TECHNICAL CONSULTANT PROVIDING TECHINCAL SUPPORT TO 300 FISH PRODUCTION ENTREPRENEURS AT OXFAM

BACKGROUND

PROSELL (Produce and Sell) is a 54 month EU funded project on Food Security and Resilience implemented in Taraba state. It is been jointly implemented by Oxfam and Development Exchange Centre (DEC) in at least 13-14 communities in each of the six (6) benefiting LGAs namely: Ardo-Kola, Donga, Kurmi, Takum, Wukari and Zing. PROSELL project is aimed at building resilience of 40,000 small-scale farmers, fishermen and livestock owners (women, youth, and vulnerable households), increase income of small scale farmers by enhancing their agricultural productivity, market access, and job creation along crop, fish and livestock, enhance adaptive capacities of small-scale farming households to climate change and promote cooperation and mutual benefits of farmers, livestock owners, and all value chain actors in 6 Local Government Areas (LGAs) in Taraba State.

For PROSELL to effectively ensure increase in income through enhancement of agricultural production and productivity and access to market, there is need to train project participants who are into fish farming to increase their productivity along the fish value chain.

Artisanal fisheries which engage mostly young men is a source of employment for many.

One of the commonest fishing practices is the use of chemicals for killing and harvesting fish from streams and rivers. While this ensures fishermen are economically engaged, the practice is unsustainable, hazardous to health, and injurious to the biodiversity of the aquatic ecosystem thus upsetting the system. Moreover, fish preservation is done through the smoking the harvested fish dry. Some go as far as spraying them with insecticides, another harmful health practice to the consumers and processors alike. Currently, very few private sector-led fish farms exist in the state, and these employs only few farm hands. The huge potential inherent in the fishing business in Taraba state is not fully tapped. Hence the project will support selected artisanal fishers across the 6 LGAs with fingerlings especially in locations with open water bodies such as Takum and Wukari LGAs.

In order to ascertain the gaps in fishing in Taraba state and help in determining where programmatic intervention would focus on, with a view to achieving a significant impact on the livelihoods of value chain actors especially women and youth, the project engaged a consultant who carried out a fish value chain analysis. From the findings of the report, only about 5% of respondents have access to credit facilities. Other constraints noted includes reduction in income, reduction in fish catches and a lack of capital. Poor access to inputs, poor access to modern facility, lack of training and poor storage facility were identified as some of the major constraints to fish production in Taraba state.

PURPOSE & SCOPE OF THE CONSULTANCY

The primary purpose of the consultancy is to ensure the income of small-scale fish farmers enhance their productivity, market access and job creation along the fish value chain. This will be achieved through training and support to 300 existing or new fish farms/farmers distributed across the 6 LGAs, based on availability of water resources and women and youth willing to engage in the enterprise. Specifically, Takum, Donga and some parts of Wukari LGA have streams and rivers that can support this action. The project will identify existing artisanal fish farmers who have need to enhance their fish feeding system and access improved species of fingerlings as well as markets. The consultant will also train them on innovative fish feed production techniques (including potentially via a Fish Feed app), sustainable fish harvesting and preservation techniques, as well as accessing markets for fingerlings and sales of fish at maturity.

The Consultant has the overall responsibility to ensure that all training modules are delivered effectively to all smallholder farmers being supported by PROSELL to the last mile. There must be detailed and comprehensive reports of the two levels of training step-down.

Specific Objectives for Training Consultancy

Specific Objectives for the training of artisanal fish farming Consultancy include:

§ Train the young entrepreneurs on innovative fish production techniques (artisanal and acquaculture). The training should cover the entire fish value chain covering production, feeding, harvesting, processing and marketing etc.

§ Expose trainees to sustainable fish harvesting and preservation techniques that is not harmful to humans and the environment.

§ Fish feeding techniques and feed production (possibly via the Fish Feed App). This will enhance their fish feeding systems.

§ Identify source of inputs (feed, fingerlings, nets etc.) and link fish farmers (trainees)

§ Build capacity of participants on accessing markets to source improved species of fingerlings locally and market linkages for sales at maturity

§ Identify markets and link trainees

§ Source and procure improved fingerlings for trainees

§ Develop a Comprehensive Training Proposal for the training for the approval of Oxfam’s Country Director.

§ Conduct the training fully and comprehensively with practical field demonstrations.

§ Submit a training report on the activity at the end of the training programme

METHODOLOGY

The Consultant will develop the Schedule of Training and Agenda for the approval of PROSELL Project Manager as part of his responsibility on this Contract. The training will comprise a classroom training and field practical exposing trainees to the fish production, feed production and processing techniques. The Consultant will also conduct a survey to identify and select the entrepreneurs interested in the training.

Expected Outcomes/ Deliverables:

Core deliverables expected from the Consultant at the end of the activity will include:

§ A comprehensive Training Report with the following suggested subheadings: Executive Summary, Introduction, Training Objectives, Methodology, Outcomes/Recommendations, Challenges, Next Steps/Forward Planning and, attachments, including Signed copies of Attendance Lists, Pre- and Post-Test Results sheets and Photographs.

§ Monitoring and Evaluation Tool for tracking of entrepreneurs’ performance in the training and use of the app.

§ Produce a training manual

Management of the training and Ownership and Disclosure of Data/Information

All documents, project designs, drawings, data, and information shall be treated as confidential and shall not, without the written approval of Oxfam, be made available to any third party. The utilization of the report is solely at the decision and discretion of Oxfam. All the documents containing both raw data/materials provided by Oxfam and final report, both soft and hard copies are to be returned to Oxfam upon completion of the assignment. All documentation and reports written as a result of the training or otherwise related to it, shall remain the property of Oxfam. No part of the report shall be reproduced except with the prior, expressed, and specific written permission of Oxfam.

Management Team: The Evaluation management team will be composed of the Country Director, PROSELL Project Manager, MELSA team and the representative of DEC.

DUTY STATION

The training would be conducted in Taraba state with travels to the six implementing LGAs

REQUIRED EXPERTISE AND QUALIFICATIONS

The Training will be undertaken by an external Consultant who will work in close collaboration with the PROSELL Project Manager and Program Quality and Development Manager. Therefore, we are looking for a Consultant/team with the following skills and qualifications:

a. Advanced University degree (Master Level minimum) in Fisheries Science

b. Minimum of 8 years of relevant practical field experience in fish value chain.

c. Demonstrated experience in facilitating trainings on fish farming

d. Familiarity with community-based and participatory approaches

e. Fluency in English required and excellent analytical and communication skills in English

TIME SCHEDULE/DURATION

It is expected that the work will last a maximum of 21 days from appointment of the Consultant to final report. The Consultant is required to develop a methodology and estimate a detailed work schedule for each phase as part of the technical proposal. Proposed start date is 31^st May to 21^st June 2021.