Terms of Reference

Consultancy to carry out a Gender Analysis of focal fisheries in the Greater Kafue Ecosystem Zambia.

Summary

Purpose To undertake a Gender Analysis of seven focal fisheries areas in the Greater Kafue Ecosystem. The collected information will be used to facilitate improved participation and integration of women in sustainable fisheries management initiatives

Location Select areas in Itezhi-Tezhi, Mumbwa, Kasempa, Ngabwe and Mufumbwe Districts, Zambia

Duration 9 months

Estimated start date 7th October 2024

Reporting to Conservation Director, TNC Zambia

Background

The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is investing in community-based conservation initiatives that aim to engage local communities and promote equitable participation in natural resource management to benefit people and nature. Aquatic ecosystems are a critical natural resource management and conservation focal point due to the intrinsic links between healthy well managed catchments and ecosystems goods and services provision. Fish and fisheries are arguably the most important natural resource with a significant contribution to protein provision, essential micronutrients, income, and climate change resilience. TNCs goal is to safeguard freshwater resources and the fisheries they support for ecosystem health, biodiversity protection, livelihood security, and nutrition. At the heart of the Kafue River basin is the 66 000km2 Greater Kafue Ecosystem (GKE), a protected area network consisting of the Kafue National Park, surrounding Game Management Area’s and communal land. The GKE is a key landscape for TNC in Zambia, where significant terrestrial conservation investments have already been made. Ensuring protection and sustainable utilization of aquatic habitats is a priority moving forward. Aquatic habitats across the GKE consist of large rivers, smaller streams, seasonal floodplains, wetlands and dambo’s that together form a mosaic of exceptionally productive habitats. These diverse aquatic habitats support several multi-species, multi-method, artisanal, commercial, and recreational fisheries.
Fishing and its associated activities (fish trading & processing, boat building etc.) represent some of the mainstay activities of rural communities here, however, fisheries across the Kafue have experienced significant biodiversity and ecological impacts including severe declines in catch rates, loss of larger more valuable species and an increase in the use of more environmentally damaging gears as catch rates decline. As a result, the livelihoods benefits communities are highly reliant on, such as protein, income, or supplementary income are compromised. Impacts of this are particularly magnified for women due to gender roles and inequalities in the fisheries sector. While women play significant roles in various aspects of fisheries, including fish processing, marketing & sale, trade, gear manufacture and repair, their contributions often go unrecognized and undervalued. Women are also vulnerable to various social issues such ‘sex for fish’ exchanges that can facilitate the spread of HIV/AIDS are driven by poverty and the need for economic opportunities. Limited access to resources such as fishing gear, credit, and decision-making power within fisheries governance further exacerbates gender disparities. Gender-based barriers, including unequal access to education and training opportunities, cultural expectations regarding women’s roles, and discriminatory practices within the sector, hinder women’s full participation and economic empowerment. Despite efforts to promote gender equality in fisheries, persistent challenges remain, highlighting the need for targeted interventions to address underlying inequalities and enhance women’s inclusion and empowerment in the Zambian fisheries sector. Women’s full involvement and economic empowerment are impeded by gender-based barriers, which include unequal access to education and training opportunities, cultural expectations on women’s roles, and discriminatory behaviours within the industry. Persistent obstacles exist in the face of efforts to advance gender equality in the fishing industry, underscoring the necessity of focused interventions to address underlying disparities and improve women’s participation and empowerment in Zambia’s fishing industry.
Working towards addressing these issues, The Nature Conservancy (TNC) has launched the Kafue Sustainable Fisheries Programme, which focusses on community-based fisheries initiatives in target fisheries across the GKE. These initiatives will be science-based and use context specific information on fish and fisheries to inform sustainable fisheries management strategies. The Nature Conservancies conservation work is underpinned by an approach that integrates gender equity into conservation. Balanced representation and equitable involvement of women in natural resource governance and management has myriad demonstrable benefits that include improved resource management; enhanced livelihoods benefits; social equity; economic development; and health and wellbeing. Men and women also use natural resources differently and have unique knowledge about natural resources that are both critical towards informing management and resource conservation. Therefore, assessing fisheries with a gender lens provides a current Analysis of women’s roles in fisheries and outlines the pathway towards equitable participation in fisheries decision making that will be essential in development of sustainable fisheries initiatives.
To do this, TNC are seeking to engage a consultant to assess the role of women in fisheries that considers various factors, contexts, and perspectives across the communities represented in the focal GKE fisheries. The specific objectives and tasks to be performed under this consultancy are articulated below under the Objectives and Activities section of this TOR. In summary, the consultant will be expected to 1) analyse vulnerability to climate change and disasters at the community level, and the potential capacity within the community for dealing with climate change and disasters. 2) combine community knowledge and scientific data to gain understanding about local risks and 3) prepare a succinct report inclusive of a portfolio of solutions that will directly inform local level action plans to reduce the risks from disasters and climate change impacts using nature. This information will be used to enhance the impact of TNCs work across the GKE by providing guidance and frameworks for incorporating climate adaptation strategies into TNCs current workstreams.

Purpose of contract

Conduct a fisheries gender analysis on select communities within focal fisheries (see map for reference below) of the Kafue system that includes six significant fishing areas: 1. The Lake Itezhi-Tezhi commercial fishery; 2. Nanzhila swamp traditional fishery; 3. Kaingu-Hook Bridge traditional fishery; 4. Busanga swamp traditional fishery; 5. Kaindu artisanal multi-use fishery; 6. Jifumpa artisanal multi-use fishery. The specific purpose of this gender analysis will be to identify gender-based disparities and inequalities to meaningful participation in fisheries management, access to productive resources, threats and risks, assets, services and opportunities. These will be used to provide recommendations for the Kafue Sustainable Fisheries Project positioning and engagement in the gender and women in resource management and governance.

Objectives and Scope of Work
The consultant is required to work closely with TNC experts to undertake all work identified below based on the review of data and results of ongoing work carried out by TNC and its fisheries partners. Information collection and contextualisation will require engagement of relevant stakeholders, including government, conservation organisations, fishing communities, women’s organizations (Community Based Organisations, cooperatives etc.), and research institutions, throughout the Analysis process. Their active participation, input, and collaboration will be critical to identify challenges and develop gender-responsive strategies and interventions.

Objectives:

• Understand the role of women in fisheries and the associated threats and risks.
• Develop baseline of performance on gender integration in the Project with a view to introducing an ongoing process of benchmarking to measure progress in promoting gender equality and women empowerment.
• To develop a framework to inform gender integration into sustainable fisheries interventions.
• To strengthen and finalize the gender strategy.
• To develop a participatory Gender Action Plan for the Project

Specific tasks

• Task 1 – Inception meeting -Presentation providing a detailed, methodology, including the data collection tools to be used, a clear workplan and budget presented to a Project stakeholders’ meeting for approval. The stakeholders meeting will be held in Itezhi-Tezhi and organised by the consultant with resources included in the Consultant’s budget.
• Task 2 – Literature Review – Conduct a thorough review of existing literature, research, and reports on women’s roles in fisheries and gender inequality in Zambia. This review summarises the current knowledge, trends, and challenges related to gender dynamics in fisheries. This review should also identify gaps in existing policies (Zambia Fisheries and Aquaculture Policy 2022), legal frameworks (Fisheries Act no 22. Of 2011), and institutional mechanisms (community-based fisheries management groups, fisher and fish traders associations, fishing cooperatives, fisheries management committees) for promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment in fisheries.
• Task 3 – Field Data Collection: Collect primary data through surveys, interviews, focus group discussions, and participatory methods to gather insights from women involved in fisheries, as well as relevant stakeholders such as government agencies, fishing communities, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). This data should capture information on women’s participation, roles, contributions, decision-making power, access to resources, and experiences of gender discrimination or inequality.
• Task 4 – Report – the role of women in fisheries with explicit incorporation of the following aspects/considerations:
  – Analysis of Gender Roles: Analyse the roles and responsibilities of women in fisheries, including their involvement in various activities such as fishing, processing, trading, and other fisheries associated activities. Compare these roles with those of men to identify disparities and gender-specific challenges.
  – Analysis of Access to Resources: Examine women’s access to critical resources such as fishing gear, boats, credit, markets, and training opportunities.
  – Exploration of Social Norms and Cultural Practices: Explore the influence of social norms, cultural practices, and gender stereotypes on women’s participation and empowerment in fisheries. Understand how these factors shape gender roles, attitudes, and behaviours within fishing communities and society at large.
  – Evaluation of Decision-making Power: Assess women’s participation in decision-making processes at various levels of fisheries governance, including within households, communities, fisher associations, and government institutions.
  – Gender based barriers: This is a cross-cutting issue and has implications across many of the above objectives. Evaluate the extent to which gender-based barriers limit women’s access to these resources and opportunities for economic empowerment, hinder women’s meaningful participation and influence in decision-making forums in the fisheries sector.
  – Gender based vulnerabilities & threats: Document gender specific threats such as gender-based violence, sex for fish exchanges and outline measures to mitigate these.
• Task 5 – Develop project baseline – Evaluate baseline of performance on gender integration in the Kafue Sustainable Fisheries Project with a view to introducing an ongoing process of benchmarking to measure progress in promoting gender equality and women empowerment.
• Task 6 – Gender Action Plan: Framework to inform gender integration into sustainable fisheries interventions – through summary and contextualisation of the above objectives, inform best practice guidelines for integration of women into the implementation of sustainable fisheries initiatives including but not limited to: fisheries co-management initiatives, fisheries governance and management structures, initiatives reducing post-harvest losses, initiatives optimising fisheries value chains (e.g improved transport and cold storage).

Note: The successful organization/individual will be required to work closely with TNC and its partners in the GKE, including local communities, government, NGOs and private sector partners. The work required will involve long periods of time in the field in very remote settings. The successful organization/individual will need to be fully self-sufficient with the ability to operate independently in the field for the entire duration of the study.

Deliverables and timelines:
Deliverable Timeline (from contract signing)
Task 1 – Inception presentation & report 2 weeks
Task 2 – Literature review 6 weeks
Task 3 a) Field Data Collection Plan 8 weeks
b) Field Data Collection Report 16 weeks
Task 4 – Gender Report – a) Greater Kafue Ecosystem Fisheries – presentation of findings for discussion and input from project team 24 weeks
Task 4 b) Final Gender Report 28 weeks
Task 5 – Develop project baselines 30 weeks
Task 6 – Gender Action Plan 36 weeks

Products Delivery

Final report including all supporting information and data in Microsoft excel format must be delivered electronically as stipulated to: Bruce Ellender – bruce.ellender@tnc.org and Christopher Namilonga – christopher.namilonga@tnc.org.

Selection Criteria

1. Registered and licenced organisation or individuals eligible to do consultancy works in Zambia.
2. Individual consultants or organisation with individuals possessing the following academic qualifications & experience;
1) Educational Background & Professional Experience:

• Postgraduate degree in Gender Studies, Social Sciences, Fisheries Management, Environmental Science, or a related field of natural resource management.
• Several years of experience in conducting gender analyses or gender-related research, preferably within the context of natural resource management or fisheries in Zambia.
• Experience working in Zambia and similar contexts in Sub-Saharan Africa an added advantage.

2) Specific expertise & skills:

Gender Analysis Expertise:

• Understanding of gender concepts and frameworks.
• Ability to identify gender-based disparities and dynamics in fisheries.
• Familiarity with gender mainstreaming tools and methodologies.
• Knowledge of relevant national and international gender policies and frameworks.

Fisheries Knowledge:

• In-depth knowledge of fisheries management, practices, and policies.
• Understanding of the socio-economic and cultural contexts of the fishing communities in Zambia.

Research Skills:

• Qualitative and quantitative research skills.
• Proficiency in conducting surveys, interviews, and focus group discussions.
• Data analysis skills using tools like SPSS, R, or NVivo.

Stakeholder Engagement:

• Ability to engage with various stakeholders, including local communities, government officials, NGOs, and fishing industry representatives.
• Strong communication and facilitation skills to conduct participatory workshops and discussions.
• Proficiency in English.
• Knowledge of local languages in the Greater Kafue Ecosystem can be a significant advantage for fieldwork and community engagement.
• Understanding and respect for the local culture and gender norms.
• Ability to navigate and address sensitive gender issues appropriately.

Report Writing and Presentation:

• Proficiency in writing clear and comprehensive reports.
• Ability to present findings and recommendations effectively to diverse audiences.

Call for Applications

Please send your technical proposal, cover letter, financial proposal and sample of relevant work by 11:59 pm, October 1st 2024, to Africa Tenders – africa.tenders@tnc.org and copy Bruce Ellender – bruce.ellender@tnc.org and Christopher Namilonga – christopher.namilonga@tnc.org. In the email subject in application: refer to “Consultancy to carry out a Gender Analysis of focal fisheries in the Greater Kafue Ecosystem Zambia – Zambia”