CONSULTANCY FOR PROPOSAL DEVELOPMENT -GRANT WRITER

TERMS OF REFERENCE FOR PROPOSAL DEVELOPMENT

Improved Resilience of Local Communities in Masinga Sub County, Machakos County

Habitat for Humanity Kenya (HFHK) is seeking the services of a consultant with experience in writing Water, Sanitation and Hygiene proposals for BMZ, EU or USAID to develop a 30-page proposal on Water, Sanitation and Food Security, targeting 3 villages within Masinga Sub County in Machakos County. This will support the application for funding from the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). Economic empowerment through Water for Multiple Uses is emerging as a possibility for enhancing the resilience of communities in the Semi-Arid Lands of Masinga Sub County.

1. Background and Rationale

Habitat for Humanity Kenya (HFHK) is among the 70 country affiliates of HFH International (HFHI). We report to the Africa Area Office (AAO) together with other 8 National Organizations (NOs). In Kenya, we were registered in 1982 as a Non-Governmental Organization, with the goal of enabling low-income families to access decent and affordable shelter. In the last 40 years, HFHK has supported more than 345,000 families across 9 counties in Kenya through housing micro-finance and direct construction. We are currently operating in Laikipia, Homa Bay, Kisumu, Tana River, Machakos, Makueni and Nairobi Counties. Our current Business Plan (2020-2025) has outlined four programmatic areas, namely: Financing for Owner-led Construction (FOC); Settlement-Based Practice (SBP); Secure Land Tenure (SLT); Disaster Risk Reduction & Response (DR3).

HFHK’s programs has been based in Machakos County since 2016, with a portfolio of interventions on Home Construction, Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH), Schools Infrastructure, Table Banking, Land Rights and Cash transfers. As part of initiatives for enhancing the resilience of settlements and communities in the Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASALs), we are exploring the possibility of designing a new project for the BMZ funding. The project is aimed at improving the resilience of local communities in Masinga Sub County, Machakos County. The proposed project is exploring Water, Sanitation and Hygiene ‘ being delivered to ‘rural populations’ through ‘access to water” for drinking (domestic and livestock), improved access to sanitation facilities, better water and sanitation behaviors and practices, use of water for agriculture and improved social structures (cooperatives). Mukameni, Thatha and Mukusu Villages in Masinga Sub County are being considered for this new project.

2.Purpose and Objectives

In May 2024, the initial project idea from HFHK was submitted to BMZ, giving way to the current proposal development phase. Consequently, HFHK and the County Government of Machakos conducted a rapid needs assessment across the 3 target villages of Masinga Sub County in preparation for a comprehensive Needs Assessment that will provide the required information for drafting a 30-page proposal targeting more than 850,000 Euros in funding from BMZ for a 2025 project. The components of this proposal will be subjected to a Feasibility Study to shape the final design. Below are the timelines of major events occurring before, during and after the development phase:

Milestones Weeks Status

a) Rapid Needs Assessment 18th to 20th April 2024 Completed

b) Needs Assessment Exercise 1st August 15th August 2024 Preparing

c) Proposal & Budget (1st draft) 12th to 30th August 2024 Not yet Started

d) Feasibility Study 16th Aug to 30th Aug 2024 Not yet Started

e) Proposal & Budget (2nd draft 1st Sept to 6th Sept 2024 Not yet Started

This consultancy will be to lead on the development of a strong and comprehensive proposal and accompanying budget, embedding the results from the needs assessment and feasibility study reports. The specific objectives for this task, are outlined below. The consultant will be required to undertake the following:

1. Read and understand all the BMZ application guidelines and tools for projects exceeding funding of 100,000 Euros.
2. Prepare a proposal development plan with dates and contacts in collaboration with the HfH Kenya, HfH Germany and other key stakeholders.
3. Conduct internal/external desk analysis through literature review and meetings with the proposal team comprising Habitat for Humanity and the County Government of Machakos.
4. Harvest and consolidate information from HFHK’s Scoping Mission Report, HFHK’s Needs Assessment Report (2023), Rapid Assessment Report (2024), Machakos County Integrated Development Plan and other reference materials from state and non-state actors in Machakos County.
5. Map out a Problem Tree and Solution Tree based on priority areas emerging from the reports.
6. Develop a Design Matrix for the major components of the proposal and share it with all parties for comments.
7. Conduct a SWOT Analysis for the proposed interventions using similar projects operated by other stakeholders to identify relevant inputs for the BMZ proposal.
8. Harvest major risks of the projects through an online group session involving key staff from Habitat for Humanity and the County Government of Machakos.
9. Identify and integrate best practices and learnings from projects being implemented by other organizations in the Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASALs) of Kenya.
10. Harvest information from the Feasibility Study to refine the components of the Project Proposal.
11. Fill out the BMZ’s Application Form with details of a 30-page proposal costing approximately 850,000 Euros.
12. Ensure that the tone, content, and design of the full proposal correspond to the requirements of BMZ.

3.Scope of Work

The final BMZ proposal should provide the following details:

a. Highlight the social, economic, political, ecological and human rights issues being addressed by the project.

b. Describe the characteristics of the individuals benefiting from the project and the indirect beneficiaries.

c). Showcase the importance and relevance of the project towards improving people’s living conditions locally.

d). Demonstrate the contribution of the project to the overarching development goal and policy framework of the government.

e). Describe the project location with a focus on those framework conditions and actors that are relevant for the project development and implementation.

f). Describe how the target group and development actors were involved in project development.

g). Indicate the development actors implementing similar activities and synergies being leveraged to strengthen the project impact.

h). Illustrate the significance, effectiveness and efficiency of the project’s goals, objectives, sub-objectives and activities.

i).Show which goals the project will be pursuing within the planned project duration and the changes are to be achieved.

j).Formulate objectives that are realistic and target group oriented.

k).Provide a perfect match of indicators with precise target values that are measurable.

l).Indicate the quarterly timing and duration of activities in a Gantt Chart.

m).Explain the activities to be achieved showing their causal relationship to sub-objectives.

n).Outline operating expenses and investment expenses for project activities and supporting tasks on a budget template.

o).Reveal the economic viability and appropriateness of the corresponding expenses.

p).Describe what circumstances that could affect the implementation and/or achievement of the project objectives and plans for keeping the risks as low as possible.

q).Explain how the project will ensure that the positive project impacts prevail beyond the end of the project period.

In fulfilling the proposal requirements, the consultant will fit the above-mentioned details in the relevant sections of the BMZ application template. The quality of this proposal will be assessed based on how the pieces of information provided by the consultant match the specific notes on mandatory sections of the BMZ application template.

4. Methodology

The proposal drafting process requires four stages of data collection:

4.1 Undertaking a Desk Review to collect and analyze existing data from the following documents:

1. Scoping Mission Report
2. HFHK Needs Assessment Report 2024
3. HFH Rapid Assessment Report 2024
4. Feasibility Study Report
5. The 3rd County Integrated Development Plan (CIDP-III)
6. Documents that may be provided by HFHK and the CGL in due course.
7. Documents that may be sourced by the consultant in due course.

4.2 Engage subject matter specialists from Habitat for Humanity and County Government of Machakos to synthesize data from the needs assessment and feasibility study to inform the project design on the following areas:

1. Problem and solutions
2. Partnerships
3. Target Groups
4. Anticipated results (impact, outcomes, outputs)
5. Possible risks
6. Sustainability measures

4.3 Attending the following online presentations or meetings:

1. Needs Assessment Presentations
2. Feasibility Study presentations
3. Meetings organized by HFHK in relation to proposal development.

5. Deliverables and Timings

The expected outputs of this consultancy include the following:

1. The 30-page proposal filled on the BMZ Application Form
2. Expense filled on BMZ Budget Template
3. Gantt Chart
4. Risk Register

The consultancy is expected to take 25 days, staggered between the 1st August 2024 and the 6th September 2024. The consultant is expected to work very closely with the HFHK management and the County Government of Machakos in the development of the proposal. The deliverables of this assignment are as follows:

Task Days

(a) Attending the Proposal Kick-off meeting 1 day

(b) Presenting Proposal Development Plan 1 day

(c) Desk review to harvest information from initial studies 3 days

(d) Developing and sharing the design matrix 2 day

(e) Conducting and sharing a SWOT Analysis 2 days

(f) Online session to harvesting Risks 1 day

(h) Desk Review of similar projects in other areas 2 day

(i) Producing, presenting and integrating comments on the 1st draft 5 days

(j) Attending Feasibility Study Presentation and harvesting information from the document 2 day

(K) Reviewing, presenting and integrating comments on the 2nd draft 3 days

(L)Filling out the BMZ application template 3 Day

(M)Total 25 days

The 1st draft proposal is due by the 30th of August 2024 while the final report is due by the 06th of September 2024. The final proposal should answer the specific guiding questions from the comprehensive guidelines of the BMZ Application Form.

6. Qualification and Experience

The potential Consultant should be knowledgeable on needs assessment processes for development initiatives targeting rural populations in Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASALs). The following qualifications are essential:

• Advanced Degree in Development Studies, Project Management, Business Management, Resource Mobilization, International relations or other related fields.
• 10 years’ experience and above in Project Design and effective Proposal Writing for international donors.
• Proven experience with the BMZ proposal development and application process.
• Good understanding of Project Logical Flow and budgeting process.
• Excellent writing skills and ability to communicate complex technical issues in a clear and compelling way, responsive to priorities, interests and strategies of donors.
• Strong track record in successful delivery of multi-stakeholder project design and proposal writing.
• Experience in delivering virtual/online participatory planning processes.
• Track record of meeting deadlines and responding to requests and feedback provided timely and appropriately.
• Willingness to be flexible and accommodating to adjustments that come with short notice.