Consultancy for an impact study on the socioeconomic effects of the ebola virus disease epidemic – Liberia, Ivory Coast and Guinea

CONTEXT
Beyond the terrible toll on human lives and suffering, the Ebola epidemic in West Africa has already had economic and social impacts with specific focus on livelihoods. Gross domestic output has been dramatically affected, food security is threatened, and increasing social tensions and stigmatization of survivors. These effects have led to high transportation costs, creating an additional trade barrier, and ultimately affecting livelihoods in a cyclical fashion.

In rural areas, where most communities do not host a market, community members have limited access to food supplies outside of their community. In urban areas, where markets are prevalent, the flow of commodities in the quarantined communities has been heavily restricted. The Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) has affected the functionality and access to markets in all of the border regions of Liberia, Guinea and Ivory Coast, notably in the affected countries.

Liberia and Guinea have been affected by the EVD epidemic since Spring 2014. Within the pre-existing context of social tension, persistent and pervasive poverty, rumors and confusion, containment of the epidemic in Guinee Forestiere and Nimba County is plagued by numerous challenges. These include insufficient medical infrastructure, a lack of medical equipment and staff, and “non-medical” support (material, food distribution, psychosocial support etc.) The risk of exacerbating the existing conflicts is an additional concern.

Ivory Coast has not been directly affected by EVD, however is suffering economically given the official closure of the border and the impact on markets, particularly in areas where the economy was previously dependent on cross-border trade. The area along the Ivorian-Liberian border has historically been a region vulnerable to shocks ranging from and economic instability, security concerns, social tensions, displacement of populations, wheras now all of these fragile causes are being exacerbated by the increase in food insecurity.

OBJECTIVE
Overall Objective:
To identify the socio-economic impact of the EVD in two regions of the border area:

1. Northern Liberia, Southern Guinea, and Western Ivory Coast in 15 villages in each country;
2. South-Eastern Liberia and South-Western Ivory Coast.
   The objective of the assessment is to evaluate the impact of the current EVD outbreak on food security and livelihoods. The effects of EVD are complex and indirect effects play a major role in understanding the impact of this epidemic.
   The consultant’s main responsibility is to coordinate and carry-out the implementation of the impact studies in the field, working closely with the project implementation teams. The consultant will also be in charge of analytical aspects of the impact evaluations.
   The specific objectives of the assignment are to assess impact on:

Market Identify the shifting dynamics of cross-border market activities from the border closure; Evaluate price fluctuation and market supply; Identify the reorganization of commercial networks.

Livelihoods Identify the impact on household income and access economic opportunities Evaluate the impact on possibilities for employment in the ever-shifting reality of Ebola in the region.

Food Security Identify and analyse the underlying causes of food insecurity related to the EVD outbreak and explain the relationship between factors affecting food security; Evaluate the impact on food security, consumption and access to basic goods at the household level with specific focus on behavioural changes caused by food shortages and border closure; Evaluate the food stock currently available and provide analytical trend analysis for potential future food shortages relating to the border closure; Measure the impact of the border closure on food security and analyze the risk to lives and livelihoods with additional focus on consequently developed resilience mechanisms.

AgricultureEvaluate the impact of Ebola on crop production in relation to the Agricultural calendar.

TransportIdentify areas where travel restrictions and high transport costs have disrupted trade.

​SocialIdentify the key factors in the development or deterioration of community based mutual aid mechanisms; Evaluate the impact which EVD has on social cohesion and stigmatization levels of survivors and family members; Evaluate the increase of incidences of other diseases, public health risks; Fully integrate age-gender-diversity markers (AGDM) in all analyses; Include additional protection concerns caused or related to the EVD outbreak in the region.

See the full Terms of Reference including methodology, deliverables, renumeration, supervision and reporting in the advert here

DURATION
3 months: 15 February 2015 – 15 May 2015

EXPERTISE AND QUALIFICATIONS REQUIRED

• Advanced degree (particularly at PhD or research level) in International Development, Economics, Political Science, Statistics or related social science field.
• Familiarity and experience with socio-economic development impact evaluation (experimental and quasi-experimental designs) and associated tools (power analysis, propensity score matching, regression discontinuity, etc.).
• Evaluation design experience, including the selection of data collection methods on a question-specific basis and development of a detailed data analysis plan.
• Superior writing ability, including experience in structured evaluation reports.
• Fluent written and spoken English and French.
• Field experience that includes at least some but not necessarily all of the following:
• Survey research experience, including development of structured and semi-structured interview and/or observation instruments, group interviews and/or focus groups;
• Transformation of qualitative data into a quantitative form that can be merged with other quantitative data in a mixed methods analysis;
• Applied experience with non-experimental theory testing techniques for examining program/project effects (ie. SWOT Analysis).