Client: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Sub regional Office for Eastern Africa (SFE)
Contract timeline: July – September 2022
Objective: The overall goal of this assignment is to undertake rapid appraisals on the impacts of COVID-19 on MSMEs in the agro-food sector in 5 East African countries namely Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, and Uganda.
Scope of the assignment:
In order to achieve and validate the above objectives, the research team will:
- Conduct a review of the emerging and rapidly growing literature on the socioeconomic consequences of COVID-19 on MSMEs in the agro-sector and government responses, and synthesize the insights emerging from the studies, with a focus on Eastern Africa and specifically the five target countries: Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, and Uganda.
- Identify entry points for effective response around identified value chains and cross-border trade facilitation,
- Assess constraints to and opportunities for MSME adoption of innovations and digital technologies that would increase productivity, improve efficiency and enhance resilience in their supply chains,
- Analyze responses from the survey and produce a report and a policy brief,
- Recommend institutional mechanisms and policy measures to be undertaken in support of the recovery, including measures in place to prevent and mitigate a crisis of similar nature in future (e.g. Ukraine war), and
Identify the most effective interventions to address short, medium and long-term impacts of socio-economic shocks.