Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) Consultant

TechnoServe Public Solicitation: Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) Consultant Reference Number: RQ11214 Region: East Africa | Performance Location: Uganda Published Date: Oct 30, 2026 | Due Date: Nov 10, 2026 Notice Type: Request for Proposals Selection Criteria: - Work plan & approach (tailored to the project’s design and context) (35 pts) - Experience and past performance (35 pts) - Financial Proposal - Price, inclusive of all fees, taxes, and other charges (30 pts) Project Background: TechnoServe is a leader in harnessing the power of the private sector to help people lift themselves out of poverty. A nonprofit organization operating in 30+ countries, we work with enterprising men and women in the developing world to build competitive farms, businesses, and industries. By linking people to information, capital, and markets, we have helped millions to create lasting prosperity for their families and communities. Founded over 60 years ago, TechnoServe has been named the #1 nonprofit for fighting poverty by the Impact Matters charity ratings agency. TechnoServe Uganda is implementing the Growing Resilience and Opportunities for Wealth Through Horticulture (GROWTH) project. The project is being implemented by a consortium led by TechnoServe, in partnership with Agriterra and Wageningen University & Research (WUR) with strategic collaboration from Pearl Capital Partners. GROWTH is a five-year EKN (Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands) funded project that aims to catalyze a competitive, inclusive, and resilient horticulture sector across the five regions of Elgon, Busoga, Buganda, Rwenzori and Kigezi. This goal is achieved through four components: ● Farmer Organisations (FO) capacity strengthening. ● Improved productivity through adoption of Climate-Smart GAP practices. ● Value addition and strong market linkages. ● Access to appropriate and affordable finance The project targets to work with 100,000 market-oriented smallholder farmers (SHFs) to increase their incomes through market oriented approaches. GROWTH envisions a future where SHFs thrive as entrepreneurs, rural businesses grow sustainably, and local communities shape Uganda’s Horticulture sector. The project builds on previous EKN investments to achieve scale, deepen impact and ensure sustainable outcomes. Scope of Work: The objective of this consultancy is to provide technical support to integrate Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) throughout the GROWTH program, driving equitable opportunities for women and youth in all their diversity. The GESI Advisor will accomplish this by conducting a comprehensive GESI assessment to establish a GESI Action Plan (GAP), enhancing the GROWTH team’s capacity through targeted training, and coaching the team on GESI-responsive monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL). The GESI Advisor will execute a scope of work divided into three core pillars: Pillar 1. GESI Assessment and GESI Action Plan (GAP) Development Pillar 2. GROWTH Team Capacity Building Pillar 3. WYEE-Related MEL Guidance & Coaching Pillar 1: GESI Assessment and GESI Action Plan (GAP) Development The Advisor will identify the constraints and opportunities facing women and men of different ages at and beyond production stages of targeted agricultural value chains in Uganda. This will largely be based on synthesis of findings from context-relevant assessments, analysis of program data (baseline studies), and as needed primary data. The GESI Advisor will develop a concrete GESI Action Plan (GAP) to guide project implementation for GROWTH. Methodology: The assessment and subsequent deliverables must rely on a mixed-methods approach primarily utilizing existing data and literature, complemented by primary qualitative and quantitative data collection. Specifically, the assessment and subsequent GAP must identify and address: ● The opportunities that exist for promoting women and young people’s greater participation as entrepreneurs, farmers, and/or employees, including potential private sector companies, government actors, or other partners in Uganda who can support the program’s women and youth targets: ○ How do women and young people participate in the targeted value chains, at and ‘beyond production’ levels? ○ What chains and specific activities (e.g., production, processing, value addition, and services) offer the strongest opportunities to advance women’s and young people’s economic participation? ○ What gaps and opportunities exist for the private sector to address constraints facing women and youth? Who are the key government and private sector partners to engage in Uganda? ● The constraints women and young people face to increase their economic participation, including root causes: ○ What barriers (norms, rules, social biases, policies) exist that limit their participation as owners, managers, entrepreneurs, or employees in the targeted sector and geography? ○ What barriers exist to improving their performance in those roles? ○ What barriers and opportunities are there for women and young people to access finance? ○ What barriers prevent them from benefiting equitably from their participation? ● Potential risks associated with greater economic participation and specific mitigation strategies: ○ What are the primary risks (e.g., increased time burden, gender-based violence (GBV), loss of control over household income/assets) to women’s and youth's economic empowerment? ○ How can the GROWTH project proactively mitigate these risks through its intervention designs? ● Safeguarding policies and procedures ○ What procedures are in place to safeguard women and youth participation in economic activities? ○ What reporting channels do exist in the community and do community members know how to raise concerns? ○ Are there any referral pathways to local health, legal, and psychosocial services and are they safe and accessible? ○ Are training times, locations and routes safe , and do they account for childcare and household duties? ○ Are there separate facilities and codes of conduct for workplaces and market spaces that support women and youth involvement? ● Recommendations and Action Planning: ○ What successful interventions, lessons learned, and key success factors from similar projects in Uganda or East Africa can be applied here? ○ What specific, actionable strategies are required to meet or exceed the project's target [and TechnoServe’s minimum 40% target] to reach and benefit women? ○ How can the project partner with or leverage other public, private, or NGO initiatives already operating in the target Ugandan geographies? Data collection and analysis: ● Desk Review: Review published sex-disaggregated data, available project documents (such as baseline data), existing literature on regional gender/youth dynamics in Uganda, and tools from donors or implementing agencies targeting similar agricultural value chains. ● Key Informant Interviews (KIIs) & Focus Group Discussions (FGDs): Validate relevant findings from context-relevant GESI assessments and baseline data analysis with limited set of KIIs and FGDs with potential women, men, and youth beneficiaries (specifically distinguishing between young women and young men), women/youth representatives, community leaders, financial institutions, private sector actors, and relevant Ugandan government stakeholders. Pillar 2: GROWTH Team Capacity Building Conducting the assessment is only the first step; the project team must be equipped to implement its recommendations. The Advisor will design and deliver a targeted capacity-building program to ensure the GROWTH project team understands and can execute their respective roles in advancing women and youth economic empowerment. ● Analyze team dynamics, current GESI knowledge levels, and implementation constraints. ● Develop materials to train staff through interactive sessions focused on gender-responsive approaches, social inclusion, and youth engagement within Ugandan agricultural market systems. ● Facilitate training sessions for project staff and key partners, equipping them to operationalize the Gender Action Plan (GAP) in their daily field activities. Pillar 3: WYEE-Related MEL Guidance & Coaching To ensure accountability and measure impact, the Advisor will provide specialized Women and Youth Economic Empowerment (WYEE) guidance, frameworks, and hands-on coaching to the project's Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) team. ● Provide technical guidance on the design of sex- and age-disaggregated monitoring tools and qualitative impact assessment methodologies. ● Assist the MEL team in defining and tracking practical, sensitive indicators for women's economic empowerment (e.g., decision-making power, control over income, time use) alongside standard output tracking. ● Deliver continuous coaching to MEL and program staff on how to analyze monitoring data to troubleshoot implementation challenges, capture qualitative progress, and adjust strategies in real-time. Required Deliverables: The consultant is expected to submit the following deliverables: 1. Inception Report & Work Plan: A detailed document outlining the revised methodology, draft data collection tools (interview guides, survey questionnaires), list of targeted KII/FGD participants, and a comprehensive timeline for both the assessment and subsequent capacity-building/coaching phases. 2. Field Work Updates: Brief, weekly progress updates (written or verbal) during the active data collection phase. 3. Initial Findings Presentation (PPT) : A presentation delivered to project leadership and key stakeholders highlighting preliminary assessment findings and high-level recommendations immediately following field work. 4. Draft Women & Youth Assessment Report & Gender Action Plan (GAP) : A draft narrative report detailing the assessment findings, accompanied by a structured, practical draft GESI Action Plan outlining clear activities, responsibilities, timelines, and resources for the GROWTH project. 5. Final Women & Youth Assessment Report & Gender Action Plan (GAP): The finalized, comprehensive report incorporating feedback from the project team, featuring the fully realized, actionable GAP. 6. Staff Capacity-Building Package & Report: Copies of all training modules, hand-outs, and toolkits developed for the project team, alongside a brief training report summarizing session attendance, pre/post-test assessment scores, and recommendations for continuous learning. 7. WYEE-MEL Guidance Framework & Coaching Log : A concise technical guidance document detailing recommended WYEE indicators, monitoring methodologies, and a summary log of the hands-on coaching sessions completed with the MEL team.