The Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) seeks to recruit a Consultant. The consultancy assignment aims to systematically assess the policy-relevant capacities of the regional agricultural offices and relevant affiliated institutions, focusing on key policy skills, resources, and competencies necessary to perform and implement policy functions. It also aims to identify capacity gaps and develop a roadmap to guide effective policy-making processes at individual, organizational, and systemic levels. Specific objectives: the following are the specific objectives of the policy capacity gap assessment: -
General Background:
Policy capacity is a major concern for public institutions entrusted with generating and implementing effective policy responses to complex social issues. In the literature, policy capacity refers to the set of skills and resources required for policy functions, which can be classified into three categories: analytical, operational, and political. These competencies involve several types of policy-relevant capacities necessary at individual, organizational, and systemic levels. It involves the capability to scan the environment and understand social problems, set policy agendas, identify policy alternatives and assess their implications, and policy formulation and implementation, as well as the capacity to conduct monitoring, evaluation, and impact assessments.
Since 2002, Ethiopia's government has implemented agricultural and rural development policies to foster economic growth, establish a free market economy, and benefit its citizens. Despite its considerable growth, meeting the food demand of the growing population, exporting quality products, meeting industry input needs, and achieving structural economic transformation remain the major challenges for the country. In response to the challenges the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) in collaboration with pertinent stakeholders has revised its agricultural and rural development policy to align with home-grown economic reform and the country's ten-year perspective plan, to capitalize on sectoral growth possibilities and achieve structural transformation.
Established in 2006, AGRA, in line with Ethiopia's national development plan, has been collaborating with the government to achieve transformation in food systems, strengthen seed systems, promote sustainable farming, adapt to climate change, promote free trade, improve soil health, and reduce women's inequality. AGRA Ethiopia Strategy (2023-2027) aims to reach 2.4 million smallholder farmers in Ethiopia, with 30% being women, through four business lines: Seed Systems, Sustainable Farming, Inclusive Markets and Trade, and Policy and State Capability. Through Policy and State Capability business line, it has launched a project entitled: “Strengthening agriculture policy enabling, flagship program implementation and coordination and execution capacity of Minstry of Agriculture and its affiliate institutions in Ethiopia”.
The project aims to strengthen the policy capabilities of the federal ministry, its affiliated institutions, and regional agricultural offices. The efforts involve a step forward to address key capacity challenges related to policy formulation and implementation, such as resource, technical capacity, planning and coordination, tools and methodologies for tracking progress/ impact measurement, etc. By doing so, the support will contribute to speed up inclusive agricultural transformations and contribute to the development goals of the country. Conducting policy capacity gap assessment, developing capacity road map, preparing training plan, and developing training manual and provision of training are some the key actions supported by the project.
The Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) founded in 2006, is an African-led African-based organization that seeks to catalyze Agriculture Transformation in Africa. AGRA is focused on putting smallholder farmers at the center of the continent’s growing economy by transforming agriculture from a solitary struggle to survive into farming as a business that thrives. As the sector that employs the majority of Africa’s people, nearly all of them small-scale farmers, AGRA recognizes that developing smallholder agriculture into a productive, efficient, and sustainable system is essential to ensuring food security, lifting millions out of poverty, and driving equitable growth across the continent.
AGRA is rolling out a new 5-year strategy to catalyze and sustain an Inclusive Agricultural Transformation in Africa to increase incomes and improve food security for 30 million farmers. Under this strategy, AGRA will deliver through an approach that simultaneously catalyzes change at farmer level, strengthens input and output market systems and puts government at the center to enable and champion private-sector-led agricultural growth at national level.
Scope of work:
The assignment focusses on conducting a policy gap assessment and developing a road map to strengthen policy formulation and implementation capacity of the regional agricultural offices and its affiliated institutions. Considering to this, the following are the major activities of the assignment:
Table 1: Geographical scope and selected organization:
1. Bureau of Agriculture (BoA)
2. Institutions
Required qualifications:
The consultant is required to have the following knowledge and skills Qualifications.
Education:
Experience and Skills:
Duty Station: Addis Ababa, and capital towns of regional stats
Terms of appointment: The duration of the assignment is for 40 days
Applicants should provide a cover letter and curriculum vitae; names and addresses (including telephone and email) of three referees who are knowledgeable about the candidate’s professional qualifications and work experience to be included in the curriculum vitae. Consultants should submit 3 pages of technical and one page of financial proposals together with CVs of the lead consultant and associate experts.
The position and reference number: REF: C/AGRA/31/24 should be indicated in the subject line of the cover letter.