1. General Background

The forced displacement crisis has increased in scale and complexity in recent years. According to UNHCR, 79.5 million people were forcibly displaced worldwide at the end of 2019. Forcibly displaced persons (FDPs), including refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) face specific vulnerabilities, including loss of assets and psychological trauma, limited rights, lack of opportunities, a protection risk as well as a risk to be out of school, and a lack of planning horizon. In addition, the communities hosting FDPs also struggle to pursue their own development efforts. 

In response to the considerable challenges facing FDPs and host communities, a new partnership initiative titled: ‘PROSPECTS' Partnership for improving Prospects for host communities and forcibly displaced persons, was launched by the Government of the Netherlands, that brings together the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the International Labour Organization (ILO), the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the World Bank. Through the PROSPECTS partnership, the five partner agencies aim to leverage their comparative advantages and areas of expertise to programme complementary and interdependent interventions that address education and skills, employment and protection challenges. The partnership spans eight countries, namely Egypt, Ethiopia, Iraq, Jordan, Kenya, Lebanon, Sudan, and Uganda and covers the period 2019-2023.  

2. PROSPECTS in Jordan

Jordan is facing a historic forced displacement crisis and as the crisis extends into the next decade, the country is at an inflection point, given the scope, scale and protracted nature of the displacement. Through Prospects, partners will undertake interventions that will align with national strategies, helping to mitigate the impact of the current displacement crisis on both refugee and host communities, with a longer-term goal of supporting human development through support to increased economic opportunities, wider access to quality education and stronger protection mechanisms.  As of January 2020, Jordan hosted over 745,000 refugees, including over 655,000 Syrians and almost 100,000 other nationalities. Children represent a little over half of the refugee community. With refugees constituting almost seven percent of Jordan’s population, the Kingdom is one of the top refugee hosting countries per capita worldwide.

Whilst Jordan’s economic situation pre-dated the Syrian crisis, the impact of its forced displacement crisis has worsened the situation. The IMF has estimated that Jordan’s economy lost one percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) each year of the crisis due to investment and export losses. Syrian and Jordanian households across the Kingdom continue to live in highly vulnerable conditions, with all communities dependent on overstretched and weak education systems; limited, and often informal, employment opportunities; interruptions to export and local markets; poorly coordinated protection systems.  

In the wake of COVID-19, firms have struggled to stay open with consumer spending and interruptions to supply chains.    

ASSIGNMENT BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

Under its Employment pillar, ILO is planning to use its “Approach for Inclusive Market Systems (AIMS)” to develop value chains and surrounding market systems with the ultimate goal of improving livelihoods of both Jordanian host communities and Syrian refugees. AIMS uses the market systems approach to analyse subsectors and value chains with potential for inclusive growth and employment creation, and seeks to resolve bottlenecks and imbalances in the value chain to promote growth and bring greater benefits to the disadvantaged target groups engaged in these subsectors. The approach is based on a thorough analysis in order identify bottlenecks and imbalances, and understand incentives and capacities of actors. The analysis makes it possible to find tailor-made solutions to resolve identified bottlenecks and issues, all the while building on incentives of actors and creating win-win situations to induce systemic and sustainable change. Depending on the situation and the problems identified during the analysis, interventions can focus for instance on:

• promoting associations of small-scale entrepreneurs in order to increase their bargaining power vis-à-vis big buyers and players in the value chain, and ultimately their income
• Improving cooperation and coordination between different actors along the value chain in order to decrease transaction costs and increase the competitiveness of the value chain for accelerated growth and employment creation
• Strengthening access to necessary inputs of small entrepreneurs in the chain, such as for instance affordable and high-quality seeds and fertilizers in the agricultural sector, shifts to modern agriculture technologies in order to increase productivity in the value chain
• Improving access to relevant information such as information about market trends and preferences of end clients for small enterprises and entrepreneurs in the value chain in order to help them exploit their full potential and increase sales and income 
• Developing business development services (BDS) adapted to specific needs of small entrepreneurs in the value chain to help small enterprises develop their full potential, grow and create employment 

In Jordan, the approach would target sectors that hold potential for both Jordanian host communities and Syrian refugees with the ultimate goal of creating jobs, increasing incomes and/or improving working conditions of both groups. 

The approach is based on a thorough analysis of the targeted value chain and its surrounding market system. In order to select the value chain that holds the most potential for refugee inclusive growth and job creation, ILO applies its

‘sector selection methodology’ to grade and rank different value chains based on established sector selection criteria.

SCOPE OF WORK AND METHODOLOGY

The overall purpose of this assignment is to conduct a sector selection exercise that seeks to identify and rapidly assess sub-sectors and value chains with potential for refugee-inclusive employment creation. More specifically, the assignment aims to engage in background research to collect information on a pre-established list of sectors and value chains in order to select from this list the sector or value chain with the highest potential for refugee-inclusive growth. In doing so, the sector selection exercise shall apply ILO’s methodology for sector selection that aims to grade preselected sectors and value chains based on three main criteria:

1. Potential for growth and job creation of the sector 
2. Relevance of the sector to the target group, i.e. Syrian host communities
3. Feasibility of intervention

As outlined in ILO’s recently updated guide “Value chain development for Decent Work”, sub-criteria will be established for each of the three criteria based on the specific context and objectives of the project. Additional guidance and examples of sub-criteria used in a forced displacement context can be found in ILO’s Guide to market-based livelihoods interventions for refugees. Specific guidance on mainstreaming environmental and social concerns into the exercise can be found in the ILO/GIZ Guidelines to value chain selection.

The consultant is expected to conduct a rapid analysis of the sectors and value chains proposed by ILO based on ILO’s specific methodology. This will require solid desk research to review already existing value chain analyses and sector assessments of other NGOs and UN organizations, relevant national economic or sectoral strategies, relevant sector data and statistics and any other documents and statistics relevant to obtain the required information. Desk research shall be completed with interviews with relevant actors from the public and private sector (relevant Ministries, chambers of commerce, sectoral associations, key private sector players in targeted value chains, refugees, etc.) if necessary to complete the information base. 

Ultimately, collected information shall be summarized and analysed in a report. The report shall contain the following sections:

           1.    Assessment of the overall market system relevant for refugees based on a desk review[1]: 

• Information about the characteristics and background of the target group (refugees and hosting communities) and the socio-economic environment in which they currently make a living.
• An assessment of relevant rules and regulations should lead to a good idea of the legal environment that governs refugees’ access to the labour market, but should also include an analysis of informal rules and social norms that affect refugees.
• An assessment of supporting functions available to refugees should result in a thorough understanding of the type of support that refugees can or cannot draw on to build livelihoods. Supporting functions include but are not limited to access to finance, training, information, guidance and coaching. These supporting functions include formal and informal supporting functions.

2. Rapid appraisal of sectors and value chains proposed by ILO:

Based on background research and experience, ILO has identified the following sectors and value chains that shall be analysed further:

• Tomatoes
• Dates
• Meat/livestock 
• Stone fruits (peaches and apricots)
• Peppers

For each of these subsectors or value chains, it is expected to have 2-3 pages summarizing and analysing data and information on:

• Trends and opportunities in the sector or value chain (existing and potential market demand, potential to export, unsatisfied demand for products, etc.)
• Challenges, bottlenecks and constraints in the subsector (low productivity, lack of cooperation, lack of quality business development services, etc.)
• Level of presence of Syrian refugees in the sector or value chain and nature of their participation 
• Existing business development services and other supporting functions relevant to the subsectors 
• Key private sector actors in those sub-sectors and the links and relationships between them
• Occupations and skills in demand 

3. Sector selection table with summary of rating and ranking of the listed sub-sectors and value chains: 

Based on the criteria and sub-criteria pre-established by ILO, the consultant is expected to propose ratings for each of the listed sectors and value chains based on information and data collected. Ratings shall be summarized in a sector selection table (see Annex for example). 

DELIVERABLES

Based on the above-mentioned tasks, the following deliverables are associated with this assignment:

          Output 1: Workplan and list of sources (secondary resources, potential interview partners) Output 2: Final report as outlined above

All data and information received from ILO for this assignment are to be treated confidentially and are only to be used in connection with the execution of these Terms of Reference (TOR). The contents of written materials obtained and used in this assignment may not be disclosed to any third parties without the express advance written authorization of the ILO. All intellectual property rights arising from the execution of these TOR are assigned to the International Labour Organization. The intellectual property rights of the materials modified through the assignment remains with the International Labour Organization.

 REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

The consultant shall possess the following qualifications:

• Prior experience with conducting value chain analyses and/or market assessments
• Excellent knowledge of the economic context in Jordan
• Knowledge of the specific  
• Fluency in English and Arabic  

SELECTION CRITERIA

All available proposals will be gathered and reviewed. Amongst the Proposals that fulfil the abovementioned criteria, the firm providing best value for money will be selected. 

SUPERVISION AND LOGISTICAL ARRANGEMENTS

The consultant will perform his/her assignment under the supervision of the National Officer/Agriculture in PROSPECTS Jordan and the overall guidance of ILO PROSPECTS Chief Technical Adviser for Arab States. Technical guidance will also be provided by the AIMS Technical Officer of PROSPECTS Lebanon. 

TIMEFRAME AND ESTIMATED BUDGET

It is envisaged that 24 working days are associated with the completion of the above-mentioned tasks over the period 15 July -20 August 2021. 

PAYMENT SCHEDULE 

.  The payments will be made as follows:

• Payment 1: (10 working days) after delivery of output 1 
• Payment 2: USD (14 working days) after delivery of output 2

PROPOSAL SUBMISSION PROCEDURE

The applicant must submit a technical and financial proposal in separate digital attachments. The title of the email should mention the project code JOR/19/50/NLD (Value chain) and date of submission. The technical proposal should include profile of the firm with prior experience and similar consultancies implemented, CVs of the team who will be providing support to this consultancy. It should also include a vision and a detailed workplan of how the assignment will be carried out and how the objectives will be achieved with a distribution of number of days for the different tasks (2- 3 pages). The financial proposal should include the daily rates for carrying out this assignment. 

Applications should be submitted by email to Mr. Samer Al Rawashdeh and Ms. Amal Al Namrouti. 

1. Mr. Samer Al Rawashdeh, National Officer – [email protected]
2. Ms. Amal Al Namrouti, Senior Administrative/Finance Assistant - [email protected] 

Both technical and financial proposals should be valid for 30 days. The deadline for submission of technical and financial proposals is August 22 , 2021 COB.