Terms of Reference for Agro-Pastoral Vulnerability Assessment

Food Security Enhancing through Sustainable Agriculture Project

(FESAP)

Project location: Gogrial East and Gogrial West Counties

Warrap State

South Sudan

Project Contract Period: August 1st 2014 to July 31st 2017

Funded By: The European Union

Implemented By: Vétérinaires Sans Frontières - Germany (VSF-G)

Partner: Serve Education and Development Authority (SEDA)

February 2016

Funded by the European Union Implemented by VSF Germany In partnership with SEDA

Glossary

These abbreviations will frequently appear during the assessment exercise

CAD County Agriculture Department

CAHW Community Animal Health Worker

CLD County Livestock Department

FFSFarmers Field School

FGD Focus Group Discussion

FS Food Security

GOSS Government of the Republic of South Sudan

HH Household

IDP Internally Displaced Person

INFRAID Indigenous Forest resources Awareness and Improvement of Diet

INGO International Non-Governmental Organization

KII Key Informant Interview

LRRD Linking Relief, Rehabilitation and Development

NFI Non Food Item

ROSS Republic of South Sudan

RRC Relief and Rehabilitation Commission

SEDAServe Education and Development Authority

SMAF State Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry

SMARF State Ministry of Animal Resources and Fisheries

TOR Terms of Reference

VSF G Veterinaries San Frontiers

VA Vulnerability Assessment

Table of Contents

1.Project Summary

2.Background and context

3.Purpose and target audience of the vulnerabilityassessment

4.Objectives and scope of the vulnerabiltyassessment

5.Vulnerabiltiy assessment tasks

6.Approach and methodology

7.Timing and deliverables

7.2.Draft VA report

7.3.VA final report

7.4.Roles and responsibilities

7.5.Tentative itinerary

8.VA team composition and required competencies

9.Management arrangements

10.Budget and payment

11.Proposal submission

Project Summary

Contract Beneficiary / Vétérinaires Sans Frontieres Germany
European Union Programme / Food Security Thematic Programme (FSTP)
Project Title / Food Security Enhancing through Sustainable Agriculture Production (FESAP)
Location / Gogrial East and West Counties, Warrap State, South Sudan
Project Duration / 8th August 2014 to 7th July 2017
Project Phase / Second Phase
Assessment Type / Vulnerability Assessment
Assessment Objective / To identify, quantify, and prioritise the vulnerabilities in the agro-pastoral system in Gogrial East and Gogrial West Counties of Warrap State, South Sudan.
Methodology / Review of available secondary data
Focus Group Discussion and key informant interviews
Household survey
Observation
Assessment Start and End dates / 1st to 15th March 2016
Anticipated report release date / 17th March 2016

Background and context

a)Background

Vétérinaires Sans Frontières Germany (VSF-G) is an international Non Governmental Organization, providing humanitarian aid and development assistance to pastoralists and vulnerable communities in areas where livestock is of importance. VSF-G supports in animal health, livestock related agriculture, marketing, food safety, drought responses and mitigation, capacity development of communities and governmental institutions, peace and conflict resolution with the ultimate aim of food security and strengthened livelihoods of pastoralist communities.

In South Sudan VSF-G has been implementing a European Union (EU) funded project - Food Security through Enhancing Sustainable Agricultural Production (FESAP) – in partnership with its local nongovernmental organization partners, Serve Education and Development Authority (SEDA) as a co-implementing partner and Indigenous Forest Resources Awareness in the Improvement of Diet (INFRAID) as an associate partner.Implementation of the four year project started in August 2014 and is scheduled to end in July 2017. The project is being implemented in Gorial West and Gogrial East Counties of Warrap Stateof the Republic of South Sudan.The total population of the project catchment area is 717,331 (population census 2008) and is predominantly agro-pastoral.

FESAP is funded under the European Union’s Food Security Thematic Programme (FSTP) which supports activities aimed at improving food security for the world's poorest and most vulnerable populations. It addresses structural issues leading to hunger and under-nutrition in a bid to resolve these in the medium or long term, with an emphasis on developing sustainable solutions.FESAP aims to contribute to this global objective by building capacities of local farmers and cattle keepers (returnees, IDPs, and host communities) and other actors using market-orientedapproaches to improve food production and household incomes.

b)The 4 key result areas of the Project

Result 1: Increased agriculture production and productivity through strengthened extension services and innovative farming.

This objective aims to support target populations improve their food security status access to training, essential production input supplies, qualityseeds and extension services.

Result 2: Animal traction is adopted as a viable, cost-effective and sustainable technology and contributes to annual increase in cultivated farmed land, improved tillage and increased productivity per acreage.

Result 3: Increase in household income as a result of access to microfinance, local markets and linkages to value chain actors.

Result 4: Increased resilience to shocks in climatic/environmental changes and manmade disasters such as conflict.

This objective aims to increase food availability for project beneficiaries through increased own inputs – seeds.

A baseline (formative) evaluation was carried out and completed in February 2015 and EU project monitoring missions carried out in October 2014 and November 2015. The first year interim report covering the period 8th August 2014 to July 7th 2015 has been submitted to the EU.

The FESAP project intends to carry out a Vulnerability Assessment (VA) of the agro-pastoral system of the target population and to develop action plans for elimination or reduction of identified vulnerabilities as well as monitoring plans. The assessment will be participatory with valid inputs from all the relevant stakeholders such as beneficiaries, local and state agriculture and livestock officials, VSFG Staff, SEDA, INFRAID and other community stakeholders.

Purpose and target audience of the Vulnerability Assessment
Purpose of the VA

The purpose of the vulnerability assessment is to assess the likelihood and magnitude of threats from potential hazards to the target population and their resources to so as to inform project implementation.

3.2.Target audience

The European Union

The VA will provide the EU with learning on the use of VA by projects to support achievement of project as well as EU programming objectives. It will also give an indication for future resource allocation and the useof funds for similar actions.

VSF Germany and partners

The VA will act as an implementation tool for VSF G and partners in the process of achieving the project objectives as well as their programming objectives. It will provide lessons for future application of VAs. The exercise with provide a grid index for various livelihood levels and the relevance of the project intervention towards gaining its objectives.

Beneficiaries and stakeholders

The VA accord beneficiaries and stakeholders opportunity to participate in the assessment process, build the capacity for effective participation in analyses, and enhance ownership and accountability of the implementing partners. The exercise will enable improvement of the relevance of the project to the needs of the beneficiary and priorities of the stakeholders.

Objectives and scope of the VulnerabilityAssessment
VAobjective

The objective of the VAis to carry out an assessment of the relevant project target groups in respect of project activities and develop their suitability, productivity and adoption plans towards their general livelihood improvement.

4.2.Scope of the VA

The VA will target project areas of Gogrial West and Gogrial East Counties and their neighboring catchments areas. It will confine within the project goals and objectives but accommodate all relevant parameters.

VulnerabilityAssessment Tasks

The VA tasks relate directly to the VA objective and should be comprehensively addressed with reference to one another.

5.1.Cataloging assets and capabilities (resources) in the agro-pastoral production system;

5.2.Assigning quantifiable value and importance to those resources;

5.3.Identifying the vulnerabilities or potential threats to each resource;

5.4.Developing actions for mitigating or eliminating the most serious/critical vulnerabilities for the most valuable resources.

Approach and methodology

The assessment methodology proposed by the consultant(s) should include a mix of quantitative and qualitative data collection methods.The desired methodology is participatory and all the key stakeholders in the program including target beneficiaries, County Agriculture and County Livestock Department staff, will be considered to be part of the VAprocess. The assessment will be based on the findings and factual statements identified from review of relevant documents including the project document, Annual Project Reports (APR), Project Implementation Reports (PIR), in addition to the technical reports produced by the project.

The anticipated benefit of a Participatory and stakeholder-centered approach is the power that the process will impart to those service providers and the beneficiaries/ stakeholders who will participate in the exercise. Focus group discussions, key informant interviews, site visits etc are proposed amongst the methods to be used for the review. The consultant will provide leadership and bear responsibility for the process, the findings, the comments and the content of the final document. VSFG will be responsible for organizing the locations for conducting the Key Informant interviews,household questionnaire and Focus Group discussions in the respective payams of operation whilst the consultant will review and finalize the tools in conjunction with VSFG Programming team. Participation of stakeholders in the assessment should be maintained at all the times, reflecting opinions, expectations and vision about the contribution of the project towards the achievement of its objectives.

The general rule related to acceptable margins of error (5%) in social research will apply to the study. Sampling criteria should be agreed upon with VSFG National office, a 30 x 30 cluster sampling is recommended, however, the Consultant may have the discretion to employ any other sampling methodology upon giving appropriate justification which will then be reviewed by VSF Germany programme team before being adopted.

Timing and deliverables
Inception report

The inception report shall provide a detailed description of the methodology elaborating the VA tasks as well as the proposed source of information and data collection procedure. The inception report shall outline the contents of all the deliverables.

7.2.Draft VA report

The consultancy team will develop draft VA report for review by the FESAP project personnel and partners. The report shall be validated by stakeholders in a workshop setting and feedback incorporated into the report. The draft report will adopt the format of the final report as presented below under the final report. The annexes will include the development of plans for the selected vulnerability actions and their monitoring and impact assessment plans.

7.3.VA final report

The consultancy team shall endeavor to develop the final report and present the output in an electronic format to VSF Germany for final approval and adoption. The final report (Word, Excel files to be put in PDF as well) will be submitted according to the assessment timeline. The report will have the following structure:

Cover page (1 page)
Table of Contents (1 page)
Acknowledgements (1 page)
Glossary (1 page)
Introduction (max 1 page)
Project background (max 1 page)
Executive summary (2 Pages)
The VA background (max 1 pages)
Methodology (max 1 pages)
Findings (max 20 pages)
Conclusion and recommendations (max 2 pages)
Lessons learnt from the assessment process (max 1 pages)
Appendices
The annexes will include the development plans for the selected vulnerability actions and their monitoring and impact assessment plans.
In a separate document will be included copies of all tools, list of enumerators, survey timeline including all KII and FGD participants and discussion transcripts, (as many pages as necessary. These will be referenced in the report, but included in a zip file as separate documents.

The final report will be accompanied by the following deliverables:

A 2 page VA fact sheet and soft copy of dataset. This is to include relevant findings from the assessment, key points and recommendations.
Learning dossier - Lessons learnt by the entire VA team shall be documented and shared with the project team and Programs Office in Juba so that they may be taken into consideration for future studies. The documentation of these lessons will be vital for reflection, growth and continued improvement. The lessons will be drawn from the process and the actual house hold surveys, key informant interviews, focus group discussions, study observations and secondary data reviews.
Roles and responsibilities

Each member of the VA team shall have designated roles and responsibilities for the delivery of the assessment.

Scope of Work and responsible parties
a)Assessment tools are properly developed and in line with international VA standards

Review of the available relevant project documents i.e. project proposal, log frames.
Coordinate HH Interviews for selected respondents during the assessment.
Training of enumerators.
Conduct interviews with selected partners, staff and other
Visit selected project sites.

Responsible:Consultant, Program Manager
b)Coordination of the household interviews and well us providing guidance to the focus groups discussions

Household interview and FGD participants are properly selected
Guide the FGD and interviewers on proper data entry and documentation/filing
Prepare the summary reports of each FGD as per agreed upon format.
Ensure completeness of the survey instruments questionnaires

Responsible: Consultant, Project Manager
c)Apply effectively the quantitative and qualitative tools

Obtain consent from the household or FGD members to conduct the assessment.
Record household data on questionnaire as per training instructions.
Record all key notes related to issues arising while interviewing.
Review and submit the survey data to survey team leader in accordance with the schedule

Responsible: Consultant
d)Provide overall coordination, logistics, and technical oversight in the assessment process.

Brief stakeholders about the purpose of the VA.
Brief stakeholders about the purpose of the VA.
Provide technical oversight and monitoring of the study and ensure timely completion and compliance with international VA standards.
Avail all project related secondary data.
Avail all the required logistics including vehicles for the VA.
Assist in organizing meetings with stakeholders.
Avail all the required logistics including vehicles for the VA.
Recruit and pay the enumerators.
Supervise adequate utilization of the resources allocated for the study.
Budget preparation and management during the assessment period/ensuring that all expenses are properly documented.
Budget preparation and management during the assessment period/ensuring that all expenses are properly documented.
Oversee accommodation and meals for data collection teams.

Responsible: Project Manager and Consultant

7.5.Tentative itinerary

Event / Responsible Persons / Timelines
Preparation phase
Desk phase – secondary data review, tools development
Review – secondary data, information / Consultant / 1
Data Collection tools Development / Consultant / 2
Share Data Collection tools with VSF Germany programs / Consultant / 1
Field phase – data collection
Enumerators selection and Training / Consultant / 3
Pretesting, refining and printing of assessment tools / Consultant,& project staff / 1
Data collection and interviews / Consultant and team / 7
Synthesis phase
Data Assessment and validation / Consultant / 2
Draft Report of VA / Consultant / 1
Final Report with Feed back / Consultant / 1
Total Number of days excluding preparation and planning days / 19 Days

VA team composition and required competencies

The VA team shall compose of members with a comprehensive mix of competencies in agro-pastoral production and market systems and social research methodologies. These will be complemented with at least five years’ experience in related programming and programme research. Extensive experience in the specific fields in the horn of Africa and South Sudan in particular will be required. Excellent communication skills and well as demonstrated writing and presentation skills are requisite.

Management arrangements

The consultant should be informed of some issues, situation and conditions as they are or may arise during the exercise.

Travel: All international flights land in Juba, it is not possible to fly to Warrap on the same day. Warrap flights are only during week days. The international airport of Juba is closed on Saturdays and Sundays. The consultant should take in to consideration this challenge that should not lead to cancellation of the exercise. VSFG will cover the cost of all internal flights and transport.
Accommodation: Consultants will be housed in hotels in Juba and Warrap whilst in Luonyaker they will be housed at the organizations compound lodgings. However, electricity for powering laptops is not guaranteed at all times. Internet access will be available at VSF Germany offices, but may not be available in the hotels.
Data entrymay not be possible in the field. VSFG will not supply data entry clerks or equipment for data entry. Consultants are responsible for all data entry and management. All hard copies of tools will need to be transported by consultants to the place where data entry will be done. All data sets must be provided to VSFG in soft copy at the time of submission. They are the property of VSFG and the communities from which the data will be collected and may be used for future assessment.

Data will in most instances be collected from non-English speakers. However, tools will not be translated into the local language. A way around this matter will be developed in discussion with project staff, VSFG program staff and the consultant.

Poor documentation - in terms of secondary data: Updated information has been noted to be a challenge during literature review exercises especially from government departments and other community based organization. Therefore, there may be a level of inconsistency in the information provided and/or collected.

In addition, with the frequent relapse of inter-ethnic conflict in the region, the security situation might be a hindrance to the assessment process as this could limit meetings and travelling within the region. This may also delay the timely delivery of final product.