Community-led Agroecology Initiatives Research

Service Provider – Terms of Reference – Community-led Agroecology Initiatives Research

Entity: ActionAid Arab Region AAAR

Location: Jordan

Duration: 30 days

Expected start of Assignment: 10/8/2024

1. Introduction:

ActionAid is a global justice Federation working to achieve social justice, gender equality, and poverty eradication with headquarters in Johannesburg, South Africa. ActionAid is working all around the world with country programs, affiliates, and regional offices, Today, ActionAid is present in 48 countries.

ActionAid has been present in the Arab Region since the mid-2000s in Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, and Tunisia.

AAAR’s work is mainly focusing on the following programme priorities:

• Women’s Rights, building feminist leadership to prevent and respond to violence against women and girls.
• Youth and Community-led humanitarian action, Strengthening preparedness and crisis response through women and youth leadership.
• Fostering civic and political engagement and increasing the employability of young people, fostering young people’s agency to influence decision-makers and create opportunities.
• Climate Justice, raising awareness on climate change, fostering youth participation in climate action.

Background:

Jordan, Palestine, and Lebanon are countries impacted by climate consequences such as floods and heat waves. These climate threats encourage communities to enhance their resilience against climate devastation. Recent technical climate reports indicate that Jordan and Lebanon will face challenges related to reduced access to water due to climate change, directly and negatively impacting public health, agriculture, and food security. These extreme climatic changes will create a domino effect, reducing agricultural and food production and causing a decline in economic livelihoods. Climate change is both a result and a symptom of the dysfunction of the current system and can only be truly addressed by systemic change. Climate Justice is a movement to transform the global economic system and ensure the just redistribution of resources. Therefore, achieving True Climate Justice requires more than just technical and scientific efforts. A significant aspect of attaining Climate Justice is addressing inequalities within the food system. Agroecology is recognized as a model for the food system, built on solidarity with and among affected communities whose voices have been silenced in the fight against climate change, particularly women who feed their communities while men engage in profitable enterprises.

The SPA II Project, which started in 2022 and is being implemented by our local partners, has so far focused on capacity building and raising awareness about climate justice, as well as increasing national momentum to advocate for sustainable green solutions and national youth climate leadership. However, SPA II has the potential for greater strategic influence, especially in the most vulnerable communities. Therefore, we aim to expand our efforts to target the most vulnerable groups and local CBOs that serve women and youth in the agricultural sector. This will enhance agroecology practices and improve the capacity of CBOs working in agriculture.

2. Scope of work

Objective:

ActionAid Arab Region (AAAR) is in the process of implementing a research on “Exploring the Potential of Communities and Agriculture Associations for Agroecology: Opportunities and Challenges” to identify and understand the situation of agroecology on Jordan.

Responsibilities:

• Conduct research and analysis.

• Collaborate with AAAR team to collect data from national and local entities that are related to the research.

• Consolidate and synthesize research findings.

• Proactively identify and propose alternative solutions to improve the performance and accuracy of the data.

3.Deliverables and Timeline:

Deliverables

• Draft of the research
• Final study report and position paper
• Presentation of the research’s main outcomes

4. Budget:

The total estimate for the required tasks is 3000 JOD (including taxes and any other applicable taxes), paid after receiving the deliverables.

5. Confidentiality and copyright:

The expert agrees to the confidential nature of the research and the findings of his mission. AAAR owns the rights to all of the materials that will be produced under this research.

6. Submission of Proposal:

Qualifications:

• Graduate degree in development studies, humanities/social sciences, agricultural economics, legal or political studies, and other related studies. The Ph.D. degree will give an added advantage.

• Strong background in research, development economics, and agriculture.

• Experience in senior expertise: 8 to 10 years of experience in consulting on the theme of advocacy, agroecology; agricultural policy research and development.

• Knowledge and skills: research, exceptional written and verbal communication skills, policy analysis.

• Fluent in Arabic and English.

  Submit application include the following:

  • Cover letter including the financial offer.

  • Technical offer stating the methodology to be used for the mission.

  • Resume.

  • Professional references and publications The deadline for submission is 14/7/2024.