Background

The forced displacement crisis has increased in scale and complexity in recent years. According to UNHCR, there were about 79.5 million forcibly displaced persons by the end of 2019, of whom about 26 million are refugees and asylum-seekers. Approximately 1% of the world’s population comprises of forcibly displaces persons. Overall men and women were almost equally represented. Forced displacement is increasingly protracted and disproportionally affects children: one in two refugees worldwide is a child. The overwhelming majority of the forcibly displaced are hosted in developing countries with limited resources and capacities to respond to the situations – and substantive socioeconomic impacts on both refugees and host communities. **

The impact of forced displacement is substantial both among those in displacement and hosting communities. In fact 80% of the world’s forcibly displaced persons are in countries that have challenges of food security. Forcibly displaced persons face specific vulnerabilities, including loss of assets and psychological trauma, limited rights, lack of opportunities, a protection risk as well as a risk to be out of school, and a lack of planning horizon. Host communities, often tend to be among the poorest or marginalized in their country, typically in lagging regions, have to pursue their own development efforts in an environment that has been transformed by a large numbers of newcomers. Economic opportunities and access to jobs as well as services, especially education and protective services, are key to a successful management of such situations – for both refugees and host communities. **

PARTNERSHIP FOR IMPROVING PROSPECTS (PROSPECTS)

In response to the aforementioned, UNICEF, UNHCR, ILO, IFC and the World Bank, in collaboration with and supported by the Government of the Netherlands, developed a joint and fully integrated approach to respond to the forced displacement situation in the Middle East, North Africa and the Horn of Africa by joining the partners’ efforts to develop a new paradigm in responding to forced displacement crises through the involvement of development actors. **

The Partnership aims to help transform the way governments and other stakeholders, including the private sector, respond to forced displacement crises – and in particular: (1 ) to enhance the enabling environment for the socio-economic inclusion of forcibly displaced persons (to mitigate their plight during years of exile and to best prepare them for their return); (2) to enhance access to education and child protection for vulnerable children on the move; and (3) to strengthen the resilience of host communities through inclusive socio-economic development that also benefits forcibly displaced persons.

CONTEXT- Garissa County

Garissa County is one of the three counties in the North Eastern region of Kenya, hosting a population of about 480,146 people (2019 National Census) residing in the seven sub Counties of Fafi, Ijara, Dadaab, Garissa , Balambala, Lagdera and Hulugho. Garissa has a land area of 44,753 km², and borders the Republic of Somalia in the East. The County has hosted refugees for close to 30 years, with statistics showing that the County presently hosts 218,873 refugees (UNHCR 2020). The County lies in the arid areas of Kenya, and temperatures are generally high throughout the year and range from 20 C to 38⁰ C. According to the Garissa County Integrated Development Plan (CIDP 2018-2022), only one per cent of the Garissa population own title deeds as majority of the population live on communal land. This has seen increased cases of land related inter-clan conflicts in the recent past consequently leading to loss of human lives.

The total hectarage under food crops in the county is 981 Ha while that under cash crop is 1,800 Ha. The main crops grown include watermelons, mangoes, vegetables, tomatoes, paw paws, bananas, cowpeas, simsim, maize, beans and green grams mainly under irrigation along the River Tana. Livestock rearing is the backbone of the county’s economy. The main livestock bred are cattle (Boran), goats (Galla), sheep (black headed Persian) and camel (dromedary one humped). The main livestock products are meat, milk, hides and skins. The county has 25 registered cooperative societies: 5 livestock marketing, 3 Agricultural Multi-Purpose, 2 Bee-Keeping, 3 consumer, 10 SACCOs, 1 building and construction and one Jua Kali. Of these, 11 are active while 14 are dormant.

The Garissa County CIDP (2018-2022) further maps out the following as strengths, opportunities, weaknesses and threats:-

Strengths

Strong civil society involvement; huge agricultural potential along River Tana; adequate water for irrigation from River Tana; proximity to two major highways, namely Garissa-Mombasa highway and Nairobi-Mandera highway; Garissa is a transit town and gate way to north eastern region; ample land for habitation; huge population; presence of various species of flora and fauna

Weaknesses

Little diversification in production; high Dependency on donor support; high illiteracy levels; poor livestock and crop husbandry; poor land tenure system; rural- urban migration; poor flood and drought management system; weak farmers associations and organizations; weak marketing systems; Low investment capacity; communal land tenure system; Absence of cooperative societies.

Opportunities

Increased investments in livestock and crop production; availability of mineral deposits such as Gypsum; value addition in livestock products and crops; availability of ICT; availability of an air strip; establishment of community conservancy areas; establishment of small\medium scale irrigation schemes; availability of schools and tertiary institutions.

Threats

Severe droughts; invasive plant species-Prosopis juriflola; frequent animal disease outbreak; rampant rural urban migration; wildlife menace; increasing incidences of HIV/AIDS-(1-2%) insecurity; rapid population growth rates-3.7%

Problem:

In 2019, the UNHCR and ILO carried out a market systems analysis in Dadaab region in a study titled ‘Doing Business in Dadaab’ to understand the context, identify key sectors with potential for growth, and map the challenges and opportunities available in the refugee hosting sub counties. The study identified agriculture, waste management and recycling, small livestock rearing and commodity trading as some of the key market systems that are functioning in Dadaab. The value chains were identified based on their relevance in the context, potential for growth and employment creation, and the feasibility of implementation in the context.

A follow up rapid market assessment was conducted in 2020, to define concrete market systems development interventions for identified value chains. The market assessment further confirmed the priority value chains and led to prioritization of livestock and agriculture value chains.

Whereas the value chains present a great potential to improve livelihoods of host communities and refugees, there exists key obstacles that limit development of the value chains. (i) the environmental conditions in Garissa County (dry arid area) poses a threat to the livestock value chain which mainly depends on rain-fed animal feed and water (ii) lack of critical inputs like seeds, equipment for mechanization of processes and value addition; animal medicines etc. reduces the chances of growing and maximizing the potential of the livestock business (iii) lack of market information and linkages exposes small scale farmers to potential exploitation by middle men as they do not enjoy the benefits of aggregation brought about by organized production and cooperatives and other social solidarity mechanisms.

These challenges and the fact that the Garissa County CIDP and the Garissa Integrated Socio-Economic Development Plan (GISEDP) prioritized the livestock sector amongst others have provided a strong basis for the ILO to invest in the value chain to demonstrate key interventions that contribute to the transformation of the sector.

PROSPECTS Interventions

The employment and decent work pillar under the PROSPECTS programme aims at increasing the number of host community people and refugees with enhanced livelihoods and employment in decent work. Interventions under this pillar will trigger provision of employment services to support transition to work, as well as the labour market demand that is needed to let refugees and host communities transition to various forms of employment, and finally mechanisms to promote enhanced quality of work.

Within the identified value chains, barriers to business start-ups and scale ups will be identified and addressed to unblock the entrepreneurial potential that exists in the targeted areas. Enhanced use of Employment Intensive Investment methodologies by national and local government as well as contractors in public investment programmes in the targeted areas is expected to lead to both increased direct employment opportunities, and indirect opportunities for local entrepreneurs. PROSPECTS partners have jointly formulated four short-term outcomes that constitute preconditions to the achievement of the pillar outcome, and to which the ILO will contribute:

(i) Improved labour market governance supporting transition to and entry into employment and formalization

(ii) Increased private sector or public investment and enhanced business environment for creating business opportunities for refugees and host community members.

(iii) Increased access to financial, business development services and entrepreneurial support

(iv) Enhanced capacity to protect labour rights and promote safe and secure working environments for all workers

The livestock value chain outputs are expected to contribute to each of the four outcomes and ultimately ensure enhanced livelihoods for host communities and refugees.

SCOPE OF WORK

To address some of the challenges experienced in the livestock value chain and to contribution to improving the livelihoods of communities in Garissa, the ILO is seeking to collaborate with a strategic local institution with proven expertise in the livestock and related value chains, and solid understanding of the socio-economic dynamics of Garissa County.

The main objective of the implementing partnership will be to design and implement interventions targeting the livestock and related value chains in Garissa County, with focus on at least 500 beneficiaries from host communities and refugees in the sub-counties of Dadaab, Fafi and Garissa Township.

The interventions will cover the following areas of the livestock and related value chains:

· Commercial livestock fodder production along the Tana river banks targeting youth

· Feedlot rearing of livestock for sale to abattoirs for women and youth

· Small ruminant production and marketing for women

· Bee keeping targeting women and people with disabilities

The implementing partner will be working with women, youth and persons with disabilities that are organized in cooperative societies or associations.

Specifically the implementing partner will be required to consider on market system development with a focus on the end markets, identify leverage points within the value chains especially support functions that can generate impact, improve the value chain governance and create partnerships and market linkages between value chain actors.

(i) Provide technical support and capacity building to stakeholders within the livestock and bee keeping value chains in Garissa County.

(ii) Identify, mobilize and organize farmer groups in the target areas to build their agency and capacity for improved production and market linkages.

(iii) Create market linkages for different products within the livestock and bee keeping value chains; while strengthening the role of private sector actors.

(iv) Document learning from the project implementation, and disseminate to stakeholders.

The table below captures key components of the implementation proposal, though not limited to the list:-

Objective

Activity

Output

Value chain intervention design

· Design and implement interventions targeting the livestock and related value chains in Garissa Coutny, with specific focus on the refugees and host communities in the sub-counties of Dadaab, Fafi and Garissa Township.

1 proposal and 1 budget plan.

Stakeholder and beneficiary mapping

· Identify, mobilize and organize stakeholders and farmer groups in the target areas to build their agency and capacity for improved production and market linkages.

Stakeholder map, and beneficiary identification

Needs based capacity building plans

· Provide technical support and capacity building to stakeholders within the livestock and bee keeping value chains in Garissa County.

Capacity building plans for key value chain actors

Market linkages

· Create market linkages for different products within the livestock and bee keeping value chains.

Market map for the different products

Documentation and learning

· Document learning from the project implementation, and disseminate to stakeholders at a knowledge management event.

Documentation plan and dissemination event

Deliverables and Reporting

• The strategic implementing partner will be expected to provide a quarterly activity plan and a monthly progress report. The implementation report will capture outputs of the activities implemented, lessons learnt and challenges experienced. ILO will provide a reporting template to the partner.


• The strategic implementing partner will involve the ILO PROSPECTS team in all activities for technical support, stakeholder inclusion and quality monitoring.


• The ILO will monitor implementation of the activities and hold monthly meetings with the partner to review plans and provide technical support.


• At the end of the implementation period, the strategic implementing partner will provide an end of implementation report as well as a financial expenditure report.

Qualification

The ILO is seeking to collaborate with an organization that suits the criteria below:-

(i) Proven technical expertise in the livestock and related value chains

(ii) Proven technical expertise in market systems development approaches

(iii) Presence and or experience in developing partnerships that can deliver interventions in Garissa county and good understanding of the Garissa County livestock eco system.

(iv) Experience and networks within the refugee hosting sub counties of Dadaab and Fafi will be an added advantage.

(v) Record of accomplishment of successfully implementing value chain projects with high levels of efficiency and integrity.

Budget:

Through PROSPECTS Programme the ILO will initially invest USD. 250,000.00

Implementation period

The proposal and budget plan should cover an initial period of 12 months (1 year)

The call can be downloaded on :

https://www.ilo.org/global/programmes-and-projects/prospects/countries/kenya/WCMS_775356/lang–en/index.htm