Short – Term Food Security Consultancy – Palestinian Territory

Closing date: 14th December 2009

ACF is currently seeking an experienced food security and livelihoods consultant, to undertake a
needs assessment and proposal design for submission to AECID (The Ministry of Foreign Affairs
and Cooperation – Spain).

The consultancy will last for a period of eight weeks and be based in Hebron Governorate, southern
West Bank.

To receive the Terms of Reference please send an email to acfe-pt@acf-e.org or contact the ACF
Jerusalem office (+972 (0) 2 583 5739) or the ACF Hebron office (+972 (0) 2 266 120).

Proposals should be sent to fs-pt-je@acf-e.org. Please quote IOF reference FS/HEB/11/2009/005

Page 1 / 6
 TERMS OF REFERENCE FOR A
SHORT-TERM FOOD SECURITY AND LIVELIHOODS CONSULTANT

Action Against Hunger (ACF) is seeking the services of an external food security and livelihoods consultant
to lead the formulation of the specific activities for a four year program proposal (termed “convenio”) funded
by the Spanish government through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Development
(AECID). The principle direction of the convenio has been defined as: support the improvement in the
living conditions of the most vulnerable communities in the southern West Bank through food security,
livelihoods, and water and sanitation interventions.
The food security and livelihoods consultant will be responsible for carrying out a comprehensive systems
analysis of the herding livelihood and identifying the most strategic entry points for a four year long
intervention in the sector. The consultant will then be responsible for formulating and writing the detailed
proposal based on the research and analysis carried out at the start of the consultancy.

Project: AECID convenio

Location: Hebron Governorate, Southern West Bank
Duration: 8 weeks
Key counterparts to be involved: Donor, relevant government ministries, line agencies at different levels,
local communities and relevant ACF staff
Reporting to: Program Coordinator and Head of Base

Summary of the proposed frame of intervention

In the area of intervention, ACF has implemented several emergency interventions in both the water and
sanitation (WS) and food security and livelihoods (FSL) sectors. In the FSL sector, the main focus has been
two fold: 1) supporting small ruminant herders and preventing the depletion of their productive assets
through providing fodder, veterinary complements and drought tolerant seeds; and 2) providing cash
assistance through cash-for-work activities.
Small ruminants represent the main source of income and livelihood for thousands of Palestinians in rural
areas and Bedouin communities in the West Bank. The household economies of shepherds have been
severely affected by the building of the Separation Barrier and the confiscation of land for the establishment
of settlements and military areas which have served to dramatically reduce the amount and quality of pasture
available for grazing. Recently, available pastures have been reduced even further by recurrent drought,
overgrazing, and effects of climate change.

Page 2 / 6
In the past, herders were able to feed their animals through grazing in open pastures for 8 to 10 months a
year, depending on the purchase of commercial fodder for the remaining 2-4 months. The impact of the
restrictions of movement imposed by the Israeli Civil Administration, the recurrent drought and the
confiscation of land has required herders to feed their sheep with fodder throughout much of the year.
Increases in the price of fodder (a direct consequence of both the globally high cereal prices in 2008 and
because of reduced local production of fodder due to recent droughts) have forced herders to take out loans
they cannot pay back, trapping them in a detrimental cycle of debt and, eventually, economic strangulation.
Herders are forced to sell of their young animals before the optimal time and thereby having to accept lower
prices for the animals in order to make minimum payments to fodder vendors, further compromising the
robustness of their livelihood.
This situation is aggravated by the water scarcity affecting the southern West Bank. In the marginalized
communities, the high price of water represents a great economic pressure for the vulnerable families during
the dry summer months. Additionally, most herders are unable to construct durable shelters for their animals
due to military and geopolitical restrictions which have a negative impact on the survival rate through the
winter months.
ACF intends to continue to support the herding communities and will use this convenio as a mechanism to
support longer-term interventions with a stronger systems-approach. To respond to this difficult situation,
the proposal aims at increasing the food security and livelihoods situation of the most vulnerable herding
communities, improving their productive system and improving access to water and sanitation to cover the
basic needs of the most vulnerable communities in the southern West Bank.

Objectives of the Proposal Identification Phase

To carry out a livelihoods assessment and develop a comprehensive proposal for the food security and
livelihood component of the AECID convenio based on the following objective and results:

Objective:
Improve the food security and livelihood situation of vulnerable herding communities in the Hebron
Governorate through an enhancement of their productive system.

Results:
• An improvement in farm management adapted to the changing natural, political and economic
environments
• Reduced costs associated to production inputs
• Develop and enhance service provider structures
• Enhance marketing and commercialisation capacities

The intervention will focus on herders and their livelihoods and should address the challenges facing the
livestock sector in a multidimensional way, taking into account the present constraints and working on those
aspects that need to be improved and adapted to the context.

Page 3 / 6
The scheme below summarizes the approach of the proposed intervention:

Research Institutes

Merchants Universities
COLLECTIVE ACTION

INPUTS OUTPUTS

Animal Feed Marketing

FLOCK
Water Dairy Products

Services Farm Management

Aid and Development Min of Agriculture

Agencies Vet Department

A number of NGOs and UN organizations have worked and are currently working on specific aspects of the
herding livelihood system. ACF’s approach for this convenio is to identify ways of enhancing the production
system as a whole by involving the various actors within a general framework of support to collective action.
The convenio activities should seek to enhance and reinforce the various positive interventions currently in
place and should aim to fill gaps were necessary,

Results
• In depth research and analysis of the herding livelihoods including:
o Herding livelihood framework (mobility, livestock ownership, land ownership, wealth groups,
expenditure patterns, seasonality, markets, etc.)
o Herding system production analysis (inputs, outputs, services, market)
o Impact of risks and threats and how they intersect with vulnerability and resilience (including
recurrent drought, confiscation of land, animal diseases, fodder prices, separation barrier, restrictions
of movement, trends, etc.)
o Coping strategies (sale of small ruminants, poor rations, etc.) with a special focus on debt
• Identification of the target geographic area of intervention based on vulnerability and needs
• Definition of the target group according to specific criteria (e.g. production system, wealth category,
vulnerability)
• Identification of coordination mechanisms and levels of involvement of the different stakeholders in the
project (MoA, Veterinary Department, NGOs, traders, suppliers, universities, etc)
• Provision of technical support to the Hebron team for a better understanding of the impacts of the
ongoing crisis caused by drought and the political and security situation
• Integration with the water and sanitation component of the action including coordination with the water
and sanitation consultant for the same convenio

Page 4 / 6
Expected Deliverables
• Complete written proposal for the food security and livelihoods component of the convenio
• Clearly defined beneficiary identification criteria and mechanisms
• Logical framework including SMART indicators
• Detailed definition of the activities to be implemented
• Defined implementation modalities and identification of appropriate partnership arrangements
• Work plan:
o Detailed work-plan for the 1st year of implementation
o General work-plan plan for the full 4 year implementation period
• Budget

Reporting system
• Detailed work plan should be submitted 7 days from the beginning of the assignment.
• Every week the progress of the work should be shared and discussed with the Hebron coordination
team.
• A first draft of the expected deliverables will be presented for comments 10 days before the end of the
consultancy contract.
• A second draft will be presented for comments 5 days before the end of the consultancy contract. The
final version will take into consideration the comments introduced to the draft versions.

Planning
The consultancy will last 8 weeks from the arrival of the consultant to the mission:

Activities W W W W W W W W
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Briefing and discussion with ACF and
project partners
Review of the available literature

NGOs, line ministries, private sector,

academic sector interviews
Field work with key informants,
community leaders, beneficiaries
Workshop with ACF staff, partners and
stakeholders
Preparation of the draft proposal
Revision and finalization of the proposal

Proposed start date: 15th of January 2010

Proposed end date: 14th of March 2010

Page 5 / 6
Resources Available
• Secondary data on small ruminant productive systems in the area of intervention (Ministry of Agriculture,
FAO, ACF, ICRC, ACTED).
• The consultant will be associated with one FSL technical staff from the ACF Hebron base experienced in
the area and sector of intervention. Moreover, the FSL Coordinator, the Hebron Head of Base and the
Convenio Program Coordinator will be available for information sharing and strategic discussion.
• NGO partners will cooperate in the information sharing, identification and definition of the activities.

Consultant Profile
• Advanced degree in socio-economics, agricultural development, rural development or related studies
• Minimum of four (4) years of relevant working experience in the area of food security and livelihoods,
including previous experience in livestock development programmes
• Proven good record in rural research techniques, problem analysis and development proposal
• Deep knowledge of humanitarian and development issues, specifically in the field of food security and
livelihoods
• Strong knowledge of rural pastoralist community development and the small ruminants sector
• Fluency in English is a must, Arabic a plus
• Ability to meet deadlines
• Familiarity with the study area is considered as a plus
• Awareness of cultural sensitivities and local context
• The consultant should be independent, but part of the team, willing to share thoughts and ideas and
accept constructive criticism

Page 6 / 6