Request for Proposal (RFP) for Living Income Benchmarking (LIB) Data Collection and Analysis for Heifer International Ethiopia in the Lowlands and Pastoralist regions of Ethiopia

General Information

Background

Heifer is an international non-governmental development organization working to end poverty and hunger in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Heifer has been in the development sector for more than 75 years. Heifer International has been operating in 60 countries throughout the world, but through time started to focus on the 23 most poverty and disaster-affected countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

Heifer Ethiopia commenced operations in Ethiopia in 2004, forging partnerships with both international and local development organizations to enhance agricultural practices. Our focus areas include livelihood improvement, vegetable production, dairy farming, and livestock feed initiatives, primarily in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region (SNNPR). Over the past years, we have expanded our collaborations, working closely with the government and local partners to bolster agricultural development efforts. Our projects now extend beyond the SNNPR to regions such as Sidama, Oromia, and Amhara. In addition, through provision of Technical Assistance (TA) services to the Lowland Livelihoods Resilience Project (LLRP), we support the governments development efforts in the lowlands and pastoralist regions of the country including Somali, Afar, Gambella, and Benishangul-Gumuz.

Heifer Ethiopias Programmatic areas: Heifer Ethiopia's programs are multifaceted, focusing on agricultural development encompassing both crop and livestock sectors. We leverage agribusiness value chains, including poultry, horticulture, small ruminants, dairy, honey production, and more, to drive sustainable growth. Additionally, we prioritize climate resilience initiatives to mitigate the impacts of environmental challenges on farming communities. A core aspect of our mission is to create opportunities for entrepreneurship, thereby foster job creation. Through strategic interventions in livelihoods improvement programs, we aim to empower individuals and communities for long-term economic stability and prosperity.

The Lowlands Resilience Project (LRRP): The Lowlands Resilience Project (LRRP) (2019-2025). The 2 LLRP is a 450 USD a flagship investment project implemented by the Government of Ethiopia and co-financed by the World Bank Group, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and IFAD. The projects development objective is to improve livelihood resilience of pastoral and agropastoral communities in Ethiopia. Over the projects six years, LLRP is expected to benefit 2.5 million pastoral and agro-pastoral people, by enabling the development of a viable commercial production system, which would enhance their livelihoods and resilience capacity.

Heifer International/Ethiopia has been providing Technical Assistance (TA) for the project through its team of Technical Staff based in the Government Offices in Addis Ababa and Six Regional States, predominantly constituting the lowlands and pastoral and agro-pastoral (PAP) areas; i.e., Somali, Afar, Gambella, and Benishangul-Gumuz Regions and the lowlands of Oromia and South Ethiopia Regions. This partnership of Heifer International is the first of its kind for Heifer in the region.

Heifer believes that the Living Income Benchmark (LIB) is essential to measure our success in our operational areas. By identifying the LIB, we set for ourselves a long-term goal which we must achieve to enable our target groups lead a decent life. For our non-PAP intervention areas (which are four Regional States) we have undertaken one LIB for each Region. However, the PAP Regions, namely, the Somali, Afar, Gambella, and Benishangul-Gumuz Regions and the lowlands and pastoral areas of Oromia and South Ethiopia Regions have not been covered by our previous LIB assessments. Now we are planning to undertake this missing LIB in those PAP areas of the country, not only because it was not covered by our previous LIB study, but they have totally different context, as a result of which renders the previous LIB results inapplicable to them. This would be even more important as we are about to enter the second Phase-of LLRP (LRRP-II) .

Designed against this backdrop, this Request for Proposal (RFP) seeks to engage qualified consultants to undertake Living Income Benchmark (LIB) study for Heifer International Ethiopia, in the Pastoralists and Agro-Pastoralist (PAP) Regions of Somali, Afar, Gambella, and Benishangul-Gumuz as well as in the lowlands and pastoral areas of Oromia and South Ethiopia Regions.

The primary objective of the assignment is to gather essential data that will enable Heifer International to determine the minimum income people need to afford a decent standard of living in pastoral communities across Ethiopia. Subsequently, Heifer will analyze current/actual income levels later to identify the income gaps for different families to earn enough for a sustainable, decent standard of living and aiming to design appropriate interventions that enable those families to attain the identified Living Income Benchmark (LIB) and secure a sustainable, decent quality of life.

This document contains background information, the desired methodology (including objectives), the timeframe, and a list of deliverables. This document also contains information about the kind of expertise that Heifer International seeks for this activity and guidance on how to submit a proposal to conduct the data collection activity. Heifer anticipates awarding a fixed award for the study and to make payments based on submission and Heifers approval of deliverables. The award agreement will include a payment schedule with specific deliverables; all payments require 10 business days processing after approval of deliverables.

For more detailed information use the link:https://www.ethiojobs.net/docs/LIB_Data_Collection_TOR_%28003%29_DO.pdf