Routes to Market Consultant (Re-Advertised)

Routes to Market Consultant (Re-Advertised)

Terms of Reference

Background: Fairtrade Marketing Organization Eastern Africa believes in a world where all producers can enjoy secure and sustainable livelihoods and fulfil their potential.
Fairtrade is a global movement, which addresses the injustices of conventional trade, specifically in agriculture. It stands for sustainability and development through trade. Fairtrade is about better prices, decent working conditions, local sustainability, and fair terms of trade for farmers and workers globally.We contribute to this vision in the following ways:

• We promote intra-African trade opportunities to create extra market access and offer African consumers the opportunity to shop sustainably
• We offer African traders an avenue to source and trade sustainably through sourcing from Fairtrade certified producers.
• We raise awareness on trade justice by drawing attention to the concerns producers face

Overview of opportunity: Fairtrade Marketing Organization Eastern Africa is part of a consortium of organisations who have received funding the Big Lottery Fund, a prominent UK-based funder.
Our project will work in Kipkelion Union – a collection of coffee cooperatives in KerichoCounty–supporting women farmers from two member cooperatives into income earning positionsand providing marketing support for the sale of their coffee into local or export markets.
We seek the input of a consultant to lead the development of a focused marketing strategy identifying the most viable routes to market for women’s coffee from target cooperatives within Kipkelion Union.

• This strategy will build on leads to prospective buyers already known to FMOEA as well as involving consultation with new potential buyers both in local and export markets.
• Having identified the range of possible options this strategy will define in concrete detail which routes represent the most viable prospects for further development; clearly linking the volume and grade of available women’s coffee with the size of commercial interest from potential buyers,and including consideration for their interest in coffee in green bean or roasted form.
• Critically, this strategy will then be expected to provide a step-by-step overview of the actions that need to be taken to pursue the most viable routes for women to sell into – in line with the criteria of buyers and ensuring that women’s coffee reaches the market ina way which maximises impact and sales.
• At all times consideration of external factors which may affect the viability of sales locally or internationally (e.g. policies, regulations, license requirements and so on) must also be fully accounted for.

As the successful applicant you will be supported in these actions by the Project Manager and the Director. You will be required to visit Kipkelion Union and member cooperatives to collect relevant data and others as required.
Role and responsibility:As the consultant for this work you will be responsible for:

• Leading in the implementation of research at the cooperative and Union levels to identify existing volumes and quality of coffee, as well as researching existing marketing arrangements
• Leading in the implementation of the market research with prospective buyers of women’s coffee – including existing prospective buyers known by FMOEA and other project partners as well as researching entirely new buyers at the local and export market levels.
• Leading in the writing and delivery of a focused marketing strategy into the most viable routes to market for women’s coffee, as outlined in the previous section, as well as proposed budgets required for the same.

Person specification

• Essential: Demonstrable experience of developing marketing strategies for organisations through commercial and/or procurement routes
• Essential: Experience in conducting consultation work with different types of organizations
• Essential:  Excellent communication skills and time management with the ability to create a compelling case in support of Fairtrade’s work in accordance with tight deadlines.
• Essential: Excellent knowledge of the Kenyan coffee sector including knowledge of coffee buyers, national and international regulation relating to sales
• Essential: Knowledge of issues affecting smallholder farming cooperatives particularly those connected to market access and licensing requirements for sales (locally and for export).
• Strongly desirable: Knowledge of gender-sensitive interventions in agriculture.
• Strongly desirable: Knowledge of Ethical Trade and Fairtrade in particular is an advantage

Timing and remuneration:
We are seeking a consultant to work for 25 daysin total including preparation for a field visit,interviews with the producers, potential buyers/traders and other relevant stakeholders, as well as the subsequent development of the study piece.
All costs of travel, accommodation and subsistence are covered by FMOEA.
To express interest please submit a C.V and a 1-page expression of interest document overviewing relevant experiences to date(in line with the person specification) as well as the proposed work plan.
Deadline for submission is 20^thApril2015.
Download Application

Applications to be sent to info@fairtrade.or.ke