Consultancy: Regional Context Analysis, Southern Africa

The Donkey Sanctuary is looking for an experienced and reputable organisation / individual consultant to conduct a regional context analysis of Southern Africa.

As part of our organisational commitment to expert-led, holistic, longer-term, sustainable and resilient programming, The Donkey Sanctuary is commissioning a context analysis of Southern Africa to clearly identify the location and needs of donkeys and mules and those reliant on them. This will guide future projects, partnerships and programming in the region. In addition, we are seeking to strengthen existing relationships and build new relationships with external stakeholders in Southern Africa. The results of this analysis will feed into our wider Southern Africa Regional Strategy for 2023 onwards.

The main objective of the assessment is to enable The Donkey Sanctuary to better comprehend the Southern Africa regional context across a range of data points, including:

• Location, numbers, needs and welfare issues for donkeys and mules.
• Human development needs and challenges facing donkey and mule owning communities.
• The local operating environment, including safety and security considerations, language, and other stakeholders present.

The Donkey Sanctuary is most interested in understanding in which countries in the region these needs intersect. The combination of human development needs intersecting with donkey welfare needs within a conducive operating environment will allow The Donkey Sanctuary’s decision making to be responsive to those needs.

In conducting the analysis, the Consultant should consider – but not be limited to – the following questions under each category:

Donkey Welfare Needs

• What is the donkey and mule population? [Please note: We already have access to FAO numbers which we believe to be incomplete; the successful Consultant will be expected to triangulate across a number of data points]
• Where are the donkeys and mules located?
• Is the trade in donkey skins present?
• What are the main industries that donkeys and mules are working in? (e.g. construction industry, waste industry, smallholder farming industry)
• What are the likely areas of weakness in welfare and wellbeing for these donkeys and mules?
• What are the potential barriers to animal welfare?

Human Development Needs

• What are the main human development needs?
• What are the acute humanitarian challenges that might affect community resilience (such as natural and social hazards/risks)?
• What is the current role of donkeys and mules in human development?
• To what extent does the country have disaster risk reduction plans?

Operating Environment

• What other stakeholders are operational there? [Please include a brief overview of the types of work these stakeholders are undertaking in-country].
• What are the safety and security considerations?
• What are the access requirements for working there?
• What are the language needs?
• What kinds of social, cultural and political-economic factors might influence how effective an animal welfare INGO could be in this context?

Using the above information, the Consultant should then highlight 3 to 5 countries in which a deeper level of analysis is required, based on where human, donkey and operating environment needs intersect. The Donkey Sanctuary envisages commissioning further works to take forward our understanding of these highlighted countries.

The Donkey Sanctuary is aiming for this work to be completed within the first quarter of 2023. However, it is desirable for the work to be completed prior to this, and as soon as is practically possible.