Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA) invites applications for a Consultant to join our dedicated and talented team on our mission to create business solutions to poverty!

Organization: Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA)

Location: Honduras

Expected work period: March 18th - June 1st, 2024

BACKGROUND

In December 2023, the Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA) launched the initiative Opportunities for Circular and Inclusive Diversification in Agriculture (OCIDA). OCIDA is a five-year initiative funded by Global Affairs Canada (GAC) with the goal of improving the socioeconomic wellbeing of diverse women and youth producers in the Dry Corridor of Honduras. The OCIDA project expects to increase prosperity and decent job opportunities for 7,000 women and youth small-scale producers and 80 micro-SMEs enterprise’s through developing more environmentally sustainable, equitable, inclusive, and profitable cacao and coffee market systems in Honduras.

Starting in 2024, MEDA is conducting an inception process with the aim of updating the background information on the project and gathering additional data to support the development of the OCIDA Life-Of-Project Implementation Plan (PIP). As part of this process, MEDA is looking to identify a Honduras-based specialist to assist with the development of the project’s Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) strategy.

Gender equality and social inclusion are integral to the OCIDA project's goals. OCIDA will contribute to poverty reduction and strengthen women and youth producers’ livelihoods by promoting inclusive, diversified, and circular economic activities, addressing human rights (HR) and gender-based market challenges. To effectively change discriminatory social norms, MEDA and partners will work with men and boys as advocates for gender equality and HR, with a particular focus on preventing and responding to sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV).

Because climatic impacts are disproportionately experienced by women and youth, OCIDA will address environmental, gender- and age-based constraints to accessing gender-responsive and climate-resilient finance, inputs, and technology by improving the business performance of MSMEs, cooperatives, associations, and targeted financial institutions, and strengthening linkages with the market, with an emphasis on women- and youth-led businesses.

Finally, OCIDA will improve the enabling environment for circular and inclusive investments in agri-food national and export sectors, by mobilizing investment capital. As such, OCIDA will foster the co-creation of an investment vehicle that will integrate access to finance and market systems support with strong gender and climate lenses.

OCIDA’s Gender Equality and Social Inclusion strategy feeds back into MEDA’s market-driven approach, through which MEDA emphasizes shifting the behaviors and attitudes of market actors to move food market systems toward greater inclusivity and environmental sustainability. We prioritize triple impact: economic, social, and environmental benefits that are sustainable over the long term. This approach is one of the defining characteristics of market systems thinking.

OCIDA’s GESI analysis and strategy design will be carried alongside the development of MEDA’s Integrated Markert System Analysis (IMSA) for the project. The IMSA is a market systems analysis that integrates economic, social, environmental, and financial assessments. The IMSA was initiated at MEDA to bring together disparate assessments and contribute to technically cohesive analysis. IMSAs include value chain assessments but go beyond the value chain to examine the supporting functions and enabling environment of a specific market system. It also examines the system level challenges underlying cause of market failures.

PURPOSE OF THE ASSIGNMENT

This assignment aims to contribute to the development of a comprehensive and holistic understanding of the food market system in Honduras – specifically, of the cacao and coffee supply chains.

The GESI specialist will assist MEDA’s team to fill knowledge gaps related to social, economic, and human rights challenges faced by diverse women and youth (with a focus on the most marginalized among them) involved in the cocoa and coffee value chains as well as opportunities for to address these challenges through women and youth’s involvement in circular economic models for the coffee and cocoa value chains. The GESI specialist will also assist in data collection, the analysis of the data collected, and development of OCIDA’s GESI strategy.

The GESI Specialist will serve as a local advisor, assisting in setting up meetings, translating any questions or discussions (as needed), and supporting MEDA’s inception mission team in other inputs to their final Project Implementation Plan document.

The GESI specialist will work in coordination with the Market Systems Specialist and the Environmental and Climate Change Specialist based in Honduras to incorporate GESI considerations into MEDA’s Integrated Market Systems Analysis (IMSA).

For the development of the OCIDA project, MEDA gathered information from different primary and secondary sources for the two value chains in Honduras. Based on this initial research – and on the latest information compiled by the MEDA team – the GESI specialist will review, identify gaps, and carry out the required tasks to help complete the IMSA.

MEDA’s technical team will provide guidance and support to the GESI specialist in the deployment of the IMSA framework and tools to ensure consistency of data collection and integration of the GESI considerations into the analysis.

The GESI Specialist will work in coordination with MEDA’s team to ensure the project’s Gender Equality and Social Inclusion Strategy meets all donor and MEDA requirements.

SCOPE OF SERVICES, ACTIVITIES AND DELIVERABLES

The scope of work covers two phases:

Research phase: Provide support to the design and implementation of the inception research by conducting desk research, preliminary consultations, and field research activities deploying the IMSA framework and toolkit.

During the research phase, the following activities are to be conducted:

Rapid gap analysis: review key documents and existing research materials, including OCIDA’s project proposal and related documentation. Conduct a rapid gap analysis to identify what essential data related to gender equality and social inclusion issues is needed to update the initial project assumptions and build on existing analyses.
Stakeholder analysis: within the existing project’s stakeholder mapping, identify and expand on the community-based platforms, cooperatives, associations and MSMEs, public sector actors, and financial, investment and business service providers (BSPs) that could be leveraged by the project interventions to address gender equality and social inclusion issues in the targeted geographies.
Validation of research design: In coordination with MEDA’s technical team, the Market Systems Specialist and the Environmental and Climate Change (ECC) Specialist, review the IMSA toolkit, and provide feedback (as needed) to adapt/validate the research tools and questions.
Research implementation: Conduct and expand on initial desk research, and conduct interviews with key stakeholders, including the support to MEDA’s field mission in April 2024, serving as local advisor, by assisting (as needed) in setting up meetings, translating any questions or discussions.

Research phase Deliverable:

An executive IMSA report covering the results of the above analyses co-developed with the Market Systems (MS) Specialist and the Environmental and Climate Change (ECC) Specialist.

Project implementation plan (PIP) design phase: Provide an analysis of compiled data during the research phase, the preparation of executive reports and the development of the Gender Equality and Social inclusion (GESI) strategy.

During the project implementation plan (PIP) design phase, the following activities are to be conducted:

As part of the IMSA, complete the Gender Equality and Social Inclusion analysis. The analysis will bring up-to-date information and address the following questions:
Description of Honduras general – and the project’s selected geographies – context: poverty rate, inequality rate, immigration, human rights and gender equality issues; ongoing government program to address these social issues.
Update the analysis on the root causes that hinder women and youth participation in economic activities: lack of access to resources, finance, quality inputs and market opportunities; limited decision-making power and control over land, production and income; lack of male engagement; and unequal participation in enterprise governance.
What are the gender/identity-based barriers faced by diverse women- and youth-led businesses in the agri-food sector (and in each selected value chain)? Which diverse women and youth are the most marginalized or face the most barriers?
Which activities within each value chain have more potential to impact on the wellbeing of women and youth?
Assess specific GE and HR issues to be addressed on the leadership capacity building activities. Many gender-related constraints are common to most women in the area, including a triple burden of work (reproductive, productive and community), which is often unpaid and undervalued, time poverty, sexual and gender-based violence and harassment (SGBVH), higher rates of unemployment, and limited access to affordable time- and labour-saving technology.
What are the partners and/or services that need to be engaged through the project’s interventions to carry forward the activities and achieve the goals?
Support the profiling and segmentation of target beneficiaries according to factors related to marginalization (gender, age, ethnicity, migrant status, geography, etc.) as well as the scope of the project.
Develop the project’s Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) Strategy, building on the analysis above, on MEDA’s and donor policies and standards. The final GESI Strategy outline will be jointly designed with MEDA’s technical team, and address the following:
Description of methodology (highlighting participatory techniques).
Gender-based analysis and strategy summary.
Gender-based analysis (including national-level gender-related stats, policies, and programs; target community context including gender-responsive public and private-sector technologies, products, programs, and services; gendered sub sector map and prioritized gender-based constraints).
Proposed Gender Equality Strategy.

Project Implementation Plan design phase deliverable:

A draft GESI Strategy document based on the analyses conducted.

Summary of Key activities, level of effort and Deliverables

Activity:

o Rapid gap analysis.

o Stakeholder analysis.

o Validation of research design.

Expected completion*> March 29th, 2024

Deliverable > 1- Executive report containing: Rapid Gap Analysis; Stakeholder analysis; research design validation, focusing on GESI elements of the project.

Activity:

o Research implementation.

Expected completion*> April 19th, 2024

Deliverable > 2- Research inputs and data collected systematized and shared.

Activity:

o Gender Equality and Social Inclusion analysis.

Expected completion*> April 30th, 2024

Deliverable > 3- Executive IMSA report co-developed with the MS and ECC specialists, focusing on GESI components of the analysis.

Activity:

o Project’s Gender Equality and Social Inclusion Strategy.

Expected completion*> May 20th, 2024

Deliverable > 4- GESI Strategy draft document.

* Dates are subject to change.

KEY QUALIFICATIONS/EXPERIENCE FOR THE ASSIGNMENT

The GESI Specialist must have strong capacity, knowledge of, and experience in gender equality, social inclusion and human rights (HR) issues relating to production and agribusiness in Honduras, specially, in the cacao and coffee sectors. The GESI Specialist should have the following minimum qualification criteria:

Advanced University degree – post-grad or master’s diploma - in gender studies, community/socio-economic development, sociology, or a related field required.
Minimum of five (5) years of professional experience, three (3) of which must be gender- related in an international development setting.
Demonstrated understanding of GESI and human rights issues and needs, research and analytical tools, strategies and approaches especially those related to cacao and coffee.
Demonstrated experience conducting gender and human rights analysis and gender-integrated programming, including on-the-ground participatory approaches, and knowledge of the horticulture and animal husbandry sectors.
Familiarity with value chain and market systems development concepts.
Experience in rural socioeconomic development.
Experience in working with local and/or international
Strong analytical and report-writing skills, both in Spanish and English.

The consultant must be based in Honduras and willing to travel to project selected locations to carry forward with the assignment. Tentative project locations include the departments of Copan, Santa Barbara, Ocotepeque, Lempira, Intibucá, and La Paz.

REPORTING

The successful consultant or consulting firm will report directly to MEDA’s Global Program Operations Manager and will work closely with MEDA’s Technical team – MEDA’s Sustainability & Inclusion Director, Gender Equality and Social Inclusion Specialist and Business Value Creation Director.

TIMELINE AND REMUNERATION

The assignment is expected to be completed by the end of May 2024.

The consultant will be reimbursed for the professional services provided based on the agreed value proposition.

In addition, the consultant will be reimbursed for direct costs within budget, that are preapproved, invoiced, and properly documented. These can include: internal travels expenses required to conduct the field research.

SUBMISSION OF APPLICATIONS

The interested consultant or consulting firm is required to present:

1- a value proposal in USD, indicating the number of days in which expect to complete the overall assignment – and/or each of the activities outlined – within the timeframe provided, and their daily rate.

2- an updated resume (no more than 3 pages) demonstrating key qualifications and experience.

A remote video interview may be part of the selection process.

APPLICATION DEADLINE: Wednesday, March 13, 2024 by 4:30 pm Eastern Time