Consultant for Cost Assessment and Cost-Benefits Analysis of School Feeding in Mozambique

World Food Programme is hiring a Consultant for Cost Assessment and Cost-Benefits Analysis of School Feeding in Mozambique, based in Maputo.

Details

Background

• In Mozambique, there is a school feeding programme since 1977.
  The process for the development of a national school feeding programme culminated in May 2013 when the Government of Mozambique unanimously approved the National Home-Grown School Feeding Programme (PRONAE) from a proposal of the Ministry of Education, with the technical assistance of Brazil and of WFP (World Food Programme). Based on locally produced food commodities, the programme main objective is to reduce in a sustainable manner, the negative impact of malnutrition and food insecurity on education
• Integrated in the PROANE, two school feeding initiatives are currently implemented with WFP’s support, as part of a pilot phase to design a more context-specific, cost-efficient, sustainable model of implementation, which can be successfully scaled-up and handed over to the Government
  1. Pilot Project: 12 pilot schools (12,000 pupils) are testing decentralized management and local purchase, in 3 regions of Mozambique (North, Centre and South-Provinces of Nampula, Tete, Manica and Gaza) to assess the model in various agro-ecological areas with different production potential (from highly productive areas to semi-arid and arid districts). This project is implemented under the framework of a tripartite agreement signed in 2010 between MINEDH, ABC (Brazil Agency for International Cooperation) and the World Food Programme; the roll out of the pilot took place in mid-2013, and will end in December 2015. A final evaluation is currently taking place.
  2. Transitional Programme: in Tete Province, since 2012, WFP assists MINEDH and DPEC Tete in implementing school feeding in 3 selected food-insecure districts covering about 82,000 students in 177 schools. The programme aims at gradually transferring responsibility to Government e Local Authorities to autonomously implement school feeding
• Other non-governmental partners contribute to school feeding in the country, namely ADPP (Ajuda de desenvolvimento de povo para povo) and World Vision, covering additional 126,000 children in 385 schools of Maputo and Nampula Provinces

Objective of the analysis

• The objective of this study is to perform a cost analysis of school feeding activities in Mozambique, through 2 tools: Cost Assessment (CA) - The exercise is a dive into the costs of school feeding for the country, meant to inform the implementation plan and the extension of the programme to include it in the national planning, in the State budget and in the provincial and local budgets. The analysis will include a project of costs in the short and medium term (5 years), for the 23 priority districts: Cost Benefit Analysis (CBA) - While the potential benefits of school feeding are intuitively recognizable, programme costs pose the challenge of providing evidence on the quantifiable, monetary returns to the investment: the CBA will understand the scale of impact that WFP School Feeding Programmes are currently having in the country, and the investment case will quantify the value created per each metical invested in school feeding, as long term gain of the programme. Together, these 2 analysis aim at measuring costs of the various models of school feeding in the country, as well as means of cost containment

Methodology and Main Responsibility of the consultant

• The consultant will work together with the focal points of the Ministry of Education and Human Development and of WFP, to collect the necessary data for the 2 analyses. S/he will work with an inter-sectorial reference group to collected the data and validate the result

Cost Assessment (CA)

• Facilitate dialogue and meetings between all relevant ministries and stakeholders
• Define and map the school feeding funding process
• Identify all costs associated with School Feeding Programme through interviews with: a) Relevant government officials at different levels, b) Suppliers (if required), c) School officials implementing school feeding, d) Any other relevant entities
• Enter costs by cost category in a provided template and conduct all the relevant analyses
• Provide final presentation and report

Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA)

• Collect data for the data request sheet
• Complete the data request sheet and check all assumptions behind data calculations
• Collaborate with MINEDH and support WFP in running the economic model
• Provide final presentation and report

Duration

• The estimate duration for the consultancy is of 10 weeks. The consultant will be responsible of working with the Government and all relevant partners throughout the entire exercise
• The cost analysis includes data collection (4 weeks) and the technical analysis (2 weeks), to be do following the agreed model and the WFP-developed tools.
  The cost-benefit analysis includes data collection and collaboration with WFP for the technical analysis (1 week)
• The results of the analysis will contribute to the implementation plan of PRONAE at national level. For this mean, ideally, the results will be presented by March 2016. The detail activity plan might change according to the national calendar

Requisites

• The analysis will be run by a consultant and supported by the technical staff of the National Directorate of School Nutrition and Health of the Ministry of Education and Human Development
• A strong qualitative and quantitative background and experience in excel modelling together with the ability to understand and run economics model
• Experience in economic consulting, data and statistical analysis, costing work or related work is required
• Prior experience in working with Governments and familiarity with the structures and policies of the country will be an advantage
• Experience of the work of international organisation. Prior experience with the World Food Programme or the United Nations system will be beneficial
• Graduate studies in Economics, Statistics, Mathematics, Finance, Social Studies, Political Science, Public Policy or International Development
• Familiarity with the country policy structures, specifically related to health, education or social protection
• Excellent planning, coordinating skills and ability to meet deadline
• Fluency in Portuguese language (oral and written)
• Fluency in English language (oral and written)

Notes

• Only pre-selected candidates will be contacted