Consultant: Technical Assistance for Cooperatives Sector Strengthening in Kenya 57 views0 applications

Project Title: Partnership for improving Prospects for host communities and forcibly displaced persons (PROSPECTS)

Background and Rational

PROSPECTS is an innovative inter-agency partnership between the Government of Netherlands, the World Bank, IFC, ILO, UNHCR and UNICEF. The goal of the partnership is to strengthen the socio-economic enabling environments of communities that host different forcibly displaced populations (IDPs and refugees) to ensure sustainable decent work, training and education opportunities, as the policy, legislative and regulatory frameworks facilitate this integration process. ILO is implementing a range of interventions under this partnership. In the period 2024-2027, the ILO will continue to enhance socio-economic inclusion for refugees and host communities through programming to improve livelihoods and expand economic activities.

Cooperatives play a major self-help role in rural areas; particularly where private businesses hesitate to establish, and public authorities do not provide basic services. They are instrumental in providing opportunities for productive employment, as well as offering health care, education, potable water, improved sanitation, roads, and market access, while giving a stronger voice to rural populations. Agricultural cooperatives provide strong economic benefits to farmers, through sharing and pooling of resources, improved access to markets, higher returns for their products, and strengthened bargaining position.[1]

In Kenya cooperatives are recognized to be a major contributor to national development and are found in almost all sectors of the economy. There are over 22,000 registered cooperative societies in Kenya representing over 10 million members. PROSPECTS in Kenya is working with the Ministry of Cooperatives and MSMEs to transform and strengthen cooperatives and social solidarity groups in Kenya. With PROSPECTS support, a Kenya Cooperatives Transformation Strategy (KCTS) has been developed to provide strategic guidance on key transformative strategies to be implemented to support growth and positive change in the sector, in alignment to the Government’s Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA). A review of the cooperatives legal framework has also been supported, and the Bill and regulations are at advanced stages of review by parliament and senate.

Objective of the assignment

The objective of the technical assistance to key state Cooperatives actors namely the State Department of Cooperatives and the Council of Governors is to improve their capacity to roll out implementation of the Kenya Cooperatives Transformation Strategy.

Scope of the assignment

The technical assistance will be provided between the month of October 2024 to February 2025.

The consultant will:

1. Facilitate engagement between the State Department for Cooperatives and the Council of Governors to enhance capacity building of County Governments to enhance support to Cooperatives and other social solidarity groups. (8 days)

Specifically, the excol will lead: –

• Liaison and Coordination of capacity building interventions with the Council of Governors (COG), and targeted Counties. Specifically, the excol with coordinate with CoG to ensure development and implementation and monitoring of action plans developed after ILO Cooperatives strengthening trainings. The excol will develop reporting tools to be used by the Counties for implementation monitoring.
• Consultatively design an effective collaboration mechanism between the State Department for Cooperatives, Council of Governors and the Intergovernmental Relations Technical Committee (IGRTC) that is based on accountability, commitment and achievement of the supported cooperatives initiatives.
• Maintain a close cooperation with the Council of Governors, Intergovernmental Relations Technical Committee (IGRTC) and the State Department for Cooperatives.
• Provide input into the establishment of the Kenya Integrated Cooperative Management Information System (KICMIS).
• Engage all other Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) wherever needed and anchor the cooperative business model as a key development tool for all value chains.

2. Coordination of capacity development of the Cooperatives Sector Actors (15 days)

This will involve: –

• Supporting the Council of Governors in identifying ADR County leads and facilitating the Alternative Dispute Resolutions (ADR) for Cooperatives Training for Trainers. This will include strategic targeting for key counties and cooperatives actors, revieing the training content in liaison with the Kenya Judiciary, and consolidating post training reports.
• Providing leadership and alignment to the KCTS in trainings of cooperative officers, leaders and managers using ILO’s Think.COOP, Start.COOP, My.COOP. The excol will also provide recommendations for adaption of the ILO tools for the Kenya context. These will enrich cooperative societies capacity in areas such as governance and accountability framework, entrench alternative dispute resolution through the Cooperative Mediation Services (registered under Cap. 490 Cooperative Societies Act), management and enterprise development.
• Coordinating actors for the launch of the KCTS during the annual Cooperatives Stakeholders conference in November 2024.
• Supporting the implementation of the Kenya Cooperatives Transformation Strategy by the State Department for Cooperative and the Council of Governors. This will involve developing County level implementation framework, including recommendation on County financing mechanisms for the sector.
• Based on the Kenya Cooperative Transformation Strategy work with the relevant stakeholders to support in the development of model County Cooperative Strategic Plans.
• Mobilizing key stakeholders for the dissemination of the revised Cooperative Act upon its enactment to the County governments through the Council of Governors.
• Working with the Council of Governors to provide technical assistance in developing/reviewing of model legislations necessary for domestication of the Cooperative Act (once passed into law) as well as the County Cooperative Policy at the County level.
• Disseminating to targeted County governments their roles and responsibilities in line with the unbundled and transfer of cooperative functions vide IGRTC report and gazette notice.

3. Facilitating partnerships and collaborations with other Cooperative Development Organisations (CDOs) to support sector development and realization of decent work in the social solidarity economy through: (7 days)

• Convening regular meetings with targeted duty bearers to lobby for action to implement the Kenya Cooperatives Transformation Strategy.
• Creating linkages between the cooperatives sector and unions and providing information and awareness to unions on how to tap into the Cooperatives sector.
• Supporting development of efficient service delivery framework for cooperatives to support their members with clear charter commitments.
• Keeping track and follow up on progress made and suggest corrective actions in the implementation approach if required in close collaboration with Council of Governors, the State Department for Cooperatives and development agencies.

Management of the assignment

The Consultant will work under the overall authority of Director ILO Country Office Daresalaam covering Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi. The consultant will work under the direct supervision of the ILO-PROSPECTS Programme Manager in Kenya with operational and technical support from the National Programme Officer Coordinator for Enterprise based in Nairobi

Payment Schedule

1.Thirty (30%) percent upon signing of the contact and delivery of the following: –

• Presentation of work plan (consultatively developed with key stakeholders) to deliver the assignment by 10th November 2024
• Training plan and agenda for the first ADR training
• First training report for the Alternative Dispute Resolution ToT 1 (5 days).
• KCTS launch event report, including pictorial / media coverage evidence.

2. Forty (40%) percent upon submission of the following: –

• Submission of draft collaboration mechanism between the State Department for Cooperatives, Council of Governors and the Intergovernmental Relations Technical Committee (IGRTC)
• Submission of training plans for cooperative officers, leaders and managers using ILO’s Think.COOP, Start.COOP, My.COOP.
• Submission of draft KCTS implementation framework consultatively developed with key stakeholders, and potential financing mechanisms for the same.
• Submission of awareness and sensitization reports with Unions- specifically the transport and allied workers.

3. Thirty (30%) percent upon delivery of the following: –

• Final KCTS implementation plan adopted by key stakeholders
• Final Training report for County Cooperatives Officers
• Action plan for Unions engagement with the Cooperatives sector.
• Report on adoption of ILO cooperatives tools for use in trainings in Kenya, in collaboration with the Cooperatives University of Kenya.
• Recommendations on domestication of the Cooperative Act (once passed into law) as well as the County Cooperative Policy at the County level.

Qualifications

Required qualifications include:

• University degree in social sciences or other relevant subjects
• Experience in the Kenya Cooperatives Sector policy formulation and strategy development
• Knowledge and awareness of the Cooperatives structure, legal framework, and operations in Kenya
• Understanding of refugee operations in Kenya, and the legal framework guiding their participation in social solidarity groups.
• Specific knowledge on participatory research methods
• Good facilitation, presentation, and analytical skills, as well as ability to elaborate high quality research documents

[1] ILO: Cooperatives for People-Centred Rural Development, Rural Policy Brief (2011)