Consultant - Online Market Systems Development Training Facilitator - Remote

Description

Background:

Mercy Corps is a leading global organization powered by the belief that a better world is possible. In disaster, in hardship, in more than 40 countries around the world, we partner to put bold solutions into action — helping people triumph over adversity and build stronger communities from within.

PRO-WASH & SCALE (Practices, Research, and Operations in Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene & Strengthening Capacity in Agriculture, Livelihoods, and Environment) is a 4-year (2023-2027) Associate Award funded by the USAID Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA) and implemented by Save the Children and Mercy Corps. The purpose of PRO-WASH & SCALE is to strengthen the design, implementation, and overall effectiveness of key sector-specific interventions across BHA’s food security portfolio in emergency, early recovery, risk reduction, and resilience (ER4) activities. The Award’s technical intervention areas include agriculture, livelihoods, markets, natural and water resources management, and WASH. Mercy Corps leads activities related to agriculture, livelihoods, natural resources management and markets through the Technical Resources and Quality (TRaQ) Unit’s Agriculture Systems team.

Purpose / Project Description:

PRO-WASH & SCALE as part of its ongoing capacity-building efforts conducted an online Market Systems Development (MSD) foundational training in English last year for USAID/BHA-funded Resilience Food Security Activity (RFSA) team members. Building on feedback from the initial English cohort, PRO-WASH & SCALE will now extend the MSD foundational training to French-speaking RFSA team members. This training aims to provide participants with practical knowledge and tools to apply the MSD approach in their programs, ultimately contributing to more sustainable and scalable programming and outcomes.

This French training will:

• Be delivered once a week, with each session lasting up to two hours.
• Run for a total of seven weeks; to be adjusted if needed based on training design after the consultant is on board
• Be co-facilitated by the PRO-WASH & SCALE Global Market Systems Advisor
• Have English/French translation and interpretation support provided by additional translator.

The consultant will play a key role in designing, preparing, and delivering the training in French, ensuring the content is relevant, interactive, and tailored to the needs of RFSA programs.

Consultant Objectives:

The consultant will lead the design, facilitation, and communication of resources for the French online MSD foundational training. Specific objectives include:

1. Enhance RFSA team members’ understanding of the MSD approach.
2. Introduce and provide practical MSD tools and methodologies relevant to RFSA programs.
3. Share real world applications by presenting practical lessons and experiences from similar programs that have successfully applied the MSD approach, inspiring participants to integrate these concepts into their work.
4. Compile training materials and reference documents that participants and other stakeholders can easily access and use to further their understanding of MSD concepts and tools. This may include adapting existing tools and resources to respond to participants’ needs.

Consultant Activities:

The Consultant will:

• Planning/design phase:

• Review previous MSD foundation training resources

• Develop a survey and collect background information from potential trainees that will help to design the training tailored with RFSAs context

• Design the training agenda and session flow in a way that will be interactive and practical for RFSA programs

• Develop or revise/translate power point materials for the training

• Identify additional relevant French MSD-related reference documents to include in the training sessions

• Identify guest speakers to share practical experiences in each session

• Facilitate training

• Facilitate online training sessions as per the design

• Share the training materials including supporting resources and recordings after completion of each training session

• Share invite reminder for training a day ahead of the actual training session

• Share invite and talking points for guest speakers

• Follow Up

• Compile the overall training documents into one document including PowerPoints and supporting reference materials and tools

• Circulate compiled resources from the event to participants and the wider public (e.g., via the FSN Network, PRO-WASH & SCALE newsletter, etc.)

• Conduct a debrief with PRO-WASH & SCALE team

Consultant Deliverables:

• Project plan for this assignment
• Training design document
• Slide decks for each session and links to supporting materials
• Compiled training resources
• Internal debrief with PRO-WASH & SCALE team
• Training report/summary document

Timeframe / Schedule:

The anticipated LOE for this assignment is up to 20 days (excluding travel, if required). The ideal start date is February 2025 for preparatory activities and the training may go up to May 2025. All deliverables must be approved by the Mercy Corps representative to be considered final.

The Consultant will report to:

Global Market Systems Advisor, PRO-WASH & SCALE

The Consultant will work closely with:

Technical Director - Agriculture, NRM, Markets and Livelihoods, PRO-WASH & SCALE  and ISSD-Africa

Global Market Systems Advisor, PRO-WASH & SCALE

Knowledge management, learning and communications Advisor, PRO-WASH & SCALE

Operations Officer, PRO-WASH & SCALE

Other PRO-WASH & SCALE team members, as relevant

Required Experience & Skills:

• Experience in market system development (MSD) programming, including expertise in training facilitation and program implementation
• Extensive knowledge of MSD theory and practice
• Understanding/familiarity with Resilience Food Security Activities
• Knowledge of the market systems in francophone African countries.
• Demonstrated expertise in participatory methods, adult learning and knowledge sharing/management
• Comfort with an array of digital tools and basic formatting – slide decks, standard resource documents
• Strong communication skills; written and oral fluency in French and basic English required

**Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
**Achieving our mission begins with how we build our team and work together. Through our commitment to enriching our organization with people of different origins, beliefs, backgrounds, and ways of thinking, we are better able to leverage the collective power of our teams and solve the world’s most complex challenges. We strive for a culture of trust and respect, where everyone contributes their perspectives and authentic selves, reaches their potential as individuals and teams, and collaborates to do the best work of their lives.

We recognize that diversity and inclusion is a journey, and we are committed to learning, listening and evolving to become more diverse, equitable and inclusive than we are today.

Equal Employment Opportunity
We are committed to providing an environment of respect and psychological safety where equal employment opportunities are available to all. We do not engage in or tolerate discrimination on the basis of race, color, gender identity, gender expression, religion, age, sexual orientation, national or ethnic origin, disability (including HIV/AIDS status), marital status, military veteran status or any other protected group in the locations where we work.

Safeguarding & Ethics
Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts toward accountability, specifically to our stakeholders and to international standards guiding international relief and development work, while actively engaging communities as equal partners in the design, monitoring and evaluation of our field projects. Team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner and respect local laws, customs and MC's policies, procedures, and values at all times and in all in-country venues.

Keywords

Market SystemsDevelopmentTrainingFacilitatorFrenchMSDAgricultureLivelihoodsWater ResourcesManagementWASHTrainingFacilitationProgram ImplementationFrancophone African CountriesDigital ToolsCommunication SkillsFrenchEnglish