REQUEST FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST Consultancy to Support a Strategy Refresh and Resource Mobilization for African Leaders for Nutrition

[email protected]

AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK

Agriculture and Agro-Industry Department (AHAI)

Rue Joseph Anoma, 01 BP 1387 Abidjan 01, Cote d’Ivoire

E-mail :

 

 

Title of the assignment : Consultant to Support a Strategy Refresh and a Resource Mobilization strategy for the African Leaders for Nutrition Initiative.

Brief description of the Assignment : The purpose of this consultancy is to support the ALN in developing a strategic refresh for the next phase of ALN initiative and mobilizing the required resources to finance the strategy. In particular, the consultant will: (i) finalize/fine tune the strategy refresh document for ALN 2.0; (ii) develop a funding strategy and (iii) advise on the ALN 2.0 implementation arrangements under the broad rubric of the Bank’s MNAP.

Specifically, the consultant will :

  1. Review the activities of the African Leaders for Nutrition (ALN) and progress made in leveraging the Bank’s voice and leadership to catalyze greater efforts towards scaling up nutrition action on the continent ;
  2. Assess the implementation of the ALN 1.0 and identify lessons learned and specific action to be implemented under the under the ALN 2.0 ;
  3. Make recommendations on how ALN can exploit the synergies with other Bank initiatives and programs in implementing the MNAP ;
  4. Develop a strategy for the refreshed ALN 2.0 that is informed by the current thinking and approaches to nutrition programming (food system approach, and the need to have both nutrition security and food security), and the impact COVID-19 pandemic; the fight against malnutrition.

Department issuing the request : AHAI.2

Place of assignment : Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire

Duration of the assignment : 45 days

Tentative Date of commencement : 1 March 2021

Detailed Terms of reference for the assignment : [TORs below]

Deadline for applications : Friday 19th February 2021

Applications to be submitted to : Ms. Olukemi Afun-Ogidan, [email protected]

TERMS OF REFERENCE

Consultancy to Support a Strategy Refresh and Resource Mobilization for African Leaders for Nutrition

 

Introduction :

The African Leaders for Nutrition (ALN) secretariat is hosted by the African Development Bank at the Agriculture and Agro-Industry Department (AHAI) in the Agriculture Research, Production and Sustainability division (AHAI2). The ALN was established in recognition of the far-reaching and long-term effects of malnutrition on the continent’s human capital potential. ALN aims to build and sustain high-level political leadership, commitment and accountability on the part of African Heads of States to invest resources in the fight against malnutrition. The ALN is a high-level platform for political engagement. The platform works to mobilize Nutrition Champions from amongst African Heads of States and Eminent Personalities and forge strong partnerships with other stakeholders working on the nutrition agenda at continental and global levels. By working with these champions, the ALN is committed to increase the visibility and strengthen political will to address complex underlying problems confronting nutrition and encourage specific policy and financial commitments to ensure improved nutrition outcomes across Africa. The political dialogue with Heads of States and Ministers of Finance is expected to accelerate progress toward the achievement of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP)/Malabo targets, the six World Health Assembly (WHA) nutrition targets, and the second Sustainable Development Goal (SDG2), through sustained and increased investment for nutrition.

African Leaders for Nutrition and the Bank’s Nutrition Agenda :

Since 2016, the nutrition agenda of the Bank has been implemented through two work streams namely (i) the African Leaders for Nutrition (ALN) and (ii) the Banking on Nutrition partnership (BON). The mandate of the ALN initiative is to advocate and encourage regional member countries to prioritize and mobilize resources for country level nutrition investment, while the BON aims to strengthen the Bank’s capacity and integrate nutrition into its lending portfolio and pipelines. The two initiatives are funded through financial support from Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) and the Big Win Philanthropy and Dangote foundation, respectively. Both the ALN and the BON have a twin goal of increasing investment in nutrition. The funding support for the BON partnership will end in November 2020. This has necessitated a strategic re-organisation of the implementation of the nutrition agenda within the Bank. As part of the strategy refresh, ALN will advocate and create demand for nutrition financing among the Bank’s regional member countries and leverage on the Bank’s voice to unlock additional resources from partners.

Over the last three years, African Leaders for Nutrition (ALN) has worked in collaboration with the African Union Commission (AUC) and partners to rally support of Heads of State and Government to prioritize investment in nutrition as part of the efforts to build human capital and industrialize the continent. During this period, important milestones have been achieved. They include enlisting of nutrition champions drawn from Heads of States and Governments and other eminent personalities. To date, ALN has enlisted eight Heads of States and Eminent Leaders as nutrition champions. These champions have been instrumental in establishing dialogue at the continental level on policy and financial requirements to address malnutrition and maintaining nutrition dialogue in the AUC political discourse. In addition, ALN together with partners developed and launched the Continental Nutrition Accountability Scorecard (CNAS) to improve tracking of progress by countries in achieving nutrition related targets and the Sustainable Development Goals. Besides providing impetus to leaders, the scorecard has

proven to be a timely tool to support identification of gaps and evidence-based decisions to drive Africa’s nutrition agenda through higher level of nutrition investment at the country level. Despite the efforts made a lot remains to be done to improve the current levels of nutrition financing remain far below the project resources needed to achieve continental, global and the World Health Assembly nutrition targets by 2025. Coupled with the negative impacts of a global COVID-19 pandemic, addressing this anomaly and increased investment in nutrition at the global, continental, and national level remain a strategic imperative.

The role of high-level political leadership in shaping investment decisions in nutrition remains key in strategies to address hunger and malnutrition in Africa. ALN works to influence priority setting by political leaders to invest in nutrition by defining and amplifying the problem in a way that follows the Bank’s country project assessment to bring a country level advocacy voice.

Need for a Strategic Shift for ALN :

The strategic refresh ALN is going through is informed by the need to sustain the gains made in coalescing and sustaining high-level political will and leadership necessary to strengthen nutrition as a priority and increase the financial commitments required to achieve the continental and global nutrition targets. In addition, the strategic refresh benefits from the lessons learnt, and the outcome of consultations with stakeholders and partners on new directions and priorities for addressing nutrition and food security, and the need to address and engage with the emerging trends in nutrition and food security as a result of the COVID 19 pandemic. The main orientation of the s refresh is described in the next section.

The strategic refresh will benefit from complementary processes that have a bearing on nutrition programming at the Bank. First, the Bank’s Human Capital, Youth and Skills Development department (AHAI) will be undertaking a midterm review to assess, and review progress made in the implementation of the Bank’s MNAP. The mid-term review will document lessons learnt and identify areas for mid-way correction and alignment for the remaining period. The outcome of this exercise will further contribute to the sharpening of the areas of focus and improvements for the ALN 2.0. Secondly, Agriculture and Agro-Industry department (AHAI) will be developing a white paper on food systems as part of the Feed Africa Strategy, to help define and determine the strategic pathways for nutrition in operations to inform the Bank’s approach and positioning. ALN will take an active part in both processes, as part of the efforts to re-align and position the Bank’s nutrition agenda.

Lessons learnt over the last three years show that high level political leadership remain a key ingredient in positioning the importance of investing in nutrition within the continental and national development agenda. The strategic refresh for ALN will build on these lessons and seek to leverage on the Bank’s voice and influence to unlock additional resources to support nutrition investment. The strategy will also seek to achieve the following broad objectives

Advocating for Increased Role of the Bank in Unlocking additional investments in nutrition projects across the Regional Member Countries :

The mandate of ALN is to advocate for increased investment in nutrition and encourage high level political leadership to prioritize nutrition as a development imperative. To achieve this, the ALN has mainly focused on external-facing advocacy to create awareness and buy-in for nutrition investment among high-level political leaders who include Heads of State and Government and ministers of finance, among others.

The ALN will seek to synergize the efforts made by AHHD and AHAI to support inward looking advocacy efforts to unlock additional resources for nutrition. Illustrative strategies to achieve this may include :

  1. Advocate for increased support for nutrition projects among the Bank’s leadership ;
  2. Develop and strengthen strategic partnerships across the continent with stakeholders to unlock additional resources for nutrition investment.

ALN will develop and strengthen strategic partnerships across the continent with stakeholders such as the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), SUN movement, HarvestPlus, the World Food Program (WFP), FAO, the Regional Economic Centres (RECs), GAIN, Global Panel, Unitlife and ACF (Action Contre la Faim- or Actions Against Hunger), among others to unlock additional resources for nutrition investment.

Promoting high-level political leadership in addressing malnutrition in Africa :

High-level political leadership remains an important pillar in positioning nutrition as a Development Imperative in Africa. Over the last three years, ALN has enabled dialogue with African leaders on improving nutrition using a variety of strategies. These include: i) enlisting and enabling nutrition champions to amplify nutrition on continental and global levels, ii) developing and promoting the use of the continental nutrition accountability scorecard, iii) convening and supporting an annual high-level side event during the assembly of AU Heads of State and Governments to review the status of nutrition, iv) providing technical advice on policy and strategies to increase investment in nutrition and establishing strategic partnerships at global and national level.

ALN will use a two-pronged approach in promoting high-level political leadership in addressing malnutrition :

  1. Current nutrition champions will be supported in a strategic manner, by assigning each champion to a specific theme, role and responsibilities. For instance, ALN will explore the possibility of leading advocacy efforts targeting nutrition investment in priority countries and regions. These will be matched with champions depending on advocacy agendas in systems such as policy systems, food systems, health systems and the social protection, among others ;
  2. ALN will leverage on the political voice and convening power of the AUC to support development of a common approach and continental voice in addressing malnutrition. The AUC has renewed the mandate of King Letsie III, as the AUC Nutrition Champion to support the implementation of the Africa Regional Nutrition Strategy (ARNS) and African Region Initiative for Stunting Elimination (ARISE). The ALN will continue to provide support to King Letsie III, in his effort to support the implementation of ARNS and other continental initiatives to eliminate hunger and malnutrition. In addition.

Promoting Accountability for results towards the 2025 Nutrition Targets :

The commitment to achieve a 40% reduction in prevalence of stunting among children below five years by 2025 was adopted by all the AU member countries. Tracking progress made and suggesting remedial options in a timely manner across the AU member states remain key to promoting accountability for results. The Continental Nutrition Accountability Scorecard is an important tool for advocacy and holding African leaders to account for the commitments they have embraced. Considering that the target year for the achievement of the various nutrition targets go beyond 2025, supporting the AU to sustain the tempo in holding Heads of State and Governments accountable to deliver the nutrition commitments will be important strategic imperative for addressing malnutrition in Africa

ALN will work with the AU to mobilize country-led actions to address malnutrition, by monitoring and highlighting the progress of its activities and the broader impact of countries’ efforts on nutrition, through forums such as the AU Summit among others. The newly developed digital CNAS platform will be used to showcase performance by each member state and guide investment decision making and spur action. ALN will hold a high-level event at the

side-lines of the African Union Summit, to present the status of malnutrition in the continent and create additional impetus for addressing the underlying cause of poor nutrition.

The purpose of the Consultancy :

The purpose of this consultancy is to support the ALN in developing a strategic refresh for the next phase of ALN initiative and mobilizing the required resources to finance the strategy. In particular, the consultant will: (i) finalize/fine tune the strategy refresh document for ALN 2.0; develop a funding strategy and (iii) advise on the ALN 2.0 implementation arrangements under the broad rubric of the Bank’s MNAP.

Specifically, the consultant will :

  1. Review the activities of the African Leaders for Nutrition (ALN) and progress made in leveraging the Bank’s voice and leadership to catalyse greater efforts towards scaling up nutrition action on the continent ;
  2. Assess the implementation of the ALN 1.0 and identify lessons learned and specific action to be implemented under the under the ALN 2.0 ;
  3. Make recommendations on how ALN can exploit the synergies with other Bank initiatives and programs in implementing the MNAP ;
  4. Develop a strategy for the refreshed ALN 2.0 that is informed by the current thinking and approaches to nutrition programming (food system approach, and the need to have both nutrition security and food security), and the impact COVID-19 pandemic; the fight against malnutrition.

Scope of Work :

The scope of work will include the following activities :

  1. Examine all the key documents in relation to the MNAP and the ALN implementation, annual work programmes and reports, ALN administrative setting and working relations with other operational units of the Bank in charge of nutrition under the overall framework of the Multisectoral Nutrition Action Plan (AHHD, BON; WASH, TAAT, Feed Africa, Bank operational units in charge of Livestock, Fisheries and Nutrition etc.) ;
  2. Hold consultations with all the relevant partners such as the AU Commission on Social Affairs, AU Commission in charge of Rural Economy and Agriculture, Banking on nutrition partnership, and the Bank operational divisions such as AHHD, AHAI.2 ;
  3. Identify potential donors, their funding modalities, timelines, and requirements ;
  4. Work with the ALN team to finalize the concept note for ALN 2.0 ;
  5. Assess the ALN institutional setting and propose the required human, technical, and financial capacity as well as the capacity strengthening needs for the ALN secretariat ;
  6. Assist in the identification of opportunities for the ALN 2.0 to help advance the Bank’s work on nutrition across the continent ;
  7. For the financing strategy of the ALN, the consultant will propose a list of donors to reach out to (Islamic Development Bank, Big Win Philanthropy, Aliko Dangote Foundation, WFP etc.); There may be need to get a consortium of donors to finance the ALN 2.0, contrary to what happen during the first phase which was fully funded by a single donor ;
  8. Assist ALN in mapping out a more active country presence for example through use of the SUN focal points, the ALN Champions and the Bank national representation.

Expected Deliverables : 

  • An inception report taking stock of current funding streams and funding outlook ;
  • A revised ALN 2.0 concept note, including the institutional and implementation arrangements to deliver the proposed strategy ;
  • A mapping of donor interests, priorities, funding windows and clear point of actions that should be taken to mobilize the required funds to support ALN 2.0 ;
  • A comprehensive resource mobilization strategy that includes overview of the situation, strategies and timebound actions plan to raise funds for ALN ;
  • Proposal to potential donors.

Duration of contract :

The period of performance will be approximately forty-five (45 days).

Qualifications and Experience :

Qualification :

  • Master’s degree in marketing, business administration, economics, communication, or other relevant discipline ;
  • Fund raising and resources mobilization skills ;
  • Mastery of English or French communication skills, both written and oral; ability to effectively communicate both internally and externally ;
  • The ability to work collaboratively with teams ;
  • Excellent problem-solving skills and an ability to work within tight deadlines ;
  • A commitment to excellence in order to meet high quality standards expected internally and externally ;
  • Ability to work independently with minimal supervision.

Experience :

Essential :

  • Five years of relevant experience in corporate fundraising, preferably in an international setting ;
  • Proven track record of generating significant funding ;
  • Experience and expertise in developing and maintaining good relationships with institutional donors or corporations.

Desirable : Relevant experience working with AfDB or other development partners. o Knowledge of African context and initiatives;

Competencies :

Behavioural Competencies :

  • Capable of working independently as well as being an active team member ;
  • Respect to others o Attention to details.

Technical Competencies :

  • Fundraising and resources mobilization skills o Excellent writing and communication skills ;
  • Demonstrate numerical and budgetary skills, including preparing fundraising budgets ;
  • Proven track record of writing high quality and funded concepts, proposals, and templates that meet donors’ requirements.

Please attach an updated Curriculum Vitae on the basis of the template below :

MODEL CURRICULUM VITAE – AFDB BAD PDF