Consultancy - Gender-Inclusive poultry, honey, dairy, cattle and shoat, fodder commercialization and potential Market System Assessment in Afar Region - Ethiopia

Introduction:

Ayuda en accion is a secular, non-partisan, non-governmental organisation established in 1981 with a global commitment to fight against poverty, inequality, and exclusion. Its headquarter is in Madrid, Spain. The organisation operates in 18 countries within Africa, South and Central America and Europe (Spain, Portugal). In Ethiopia, Ayuda en Acción supported a range of humanitarian and development interventions through local partners between 2002 and 2017; an independent country programme was established in 2018. Ayuda en Acción Ethiopia aspires to tackle poverty, inequalities and exclusion that perpetuate poverty. The organisation perceives women, men, girls and boys as the centre of its efforts in the country, giving it an impetus to strengthen people’s and institutions’ capacities to meaningfully contribute to development and dignified life of all in Ethiopia. To achieve its mission, Ayuda en Acción Ethiopia has worked in three regions of Ethiopia, namely Afar, Oromia and SNNPR in close cooperates with local partners, international research institutes, public agencies, and private sector actors. 

Project Ddescription:

Funded by the European Union under grant EuropeAid/179149/DD/ACT/ET-1,  the three-year The Empowering Futures for Youth and Women beyond Agriculture (EMPOWER) project aims to enhance livelihood security for vulnerable women and youth in Ethiopia by strengthening access to inclusive and green job opportunities. Implemented by a consortium led by People in Need (PIN), with co-applicants Ayuda en Acción (AeA) and Development Expertise Center (DEC), the project targets individuals transitioning out of agricultural and agro-pastoral livelihoods, as well as those remaining in the sector. Operating across multiple regions, PIN leads implementation in Oromia, DEC in Tigray, and AeA in conflict- and climate-affected areas of Afar National Regional State. 

In Afar, Ayuda en Acción manages the project in Chifra (Zone 1), Ewa, Gulina (Zone 4), Abala (Zone 2), and Asayita TVET. These areas face severe challenges from recurrent droughts, conflict, and socio-economic instability, which have disrupted traditional livelihoods. In response to these challenges, the EMPOWER project aims to create sustainable, inclusive, and green job opportunities by strengthening local capacity in key agricultural value chains and improving access to technical and vocational education and training (TVET). However, numerous barriers, including limited access to technical skills, financial services, and employment opportunities, continue to hinder the full participation of youth and women in the labor market.

EMPOWER directly supports 1,750 individuals, including 950 youth (aged 15-34) and 770 vulnerable women (female-headed households, IDPs, GBV survivors, etc.), organized into 26 SMEs. Additional beneficiaries include 30 local leaders, 3 TVET institutions, and 61 private sector actors. The project’s final beneficiaries reach 584,350 individuals. Key outputs include enhanced capacities for green job transitions, strengthened SME access to markets, and improved public-private coordination to reduce barriers for women in education, employment, and markets. The major outputs of the project includes Vulnerable women and youth have enhanced their capacities to transition to green jobs and nonfarm income generating agricultural activities via skills development and transfer of technological innovations; Newly established women and youth-led SMEs in green and climate-resilient value chains have strengthened access to markets via enhanced private sector engagement and inclusiveness of local supply chains and; Key public and private sector stakeholders have enhanced their coordination and introduced measures that improve women’s economic empowerment and minimize barriers for women to access markets, decent jobs and quality education. 

The project will conduct a gender-inclusive market system analysis of pre-selected value chains—poultry, honey, dairy, cattle/shoat fattening, fodder, soybean, and others—to identify job and income opportunities for women and youth. This analysis will use a market system development (MSD) approach to address systemic constraints and align interventions with climate resilience and inclusiveness. Concurrently, a TVET capacity assessment will inform curriculum development for skills training in five priority value chains.

Priority Value Chains:

1. Poultry Value Chain: Chicken rearing is not common in the Afar Region. Studies indicate the region accounts for approximately 13.4% of Ethiopia’s total chicken population and contributes 11% of national annual egg and poultry meat production. The project will identify key stakeholders, opportunities, and barriers within the poultry sector to increase job and income-generating opportunities for vulnerable women and youth.
2. Honey Value Chain: Although Ethiopia’s arid and semi-arid regions host honeybee races adapted to high temperatures, honey production in Afar remains far below its potential due to limited access to improved technologies. Targeted interventions are needed to replace outdated beekeeping practices through training and adoption of modern production systems. The project will identify opportunities, systemic constraints, and propose interventions within the honey value chain to enhance job creation and income-generating opportunities, particularly for vulnerable women and youth.
3. Dairy Value Chain: In Afar, milk is vital for household food and nutrition security and is primarily managed by women, making the dairy sector critical for women’s economic empowerment. However, deeply rooted traditional norms have historically stigmatized milk vending as taboo, prioritizing household consumption over commercialization. Milk trade remains limited to informal roadside sales and small local markets, with minimal integration into formal value chains. Challenges include inadequate infrastructure (e.g., milk collection centers, chilling facilities, processing units), frequent droughts, and poor feed availability. The project will identify opportunities, systemic constraints, and propose interventions to promote inclusive market participation, build climate resilience, and enhance job creation for women and youth.
4. Cattle and Shoat Marketing Value Chain: Livestock fattening, particularly small ruminants like goats, has emerged as a livelihood strategy in Afar alongside expanding crop production and settlements. Goat fattening is widely practiced for income generation and savings, with strong community interest in areas with reliable food and water access. Growing demand for goat meat—driven by urbanization, industrial development, and export markets—presents opportunities. Small ruminants’ fast growth and rapid returns make them ideal for short-cycle fattening. However, challenges include limited business development support, lack of pastoralist orientation, poor market infrastructure, skills gaps, inadequate market information, and weak marketing systems. Addressing these barriers is critical to unlocking the sector’s potential as a sustainable livelihood strategy.
5. Fodder Production and Commercialization Value Chain: Forage cultivation along riverbanks has recently gained traction in Afar, driven by demand from recurrent droughts and shrinking grazing lands. Fodder commercialization offers employment potential in production, transport, and trade, while supporting livestock fattening and dairy sectors. Rising demand for commercial feed creates opportunities for irrigated forage, technology adoption, and income generation. Commonly traded fodder includes cultivated grasses, maize stover, and farm-collected weeds, typically transported to markets via donkey carts.

Ayuda en Acción Ethiopia seeks to hire a qualified consultancy firm to conduct a gender-inclusive, in-depth market systems analysis of pre-selected value chains to create green jobs for women and youth. The analysis will identify key opportunities and systemic constraints within green value chains, guiding targeted strategies to enhance private sector engagement and inclusive market participation. The project will provide technical advisory support to promote supply chain inclusivity, alongside capacity building and mentorship for SMEs, enabling them to meet standards and compete in green and sustainable supply chains.

Objectives of the study:

The overall objective of this assignment is to conduct a comprehensive gender-inclusive market system analysis of poultry, honey, dairy, cattle, shoat fattening, fodder production, and other potential value chains to identify systemic barriers and opportunities for inclusive growth.

Specific objective:

• Map and assess relevant value chain actors, service providers (e.g., financial institutions, input suppliers), and enablers (e.g., policies, infrastructure) at local and regional/federal levels, emphasizing gender disparities.
• Identify systemic constraints (e.g., market access, pricing, supply chain inefficiencies) and opportunities (e.g., demand trends, potential markets) within selected market systems.
• Analyze key factors influencing value chain performance, including product quality, affordability, market information gaps, credit accessibility, and financial service inclusivity.
• Map and evaluate roles of private sector actors, government agencies, women/youth-led SMEs, and cooperatives (e.g., SACCOs), conducting demand-supply analysis for equitable market engagement.
• Assess capacity gaps within SMEs, private sector entities, and cooperatives hinder their competitiveness in sustainable/green value chains and propose gender-responsive solutions.
• Investigate structural barriers in the local market and enabling environment that exclude women from decision-making, resource control, and value chain participation; recommend inclusive strategies.
• Review and identify gender-inclusive policies promoting equitable participation of women and youth in value chain development and resource access.
• Co-create a collaborative intervention plan with stakeholders to address systemic gaps, enhance inclusivity, and drive sustainable market system changes.
• Validate findings through multi-stakeholder consultations to ensure alignment with local realities and private sector priorities.

Methodology:

The consultant is expected to apply will integrate market system development (MSD) frameworks (e.g., M4P), gender-sensitive value chain mapping, and Jones’ (2016) principles of women’s economic empowerment. The process will prioritize participatory, mixed methods approaches to ensure systemic constraints and opportunities are identified through a gender lens. The consultant will propose a relevant methodology outlined in detail using general guidelines provided below:

• Desk review/secondary data:
  • Review existing studies, policies, and interventions on poultry, honey, dairy, cattle, shoat fattening, fodder, and other potential opportunities.
  • Analyze gender gaps in value chain participation, resource access (land, finance), and regional/national policy alignment.
  • Map existing private sector actors, cooperatives (SACCOs), and women/youth-led SMEs.
• Focus group discussions: these can involve diverse groups, however youth, women and men within the project districts should be prioritised.
• Key informant interviews: these can include service providers, market actors (including terminal market), NGOs, regulatory bodies, government bodies from region to woreda levels, academy and research.
• Validation workshop with stakeholders.

Scope and Deliverables:

Ayuda en Acción Ethiopia seeks to contract an experienced consultancy firm with a multi-disciplinary team able to travel to Afar region specifically Chifra (Zone 1), Ewa and Gulina woreda (Zone 4), and Abala woreda (Zone 2) Asaita and major terminal market. The scope of the assignment includes developing an assessment framework and methodology, conducting field visits, and engaging with relevant stakeholders, including selected private sector actors, Cooperative (SACCOS) and SMEs.  The consultancy firm will validate with Ayuda en Acción focal point at national office validation of selected value chains for approval prior to the assessment,

The following key aspects should be covered by the study:

1. Context and position of the target groups in the poultry, honey, dairy, cattle and shoat fattening, fodder production, and other potential value chains : The study will analyse the context and position of target groups women, men, and youth in key value chains such as poultry, honey, dairy, cattle and shoat fattening, fodder production, and urban agriculture (vegetable and cereal farming) in the Afar region. It will profile these groups, assess their livelihoods, and identify factors influencing their participation in market systems. Special attention will be given to the emergence of diversified and alternative livelihoods that support resilience and economic transformation, while also addressing gender disparities to ensure inclusive access. Additionally, the study will identify market opportunities that can benefit these groups, assess the relevance of pre-selected commodities, and propose other viable value chains aligned with their capacities and potential.
2. Significance and participation of target groups in the market systems: The study will indicate a three-year production and marketing volume data, number of people involved, the role of women in the market system, barriers to enter the market system for the target group, capital, skills, land, social networks, and rank in society, etc.
3. Supply side: The study will analyse supply trends during the last five years (in terms of quality, quantity, prices, etc). It will assess the existing capacities and profile of the target smallholder farmers for each value chains to address current production issues, such as Lack of Inputs and finance, limited Veterinary health serve and Breed improvement service (AI), post-harvest practices, lack of market challenges and will provide recommendations to overcome existing gaps. It will also provide details on input supply system, production, market channels, and destinations of products.
4. Demand side: The study will analyse demand trends in terms of quality, quantity, prices, etc. The analysis will also address the demand for poultry products, honey, dairy products, cattle and shoat, fodder, and other potential value chains. The study will provide insights into the expected product demand analysis and its marketing in the region.
5. Trends in the market system: The study will analyse trends related to shifting demand for higher quality, quantities, characteristics, shifting markets, etc). Additionally, the study will explore the impact of technological advancements, regulatory changes, and the emergence of new market actors on supply chains, pricing mechanisms, and overall competitiveness within the market system.
6. Actors and support provider functions: The study will map and analyse the support function or services related to poultry, honey, dairy, cattle and shoat fattening, fodder production and other potential value chains. This may include research institutes, Breeder services (AI), Academic institutions, TVETs, financial institutions, SACCOs, Cooperatives, Agro-dealers, business development service providers, civil society actors, agro-industrial parks, governmental bodies, NGOs and etc. The Consultancy team will utilize findings from the TVET capacity gap assessment conducted concurrently by another consultancy firm as input during the mapping and gap identification of Private Sectors, SMEs, and Cooperatives (SACCOs).
7. Mapping the core market systems: The study will visualize and describe the core function (demand and supply) of the market system and analyse the rrelationships among core market system actors.
8. Identifying main actors: The study will map the main actors like list of private sector actors, government sectors or employment facilitation actors, women- and youth-led SMEs, and Cooperatives (SACCOs) based on the mapping results.
9. Identification of main capacity gaps of selected private sectors, including but not limited to administrative, financial, technical, market, legal, ethical, and social feasibility gaps.
10. Competitiveness of the market system: The study will analyse the competitive advantage of the market system in the Afar Region in comparison with the same market system in other regions. The consultancy firm is expected to provide information on profitability / productivity for each value chains, conduct an economic analysis of the value chain, particularly the production costs at each stage of the value chain and comparing them with the prices received at each step, calculate profits at each step of the chain as well as identifying the most important cost drivers.
11. Major and sub-donuts for each value chain will be developed based on leverage points or entry points. The entry points for each market systems will be agreed with Ayuda en Acción country office focal point before the design of interventions.
12. Analysis of enabling environment: This will focus on regulatory aspects, Agricultural / business policies, Taxes & import, Duties, Access to Land, investment policy, quality standards, food safety, certification, grading, policies, and regulations for each selected value chain.
13. Analysis of systemic market constraints: The study will identify and prioritize major systemic constraints, the underlying functions and rules that do not work and lead to poor performance and acts as barriers for change. It will also examine how governance issues constrain the performance of the market system, considering informal rules / regulation and governance aspects where appropriate.
14. Stakeholders and their interest: The study will map out market players and stakeholders, their characteristics, interests, incentives, and capacities of key types of stakeholders and their suitability as a partner.
15. Intervention plan for each value chain: The plan will address systemic constraints in the market system. It includes priorities for market system changes, drivers of the change and their incentives (why they want to do it more than anyone else), and a business model for different functions, rules, etc.
16. In-depth feasibility analysis, enterprise plan and market strategy: This will be prepared for all potential enterprises identified under each value chains
17. Gender disaggregated data: From the onset, the study will collect and analyse gender disaggregated information at every step of the analysis to produce information on how women and men benefit (or are excluded) from their integration in the selected market systems. The data collection will integrate aspects such as women/men’s access to services; women/men’s control over productive resources; women/men’s time to engage in business activities; women/men’s access to decision-making roles; policies seeking equal participation by women and men in economic activities.
18. An inception report (before the field research starts): It will include the methodology and specific tools for each method, including specific respondents, their number and location; and a schedule of activities.
19. Draft and final reports: The consultant will submit draft and final comprehensive reports presented in soft copy in English in line with this ToR, the contract, and the inception report. The report will be edited and proofread to be ready for dissemination. The report will be structured and include a cover page, table of contents, executive summary, background/introduction section, objectives, methodology, and a separate section for findings and recommendation for each identified value chains including all points from ‘a’ to ‘p’. The consultancy firm will agree on the content and length of the report during the inception phase.
20. Validation: The consultant will present the report during a final workshop to a broad range of stakeholders.

Responsiblity of Ayuda en Accion Ethiopia:

1. Ayuda en Acción will provide details about the EMPOWER project, "Empowering Futures for Youth and Women Beyond Agriculture," in the Afar region of Ethiopia
2. Ayuda en Acción country office team will provide clarification and all the necessary and available information project implementation areas.
3. Ayuda en Acción will jointly develop necessary tools in collaboration with consultant firm
4. Ayuda en Acción team will participate in the data collection, in addition to reviewing the report, providing feedback and final validation of the study.
5. Avails staff for field travel and joint data collection and access to information of various kinds in methods like group discussions or individual interviews with the consultant and other engagements.
6. Ayuda en Acción will arranging transport or cover all transportation cost for the consultancy team to and from the field office for data collection, including all travel required during the field mission and assessment period and validation workshop.
7. Provide security related information and security clearance.
8. Ayuda en Acción will facilitate venue and cover all costs related to workshop and training.
9. Facilitate stakeholder participation throughout the assessment and curriculum development process.
10. Assigns a contact person(s) for the consultants responsible to facilitate communication and the undertaking of activities that work towards the effective and efficient outcome.
11. Provides prompt feedback on inquiries, reports, and other deliverables.

Guiding Principle:

The Consultancy firm should adhere to the following underlying principles in addition to the approaches required for assessment and curriculum development.

• Safeguarding and protection policies which will be signed by the selected consultancy firm.

Schedule:

The study is expected to be completed within 40 calendar days.  The preliminary calendar to develop the gender-inclusive market system assessment upon agreement, is outlined in the table below: