Consultancy: Needs assessment for fighting child labour in the coffee and tea value chains through cooperative development in Kenya 47 views0 applications

Project: Accelerating action for the elimination of child labour in supply chains in Africa (ACCEL AFRICA)

1.Background

a. Context

‘Accelerating action for the elimination of child labour in supply chains in Africa’ (ACCEL Africa) is a Dutch-funded regional project with particular focus on the specific supply chains, namely Cocoa, Coffee, Cotton, Gold and Tea. Building on lessons learned from over 25 years of the International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) and overall ILO experience, the ACCEL Africa project will work on public policy and good governance; empowerment and representation, and partnership and knowledge sharing among global supply chain actors working in Africa. Countries covered are Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, Mali, Malawi, Nigeria, and Uganda.

In Kenya, ACCEL Africa aims at the elimination of child labour in supply chains in particular Coffee and Tea.

As values-based organizations, cooperative enterprises, are well-placed to advance and advocate for fundamental principles and rights at work such as the effective abolition of child labour, through various ways, including: members’ economic participation, democratic decision-making, member education and training, and various services they offer to their members and communities at large. Therefore, the project intends to draw on the strength of the cooperative model in the fight against child labour.

What is a cooperative?
A cooperative is defined by the International Co-operative Alliance and the International Labour Organization as “an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social, and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-controlled enterprise.”
The ILO Promotion of Co-operatives Recommendation, 2002 (No 193) calls for measures to promote the development of cooperatives.

b. The cooperative advantage

Efficient member-based organizations such as cooperatives contribute to addressing child labour issues within their business and at the community level. Cooperatives have a specific role to play in rural areas where mining is a dominant form of economic activity, and where public services are often limited.

In Kenya, cooperatives are recognized by the government to be a major contributor to national development, as cooperatives are found in almost all sectors of the economy. There are over 22,000 registered cooperative societies in Kenya representing over 10 million members. Currently the types of cooperatives that are active in Kenya include agriculture and non-agriculture cooperatives.

Agricultural cooperatives engage in the marketing of members’ produce as their main activity, though some cooperatives, such as coffee and dairy cooperatives, have ventured into manufacturing in a bid to add value to produce in order to earn a higher return before it is marketed. Other cooperatives found in the agricultural sector include fishery, farm purchase and multi-produce cooperatives, which market agricultural produce and mobilize savings to purchase land for members. Non-agricultural cooperatives are involved in finance, housing, consumer, crafts, insurance, transport and the informal economy. In the financial sector, the Cooperative Bank and SACCOs provide savings and credit services, while housing cooperatives assist with the provision of affordable shelter as their main activity. Consumer and craft cooperatives market their respective commodities, while cooperatives in the transport and informal economy engage in savings and credit activities (Wanyama, 2008: 92-3). The Cooperative Insurance Company (CIC) is the flagship of the cooperative movement in the provision of insurance services. With the cooperative movement playing such a significant role in economic development, the Government has over the years maintained an institutional framework to develop the movement.

Operating in most of the economic sectors where child labourers are found, particularly in mining, cooperatives’ commitment to social responsibility can lend them naturally to play an important role to eliminate child labour. The ILO has long drawn on the strength of the cooperative model in the fight against child labour. This was done, among others, by helping cooperatives at different levels to:

• Ensure that cooperative business operations and supply chains are child labour free;
• Engage in awareness-raising campaigns among their members and in the communities in which they operate;
• Improve productivity and incomes for adult members;
• Stimulate decent youth employment through training and education programmes;
• Provide social protection through micro-insurance to protect families from occupational hazards, grievous workplace injuries, illness or loss of breadwinners, and ensure access to healthcare;
• Incorporate child labour issues in curricula of cooperative colleges and training programmes of cooperative support institutions;
• Engage in social dialogue with government, workers’ and employers’ associations, and other stakeholders; and
• Encourage national and multinational companies to adopt policies prohibiting child labour along value chains.

However, it is important to understand the constraints that cooperatives and their members face in responding to child labour and what needs to occur to enable lasting reductions in child labour.

2. Scope of the assignment

Under the direct supervision of the National Project Coordinator, and in close collaboration with ILO’s Cooperative, social and solidarity economy Unit, ILO’s Social finance Programme, and the ACCEL Africa Chief Technical Advisor, the consultant will be engaged to conduct a needs assessment of cooperative enterprises and other similar producer organizations*. Including cooperative support organizations operating in the Coffee and Tea sectors in Kenya. Particular attention will be on the Tea and Coffee supply chain in Kericho, Kisii, Nyeri and Meru in Kenya. The main objective of the assessment is to understand the capacities and needs of these organizations in relation to their potential to address issues related to child labour in their various activities.

Specific tasks to be covered by this study include:

1. Review relevant literature on child labour and cooperatives in the coffee and tea value chains in Kenya;

2. Prepare methodology for the study, including interview questionnaires and other necessary tools (e.g. for focus group discussions with producers)

3. Based on the literature review and field study:

a. Provide a brief overview of the state of cooperatives in Kenya in general and particularly in Kericho, Kisii, Meru and Nyeri highlighting specific challenges faced by cooperatives in the coffee and tea value chains and in fighting child labour and its use in particular;

b. Map cooperatives and similar self-help organizations operating in the coffee and tea value chains in Kericho, Kisii, Meru and Nyeri based on a value chains approach;**

c. Map VSLA and any group of workers linked to the cooperatives and similar self-help organisation identified.

d. Identify relevant cooperative support organizations (i.e. business development service providers for cooperatives, training institutes, NGOs etc.) and private sector actors (e.g. main processors, buyers, traders, middlemen and financial services providers) operating in the coffee and tea value chains;

e. Identify the strengths and weaknesses of cooperatives in terms of leadership, governance, membership, infrastructure, market access, access to financial services (for cooperatives and members) and their economic viability;

f. Identify the strengths and weaknesses of cooperative support organizations to fulfil their role of providing support to primary cooperatives;

g. Identify concrete opportunities for cooperative development for smallholder farmers, as well as economically viable alternative to address their need for labour thus preventing them from possible use of child labour. This will include the identification of additional income generating activities;

h. Identify concrete opportunities and challenges for cooperatives operating in the target value chains to further partners with private sector actors;

i. Identify and analyse skills gaps and specific training needs for cooperatives, other smallholder farmer’s organizations, and cooperative support organizations, and review the potential of existing ILO tools in addressing these gaps;***

j. Provide recommendations on how cooperatives could use their existing and potential roles (e.g. service provision, membership support, member education, concern for community, training, etc.) to address child labour in the coffee and tea value chain. The recommendations will include a list of proposed potential cooperative beneficiaries in the two target sectors as well as potential partners (e.g. support organizations and private sector actors)

* This refers to self-help organizations not registered as cooperative enterprises but operating along the same principles and values (including self-help, self-responsibility, democracy, equality, equity and solidarity)
**The mapping will provide basic information such as the main crops and produce of each organization, type of organization, information on membership, production capacity etc.
*** This will include a review of ILO tools such as Thinkcoop, StartCoop, MyCoop and awareness raising package The Role of Cooperatives in Eliminating Child Labour to assess their relevance.

3. Methodology

The methodology for the study shall include both desk review and field study:
a. A desk review of relevant documents related to coffee and tea value chains and cooperative development in Kericho, Kisii, Meru and Nyeri in particular and in Kenya in general;
b. Semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions with relevant stakeholders such as cooperatives and organizations (incl. financial and producers’ cooperatives, producers’ organizations), government representatives (e.g. National Council of Cooperatives), cooperative support organizations, social partners, and NGOs, among others. The main objective of the interviews will be to gather in-depth information, including perceptions, views and factual information on the current situation and potential for cooperative development, potential for cooperatives to address child labour in their operations and their members’ operations, and the integration of youth in existing cooperatives (as members or employees). The consultant should take specific measures to ensure the inclusion of women as interviewees. An interview/FGD plan as well as the draft interview guide should be included in the inception report.

The consultant in collaboration with the National Coordinator of the project ILO’s Cooperative, social and solidarity economy Unit, ILO’s Social finance Programme and the Chief Technical Advisor of ACCEL Africa will define a more detailed methodology (e.g. number of field days and locations, interviews, & FGDs).

4. Outputs

Specific deliverables expected from the consultant include the following:

1. Inception report / work plan
   This document should include:
   Detailed work plan with information on the stakeholders to be interviewed and timelines;
   Specific research questions;
   Detailed explanation of the proposed methodology to be used for the study (e.g. interview and FGD guides / questionnaires);
   Initial bibliography for the literature review and draft table of content for the report
   4 days
2. 1st Draft Report of the needs assessment report (between 30 and 40 pages, excluding annexes)
   In line with the agreed table of content for the report and detailing the specific task discussed above, the consultant shall prepare a draft report and share with ILO and stakeholders for input
   23 days (including field visits to 4 locations)
3. Presentation of findings for validation
   After the initial inputs by ILO and Stakeholders, the consultant will review the report, prepare a short presentation, and present the main findings to ILO staff and other relevant stakeholders.
   1 day (including preparatory work)
4. Final Clean Copy of the Report of the needs assessment report (between 30 and 40 pages, excluding annexes)
   Based on the inputs provided by ILO and the Stakeholders at the validation of the report, the Consultant shall review the report and submit a final clean copy to the ILO.
   2 days

5. Qualifications required

• Advanced University Degree in Finance, Rural Development, Economics, Social Sciences, Geology, Engineering or other relevant field;
• At least ten years of experience in the rural development access to finance for rural tea and coffee farming communities, social policy at national and/or international level, with specific reference to Kenya, and preferably Kericho, Kisii, Meru and Nyeri counties.
• At least ten years’ experience in cooperative development;
• Demonstrated experience in conducting institutional needs and capacity assessments to inform capacity building support;
• Experience developing data collection tool and conducting primary qualitative research, particularly on issues relating to rural development, access to finance and labour markets and;
• Excellent analysis and report writing skills including the ability to develop presentations and deliver them to national level stakeholders