Consultancy to carry out a Baseline Assessment for the Leather Project under the Pathways to Prosperity Program

TERMS OF REFERENCE

Consultancy to carry out a Baseline Assessment for the Leather Project under the Pathways to Prosperity Program

1.0 INTRODUCTION

Preamble

Solidaridad is an international network organization with eight regional expertise centers worldwide. Its mission is to bring together commodity supply chain actors and to engage them to develop innovative solutions to improve production, thereby ensuring the transition to a sustainable and inclusive economy that maximizes the benefit for all. Solidaridad strives to be an organization that understands the signs of modern times, seeking to be a Civil Society Organization (CSO) with its own place and role in society, while simultaneously interacting with Governments and markets. With 50 years of experience Globally in facilitating the development of socially responsible, ecologically sound and profitable supply chains, Solidaridad is a frontrunner in the area of sustainable economic development. Solidaridad envisions a world in which all we produce, and all we consume, can sustain us while respecting the planet, each other and the next generations. Solidaridad embraces the public-private and people partnerships (PPPP) in order to test innovations, speed up change, and take success to scale. Globally, Solidaridad works around coffee and other 12 commodities/sectors (http://www.solidaridadnetwork.org)

Program Summary

Solidaridad Network with the financial support of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs intends to start a Leather project in Tanzania.

The programme will co-create and implement tailored interventions to facilitate (i) knowledge transfer and skills building*,* improveaccess*(ii) to services and technology, and (iii)* markets*, therefore,* contributing to increased sustainable production (productivity and quality) and incomes, enhancing resilience to the impacts of climate change and other shocks and the creation of decent jobs and inclusive supply chains.

Leather and hides are a leading export product for many African and Asian countries. Total global leather market is expected to be about USD 629 bn by 2028. Asia and Africa with a combined share of approximately 47 percent are slated to achieve USD 300 bn in global trade by 2028, offering an important source of export earnings and employment. The global market for leather is booming, and successful development of the leather sector could help reduce poverty in rural areas. However the industry has a huge environmental impact – not least due to the use of toxic chemicals like chrome used in the tanning process. Pollution from the tanneries is destroying the ecology of the local rivers and impacting communities. Polluted water is channeled into local farmland, poisoning the soil, entering the food chain and accumulating in local ecosystems. At greatest risk are the people who work in the tanneries and farmers who work daily with the toxic and highly acidic water.

In Tanzania, economic opportunities in the leather value chain remain untapped as a result of poor quality raw material supply, poor ante-mortem and post-mortem handling of hides and skins, poor linkages and low utilization of industry capacity. There are ample opportunities to make the sector more sustainable with chrome-free tanning, occupational health and safety, other use of chemicals, and reuse and recycling of waste material.

The Survey Objectives and Methodology

Stakeholder Analysis:

Stakeholder analysis ensures that project interventions consider all stakeholders in the project’s target areas and increases the chance that projects will ‘do no harm’ and hopefully create positive change for excluded stakeholders. In general – the more stakeholders involved in the project’s design/implementation, the more successful and sustainable the project results will be.

The stakeholder analysis should aim to accomplish the following:

1. Map the key stakeholders and their interests (supportive or unsupportive) in the project
2. Note the relationships and power dynamics between different key stakeholders
3. Assess the relevance of the project to each stakeholder as well as their influence on the project
4. Identify if/how to engage stakeholders

The stakeholder analysis matrix (to be given to the consultant) can be used to synthesize the information gathered for the analysis. Based on the stakeholder mapping, the project team should decide which stakeholders the project interventions should prioritize and how they should be engaged to strengthen inclusive impact.

Gender Analysis:

With reference to Solidaridad Gender Inclusivity Buckets Book (to be provided) a gender analysis shall be conducted following the Step 1 on stakeholder analysis. The consultant will utilize gender analysis tools to identify the gender issues, and social inclusion/exclusion issues in relation to P2P pathways. And suggest strategies to address them using a gender transformative approach. A simplified gender analysis matrix has been developed to inform project design and ideally with the participation of key local stakeholders/partners. The matrix provides guidance and step-by-step instructions on how to complete the matrix as well as the analysis of the information captured.

Problem Analysis:

After having mapped the project’s key stakeholders and their relationships/influence, as well as analyzing the specific Gender considerations in the project’s context through a gender analysis, the program team should be ready to identify the overarching main problems the project wants to address.

The main problem we are trying to address through this Leather project is mercury-free processing, chrome-free tanning, occupational health and safety, chemical, water, and energy use, and reuse and recycling of waste and residues.

2.3.4 Indicator Framework:

This will involve selection of key indicators for project monitoring aligned with generic programme indicators provided in the project document. Initial basis of these indicators will involve the collection of information which allows the project team to track progress on targets and systems change over the duration of the project.

Responsibilities of Consultants/Scope of Work

The composition of the survey team is left up to the consultant/ organization based on their internal system, ideas, and logic. However, Solidaridad recommends that the team comprise one Team Leader (TL) to coordinate/conduct the overall study and liaise with Solidaridad. To collect information from the field using an adequate number of Field Enumerators (FEs). Supervision of the fieldwork and the quality (reliability and validity) of the data/information collected from the field is the primary responsibility of the TL. The TL will work closely with Solidaridad M&E Officers, Gender Officers, and Country managers. In each step and process, consultation with the Solidaridad team is vital.

Deliverables

The Consultant should deliver the following:

• Work plan and expression of interest (EOI) for the research study, outlining;
• A detailed methodology for implementation of the survey.
• Draft data collection tools
• A detailed work plan for the research study
• Draft Report: The Annexes (Stakeholder Analysis Matrix and Gender Analysis report) shall also be completed by the consultant.

Expert/Consultant’s Profile:

Consultancy firms/companies with verifiable research work and who fulfill the following requirements are encouraged to express their interests.

• The consulting firm should have teams in both countries
• Demonstrated experience in analytical research in the fields of policy, industry, agriculture and environment.
• The consulting firm should have a better understanding of cross-cutting issues (gender, NRM) and this should be reflected in the team profiles.