Consultancy to Support the Development of Kisumu and Mombasa County Action Plan for the Implementation of the Strategy for Extension of Social Protect NEW

Introduction

The Republic of Kenya is a lower middle-income country in Sub-Saharan Africa with 47 semi-autonomous counties governed by elected governors. As per the Kenya Population and Housing Census, 2019 the population is at 47.6 million people, making Kenya the 27th most populous country. The Human Development Index (HDI) was at 0.579 in 2018 ranking the country 147 out of 196 (UNDP, 2018). Economic growth (GDP) has averaged 5.8% between 2010 and 2017 annually and 6.3 per cent in 2018, in tandem with rising per capita incomes; primarily attributable to Kenya’s service sector, particularly in mobile telecom and banking (World Bank, 2018). Despite this positive economic growth and sectoral achievements, poverty persists in Kenya with the Kenya Integrated and Household Survey (KIHBS) 2015/6 indicating that 36% of Kenyan citizens live under the national poverty line with 8.6% being extremely poor. According to KIHBS, 2015/16 poverty rates remain considerably higher in rural areas (40%) compared to peri-urban or core-urban areas (28-29%). In addition, there are differential regional variations, with areas of the northeast in Turkana for example reaching poverty rates close to 80% (NHBS, 2016).

Although, certain factors continue to constrain economic growth and subsequently poverty reduction, such as high population growth, persistent inequality, the stagnation of agriculture, and risks and shocks especially for rural people, Kenya’s Vision 2030 development blueprint seeks to eradicate poverty and to create cohesive and equitable social development in a clean and secure environment. However, 12% of Kenyans are still food-insecure and have poor food-consumption levels and low dietary diversity. The most hunger-prone areas being in the arid and semi-arid regions which tend to be rural. Food-insecurity levels escalate significantly during periods of shocks and crises such as drought, heavy rains, floods and in the current COVID-19 pandemic.

As per the Economic Survey, 2024, 19.1 million persons in Kenya were employed outside small-scale agriculture and pastoralist activities, in 2022 out of which 83.7 percent, roughly 16 million persons, are active in the informal economy. The informal and rural economy in Kenya is heterogeneous, comprising, amongst others, domestic workers, small traders (hawkers), artisans, construction, workers in the gig economy, refugees, agriculture workers, farmers, fishers and pastoralists. Agriculture is the country’s largest employer, with more than 40 per cent of the total population and over 70 per cent of Kenya’s rural people working in the agriculture, fisheries and forestry sectors, mostly with informal working conditions.

Most rural and informal economy workers are not enrolled with the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) and the Social Health Authority (SHA) and have limited coverage by social
assistance programmes thereby increasing their level of vulnerability and poverty. It is in this regard that the Strategy for Extending Social Protection to Workers in the Informal and Rural Economy was developed and launched in October 2023 and a Roadmap for its implementation developed. Kisumu County has been identified as a pioneer county for the implementation of the strategy. Following the experience in Kisumu, Mombasa County has also joined this journey, seeking to fast-track the implementation of the strategy and extend social protection coverage to the informal and rural workers.
To achieve this goal, an action plan to extend the coverage of the social protection system needs to be developed in consultation with key stakeholders in each county. From September 4th to 6th 2024, the National Social Protection Secretariat (NSPS), together with the County Government of Kisumu, in partnership with relevant national-level counterparts, held a workshop to disseminate the strategy and initiate the process of developing an action plan to support the rollout of the Strategy for Extension of Social Protection Coverage to Workers in the Informal and Rural Economy.

A similar process was conducted in Mombasa, where a workshop with the County Government of Mombasa and key stakeholders (including ILO tripartite constituents) was held from November 20th to 22nd, 2024.

As a result of both workshops, key stakeholders who participated in the meetings developed a matrix with essential inputs for the realization of the action plan. In this regard, the ILO is seeking a consultant to support the development of two action plans, one for Kisumu and one for Mombasa, to guide the implementation of the Strategy.

OBJECTIVE

To develop two action plans, one for Kisumu and other for Mombasa County, to support the modelling of the rollout of the Strategy for Extension of Social Protection Coverage to Workers in the Informal and Rural Economy in Kenya.

Scope of Work

• Desk review on policy and legislative frameworks guiding social protection programmes, status of existing social protection programmes and the informal and rural economy landscape in Kisumu and Mombasa counties
• Mapping of existing informal and rural economy platforms in Kisumu and Mombasa Counties
  Conduct key informant interviews with key stakeholders to understand existing structures, programmes and systems for social protection programmes, rural and informal economy in both counties
• Draft one action plan for each county (Kisumu and Mombasa) for Extending Social Protection to Workers in the Informal and Rural Economy in alignment with the ‘Strategy for Extension of Social Protection to Workers in the Informal and Rural Economy’. The Action Plan should be drafted in consultation with the Technical Working Group created for each county.

Expected Product

The Individual Consultant will be expected to deliver the following:

One Action Plan for each county – Kisumu County and Mombasa County- focused on extending Social Protection to Workers in the Informal and Rural Economy, aligned with the ‘Strategy for Extension of Social Protection to Workers in the Informal and Rural Economy’.

Both action plans should follow this outline:

1. Preface
2. Foreword
3. Acknowledgement
4. Table of Contents
5. Executive Summary: this section should summarize the key highlights of the action plan
6. Introduction: brief overview of the Strategy for Extension of Social Protection to workers in the informal and rural economy.
7. County Characteristics and Demographics – sub-counties, wards, population dynamics
8. Context or situation analysis: this section should include a brief overview of the status of social protection at the county level. It is not expected to have an overview of the social protection system at the national level because this is already included in the Strategy for Extension of Social Protection to Workers in the Informal and Rural Economy. This section should focus on the specific programmes for social protection or social services in the targeted counties.
   Additionally, this section should provide an overview of the rural and informal economy landscape in each county. It should also outline key entry points with clear deliverables for extending social protection to workers in the informal and rural economy.
9. Action plan: a summary of the action plan, including key interventions based on the matrix.
10. Conclusion
11. Annex (Matrix for the Action Plan): the matrix should include trackable deliverables, capturing the strategic objective, activities, output/result, indicator of success, means of verification, timelines, and partners to be engaged. The ILO will provide a template for this matrix.

Timeline

March to April 2025

Logistics

The Individual Consultant will plan and organize own logistics including travel, accommodation and Key Informant Interviews

Required qualifications, desired competencies, technical background and experience

Technical expertise

• Relevant advanced academic degree (Social sciences, development studies, economics or related fields); previous experience leading teams; knowledge of social protection programs; health policies; labour markets; social security benefits.
• Demonstrated international/local experience in undertaking complex social and public policy analysis;
• Demonstrated ability for managing stakeholders and high-level government, employers and workers’ representatives.
• Ability to facilitate consultative/validation workshop towards consensus building.
• Excellent writing and communication skills in English.
• Proven ability to: (i) handle multiple tasks under pressure with short deadlines; (ii) ability to work independently, seeking guidance on complex issues; and (iii) excellent interpersonal skills, proven team orientation and the ability to work across unit boundaries.

Tagged as: International Labour Organization, Kenya