Assessment of the culture market for Somalia & North Eastern Kenya At Government of Switzerland

Organization: Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) in Kenya
Duration: Between August 2021 – September 2021
Contract Type: Consultancy
Closing date: Wednesday 11th August 2021

1. Purpose

This Terms of Reference (ToRs) provide the framework for the diagnosis of the culture market for two countries of the Swiss Regional Programme Horn of Africa (RPHoA), specifically: Somalia (including Somaliland) and North-Eastern Kenya (Somali region of Kenya).

The purpose of this assessment is to conduct a culture market systems diagnosis in Somalia (including Somaliland) and North-Eastern Kenya. The exercise also involves assessing the feasibility of intervention by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). This is following recommendations from a recent study commissioned by SDC titled ‘SDC culture sector evaluation for the Horn of Africa’. The assessment will also seek to understand the relevance (socio-cultural, peace and economic growth) of the culture market, constraints and opportunities for market growth.

2. Background

SDC considers culture a component of development and a catalyst for social transformation. In its efforts to contribute to the reduction of poverty and inequality, SDC seeks to identify and build on the cultural resources, local knowledge and creative forces on hand, in the societies where it works.

As a general rule, the aim of culture promotion initiatives is to strengthen local cultural identity, social cohesion, and intercultural exchanges in partner countries. They represent a contribution to the richness and diversity of local cultural life.

In the Horn of Africa (HoA) region, SDC has been supporting short-term culture initiatives since 2013. However, in 2020, SDC took the decision to establish a more sustainable culture programme. This begun with an assessment of the culture sector of the three countries of the RPHoA, specifically: Somalia (including Somaliland), North-Eastern Kenya (Somali region of Kenya) and South-Eastern Ethiopia (Somali region Ethiopia). The assessment was to determine key entry points for SDC to establish a long-term, 12 year, culture programme in the HoA region.

The assessment, which concluded in March 2021, recommends SDC a plethora of potential interventions. Given resource constraints, SDC will need to focus on a few of the recommendations.

One of the recommendations is to invest in activities that encourage collaboration between organizations, through partnership ventures with culture associations that organize recurring cultural events. SDC agrees with the recommendation, however, instead of providing (non-sustainable) financial support to associations, an approach focusing on improving the business model of the culture associations is considered more sustainable, beneficial and of interest to SDC. Another recommendation is for SDC to undertake a thorough assessment of the culture creatives industry to identify barriers to economic growth and opportunities for job creation for women and youth.

Based on the above, this assessment will assess the culture market of Somalia (including Somaliland) and North-Eastern Kenya, and provide SDC with a clear picture if and how these two recommendations may be implemented by SDC, as part of its 12 year culture programme.

3. Evaluation objectives

Based on the two recommendations highlighted above, resulting from the ‘SDC culture sector evaluation for the Horn of Africa’, the following are the objectives of this external evaluation:

· Map out culture market structure and performance (core, supporting functions and the rules).

· Map out and analyse how different culture market sub-systems are interconnected and or structured.

· Assess thickness / thinness and vibrancy of the culture market; assess if interventions in the two areas of recommendation given the current culture market have a high potential to yield impact (relevance) and success (effectiveness) in the coming years.

The consultant(s) will carry out a desk review of project documents, policy documents and previous culture assessments in the region. The consultant will also interview program staff and SDC management in Nairobi, to get a better understanding of culture projects and the assessment that has been supported by SDC. The consultants who conducted the assessment ‘SDC culture sector evaluation for the Horn of Africa’ will also be interviewed.

The consultant(s) will also conduct a field mission to Somalia (including Somaliland) and North-Eastern Kenya, if security and safety conditions permit. S/he will interview partners SDC has worked with in the field of culture related to the assessment, as well as potential institutions and partners for collaboration. S/he will also assess potential culture creative industries in the region and synergies.

4. Evaluation scope

The scope of the evaluation includes:

· The SDC commissioned ‘SDC culture sector evaluation for the Horn of Africa’.

· Previous and ongoing culture projects managed by SDC in Nairobi.

· Culture associations and ventures in Somalia (including Somaliland) and North-Eastern Kenya.

· Culture creative industries in Somalia (including Somaliland) and North-Eastern Kenya.

· Ongoing and planned interventions related to culture markets by other stakeholders (institutions, donors, multilateral, bilateral, NGOs, private sector, etc.).

The results of the evaluation will be shared with the SDC office in Nairobi.

5. Timetable

The evaluation should be conducted between August and September 2021.

Phase 1 (Covid-19 independent):

Introduction, preparation and inception phase: 30th – 31st August 2021.
Desk review: 1st – 2nd September 2021.
One to one discussion (Nairobi & the consultants of ‘SDC culture sector evaluation for the Horn of Africa’: 3rd September 2021.

Phase 2 (Covid-19 dependent):

Field mission: 6th – 8th September 2021.
Phase for writing-up provisional final report: 9th – 13th September 2021.
Sharing the report and feedback with the team: 14th – 15th September 2021.
Finalising report: 16th- 17th September 2021.

The activity schedule is for guidance and is liable to be modified at any time. The consultant(s) is expected to plan their interviews and fieldwork accordingly.

NB: Should the situation not allow for travel to the field, interviews will be conducted virtually.

The culture officer in the SDC Nairobi office will coordinate and facilitate the work of the locally recruited consultant. SDC will provide the list of people, for the consultant(s) to schedule for interactions. All travel arrangements and interactions during the field mission will be organized by the consultant(s).

6. Deliverables

The following products are expected from the evaluation:

1. An evaluation approach paper and a work plan is elaborated ahead of the desk review of the project documents. The approach should describe key stages of the review process, including the field mission, timelines, and establish clear roles and responsibilities in the review process. Approval will be required by the SDC Nairobi office. The work plan should describe the 2 key stages of the assessment and its timelines.
2. An inception report is produced at the end of the desk review work phase (phase 1). In addition to the summary of the desk review documents covered, the report should provide a background of the general culture market and creatives industries in the target countries and common challenges / barriers they face, in regards to the business model.
3. A provisional final report is produced at the end of the review, after the field mission. SDC will then have a few days from receiving the provisional report to circulate its comments and observations.
4. An evaluation report (max. 15 pages, excl. the executive summary and annexes) with an analytical review and recommendation part. The final report has to incorporate these comments / remarks / exchanges / discussions.
5. A validation and outlook debriefing session / workshop, for SDC Nairobi, co-organized by SDC and the consultant(s).

7. Review Team

The entire exercise shall be conducted either by a single consultant or by a team of consultants fulfilling the following requirements:

· Proven track record and experience in Market Systems Development (MSD) approach. A minimum of 7 years of relevant experience in the areas of MSD and creative industry development. Know-how of social anthropology in the Horn of Africa (HoA). A university degree in a discipline related to the assignment;

· Substantial knowledge and expertise on Market Systems Development (MSD) approach in the HoA region;

· Ability to communicate ideas in a manner conducive to their practical application;

· Comfortable working as part of a team to add value to collective results;

· Background and demonstrated knowledge in monitoring and evaluation (M&E);

· Strong analytical capacity combined with ability to synthesize/communicate conclusions and recommendations and report-writing skills are required;

· Cultural sensitivity to deal appropriately with different interlocutors in the HoA region;

· Excellent command of oral and written English;

· Knowledge of the Horn of Africa context.

8. Time Frame and Budget

The maximum time frame for this assignment will be as per the timetable in chapter 5 above. The allocation of working days for the inception, desk review, interviews, etc. will be agreed on the basis of the agreed work plan and the decision of conducting a field visit (based on travel restrictions related to Covid-19).

The consultant will propose a schedule including:

· Execution: time necessary to achieve the objectives and results of the evaluation.

· Regarding reports: deadline for submission of preliminary reports and final reports.

· Reporting and exchanges with the programme staff and management of SDC Nairobi.

· Reporting and exchanges with the consultants of the ‘SDC culture sector evaluation for the Horn of Africa’

· Reporting and exchanges with SDC culture partners in Kenya and Somalia (including Somaliland).

· Reporting and exchanges with potential partners and institutions during the field mission to Somalia (including Somaliland) and North-Eastern Kenya.

· Detailed budget including cost per item.

The consultant will also propose a detailed methodology of work, broken down as follows:

· Preparatory phase: document reviews and briefings.

· Interview phase: 1. with the programme and management staff in SDC Nairobi 2. with SDC culture partners in Nairobi. 3. with consultants of the ‘SDC culture sector evaluation for the Horn of Africa’ 4. with SDC partners and potential partners, related to this assignment, in Somalia (including Somaliland) and North-Eastern Kenya.

· Field mission.

· Drafting of provisional final report.

· Validation session and finalisation.

9. Logistics and management

· The consultant(s) must have a laptop, USB key and tape recorder to facilitate the work.

· The consultant(s) will have mobile telephones with sim cards. Credit will be paid by the consultant(s).

· The evaluator will contact and set meetings with the relevant external stakeholders.

· Accommodations and transport in Kenya and Somalia (incl. Somaliland) will be covered by the consultant(s).

· Visa and travel authorizations procedures will be facilitated by the consultant(s).