COMMON PROJECT ELEMENT

TERMS OF REFERENCE - SPFS PHASE I

(INTERNATIONAL (TCDC)/NATIONAL SPECIALIST)

Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) and Constraints Analysis Advisor

Duration: ....... month

Job Description:

Under the direct supervision of the National Programme Coordinator (NPC) and the support of the FAOR and the responsible TCO Officer, and with the technical support of the responsible TCA Policy Officer and the orientation to be provided by FAO, the National PRA and Constraints Analysis Advisor will:

• prepare a programme of work to carry out, in a participatory way, the analysis of constraints, specified by men, women and young farmers, to increased production under the scope of the SPFS, and identify the areas of expertise and the human resources required;
• organize the collection of information for the constraints analysis, including the carrying out of base-line diagnostic surveys and small statistical farm-management type performance surveys in Phase I sites, covering the aforementioned categories;
• Ensure that all stakeholders (project/government personnel and beneficiary farmers) are aware of the aim to promote participation of women and young farmers and make certain that they arrange their work accordingly;
• select and supervise the work being undertaken in this respect by the national team as well as national consultants, if required;
• review all reports relating to end-of-season results, impact monitoring and constraints analysis;
• ensure that the SPFS national team maintains a suitable sex and age differentiated database for these purposes;
• assist in organizing discussions of national and regional constraints with stakeholders, and in preparing for National Programme Steering Committee meetings and finalizing reports required by funding agencies for these purposes;
• assist in the preparation of investment and policy and institutional reform programmes for the Extension of Phase I and Phase II of the programme, benefiting from the lessons learnt from the analysis of constraints; and
• perform other related duties as required to ensure the smooth operation of the programme.

Specifically, he/she will:

1. During the start of Phase I activities:

   1. Review existing literature on the potentials and constraints for small stock, apiculture and aquaculture production in the country, and indicate the ways in which the activities proposed for the pilot phase relate to those potentials and constraints.
   2. Arrange for carrying out of a base-line diagnostic survey using participatory appraisal methods of the areas selected for the Phase I, covering:

   a summary description of agro-ecological and institutional conditions;

   a description of existing production systems (by gender and age group), including farm management practices, farm budgets (including calculations of gross and net margins), allocation of land and labour, processing and marketing, and off-farm sources of income; include also a section on past evolution and evolutionary trends of the production systems (including changes in the production systems as a result of increasing numbers of female headed households); and

   a socio-economic and gender analysis of the farming population of the areas, including distribution of assets, access to land, labour, inputs and produce markets, access to support services, gender roles, relevant institution and cultural factors, and existing processes of accumulation and impoverishment.

   Assist the NPC in the design of an impact monitoring system which will be used to assess achievements, specified for men, women and young farmers, of Phase I in each demonstration area at the end of each production season.

2. During and at the end of each production season:

   1. Provide the support necessary to enable local and district-level extension workers and other programme coordinators and external appraisal teams, if required, to hold regular group meetings and informal discussions with the different categories of farmers and other local people and stakeholders on the progress and results of the demonstrations, in particular on problems encountered, and actions to address them. (In carrying out this task, provision should be made in the national programme budget for the recruitment of national consultants or the contracting of NGOs, universities or other groups with experience in gender responsive participatory methods to provide extra support to local and district-level coordinators, as required, or carry out independent assessments).
   2. Organize and supervise the carrying out of simple statistical surveys at the end of the production cycles/seasons and collect the minimum farm budget data (mostly use of land, yields, input and labour use all differentiated by gender and age) required to assess the evolution of the demonstration areas.
   3. Build up a dossier documenting the problems encountered by the different sub-groups of farmers, analyzing their apparent causes and describing and justifying the proposed solutions.
   4. Assist the NPC to:

   carry out inquiries and organize a participatory dialogue with stakeholders on food security issues as related to small stock, apiculture and aquaculture and the related constraints at the regional and national level;

   initiate and carry out discussion among stakeholders on technological and socio-economic interventions, including investment and policy actions required to address those constraints; and

   discuss within the National Programme Steering Committee those policy and investment proposals which appear to be mature for action.

   Link up with on-going projects and programmes in the country to search for solutions to the constraints identified and to incorporate their experience in the constraints analysis work.

3. Around six months before the end of Phase I:
   1. Prepare a discussion document consolidating the experience and lessons learnt from parts A and B above and the proposals emerging from them, and assist in the dissemination and discussion of the document among all interested parties.
   2. Assist the national coordinator, relevant government officers and interested donors to organize and carry out the preparation of small stock, apiculture and aquaculture programmes of action for the Extension of Phase I and for Phase II of the programme which would profit from the experience and lessons learnt during Phase I. This programme of actions would consist of:

   an investment programme for the Extension of Phase I and Phase II capable of being appraised for financing by government and donors; and

   linked to it, a coherent set of recommendations to improve institutional mechanisms and policies in order to foster national food security (whose implications in terms of capital and recurrent costs should be included in the investment programme).

   Qualifications:

   Agricultural or Socio-Economist with a Masters Degree with pertinent experience in working with women and young farmers. Person with 10 years' experience in programme and project planning, participatory methods taking into account viewpoints of men, women and young farmers, institutional management, policy-making processes.