Consultancy Job in Kenya


Consultancy to Undertake a Vulnerability and Resilience Study in the ASALs of Kenya

Concern Worldwide

Introduction

The ASAL Alliance seeks to address the scale and magnitude of the need in the Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASALs) in Kenya together with the Government of Kenya and the broader contribution of National and International Civil Society through promoting an increasingly coordinated country-specific response in line with the Ending Drought Emergencies Strategy and the Horn of Africa Plan of Action. 

The ASAL Alliance seeks to engage in short-term responses as well as strategic resilience activities and advocacy that addresses and improves the household, community and national capacity to deal with shocks and stresses.

Purpose

The purpose of this consultancy is to provide an evidence base on the nature of household (HH) & Community vulnerability and resilience, with a focus on adaptive capacity, to improve future intervention planning in the ASALs of Kenya.

Objectives

Using the DFID Resilience Framework as a framework for defining and analysing vulnerability and resilience the consultancy will conduct an in-depth desktop review of current research in the ASAL counties of Mandera, Marsabit, Turkana, Garissa, Wajir, Samburu and West Pokot to answer the questions below and identify any gaps in existing research. 
  1. Household vulnerability – Who are the vulnerable households in the seven counties, what are their characteristics, and where are they located? 
  2. Household and community risk management, coping, and adaptation strategies – What are risk management strategies that households use, are they changing and if so in what way, how effective were/are they, and will they be effective in the face of future shocks? How do communities and local officials manage risk and respond to shocks? 
  3. Successful/promising development practice– In lieu of widely accepted measures for resilience, what does it mean for a program to have built resiliency, how did it do so, what promising/scalable practices exist? What practices harm resiliency and how did the development community do in the most recent drought? 
  4. Areas for further research – What areas of research lay outside of the SoW that could help the development community ask additional questions to answer the challenge of resiliency?
Timelines:

The consultant will propose a timeline with a Final Report prepared by 30 November 2012. It is expected that the research will be conducted concurrently in the six counties to meet the proposed deadlines.

Selection Criteria:
  • Knowledge of and experience in the ASALs 
  • Demonstrated understanding of community resilience and an integrated livelihoods approach through provision of adjusted SoW with more detail on type of analysis to be provided 
  • Experience in working with communities in scenario planning, vulnerability assessments, etc. 
  • Demonstrated understanding of the Government of Kenya 
  • Experience of working within pastoralist and/or drylands programmes 
  • Ability to meet proposed timelines
Concern has a Code of Conduct and a Programme Participant Protection Policy to ensure the maximum protection of programme participants from abuse and exploitation.

Concern is an equal opportunity employer

How to apply: 

Interested applicants should submit their detailed technical and financial proposals to
nairobi.hr@concern.net by 10th August, 2012

For a detailed Terms of Reference and background document contact jackson.mekenye@concern.net