Training on Practical Business Skills and Market Systems – 19 octobre 2026

Contexte

Somali Lifeline Organization (SOLO), en partenariat avec le Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) et avec un financement de la Fondation IKEA, met en œuvre un programme de moyens d’ subsistance dans le complexe de réfugiés de Dadaab, comté de Garissa. Le programme aide les ménages de réfugiés et de la communauté hôte à bâtir des moyens d’subsistance durables et axés sur le marché, en mettant un accent particulier sur l’agriculture et les secteurs connexes tels que l’aviculture, la chaîne de valeur du miel, le bétail (viande et lait) et les textiles. Grâce à un processus d’identification rigoureux, le programme a organisé 350 participants en 10 groupes de moyens d’subsistance de 35 membres chacun, répartis équitablement entre les communautés de réfugiés et d’accueil (50 % / 50%), et issus des camps d’Ifo1, de Dagahaley et des villages voisins de la communauté hôte, notamment Bulla Kheir et Dadaab Host. Les membres ont auto-sélectionné leurs secteurs d’activité et sont maintenant prêts à passer de l’enregistrement de base à un renforcement des capacités structuré qui les équipe pour gérer leurs entreprises de manière rentable et durable. SOLO/NRC cherche maintenant à engager un consultant ou un cabinet de formation qualifié pour concevoir et dispenser un ensemble de formation pratique couvrant deux domaines thématiques complémentaires : (a) les compétences commerciales de base, et (b) la participation au marché et les compétences transversales, notamment le genre et l’inclusion sociale, le leadership, les compétences de vie, la sensibilisation juridique, ainsi que la qualité et l’image de marque.

Rationale

De nombreux membres de groupes exercent actuellement des activités de production à petite échelle avec une exposition limitée aux pratiques commerciales formelles : tenue de registres informelle ou absente, tarification ponctuelle qui ne couvre pas de manière fiable les coûts, service client et marketing faibles, et expérience limitée dans la négociation avec les acheteurs ou le respect des contrats. Les membres réfugiés en particulier font face à des obstacles supplémentaires à la participation au marché, notamment une liberté de mouvement restreinte, une sensibilisation juridique et réglementaire limitée et un accès restreint aux marchés formels, tandis que les femmes des deux communautés font souvent face à des obstacles cumulés liés à la pauvreté en temps, au pouvoir de décision et à l’accès aux rôles de leadership au sein des groupes. Un ensemble de formation structuré et pratique est donc nécessaire pour convertir les groupes axés sur la production en entreprises viables et orientées vers le marché ; pour renforcer la gouvernance et l’inclusion des groupes afin que les gains soient partagés équitablement ; et pour renforcer la confiance, la capacité de négociation et l’altératie juridique dont les membres ont besoin pour participer en toute sécurité et de manière rentable aux marchés locaux.

Purpose and Objectives

Overall Objective

To strengthen the business, market participation, governance, and life-skills capacities of 350 members of 10 SOLO/NRC-supported livelihoods groups in Dadaab, enabling them to operate viable, market-oriented, and gender-inclusive enterprises.

Specific Objectives

• Equip participants with practical entrepreneurship, record keeping, costing and pricing, customer care, and marketing skills applicable to their specific livelihoods sector.
• Build participants’ understanding of local market dynamics and demand, and strengthen their negotiation and contract management skills.
• Strengthen gender and social inclusion practice, and leadership and governance capacity, within the 10 groups.
• Build participants’ life skills and soft skills to support individual and collective decision-making, resilience, and cooperation.
• Raise awareness of the legal and regulatory environment relevant to trading and group enterprise in and around Dadaab.
• Strengthen participants’ understanding and practice of product quality and branding to improve market competitiveness.

Scope of Work

The assignment covers two complementary training components, to be delivered to each of the 10 groups. The consultant/firm is expected to develop a detailed curriculum against the indicative content below, adapt it to the specific sectors and literacy levels of each group, and translate/deliver in Somali and/or Kiswahili as appropriate.

Component A. Practical Business Skills

• Entrepreneurship : entrepreneurial mindset; opportunity identification; business planning basics tailored to the participant’s sector (poultry, kitchen gardening, crop farming, livestock) for 0.5 day
• Record keeping : Simple, low-literacy-friendly tools for recording sales, expenses, stock, and savings; separating business and household finances for 1 day
• Costing and pricing : Calculating production/unit costs, setting profitable prices, break-even basics, responding to competitor and seasonal price changes, for 1 day
• Customer care : building customer relationships and trust, handling complaints, and repeat-business practices for 0.5 day
• Marketing strategies : identifying customers and market channels, low-cost promotion, and group/collective marketing approaches for 1 day

Component B. Market Participation, Governance, and Crosscutting Skills

• Market dynamics and demand : Understanding local/Dadaab market structures, seasonality, demand assessment, and identifying viable market opportunities for 1 day
• Negotiation skills : Practical negotiation techniques with buyers, suppliers, and off-takers, including role-play practice for 0.5 day
• Contract management : understanding, negotiating, and honoring simple supply/off-take agreements; managing disputes for 0.5 day
• Gender and social inclusion, leadership and governance : GESI awareness, equitable participation in group decision-making, group leadership roles, and transparent and accountable group governance structures for 1 day
• Life skills and soft skills : communication, teamwork, problem-solving, conflict resolution, stress management, and goal setting for 0.5 day
• Legal and regulatory awareness : relevant national and county trading regulations; business registration basics; rights and obligations of refugee and host traders for 0.5 day
• Quality and branding : basic quality control/assurance for produce and simple branding and packaging to strengthen market competitiveness for 1 day

Total indicative contact time is 4 days for Component A and 5 days for Component B per group (9 training days), plus follow-up coaching described in Section 7. The consultant/firm may propose an alternative sequencing or balance of days, with justification, in their technical proposal.

Target Participants

• Livelihoods groups formed under the SOLO/NRC registration exercise : 10
• Members per group, standard group size : 35
• Total participants : 10 groups × 35 members = 350
• Community distribution : Refugee community / Host community (50% / 50%)
• Camp locations include Ifo1 and Dagahaley camps (5 groups) and Host-community locations : Bulla Kheir, Dadaab (5 groups)

Participants include both male and female members across a wide age range, with varying levels of literacy. The consultant/firm must design and facilitate sessions that are accessible to low-literacy adult learners and give equal opportunity for participation to women, men, youth and persons with disabilities. SOLO/NRC will share group-level lists (anonymized) confirming exact composition by sex, age, camp/village, and sector at contract signing.

Training Methodology

• Use experiential, hands-on methods : role play, simulations, group work, case studies, and, where feasible, market/field visits rather than lecture-based delivery.
• Adapt materials for low-literacy participants, using pictorial, oral, and demonstration-based tools alongside written materials.
• Deliver in Somali, with facilitators fluent in the languages spoken by participants.
• Apply gender-sensitive facilitation, ensuring equal voice and participation for women and men and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities.
• Conduct a pre-training assessment to establish baseline knowledge/skills and a post-training assessment to measure learning gains.
• Support each group to produce a simple, practical output from the training (e.g., a basic costing sheet, record-keeping template, or group action plan) rather than knowledge alone.
• Provide at least two follow-up coaching/mentoring visits per group after the classroom training to reinforce learning and support application.

Duration and Indicative Schedule

The assignment is expected to run over approximately 8–10 weeks from contract signing, inclusive of inception, delivery to all 10 groups, follow-up coaching, and reporting. This is an indicative timeframe; the consultants/firm should propose a detailed work plan and team composition in their technical proposal.

• Phase 1 – Inception : desk review, curriculum design/adaptation, translation of materials, submission of inception report and training plan (1 week)
• Phase 2 – Delivery : delivery of Component A and Component B classroom training to all 10 groups, 9 contact days per group (4–6 weeks)
• Phase 3 – Coaching : follow-up coaching/mentoring visits (minimum two per group) and post-training assessment (2–3 weeks)
• Phase 4 – Reporting : consolidation, final reporting and handover of materials and datasets (1 week)

Deliverables

• Inception report : finalized curriculum, session plans, and translated/localized training materials (Within 1 week of contract signing)
• Assessment tools : Pre- and post-training assessment tools and completed assessment data/report (Tools before delivery; report after each group’s training)
• Attendance registers : Signed attendance registers for all 10 groups, disaggregated by sex, age, camp/host village, and group (throughout delivery)
• Practical outputs : Group-level practical outputs like costing sheets, record-keeping templates, group action plans (By end of classroom training per group)
• Coaching reports : Follow-up coaching/mentoring visit reports, minimum 2 per group (throughout Phase 3)
• Final training report : Methodology, participation data, assessment results, challenges, lessons learned and recommendations (within 2 weeks of assignment completion)
• Materials : Full set of training materials/manuals and a facilitator’s guide handed over to SOLO/NRC for future use with final report

Roles and Responsibilities

SOLO / NRC will :

• Mobilize and confirm participants and group schedules
• Arrange venues, seating and any required camp access/movement permissions
• Provide available baseline/registration data on groups (sector, camp/village, sex, age)
• Provide a technical focal point for oversight, quality assurance and approvals
• Cover participant transport/refreshments if budgeted separately from this contract

The Consultant / Firm will :

• Design and adapt the curriculum and all training materials
• Provide qualified, experienced facilitators for all sessions
• Deliver all training, assessments and coaching visits per the agreed schedule
• Prepare and submit all deliverables in Section 8 to agreed quality and timelines
• Comply with SOLO/NRC and donor safeguarding, PSEA and code-of-conduct requirements

Duty Station and Reporting

The assignment will be delivered in Dadaab and Bula Kheir, with sessions held in Ifo 1 and Dagahley camps and in the listed host-community villages. The consultants/firm is responsible for its own travel, accommodation and logistics within Dadaab unless otherwise agreed in the contract. The consultant/firm will report to the SOLO Livelihoods Project Manager, in coordination with the NRC livelihoods focal point, and will provide brief progress updates after each group’s training.

Required Qualifications and Experience

• Registration as a training consultant, firm or institution, with a valid business registration and tax compliance certificate.
• A minimum of 3–5 years’ experience designing and delivering business/entrepreneurship or market systems development (MSD) training, preferably with refugee, IDP or host-community populations.
• Demonstrated experience working in Dadaab, Garissa County, or comparable arid/semi-arid and displacement-affected contexts.
• A facilitation team with combined expertise across all thematic areas in Section 4, including at least one facilitator experienced in gender and social inclusion (GESI) programming.
• Facilitators fluent in Somali, with experience adapting training for low-literacy adult audiences.
• A track record of participatory, practical training methodology (not purely lecture-based), supported by references or sample materials.
• Familiarity with humanitarian/NGO safeguarding standards, including PSEA and child safeguarding.
• Logistical capacity to mobilize a facilitation team to deliver training across 10 groups within the proposed timeframe.

Safeguarding, Ethics and Data Protection

The consultant/firm and all facilitators must sign and comply with SOLO’s Code of Conduct, Child Safeguarding Policy, and Prevention of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA) policy prior to engagement. Any incidents or concerns arising during training must be reported immediately through SOLO’s safeguarding reporting channels. All participant data collected during the assignment is confidential and remains the property of SOLO.

Budget and Payment Terms

Interested consultants/firms must submit a detailed, itemized financial proposal in Kenya Shillings (KES) covering facilitator fees, training materials, travel/logistics within Dadaab, and any other costs required to deliver the scope of work.