Draw up a simple checklist or framework for communicating the findings of the rapid review that could be used by national civil society groups (e.g. farmer organisations) to conduct their own rapid assessment of CAADP plans and/or shadow reports to engage policy makers on. Outputs/Deliverables By the end of the exercise the following outputs are expected: 1. An analytical summary report of 20 pages and a synthesis note of 5 pages maximum analytical country reports of max. 30 pages and synthesis note of 5 pages 3. Comprehensive bibliography of literature consulted (author, date, title, publisher and URL), including hard copies of grey literature documents that are not available on the internet. 4. List of interviewed persons and their organisation. Methodology Desk review and interviews (government, donor, academic and civil society organisation. small farmers and pastoralists) will be conducted. The consultant(s) must read and analyse all available CAADP documents for the countries included in the study: signed compacts, stocktaking reports, technical reviews as well as investment plans. The consultant(s) should also identify and review recent grey literature that is relevant to the research task: for example reviews and evaluations of previous government or donor agriculture, food security or social protection plans and strategies for the country; background reports on ecological and climate adaptation challenges facing the country; national climate adaptation plans and reports; country studies of the agriculture sector by agencies such as IFPRI, UNEP and FAO. The data collected will be analyzed and interpreted to generate information to share with CSOs in those countries and at the regional level for them to use in their policy engagement with decision makers. Duration/Timeframe The task is expected to take a maximum of one month beginning July 2012 and be completed by August 2012, inclusive of report writing. 4

5 Requirements / Consultancy Profiles Academic qualifications (Masters or PhD) in agriculture, economic/international development, social sciences, or other relevant development field of study The consultant(s) must have prior expertise on smallholder agriculture as a route to poverty eradication and inclusive growth in Africa, and must also be familiar with the ecological sustainability and climate resilience issues surrounding African agriculture. The consultant(s) must be well conversant with the CAADP and other agricultural policies and plans in-countries Demonstrable experience in conducting similar work with proven analytical skills Thorough understanding and knowledge of agriculture and development issues in Africa, agricultural policy analysis and food security & sovereignty Excellent analytical and report writing skills Proficiency in two of the three ACORD working languages (English, French, Portuguese) is highly desired Gender balance is highly desirable for consultant teams ACORD is imagining an international consultant to lead the overall analytical work in collaboration with national consultants based in the respective countries. EXPRESSION OF INTEREST Shortlisted consultants/firms are required to submit revised technical and financial proposal by: 1. Interpreting the TOR 2. Explaining in detail the methodology and tools to be used in carrying out the assignment 3. Providing a detailed professional budget (indicating daily professional rates) 4. Explaining their competences to meet the requirements of the assignment 5. Attaching CVs and brief technical biographical data of the core team-members 6. Providing the duration of the assignment and when ready to undertake the assignment. 7. Providing evidence of similar work undertaken in the recent past (not more than 3 years), including contact details of references Deadline for application: July, 20th 2012: Please send your proposal by to: recruit@acordinternational.org 5