Call for Consultant: Gender and Social Inclusion (GESI) Assessment for Smallholder Farmers in Tanzania

Terms of Reference for a Consultancy to Conduct

GESI Assessment to Understand Gender Inequalities Affecting Smallholder Farmers in the Southern Highlands of Tanzania

1. Introduction

Rikolto is an international NGO with over 50 years of experience partnering with farmer organizations and food chain stakeholders across Africa, Asia, Europe, and Latin America. Our work is focused on three global programmes: the Rice Programme, the Cocoa & Coffee Programme, and the Good Food for Cities Programme.

Our mission is to promote sustainable income for farmers and provide nutritious, affordable food for everyone through trust and trade among the food industry, governments, research institutions, financial bodies, and farmers' organizations — addressing the pivotal question: ‘What will we eat tomorrow?’

Rikolto's global strategy aims for structural changes in the agri-food system and the upscaling of effective practices and policies that unlock the farming potential of a critical mass of smallholder farmers. Clear agendas for structural change and scaling are established, leading to the development of specific strategies and actions. This is followed by designing concrete interventions in pilot chains to experiment, learn, and gather evidence to influence agreed changes.

2. Project Background and Summary

Rikolto in Tanzania has recently secured funding from REDAA to implement a project titled NATURE FUNDI (Nature and Agriculture Transformation by Unlocking Resources to Ensure Funding for the Unbanked and Deepening Inclusion), which will run from 2024 to 2027.

The project was developed in response to environmental challenges caused by unsustainable farming practices among smallholder farmers. In sectors such as rice, horticulture, and cocoa-coffee, farmers operating near sensitive ecosystems often contribute to environmental degradation.

This project targets the implementation of a credit-based incentive mechanism, designed and tested by local stakeholders to address this issue. In the first phase, the project will reach 5,000 smallholders, with expansion to 100,000 over ten years. The initiative emphasises stakeholder-led action research to facilitate sustainable resource use, inform policy, and guide other actors — demonstrating effective environmental conservation practices alongside agricultural productivity.

3. The Assignment

Gender inequality and social inclusion are critical components in achieving sustainable development. Rikolto Tanzania seeks to engage a gender expert to conduct a GESI assessment for the NATURE FUNDI project in Mbeya and Katavi regions.

The consultant will identify the roles and responsibilities of women, youth, and marginalized populations across the agricultural value chain (production, input supply, aggregation, transport, processing, marketing, and consumption), and explore opportunities to expand their business prospects and access to finance.

The assessment will also engage formal and informal financial institutions to understand barriers in providing financial services to women, youth, and marginalized populations, and explore how NATURE FUNDI can promote their inclusion. The study should use both qualitative and quantitative methods, combining fieldwork with desk research.

The consultant will be expected to intensively examine the following areas:

• Review existing studies and data on gender in the Tanzanian context, especially within finance and the relevant value chains.
• Collect primary data from stakeholders including financial institutions (FIs), farmer groups, women’s groups, youth groups, and agri-enterprises, to understand the current roles and challenges for women in agricultural finance.
• Analyze data to determine the roles, contributions, challenges, and gaps affecting women, youth, and marginalized groups in the agriculture and finance sectors.
• Assess intra-household power dynamics, roles, and control over resource allocation in households involved in rice, horticulture, cocoa, and coffee production.
• Understand household and community dynamics including formal and informal financial sources.
• Explore gender and age dynamics in agricultural entrepreneurship and operations, especially regarding access to property and collateral.
• Assess enabling environment factors (laws, policies, norms) affecting access to finance for target groups.
• Evaluate availability and suitability of specialized and non-specialized financial services for these groups, and recommend appropriate product designs (e.g. alternative collateral such as digital transaction history).
• Assess how financial institutions perceive risks and opportunities in lending to women, youth, and marginalized populations.

The GESI assessment will propose specific inclusion targets for gender, youth, and marginalized populations, to be integrated into the NATURE FUNDI Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) framework.

Specific Tasks:

• Develop a work plan for the assignment in consultation with Rikolto.
• Review and summarize relevant desk research prior to field visits.
• Develop stakeholder-specific interview tools, including for financial institutions and value chain actors.
• Conduct fieldwork in Mbeya, Songwe, and Katavi to engage relevant stakeholders and initiatives.
• Interview women, youth, and marginalized farmers involved in project value chains to assess decision-making, operations, and financial behaviours.
• Conduct gender-focused assessments of community microfinance groups.
• Analyze gender dynamics in access, ownership, and control of resources and infrastructure.
• Investigate household and community-level decision-making processes and access to power.
• Identify systems promoting inclusion and enabling environments for the engagement of marginalized groups.
• Compile and analyze field and literature data.
• Document barriers and opportunities faced by target populations.
• Develop practical recommendations to improve access to finance and financial inclusion.
• Submit a final report including findings, gaps, recommendations, targets, and outcomes.

Deliverables:

• Literature review summary prior to fieldwork
• Interview tools by stakeholder type
• Final assessment report with findings and recommendations
• Presentation/validation session with Nature Fundi stakeholders
• Annex: List of stakeholders interviewed

Qualifications:

• A postgraduate or undergraduate degree in gender studies or related fields
• At least 5 years of experience conducting gender assessments in agri-business or agri-finance
• Strong interpersonal, analytical, and communication skills
• Ability to work independently and respectfully with diverse stakeholders

4. Mode of Application

Qualified candidates (individual consultants or firms) are invited to submit the following documents:

• Cover letter
• CV of proposed consultant(s) with client references
• Contact details of at least 3 organizations where similar services were recently provided
• Samples of 2–3 related previous assignments (assessment/evaluation/survey reports)

📧 Submit your application via email to: eastafrica.recruitment@rikolto.org
📅 Deadline: 30 June 2025

Please indicate the title of the consultancy and the source of the advertisement in the subject line.
Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. If you do not hear from us within two weeks of the deadline, consider your application unsuccessful.

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