[Job Vacancy] Livelihoods and Markets Assessment Officer at United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

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The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is the United Nations’ global development network. It advocates for change and connects countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better life for themselves. It provides expert advice, training and grants support to developing countries, with increasing emphasis on assistance to the least developed countries. It promotes technical and investment cooperation among nations.

Headquartered in New York City, the status of UNDP is that of an executive board within the United Nations General Assembly. The UNDP is funded entirely by voluntary contributions from UN member states. The organization operates in 177 countries, where it works with local governments to meet development challenges and develop local capacity.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Livelihoods and Markets Assessment Officer

Location: AbujaType of Contract: Individual ContractPost Level: National ConsultantAdditional Category: Gender EqualityStarting Date: 17-Apr-2023Duration of Initial Contract: 30 daysExpected Duration of Assignment : 30 days

Background

Nigeria has continued to experience multidimensional escalating violent conflict and security challenges resulting in records of daily deaths, injuries, displacements and loss of properties, with the government finding it challenging to deal with the conflicts.
According to the report of Nextier SPD from October 2020 to September 2021, the North-West zone of Nigeria has become the most violent part of the country with 274 incidents (31%) of the incidents in the period. While violent incidents relating to banditry is the most reported peace and security challenge, farmer-herder conflict and violent extremism are the second and third most reported conflict.  The mix of the three is evident in the North West zone of Nigeria, especially in Kaduna and Katsina states.
The North West zone encompasses seven states – namely, Jigawa, Kano, Kebbi, Sokoto, Zamfara, Katsina and Kaduna. Despite its high population, expansive land mass and economic potential, the North West has some of the worst development indicators in Nigeria.
This includes the highest poverty and illiteracy rates of any geopolitical region, a higher unemployment rate than the national average, the highest fertility rate, and some of the most alarming statistics on gender inequality. As of 2020, all the seven states in the zone had poverty levels above the national average of 40.1 per cent, led by Sokoto (87.7 per cent), Jigawa (87 per cent) and Zamfara (74 per cent).
Land and natural resource management issues, compounded by climate change risks are also key to understanding current peace and stability dynamics in the North West, particularly as they have evolved over the last decade. Rapid population growth has combined with an expanding desert, climate change, unchecked resource exploitation and ‘land grabbing’ to increase competition for farm and grazing land and heightened tensions between farmers and herders.
The lack of, or unimplemented, policy frameworks – like the National Livestock Transformation Plan (NLTP) on land access, integrated grazing reserve projects; resource use and dispute resolution as well as a broader absence of social protection; has created a vacuum contributing to lawlessness and conflict.
The subsequent mobilization of vigilante groups along ethnic and community lines, impunity, coupled with increased access to small arms and light weapons through the porous borders especially with Niger Republic has contributed to repeated and lethal cycles of communal violence, cattle rustling, banditry, abductions, and wider human rights violations and abuses especially against women and girls.
Worryingly, climate trends have aggravated contemporary conflict drivers in the region through increasing desertification and drought – limiting traditional means of livelihoods for both herders and farmers. This, compounded with rapid growth in population, has impacted both the nomadic pastoral communities and farmers as they now have to compete over shrinking natural resources.
The nomadic pastoralists have also had to shift their migratory routes in search of animal fodder and better grazing, creating new tensions in new routes adding to the conflictious situation in the region. Integrated natural resource governance through grazing reserves, fostering livestock value chain development and initiating programmes to foster mutually beneficial economic relationships between herding and family has been a common policy feature – at Federal and State level.
Across the Sahel including northern Nigeria, women in pastoral communities play an essential role in economic activities and are key stakeholders in influencing community affairs in their community. Women play key roles in pastoral value chains, including milk processing, local commerce, and managing small ruminants.
Yet, women are sparsely represented among governing bodies, trade associations, and customary institutions that handle disputes and manage natural resources.
Women in pastoral communities often have fewer opportunities to serve as formal authority figures and are overlooked in development and conflict transformation initiatives. Despite their leadership in community affairs, women’s voices often go unheard when interveners prioritize traditional or public forms of leadership. 
Pastoralist women are also more likely to stay behind in communities to manage the household and economic affairs while their relatives take the livestock on migration. This allows them to engage in sedentary trades (farming, taking animal products to market etc), and maintain social and economic bonds with neighboring farmers, a critical point to building or rebuilding the adversarial relationships between farmers and herders.
The lives and livelihoods of youth have been negatively impacted upon by continued violent conflict. On one hand, the security vacuum caused by rising insecurity and the inability of the security agencies to respond to high levels of insecurity has forced young people – mostly men to assume ‘informal’ security responsibilities as community watch-guards[4]. While some of these mechanisms have proven useful, others have been accused of perpetrating violence and violation of rights.
As the conflict has gone on and which is the case in most conflict contexts, legitimate means of livelihoods has continued to be curtailed, largely affecting young people, with dwindling livelihood prospects in the region – including in Kaduna and Katsina.
The emergence of the ‘economy around banditry’ – including those serving as paid informants, commodity suppliers and other types of auxiliary supports to bandit groups risk being a pull factor for unemployed or unengaged youth.
With minimal legitimate livelihood opportunities to serve as a disruptor of the bandit economy, this has served both as a driver and a symptom of the conflict. Increasing their access to sustainable livelihoods; positive income generation activities and providing platforms for their participation in peace processes is key in reversing this trend.

Organizational Context

The “Strengthening Local and State Level Peace Architectures For Peacebuilding and Prevention in Katsina and Kaduna States of North West Nigeria Project” with funding from the Secretary General’s Peacebuilding Fund Project aims to reinforce non-military responses to conflict and insecurity in Kaduna and Katsina States by strengthening existing infrastructures for peace, providing safe spaces for inclusive (inter-and-intra)-community dialogue, enhancing the resilience of communities directly affected by conflict through the provision of psychosocial support and increasing access to sustainable livelihoods.
The inter-agency project is implemented jointly by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), UN Women and International Organisation for Migration (IOM), with UNDP being the coordinating agency. Additionally, UNDP has entered into a UN-to-UN agreement with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UN OHCHR).
In this context, the livelihoods assessment will inform and feed into the project component aiming to contribute to affected communities in sampled Local Government Areas (LGAs) in Kaduna and Katsina states having increased access to sustainable livelihoods opportunities, particularly in ensuring that this engagement is based on data and evidence.
Stemming the Tear- A Pragmatic Approach to Solving Nigeria’s Security Challenges. Background Paper for the 27th Nigeria Economic Summit October 2021
Violence in Nigeria’s North West: Rolling Back the Mayhem (2020) – International Crisis Group
Violence in Nigeria’s North West: Rolling Back the Mayhem (2020) – International Crisis Group. https://gsdrc.org/document-library/the-politics-of-protection-perspectives-on-vigilantism-in-nigeria/

Duties and ResponsibilitiesUnder the overall guidance of the joint UN PBF Project Management Unit led by UNDP’s Conflict & Political Economy Specialist, the consultant will have the responsibility of performing the following duties:

Designing the methodology for the assessment
Collecting the data (both quantitative and qualitative) for the assessment, using a sample representative of the population in the selected LGAs
Analyzing the data and formulating the findings to form the basis of the framework for model economic livelihoods programme designed and piloted in two selected LGAs in Katsina and Kaduna States
Based on the findings, formulate a proposed way forward for the following project activities:

Establishing and building the capacity of community-based cooperatives as sustainability structures and collaborative leadership platforms;
Establishing community-empowerment hubs (one each in the target states), to facilitate the provision of model integrated livelihood opportunities for youth and women affected by violence in sampled LGAs.

The assessment is expected to provide answers (with gender and age disaggregation) to questions including the following:

What are the current sources of livelihoods in the selected LGAs?
How are the means of livelihoods organized?
What are the main livelihood challenges and reasons for them? How are they currently being addressed?
What opportunities exist in mutually beneficial economic relations? How can different income generation activities complement each other in a constructive way?
What needs exist in the selected LGAs in terms of improving livelihoods?
What are seen as priorities in the means of livelihoods – how do people want to make their living?
What is the link between livelihoods and violent conflict – how does violence affect livelihoods and vice versa?
What is the number/percentage of households headed by an adult woman / adult man / young woman / young man? What kind of intra-household dynamics exist in terms of livelihoods?
What kind of access to and types of livelihoods do victims of violence have? What types of livelihoods do they prefer and what types of livelihoods did they leave behind?
Which gaps and expectations are there towards public sector efforts in supporting sustainable livelihoods?
What capacity building needs do the existing community-based cooperatives have?
What leadership models are being used in community-based cooperatives?
What are the key value chains in the selected LGAs? What is their gender composition?
What is the situation regarding market access and potential challenges therein?
What are the economic aspects of banditry? What kind of income generation exists in relation to banditry?
What is the number/percentage of households with a) sustainable access to livelihoods; b) precarious/unsustainable access to livelihoods; c) no access to livelihoods?
What is the number of existing community-based cooperatives? What is their formation and structure? What are their internal dynamics? What challenges do they face and how can they be improved?

Coordination and Supervision:

Coordination And Supervision:Given that the assessment seeks to inform the joint UNDP – UN Women – IOM project, the consultant will need to work collaboratively with the mentioned agencies, both in Abuja Country Office as well as in the field.
The Project Management Unit hosted by UNDP under the overall guidance UNDP’s Conflict & Political Economy Specialist will ensure effective coordination and liaison with Agencies.

QualificationsEducation:

Bachelor’s Degree in Peace and Conflict Studies, Political Sciences, International Development, Political Economy, Economics, Social Sciences, Public Administration, or related fields.

Required Experience:

At least 7 years of experience in the field of livelihoods, peacebuilding, international development, governance or related field
Demonstrated understanding of the context in the North West of Nigeria (experience with Kaduna and Katsina states an asset)
Demonstrated understanding of and experience of applying the Human Rights Based Approach and Conflict Sensitive and Gender Sensitive approaches to assessments
Extensive experience of conducting evidence-based livelihoods assessments and market surveys
Extensive experience of using quantitative and qualitative research methods, with gender and age disaggregation

Language Requirements:

Fluency (written and spoken) in English and Hausa required.

Payment Modalities and Specifications:

An individual contract will be issued by UNDP. The financial proposal must be expressed through a lumpsum (all inclusive). 
Payments will be linked to deliverables. The contract price is fixed regardless of changes in the cost components.

Required Skills and ExperienceTechnical / Ffunctional Competencies:

Results-Orientation and Development Effectiveness:

Plans, prioritizes and produces quality results on time.
Ability to lead strategic planning, results-based management and reporting.
Ability to lead multiple stakeholders in the design process of a comprehensive multi-year programme.
Ability to lead formulation of budgets.

Management and Leadership:

Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude.
Builds strong relationships with stakeholders, focuses on impact and results and responds positively to feedback.
Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities.
Sets clear performance goals and standards; executes responsibilities accordingly.
Demonstrates good oral and written communication skills.

Innovation and Judgment:

Conceptualizes and analyses problems to identify key issues, underlying problems and how they relate.
Contributes creative, practical ideas and approaches to deal with challenging situation.
Strives for quality client-centered consultative services (internal/external) in programme design.

Job Knowledge and Expertise:

Demonstrates substantive and technical knowledge to meet responsibilities and post requirements with excellence.
Proves knowledge of peacebuilding programming, conflict analysis, stakeholder engagement and community mobilization

How to ApplyInterested and qualified candidates should:Click here to apply

Application Deadline  5th April, 2023 (Midnight New York, USA).

Recommended Presentation of OfferThe following documents are requested:

Duly accomplished Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability using the template provided by UNDP.
Personal CV indicating all past experience from similar projects, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the candidate and at least three (3) professional references.
Brief description of why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment, and a methodology on how he/she will approach and complete the assignment.
Financial Proposal that indicates the all-inclusive fixed total contract price, supported by a breakdown of costs, as per template provided