Agri-Food Value Chain Analysis Expert – Akkar and North Lebanon - RDPP2024TRI03

SUMMARY

Mada Association is seeking an Agri-Food Value Chain Analysis Expert under the project “SAFE: Sustainable Agri-Food Economy for refugee and local communities in vulnerable governorates of Lebanon”, funded by the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Danish MoFA) and implemented in partnership with Fondazione We World – GVC Onlus (WW-GVC) and the Lebanese Observatory for Workers & Employees Rights Organization (LOWER). The project’s objective is to ensure vulnerable refugee and local communities in the Akkar, North Lebanon, Baalbek-Hermel and Bekaa governorates access rights, and enjoy increased safety and enhanced self-reliance through sustainable livelihoods solutions in the agri-food sector.

Mada Association is launching a Market System Development and Value Chain Analysis of 5 value chains in Akkar and North Lebanon: potatoes, fresh vegetables, leafy greens, fruiting trees, and dairy. The goal is to unlock untapped, innovative opportunities to develop the value chains mainly through the generation of jobs and income generation opportunities, productive linkages among the various value chain actors, and ensuring inclusive development through a Market System Development Approach.

The mission is estimated to require 15 working days over a period of two months starting March 15^th, 2024 till May 15^th, 2024.

OBJECTIVE AND SCOPE

The main objective of the mission is to conduct an analysis of the potatoes, fresh vegetables, leafy greens, fruiting trees, and dairy value chains in Akkar and North Lebanon, with the objective of identifying bottlenecks and opportunities and provide innovative recommendations for (1) job creation for both refugees and host communities along the value chains; and (2) income generation opportunities for households in need of immediate support.  

The findings will inform the design of the integrated technical support and investment strategy for the key private sector actors targeted by the project, namely cooperatives, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), women-led and youth-led producers’ organizations, and Community-based Organizations (CBOs) - that have the highest potential for growth and for generating jobs.

KEY TASKS AND OUTPUTS

The mission will entail:

1. Review of secondary data: existing studies, analysis and literature, pertaining to the value chains in question but also of similar, relevant value chains in the target areas and beyond, to ensure complementing and building on this information and not replicating current and past efforts at analyzing and developing these value chains. The secondary literature review will focus on the analysis of the market system supporting the core value chain at various levels, including the meta-level (people influencing other people’s views about the selected crops), macro-level (people facilitating policies, laws and regulations governing business in the sector, such as the Ministry of Agriculture) and the micro-level (core value-chain actors as well supporting suppliers of goods and services at both production and post-production levels).
2. Field visits to key sites and collection of primary data to fill gaps: this will include Key Informant Interviews, surveys, Focus Group Discussions, among other activities to gather up to date, relevant data from key stakeholders, including but not limited to farmers, authorities (local and regional), businesses, cooperatives, etc. Generally, the target will be stakeholders growing, trading, processing, wholesaling, retailing and consuming the targeted crops, as well as those providing various services to all these value chain actors.
3. In-depth analysis of the collected data and triangulation with the secondary data available. The analysis will:

• Provide a clear mapping and analysis of potatoes, fresh vegetables, leafy greens, fruiting trees, and dairy value chains. This entails identifying all of the actors, activities and components of each of the five value chains, as well as the existing and potential linkages among them.
• Examine the underlying factors (bottlenecks/challenges) inhibiting the target value chains from achieving increased productivity and full commercialization, generating decent employment for a population groups, and significantly contributing to the local economy and agri-food sector’s development;
• Identify pathways for sustainable change that can unlock market opportunities and youth employment creation potential;
• Identify advantage points for interventions that would support the further development of the identified crops’ market systems;

1. Development of a report: the report will present the findings and analysis, provide key recommendations and highlight the underlying limitations and assumptions. The recommendations must focus on innovative opportunities for job creation and income generation, but also include recommendations on: potential business linkages among the various actors; untapped market opportunities and/or products; initiatives and actions to enhance the role of women and refugees and ensure greater, more visible roles at higher levels of the value chains; among others.

DELIVERABLES AND DURATION OF THE ASSIGNMENT

The period of the mission will last two months starting March 15^th, 2024 till May 15^th, 2024.

Please refer to the attachment (Annex A- DELIVERABLES AND DURATION OF THE ASSIGNMENT)

ADMINISTRATION, REPORTING AND COORDINATION

The Value Chain Expert will be contracted by Mada Association and his/her primary point of contact will be the Mada Project Manager.

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE

The Value Chain Expert must have the following experience and skills to be able to perform the tasks of the ToR:

• A graduate/master’s degree in agriculture, agri-food, business development, market systems, or related fields.
• Knowledge and experience in the area of market systems and market analysis including value chain development.
• At least 5 years of practical experience in the field of agriculture, agri-food, rural development, and development of enterprise with good understanding of local value chains development and market analysis.
• Highly refined analytical, problem solving and organizational skills and a detail-oriented, logical thinker.
• Proven knowledge of the governorates’ context and experience in working with local entities, NGOs, SMEs, farmers, producers in the field of agriculture and agri-food, etc.
• Strong coordination/organization/networking skills and experience in coordinating teams.
• Demonstrated experience in reporting, development of trainings and advocacy material, social media material, facilitating learning events.
• Highly proficient in use of English and Arabic with the ability to write in a clear and practical manner.
• Experience of effective interaction with local and national institutions, government departments and business service providers.
• Practical application of cross cutting themes like gender mainstreaming and gender competence, M&E and advocacy.
• Proven experience of using participatory tools and methodology.
• Past experiences working on agri-food value chain development will be of an added value.