Oxfam Organisation Job Opportunities in Kenya

Oxfam Organisation Job Opportunities in Kenya

 

Oxfam International Organization Sustainable livelihoods through Value Chain Development for Pastoral Communities in Turkana

Terms of Reference for Consultancy on Development of Lake Turkana Fish Marketing Strategy

Location: Lodwar

Ref: INT1511

Introduction: Oxfam is an International Development, Humanitarian and Campaigns Non Governmental Organization working with others to overcome poverty and suffering. 

In Kenya, Oxfam works with marginalized communities in the Arid and Semi Arid Lands (ASALs) and urban informal settlements in Nairobi, focusing on: 

• Developing market-based alternative and complementary livelihoods
• Initiating water resource development, management and public health supporting livestock production and marketing, 
• Providing emergency humanitarian services 
• Supporting governance programs, peace-building and conflict resolution 
• Disaster risk reduction and preparedness 
• Social protection

 

Background on Turkana County: Turkana County is located in northern Kenya and is the largest county in Kenya bordering Uganda, South Sudan and Ethiopia with a projected population of 1.2 million inhabitants, 90 percent of whom live below the poverty line. 

Turkana County in Kenya is classified as an arid and semi-arid with majority of its population highly dependent on pastoralism. 

Turkana is characterized by low-fertility soil, a highly variable rainfall pattern, poor quality services such as health and education, with low access to these services, high incidences of HIV Aids cases and a very poor infrastructure such as roads.

 The inhabitants of the county rely mainly on pastoralism and livestock production (60%) as the mainstay of their economy and livelihoods,fishing (8%), agropastoralism (20%) and formal employment (12%). Over the years, Turkana has experienced prolonged climate variability, leading to droughts, and related food shortages.

During such periods, Oxfam alongside the government and other development agencies have often undertaken humanitarian interventions by providing food and cash transfers to enable access to basic necessities for communities living in this area. 

The use of ‘market based interventions’ to tackle food insecurity has become more prominent in Oxfam’s programmes in recent years. 

These are aimed at strengthening the local economy, and to enable communities to move away from reliance on food aid to more empowered, dignified and sustainable livelihood strategies. . Therefore to tackle the issue of food security in the long-term, we must address economic security.

Value Chain Development for Pastoral Communities in Turkana

With funding support from the European Union, Oxfam is implementing fish value chain development programme. 

The programme’s overall objective is Securing sustainable livelihoods and food security for poor women and men in Turkana through development of market opportunities in the fish sector and building local capacity to link with markets. 

The project targets 5000 food insecure men and women, 1000 fisher folk and 500 small traders

 Constraints in the Fish Sector

Production status of Lake Turkana fish is currently very low. The general catch and landing volumes especially for Nile Perch are highly variable and uneconomical for commercialization. Profit margins are relatively higher for Nile Perch. 

Unfortunately, more tilapia is landed and marketed. With Post harvest losses as high as 20 percent the supply gap for fish is apparent with more demand at end markets far from being saturated. 

Value chain systems are weak and not business-oriented. Fishing remains a traditional practice with minimum input and minimum return, even though it contributes significantly to household economy. 

Production among fishers is more focused on volume rather than quality. High post harvest losses hence remain a critical challenge to profitability of Turkana fish. Business Development Services are very weak contributing to high poverty levels and dependence on relief. Fish marketing is highly polarized and exhibits strong ‘informal organizations’ of contacts. 

There are generally weak producer organizations for collective marketing of fish just as inadequacies exist in fishers’ sensitization, organizational development, quality assurance, extension/training, market information, credit access, infrastructure development and input access. 

Over time Oxfam has trained fishermen and traders to improve hygiene and fish handling practices, business practices, reduce post harvest losses among others. There is evidence that fishers and traders are improving fishing and business practices. 

Despite these improvements, access to profitable and reliable markets. But even if they were existent, the traders and fishers are not in position to effectively engage with them.

Enhancing marketing of Lake Turkana Fish

One key area that this project has anticipated to address is to design a marketing strategy for the Lake Turkana fish which will guide the way fish is marketed and improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the entire marketing system of the fish. 

The study on market analysis for Lake Turkana fish value chain unveiled potential market opportunities in the local market in Turkana, Kitale, Eldoret, Kisumu, Nairobi, Busia en route to Democratic of Congo and Rwanda markets and other regional markets like Southern Sudan.  

These market opportunities are not fully exploited by the fish traders due to uncoordinated market efforts by the key players in fish trading

Terms of Reference: The overall objective of the study is to develop a Marketing Strategy for fisheries intervention, aiming at livelihood promotion of traders, fishermen and all other value chain actors.

The specific objectives of the study include:

• To examine the marketing channels for fish in the local, regional and international market
• To assess the market potential for Lake Turkana fish with specific markets identified including processed fish products and the requirements of buyers
• To assess entry requirements into those identified markets
• To explore market margins involved and the possibilities of capturing value in different stages of the chain like wholesaling, processing and retailing
• To assess characteristics of the fish market at the end consumer level in terms of variety, quality, pricing, purchase behaviour including channel preference and reasons for that.
• To map current gaps in the current market structure in relation to the requirements of the existing markets.
• To assess role and involvement of women at various stages of supply chain, and how this can be further strengthened
• To recommend a marketing strategy/options  for Fishers and traders to optimise the opportunities in existing markets.

Timeframe: The whole research process will take approx 21 days to be completed, this will include: Interaction with Oxfam Management team, fishermen, traders and report writing.

Consultant / Team Qualifications
The Consultancy team must have a back ground in fish or livestock marketing. 

At the minimum, the consultant(s) must possess the following:

• At least a Masters Degree in Business related Disciplines with a bias in marketing or strategic management
• 5 years demonstrated experience in business research and/or Practice
• Demonstrate a good understanding of the Arid and Semi Arid Areas (ASALs) with practical working experience or research/Surveys in such environments.
• Experience of effective interaction with local markets, market associations/organisations, national institutions, government departments, and Business service providers.
• Be Conversant with current business models and practice around the Fish sub-sector in the region.
• Good spoken and written communication skills in English and Swahili.
• Proven experience of using participatory tools and methodology.
• Excellent analytical and report writing skills.

Expected Deliverables

The required outputs of this consultancy will be as follows:

1. An inception report (maximum five pages) outlining the approach/methodology and execution programme/timetable. This report shall be submitted for review and approval by Oxfam GB two (3) days after the signing of the contract, but before commencement of the work.
2. Data collection tools which shall be submitted within three days after acceptance of the methodology for review and approval by Oxfam GB.
3. Draft  fish marketing strategy and a report which shall be submitted within five days after completion of the field work.
4. Presentation of the fish marketing strategy to the stakeholders.
5. The final fish marketing strategy which shall be submitted within five days after the stakeholders’ dissemination workshop and shall incorporate both Oxfam and stakeholders inputs.

CLICK HERE to apply online

Application deadline is 4th June 2015