AGRA

Consultancies

RFP: Consultancy Contract to Develop Business Cases for Selected Crop & Livestock Value Chains in Samburu, Laikipia and Isiolo counties

DEADLINE: September 26, 2023

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Background

The Netherlands Development Organization (SNV), AGRA, and the Frontier Counties Development Council (FCDC) – in collaboration with the County Governments of Isiolo and Samburu and Laikipia County, are implementing the Laikipia, Isiolo, Samburu Transforming the Environment through Nexus (LISTEN) project. The 3.5-year project seeks to enhance resilience by increasing food, nutrition, and water security in the three selected Arid and Semi‐Arid Lands (ASAL) counties of Laikipia, Isiolo, and Samburu in Kenya.  Each consortium partner brings their own specialization to the table and will combine their capacity to achieve four key outcomes:

  • Outcome 1: Improved institutional capacities and programming frameworks for inclusive climate resilience at the county level.
  • Outcome 2: Improved water and livelihood resource management at Landscape level in the Ewaso Nyiro River Basin Ecosystem.
  • Outcome 3: Increased production and income through adoption of Good Agricultural Practice (GAP), good management and efficient water practices, technologies and innovations in selected crop and livestock value chains, including fodder and forage.
  • Outcome 4: Use of Knowledge and Innovation management increased in ASALs.

The project is anchored on the centrality of county governments for ownership and scale and will work at the county, landscape, community, and farmer levels. It is designed to support the three selected county governments in identifying initiatives and increasing the adoption and upscaling of climate-resilient practices and innovations leading to improved resilience through improving food, nutrition, environment/energy, and water security in the counties despite climate change. The project is using a Nexus approach to development by recognizing and leveraging ongoing and complementary activities and agencies across the different sectors, drawing in community and ward level initiatives with implementation and service delivery carried out through the private sector where possible. Specifically, the project is:

  1. Capacity building on existing skills and roles in the county includes coordination and bringing in lessons learned and best practices from consortium members and other sources.
  2. Using the Nexus approach to provide a platform and environment for a landscape and ecosystem approach between ministries and counties based on the Ewaso Nyiro watershed and advocate for and catalyze action and funding ministries at the national and county level and between counties. The Nexus approach will improve inter‐ministerial collaboration and strengthen coordination.
  3. Supporting the establishment and management of Climate Change Adaptation (CCA) Funds, plans, and strategies at the national and county level, which are climate‐proofed and protected from emergency spending. 
  4. Providing technical support to county governments on water efficiency and balanced plant nutrition; on sustainable rangeland and natural resource management, ensuring private sector involvement in the provision of innovative technology, business planning, linking farmers to finance and input and service suppliers, aggregation for offtake and market events.

Prioritizing a gender transformative approach, the project aims to reach > 180,000 beneficiaries in the three counties; with 20,000 directly benefiting households, at least 66% being women and youth. The project is based on a functional markets approach with increased use of innovative technologies with participation actors from government agencies and private sector including women/women‐owned companies.