I. Background and Rationale
The International Labour Organization (ILO), as the United Nations specialized agency mandated to promote social justice and internationally recognized labour standards, supports Member States in advancing decent work through integrated approaches that combine enterprise development, labour market governance, and worker protection. In Ethiopia, the ILO delivers its support through the Decent Work Country Program (DWCP) and a coordinated portfolio of interventions, including the One ILO Siraye Program. This programme brings together multiple projects and partnerships under a unified framework, with a focus on strengthening productivity, improving working conditions, enhancing social dialogue, and building national systems for labour market governance and data.
Within this framework, the ILO is implementing the European Union-funded project “Advancing Decent Work in Ethiopian Coffee and Horticulture Value Chains” (2025–2029). The project adopts a systems-based and area-focused approach to address structural constraints in two of Ethiopia’s most strategic export sectors. By working simultaneously at the enterprise, farm, sectoral, and institutional levels, the project aims to improve workplace practices, strengthen compliance with labour standards, enhance productivity and quality performance, and reinforce national capacities for labour inspection, social dialogue, and evidence-based policymaking.
Coffee and horticulture are central to Ethiopia’s economy, driving export earnings, employment, and rural livelihoods. Coffee remains the country’s leading export commodity, while horticulture has emerged as a fast-growing sector with strong job creation potential, particularly for women. Despite this, both sectors face structural constraints, including informality, weak labour management systems, low productivity, skills mismatches, and inadequate Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) practices, which limit competitiveness and inclusive growth.
These challenges are increasingly significant in the context of evolving global market requirements, where sustainability, traceability, and responsible business conduct are becoming essential for market access. The EU-funded project responds to these dynamics by promoting an integrated, system-level approach that combines improvements in workplace practices, productivity, and labour governance, supported by stronger evidence and coordination among stakeholders.
Under the OneILO Siraye Programme, the ILO has already generated important evidence on wage dynamics and labour conditions through the Setting Adequate Wages in Agriculture (SAW-A) project. While these assessments have informed policy dialogue and interventions, existing data across the coffee and horticulture sectors remain fragmented. There is currently no comprehensive baseline that captures the interlinkages among working conditions, productivity, skills, and OSH.
Against this backdrop, the ILO seeks to engage a consulting firm to undertake a comprehensive sectoral baseline assessment covering these dimensions. The assessment will inform programme implementation, support policy dialogue, and establish benchmarks for measuring progress. It will be conducted at the national level, with fieldwork focusing on selected priority regions, including Sidama, Jimma, and Southern Ethiopia.
II. Objective of the Assignment
The objective of this assignment is to deliver an integrated, sectoral baseline assessment of Ethiopia’s coffee and horticulture value chains that provides a clear, evidence-based foundation for programme design, policy dialogue, and targeted interventions.
Specifically, the assessment will:
- Establish a comprehensive baseline across the following core pillars:
- Working conditions and labour management systems
- Productivity and quality performance, including skills gaps and training needs
- Occupational Safety and Health (OSH)
- Generate robust, triangulated evidence combining quantitative and qualitative data
- Analyze linkages between labour conditions, productivity, skills, and OSH
- Identify key constraints and bottlenecks at farm, enterprise, value chain, and system levels
- Synthesize findings into priority intervention areas and recommendations
- Provide clear, actionable, and prioritized recommendations aligned with programme interventions
- Inform implementation of the EU – funded project and the broader One ILO Siraye Programme
- Strengthen evidence – based policy dialogue with tripartite constituents and sector stakeholders
- Establish measurable benchmarks to track progress over the project lifecycle
III. Scope of Work
The consulting firm will undertake an integrated and sector-wide assessment across the coffee and horticulture value chains, building on existing programme evidence and stakeholder mapping while generating new primary data. The work will cover the following components in a coherent analytical framework:
- Value Chain and Sector Mapping
The consulting firm will draw on and reference the stakeholder mapping and analysis already undertaken under the programme as a foundational input. Building on this, the firm will validate, refine, and deepen the mapping of the coffee and horticulture value chains. This includes confirming key actors across production, processing, and export segments, verifying priority clusters and geographic concentrations, and analyzing value chain governance, coordination mechanisms, power dynamics, and value distribution.
2. Working Conditions and Labour Management
The firm will assess employment structures and conditions across value chain segments (including farms), including the prevalence of informal, seasonal, and contract-based work. It will analyze working conditions, including working time arrangements, access to benefits, and worker protection, and examine the presence and effectiveness of worker representation and social dialogue. The assessment will also evaluate enterprise-level labour management systems, including human resource practices, grievance mechanisms, and compliance with labour standards, with attention to gender dimensions.
3. Productivity, Quality Performance, and Skills Systems
The firm will assess productivity performance using appropriate sector-specific proxies and analyze operational drivers, including workflow organization, management practices, technology use, cost drivers, and efficiency constraints. It will evaluate quality standards, rejection rates, and compliance with export requirements, and identify firm-level and systemic constraints affecting efficiency, consistency, and competitiveness.
In parallel, the firm will analyze the availability, relevance, and utilization of skills across the value chains, identifying mismatches between labour supply and enterprise demand. It will review existing training ecosystems, including TVET institutions and enterprise-based training, and assess barriers to skills development and upgrading, including those affecting women and youth.
4. Occupational Safety and Health (OSH)
The firm will assess key OSH risks and practices across value chain segments, including exposure to hazards, the use of personal protective equipment, and compliance with OSH standards. It will evaluate enterprise-level OSH management systems and analyze institutional capacity for inspection, enforcement, and awareness-raising.
5. Institutional and System-Level Analysis
The firm will assess the roles, capacities, and coordination of key institutions, including government agencies, workers’ and employers’ organizations, and sector associations. It will identify gaps in labour market data systems and assess how existing governance and coordination mechanisms support or constrain improvements in working conditions, productivity, and compliance.
6. Integrated Constraints and Opportunities Analysis
The firm will synthesize findings across all components to identify binding constraints and their interlinkages, particularly between working conditions, productivity, skills, and OSH. It will highlight priority leverage points and propose practical, evidence-based entry areas for intervention at the farm. enterprise, sectoral, and institutional levels.
IV. Methodology
The consulting firm is expected to apply a rigorous, structured methodological approach to generate high-quality, reliable, and actionable evidence.
Specifically, the methodology will:
- Combine quantitative and qualitative methods through a mixed-methods approach
- The firm is expected to propose a clear analytical framework linking the core pillars of the assessment.
- Undertake a comprehensive desk review of existing studies, datasets, and programme outputs, including prior ILO and SAW-A assessments
- Design and implement primary data collection, including:
- Farm-level surveys
- Enterprise-level surveys
- Key informant interviews (KIIs)
- Focus group discussions (FGDs)
- Apply a value chain analysis framework to assess structure, incentives, and performance across segments
- Ensure strong data triangulation across sources to validate findings
- Define and justify a clear sampling strategy that ensures representation across sectors, value chain segments, and geographic clusters
- Utilize relevant ILO tools and international methodologies for productivity, OSH, and skills diagnostics
- Submit all data collection tools and sampling approaches for ILO review and approval prior to field deployment
- Conduct a multi-stakeholder validation workshop to test findings and refine recommendations
V. Deliverables
The consulting firm will deliver the following outputs:
Deliverable 1: Inception Report
- Review available statistical and administrative data on productivity, employment, and working conditions.
- Define sampling strategy for enterprise/farm-level assessments.
- Identify key stakeholders for interviews and focus groups.
- Present detailed methodology for farm and firm-level surveys, value chain mapping, and policy analysis.
- Detailed workplan
Deliverable 2: Productivity and Decent Work Diagnostic
- Firm-level assessment: Assess compliance with labour law, OSH practices, gender equality, skills gaps, and productivity drivers.
- Sectoral statistical analysis: Analyse productivity trends, employment dynamics (formal/informal, gender-disaggregated), and linkages between productivity and working conditions.
- Value chain mapping: Identify structure, actors (farmers, cooperatives, exporters, associations), constraints to productivity and decent job creation, and coordination mechanisms.
- Policy and institutional analysis: Review labour, OSH, trade, investment, and environmental policies; assess institutional mandates, enforcement capacity, and alignment with EU due diligence frameworks.
Deliverable 3: Synthesis and Recommendations
- Integrate findings to identify systemic and enterprise-level constraints.
- Provide suggested interventions, partners, timelines, and expected results.
- Update risk register and stakeholder engagement strategy.
Deliverable 4: Stakeholder Validation
- Facilitate consultations/workshops with tripartite constituents and sectoral stakeholders.
- Achieve consensus on priority intervention areas, refine log frame indicators, and validate recommendations.
Deliverable 5: Final baseline assessment report
- revised analysis and prioritized, actionable recommendations
- Clean datasets and analytical outputs
VI. Institutional Arrangement
The consulting firm will work under the guidance of the ILO’s OneILO Siraye Programme Manager and will collaborate closely with program technical teams. Close coordination will be required with key national stakeholders, including the Ministry of Labour and Skills, the Ethiopian Statistics Service, workers’ and employers’ organizations, and relevant sector associations. The firm will also provide regular progress updates and participate in coordination meetings as required.
VII. Duration
The assignment is expected to be completed within three months of contract signature.
Timeline
- Week 2: Inception report.
- Week 6: Draft diagnostic report.
- Week 8: Stakeholder validation workshop.
- Week 10: Final report with recommendations.
VIII. Required Expertise and Qualifications
This assignment requires a qualified consulting firm with a multidisciplinary team. Proposals submitted by individual consultants will be considered non-responsive.
The firm must demonstrate:
- Proven experience in conducting similar sectoral or value chain assessments, particularly in labour, productivity, or enterprise development
- Strong understanding of the Ethiopian context and institutional landscape
- Experience working with tripartite stakeholders, government institutions, and development partners
The proposed team must include, at a minimum:
- Team Leader with an advanced degree (master’s or higher) in economics, labour economics, development studies, or a related field, and at least 10 years of relevant experience leading complex analytical assignments
- Value Chain / Productivity Expert with an advanced degree in economics, industrial development, or related field, and demonstrated experience in productivity and competitiveness analysis
- Lawyer specializing in labour law and industrial relations
- Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Specialist with relevant academic qualifications and proven experience in OSH systems, risk assessment, and compliance
- Data and Statistics Specialist with a strong quantitative background (statistics, economics, or related field) and demonstrated experience in survey design, data management, and analysis
All team members must have relevant professional experience in their respective areas, with demonstrated ability to contribute to multidisciplinary assignments. Prior experience in conducting similar assignments in Ethiopia, particularly in coffee- and horticulture-producing regions such as Sidama, Jimma, and Southern Ethiopia, is considered an asset.
IV. Evaluation criteria
- Methodology: how the study was designed, the proposed data collection methods, and the analysis plan (25%).
- Team Composition & Qualifications: Existence of the required expertise, experience, and suitability of the proposed team members (20%).
- Relevant Experience: demonstration of the firm’s track record in conducting similar studies and delivering quality results (15%).
- Understanding of ToR: How well the firm understands the assignment, objectives, and expected deliverables (10%).
The above criteria account for 70% of the total evaluation, and competitors must score at least 60 points to be considered for the next selection process (the financial appraisal, which accounts for 30% of the points). The application with the highest points out of 100% will be selected.
X. Ethical Considerations
The consulting firm must ensure the confidentiality of data, participants’ informed consent, and the application of gender-sensitive and inclusive approaches throughout the assignment.
XI. Confidentiality and non-disclosure
All data and information received and collected for this assignment are to be treated confidentially. They are only to be used in connection with the execution of these Terms of Reference. All intellectual property rights arising from the execution of these Terms of Reference are assigned to ILO. The contents of written materials obtained and used in this assignment may not be disclosed to any third parties without the expressed advance written authorization of ILO.
How to apply
Interested firms should submit a technical proposals outlining their methodology, team composition, and work plan, along with a financial proposal and relevant references, through the ILO email address “addis_procurement@ilo.org” not later than 27 April 2026.