Request for Proposal: Terms of reference – Consultancy for capacity building of business groups to adopt a more collaborative intra-household decision-making processes under the Investing in Women in the Blue Economy in Kenya Programme.

 1.0 The Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund

The AECF, LLC (Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund) is a leading non-profit development organisation that supports innovative enterprises in the agribusiness and renewable energy sectors with the aim of reducing rural poverty, promoting climate resilient communities, and creating jobs.

We catalyze the private sector by surfacing and commercializing new ideas, business models and technologies designed to increase agricultural productivity, improve farmer incomes, expand clean energy access, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and improve resilience to the effects of climate change. We finance high risk businesses that struggle to access commercial funding; we are committed to working in frontier markets, fragile contexts, and high-risk economies where few mainstream financing institutions dare to go.

To date, we have supported over 510 businesses in 26 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, impacted more than 33million lives and created over 35,000 direct jobs.

AECF is headquartered in Kenya and has offices in Côte d’Ivoire, Tanzania, Nigeria, South Sudan, Benin, and Somalia.

2.0 About the Investing in Women in the Blue Economy program

Investing In Women in the Blue Economy in Kenya (IIW-BEK) is a five-year gender equality and economic inclusion programme (February 2022, to February 2027) being implemented by AECF with the generous support of Global Affairs Canada (GAC). The programme contributes to unlocking the potential for positive socio-economic and environmental outcomes in Kenya’s blue economy in Lake Victoria and Indian Ocean regions.

The main goal of IIW-BEK is to contribute to enhanced economic empowerment of women and young women-owned enterprises, their suppliers, and those that produce for them along key supply chains where women are discriminated against in the blue economy in Kenya.

The programme seeks to:

1. Support women’s economic participation in non-traditional sectors of the blue economy.
2. Enhance private sector engagement of women as economic actors across the blue economy value chain.
3. Increase private and public sector investment in women and young women-owned Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).
4. Reduce systemic gender inequalities that hinder women’s effective economic participation in the blue economy.

3.0 Purpose of the Assignment

The IIW-BEK program promotes a gender equality and human rights-based approach, recognizing that gender equality is not only a fundamental human right but also essential for unlocking human potential and achieving sustainable development. This approach requires creating an enabling environment that values women as equal contributors to economic growth. However, gender inequalities and barriers continue to persist across blue economy value chains, often rooted and perpetuated within households. Through this consultancy, AECF aims to train both women and men to foster more collaborative decision-making processes at the household level, ensuring that livelihoods are sustained, and development outcomes are improved in a more gender-equitable manner

Based on this background, AECF hereby invites qualified individual consultants to express their interest in providing the trainings to the 140 groups to identify economic gender barriers and find solutions through participatory sessions in the targeted companies and counties

3.1 Scope of work

This consultancy will contribute to the 4 objectives above and will target micro level business organized in 140 groups and linked to three medium businesses in Siaya and Homa Bay counties.

The consultant(s) will be responsible for designing and delivering training to the groups in the targeted companies and counties to address economic gender barriers and foster equitable decision-making processes. Key activities will include

a) Needs Assessment

• Conduct an initial desktop assessment to identify specific gender-related barriers in the blue economy value chains at the household and community levels.
• Engage with a sample of targeted trainees in the targeted companies and counties to gather insights on existing challenges and opportunities for advancing gender equality.

b) Prepare training materials

• Use the GALs (Gender Action Learning System framework) to tailor training materials that addresses gender inequality in intra-household decision-making, economic barriers, and the role of women as contributors to economic growth.
• Ensure that the training materials adopt a participatory and inclusive approach, using a gender-sensitive approach.

c) Delivery of the training

• Design a training plan in cohorts that include several grpu[s in one session
• Facilitate participatory sessions with the 140 groups, comprising women and men, in the targeted regions using the GALs methodology. These sessions should focus on:
• Identifying economic gender barriers in the blue economy.
• Developing collaborative decision-making processes at the household level.
• Exploring solutions for sustainable livelihoods and improving development outcomes through gender equity.

d) Stakeholder Engagement and Collaboration

• Engage with county officers, private sector associations and departs of blue economy to ensure broad support and collaboration for the training sessions.

e) Monitoring and Evaluation

• Develop a monitoring tool to track the impact of the trainings on participants’ knowledge and attitudes,
• Recommend approaches for follow-up assessments to measure changes at household level
• Provide a report documenting lessons learned, success stories, and recommendations for future interventions.

f) Final Report and Recommendations

• Prepare a comprehensive report detailing the training outcomes, insights gained, challenges encountered, and practical recommendations for scaling the initiative to other regions or sectors

4.0 Qualifications Experience

• Advanced university degree (master’s or higher) in Social Sciences, Gender Studies, International Development, Women studies or any other degree related to this assignment.
• At least 10 years of progressively responsible professional experience at international levels and demonstrated track record in gender and development/humanitarian set up.
• Strong, technical, programmatic, and research skills related to gender, along with sectoral expertise in blue economy, women empowerment, young women engagement, disability, and women intersectionality’s.
• Proven understanding of GALs methodology
• Proven Experience in facilitating household dialogues, conducting gender trainings for men and women
• Fluency in English and Kiswahili

5.0 Duration

The assignment should be executed in 60 days (November 2024-January 2025)

6.0 Reporting

The consultant will report to the AECF Gender Department

7.0 Proposal submission

Interested companies/individuals must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications.

a) A technical proposal, max 15 pages (excluding annexes) including the following:

• A profile of the lead consultant (max. 3 pages) explaining why they are the most suitable for the work
• CVs of the team composition, qualification and experience.
• An understanding of the consultancy requirements.
• Methodology and work plan for performing the assignment.
• Detailed reference list indicating the scope and magnitude of similar assignments.
• Letters of references/recommendation from previous companies/assignments
• Relevant services undertaken. Sample of past work: applicants are requested to submit a sample of similar tasks to demonstrate the experiences required by this Terms of Reference
• Registration and other relevant statutory documents (this apply to Institutional consultants).

b) A financial proposal

• Financial proposal in KES clearly showing the proposed team member, roles, and proposed days and the proposed professional fee. The financial proposal shall also include an indication of reimbursables (travel, communication etc.)

8.0.   Pricing

The AECF is obliged by the Kenyan tax authorities to withhold taxes on service contract fees as well as ensure that 16% VAT, is charged where applicable. Applicants are advised to ensure that they have a clear understanding of their tax position with regards to provisions of Kenya tax legislation when developing their proposals.

9.0 Evaluation Criteria

An evaluation committee will be formed by the AECF and may include employees of the businesses to be supported. All members will be bound by the same standards of confidentiality. The consultant should ensure that they fully respond to all criteria to be comprehensively evaluated.

The AECF may request and receive clarification from any consultant when evaluating a proposal. The evaluation committee may invite some or all the consultants to appear before the committee to clarify their proposals. In such event, the evaluation committee may consider such clarifications in evaluating proposals.

In deciding the final selection of qualified bidder, the technical quality of the proposal will be given a weighting of 70% based on the evaluation criteria. Only the financial proposal of those bidders who qualify technically will be opened. The financial proposal will be allocated a weighting of 30% and the proposals will be ranked in terms of total points scored.

The mandatory and desirable criteria against which proposals will be evaluated are identified in the table below.

10.0 Application details

The AECF is an Equal Opportunity Employer. The AECF considers all interested candidates based on merit without regard to race, gender, color, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, disability, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.

• Interested consultants are requested to submit their technical and financial proposal to aecfprocurement@aecfafrica.org by 21^st October ,2024, 5pm (EAT).
• All questions should be directed to the procurement email by 14^th October 2024, 5pm (EAT).
• The subject of the email should be CAPACITY BUILDING OF BUSINESS GROUPS TO ADOPT A MORE COLLABORATIVE INTRA-HOUSEHOLD DECISION-MAKING PROCESSES. The AECF shall not be liable for not opening proposals that are submitted with a different subject or responding to questions that did not meet the deadline as indicated.

11.0 Disclaimer

AECF reserves the right to determine the structure of the process, number of short-listed participants, the right to withdraw from the proposal process, the right to change this timetable at any time without notice and reserves the right to withdraw this tender at any time, without prior notice and without liability to compensate and/or reimburse any party.

NB: The AECF does not charge an application fee for participation in the tender process and has not appointed any agents or intermediaries to facilitate applications. Applicants are advised to reach out directly to the AECF PROCUREMENT DEPARTMENT.