Market Systems Development (MSD) principles training for the RAY Project MEL Framework Full Time NEW

PRACTICAL ACTION

ABOUT US

We are an international development organisation putting ingenious ideas to work so people in poverty can change their world.

We help people find solutions to some of the world’s toughest problems. Challenges made worse by catastrophic climate change and persistent gender inequality. We work with communities to develop ingenious, lasting and locally owned solutions for agriculture, water and waste management, climate resilience and clean energy. And we share what works with others, so answers that start small can grow big.

We’re a global change-making group. The group consists of a UK registered charity with community projects in Africa, Asia and Latin America, an independent development publishing company and a technical consulting service. We combine these specialisms to multiply our impact and help shape a world that works better for everyone.

OUR AIMS

We help people find solutions to some of the world’s toughest problems, made worse by catastrophic climate change and persistent gender inequality. Our aims are to:

• Make agriculture work better for smallholder farmers, many of them women, so they can adapt to climate change and achieve a good standard of living.
• Help more people harness the transformational effects of clean affordable energy and reduce avoidable deaths caused by smoke from indoor stoves and fires.
• Make cities in poorer countries cleaner, healthier places to live and work.
• Build disaster resilience into the lives of people threatened by hazards – reducing the risk of hazards and minimizing their impact on lives and livelihoods.

PRACTICAL ACTION IN KENYA

In Kenya, Practical Action has a long history of addressing systemic barriers that prevent people from accessing energy that transforms their lives, helping communities and government make cities healthier and safer, making agriculture and markets work better for small holder farmers and supporting communities and government to become more resilient.

We use a mix of programming with communities and consultancy services with shapers of policy and practice to achieve our aims.

ABOUT THE PROJECT

Practical Action is currently implementing a five (5) year initiative panning the nine (9) counties of Kisumu, Homabay, Siaya, Migori, Nyamira, Kakamega, Bungoma, Busia and Vihiga. The project aims to make agriculture an attractive and resilient employer for young people by promoting agricultural livelihoods for the youth underpinned by agro-ecological principles and practices. The project goal is to make agriculture an attractive and resilient employer for young people targeting four (4) main value chains namely poultry, African leafy vegetables, tomatoes and oil crops (groundnuts and soybeans).

Over the next 5 years, we will increase incomes, and job opportunities for 100,000 (age 18-35) young people in the nine counties through effecting systems change within the agriculture sector to make this an attractive work sector that offers dignified work. Additionally, the project will contribute towards poverty reduction within target counties as youth’s start earning or improve their income levels through skills development, enhanced access to market and finance. The main approaches being used by the project include:

• A Mentorship model to increase youth engagement in the agriculture sector.
• Regenerative agriculture to improve productivity, increase income and restore natural capital.
• Market Systems Development to stimulate long term sustainable change in which markets operate more effectively and critically and work better for young men and women.

Over the longer term the project intends to impact 100,000 young people by demonstrating the viability of agri-business as a viable career option

Purpose of the assignment

Practical Action Kenya seeks to enhance its team’s capacity to apply Market Systems Development (MSD) in program delivery and apply its principles in appropriate results measurement.
This assignment will review the system change strategy and intervention plans that lay the groundwork for system change assessment, including how to set system boundaries and how to identify the system changes the RAY Project aims to catalyse.

1. To examine both positive and negative unintended outcomes that may not have been anticipated during the projects design and implementation phases.
2. To generate lessons learned: Provide valuable insights and evidence to inform the design, implementation, and scaling of future projects and programs in Turkana and beyond.
3. To demonstrate accountability to stakeholders, donors, and beneficiaries by demonstrating the long-term effects of their investments and contributions.
4. To inform Practical Action’s policy and strategic decisions using the findings to inform Practical Action’s leadership on the best practices, challenges, and opportunities for improvement in future initiatives.

SCOPE

Assignment Title: Delivery of Market Systems Development (MSD) principles training to support appropriate results measurement in the RAY Project MEL Framework

Location: Kisumu

Duration: 45 Days

Specific Objectives of the of the Assignment

The objective of the assignment is to:

1. Build capacity of the PA Kenya team in application of the MSD principles.
2. Build capacity of the PA MEL and technical team in the application of MEL for MSD
3. Work with the MEL team to review and refine the current results frameworks integrating them with the existing PA global frameworks.
4. Provide ongoing mentorship/coaching and support to the MEL and technical teams based on identified need- post training
5. Assess progress towards systemic change using the AAER framework

At the end of the assignment, PA Kenya team should be better able to apply the principles of MSD in program delivery, and better able to develop, implement and periodically review results management system/s.

Methodology

Inception phase:

• The assignment will start with an inception phase. This phase will include review of relevant program documents including intervention strategies, results measurement documents, baseline and market assessment reports, TOCs and MEL related reports as quarterly surveys and any other available result measurement documentation to give a deeper understanding of the project with regards to results measurement system frameworks. This phase will also include a scheduled meeting with the project team to better understand the status of the team on the MSD approach and MEL for MSD, and the existing capacity gaps in its application.
• This phase will end with submission of the inception report with comments from Practical Action incorporated.

Training Phase:

• Develop training materials based on identified needs and gaps.
• Conduct a customised training on key MSD principles and MEL for MSD based on the Donor Committee of Enterprise Development (DCED) Standard for results measurement.
• Practical sessions that include sample review and where need be reconstructing the RAY project’s TOCs, results chains, indicators, targets.

Final deliverables and mentorship phase:

• Work with the MEL team and any relevant technical team members to complete the revision of any of the RAY MEL documents including the TOC, RCs, Indicators, Targets, MEL Plan including the learning agenda.
• Based on how the training goes and the identified needs, the consultant will schedule and successfully complete the mentorship sessions with clearly defined outcomes.

Expected deliverables.

The consultant/firm will be required to provide the following deliverables during this assignment:

• Inception report (Max 15 pages): an inception report incorporating the MSD training delivery methodology, agenda and workplan.
• A Brief post training report: a brief post training report providing the highlights, the MEL frameworks to be reviewed/revised post the training, training material and any other reading and practice materials. A mentorship schedule detailing the kind of mentorship to be provided and the expected outcome will also be availed.
• The Final report: Detail report meeting the objectives and scope of the TOR with used methodologies as agreed in Inception Report, training and post training mentorships, and all final reviewed documents. Final report will be the product after incorporation of all the comments from Practical Action. If the report is acceptable, final payment will be made.

A detailed schedule will be developed and agreed with the successful candidate for these deliverables.

Administrative and logistical support

1. The Consultants will report to the work independently with technical oversight by the Head of Programs and the Project Manager.
2. The project team will provide day to day support during the assignment to support the actualization of this assignment and within stipulated timelines.
3. Practical Action will also provide all necessary program documents required.

Requirements of the consultant

MSD for MEL Lead Expert meet the following requirements:

1. Knowledge and experience in implementing MEL for MSD.
2. Knowledge and experience in applying the Donor Committee of Enterprise Development (DCED) Standard for results measurement.
3. Experience in building capacity of MEL and implementing teams in application of MEL for MSD.
4. Demonstrated experience in developing robust MEL systems for donors such as Mastercard Foundation, FCDO etc
5. Demonstrated familiarity with current trends in systems thinking as applied to market systems development – such as designing for systemic change, complexity-aware monitoring, analytical tools or consultation processes for getting to root causes, etc

Timelines

This consultancy will take place in between the months of July 2025 and August 2025 within a period of 45 days. Final work plan duration shall be agreed with the selected consultant before signing of the agreement.

Terms of Engagement

Payment shall be done in three tranches as indicated below.

• Tranche 1 (40% of the total cost): Upon submission of the inception report
• Tranche 2 (30% of the total cost): submission and acceptance of the of 1st draft of the report
• Tranche 3 (30% of the total cost): submission and acceptance of the final report

Note that the payments will be done subject to the consulting entity meeting quality and timely delivery of stated tasks.

A detailed Terms of Reference can be accessed from Practical Action website download section

Tagged as: Kenya, Practical Action