TOR - “Individual consultancy to Reassess the ENABLE Farmers' Needs and Agro-Processing in Damour Post-Conflict and Identify Emergency Needs and Required Assistance for a New Batch of Farmers in Nabatieh”

PROJECT BACKGROUND

General background

With funding from the European Union, the International Labour Organization (ILO) is implementing the ENABLE program to support Lebanon’s most vulnerable populations by fostering economic resilience through employment opportunities. The program focuses on improving the livelihoods of marginalized communities, reducing dependency on social assistance, and promoting social cohesion. The program activities will be implemented in Beirut (Karantina and Burj Hammoud), Mount Lebanon (Damour), Akkar (Tall Maayan), Tripoli and the South.

Assignment Overview

In 2023, ENABLE has conducted an initial focus group discussion with farmers in Damour and Tall Maayan areas to identify the main challenges of the farmers and potential interventions for local infrastructure projects in the areas. During these discussions, farmers highlighted the need for cleaning and rehabilitating the irrigation channels in Damour and the need to rehabilitate agricultural roads in Tall Maayan. Following these initial meetings, ENABLE partnered with the Lebanon Reforestation Initiative (LRI) and Fair Trade Lebanon (FTL) to launch the EIIP interventions and conduct a thorough farmers needs assessment to identify the main needs of the farmers and these rural areas in general and inform further project planning to ensure that funds are efficiently used to respond to actual community needs.  

For both of these assessments, LRI and FTL conducted surveys with the farmers in Damour and Tall Maayan respectively along with focus group discussions and key informant interviews (reports can be shared at a later stage).

In brief, the farmers assessment in Damour area highlighted the need for capacity building in technical agricultural training, occupational safety and health (OSH), financial literacy, business management, and marketing, with specific training on marzipan production for women. It also emphasized the importance of promoting youth entrepreneurship for value-added products and the need for technical and legal support to establish and manage a cooperative.

Currently, Lebanon is grappling with the aftermath of its most severe conflict escalation since the 2006 war, leading to mass displacement as farmers were forced to abandon their lands in red zones and relocate to safer areas. Along with reallocation challenges, significant job losses and damage to agricultural lands have been recorded. The agricultural sector was targeted and drastically affected in many regions, mainly in the South and Bekaa. As a result, the previously identified farmers needs in Damour have shifted amid the war.

Moreover, an impact assessment by FAO and the Ministry of Agriculture in September 2024 revealed that the conflict in Nabatieh has severely impacted the agricultural sector, displacing 30% of farming households, leading to the abandonment of fields and causing extensive losses in key crops like olives, wheat and tobacco. Farmers face critical challenges, including restricted access to markets, damaged infrastructure, declining livestock production and food insecurity affecting 30% of households, necessitating urgent interventions[1].

After the ceasefire agreement, ENABLE aims to reassess/ assess the working conditions and type of needs for farmers in Damour and Nabatieh, with participants:

1. Who previously participated in the Damour study to reevaluate its interventions in the identified areas.
2. A New batch of farmers in Nabatieh to examine closely the type of intervention required.

ASSIGNMENT OBJECTIVES AND SCOPE OF WORK

Immediate action is crucial to determine recovery interventions and reduce the potential for job losses in agriculture.

This assignment has three main objectives:

1. Assessing the current agricultural situation for the pre-selected farmers in Damour to understand how their situation and needs have changed and to assess how they were impacted further (directly and indirectly) by the recent escalation of conflict since September 2024.
2. Assessing the agro-processing condition of a new group of farmers in Nabatieh with the aim of understanding the impact of the war on current technical assistance needs and how this affects ENABLE’s upcoming trainings for farmers. This includes identifying the types of training modules required to ensure effectiveness in the post-conflict agricultural recovery and highlighting potential interventions for local infrastructure projects in the area.
3. Developing an Action Plan and recommendations to create immediate and short-term interventions for ENABLE to support the identified farmers in Damour and Nabatieh. The plan would suggest potential actions to address urgent and short-term needs, minimize the risk on the upcoming agricultural season for farmers and workers, and reduce risks to food security and agricultural jobs. Additionally, it should clarify the project’s capacity to support infrastructure rehabilitation within ENABLE’s mandate.

METHODOLOGY

To achieve these objectives, the contracted consultant is expected to carry out the following activities and deliver the below outputs:

Kick-off coordination and consultations with the research team: The consultant will begin the assignment with a kick-off coordination call with the ILO team to align on the scope, timeline and expectations. During this initial consultation, the consultant will propose a draft methodology which will be reviewed and validated before proceeding with data collection.

Development of research tools: the consultant will develop a set of qualitative and quantitative research tools to ensure a comprehensive assessment. This will include a structured questionnaire for farmer surveys and Focus Group Discussions (FGD) particularly engaging displaced farmers, youth and women-led agribusinesses in Damour and Nabatieh areas. Moreover, Key Informant Interviews (KIIs) will be conducted with individuals at Agricultural cooperatives and local extension services in both areas to capture experts insights. Additionally, the consultant will compile a bibliography for literature review, establish a data analysis plan and prepare a preliminary outline ("skeleton") of the final report.

Field research and validation: The field research phase will focus on reassessing the 99 farmers in Damour who participated in the previous study while also conducting a new needs assessment with 100 farmers in Nabatieh, identified in coordination with the Union of Farmers and the local municipality. The consultant will facilitate a total of 2-3 FGDs and 3-4 KIIs with farmers and key stakeholders, respectively, in both areas.  The research will evaluate the impact of the conflict on these farmers by assessing business damages, identifying emerging risks for the upcoming agricultural season and determining the level of support required compared to pre-conflict conditions. A particular focus will be placed on identifying urgent needs, such as emergency technical assistance, market linkages, financial education and infrastructure support.

Final report – The final report will be concise, containing a detailed action plan with timeframe to provide immediate and short time support for the contacted farmers in both areas. The first draft will be submitted to ILO for review, and the consultant will incorporate feedback before submitting the final version, ensuring that the assessment is both actionable and aligned with programmatic priorities.

DELIVERABLES (please refer to the attached ToR)

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS AND ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

• • This assignment is open for individuals with a masters/Phd degree in Agriculture, Agricultural Economy, Economics, Rural Development, Value Chain Development, or a related field (companies or firms are not eligible to apply)
  • A proven track record of at least 10 years of experience in conducting research, rapid assessments, and value chain analysis, with a focus on agriculture and food security in conflict-affected areas.
  • More than five years of experience in designing immediate and short-term agricultural interventions in times of crisis.  
  • Deep understanding of the Lebanese agricultural sector in the South, particularly in Damour and Nabatieh areas.
  • Strong written and verbal communication skills in English and Arabic.
  • Proficiency in using both quantitative and qualitative research methods, including surveys, FGDs, key informant interviews and secondary data analysis.
  • The technical proposal must include a clear methodology, a comprehensive data management plan and a structured reporting outline.

For proposal evaluation, all applicants will be evaluated against the eligibility criteria set above, This assignment will be evaluated on a pass/fail basis. Ranking will be based on the most technically compliant and financially competitive proposal, and incomplete submissions will be disqualified.

SUPERVISION

The consultant will lead on this assignment under the overall supervision of the ENABLE Project Manager/Chief Technical Advisor, and the direct supervision of ENABLE’s National Project Coordinator and Skills and Enterprise Officer. Additional technical feedback will be sought from the Enterprise Development Specialist, as needed. 

TIMEFRAME

This contract will be implemented over a period of 37 days from the date of agreement signature, which is expected to be between 9 April and 17 May 2025. The selected service provider is committed to adhere to the set timeframe given the deadline of the official closure of the ILO programme. EXPECTED DU

PAYMENT TERMS

Payment Schedule:

• 1^st payment: Amounting to 20% of total payment upon the successful completion and delivery of a detailed work plan, inception report including a clear methodology and research tools approved by the ILO.

• 2^nd and final payment: final payment amounts to 80% of the total payment will be paid upon the satisfactory submission and clearance of the final needs assessment report and the final financial expenditure report along all deliverables, invoices and supporting documents deemed necessary by the project. The final payment will not exceed the difference between the total processed prepayments by ILO and the total approved expenses as reported in the final financial report.