Assessment of wage employment opportunities for female and male youth from Wag Himera zone of Amhara Region
Introduction and Background
Ethiopia is undergoing a ‘youth bulge’. Its youth population is the second largest in Sub-Saharan Africa with more than 25 million people between the age of 15 and 29, a figure that is expected to grow to over 35 million over the next twenty years. With this demographic trend the young labor force will continue to increase which in turn puts significant pressure on the natural resource base (particularly rural land) and the labor market (i.e. availability of jobs) to support increased populations. The potential of existing rural livelihoods options (agriculture/farming, pastoralism, etc.) to support the needs and interest of the fast growing youth labor force is ever shrinking. As a result, the numbers of landless youth are growing fast and young people are increasingly forced to adopt seasonal or temporary labor migration as a coping strategy; which is now becoming a livelihood strategy. This process is exacerbated during economic and climactic shocks such as the recent 2015-2016 drought which caused increased internal displacement and movement of affected people in search of livelihoods and basic services. Therefore, youth[1] unemployment is a significant development challenge in Ethiopia now and one that will grow in the future. This has been recognized by the Government of Ethiopia, which is developing bold policies around youth and urban and rural wage employment. Wag Himera zone in the Amhara, region is not different to this and youth unemployment in this zone is a serious challenge.
Chronic impoverishment is endemic in Wag Himra Zone. In 2002, 20.2% of households considered themselves to be very poor (Devereux et al). By 2009 that proportion had increased to 32.8% and, in 2015, 30.2% of the zonal population were supported by the PSNP[2]. The Household Economic Analysis (HEA) estimates that agriculture can only sustain approximately 60% of Wag Himra population. According to the overall micro-entrepreneurship levels for Ethiopia which are around 12-15%, it can be expected that a substantial percentage of the rural youth from Wag Himra will instead need to look for wage employment. Migration for short term employment has been a feature of the livelihoods of many poor young people in Wag Himra, particularly men, for at least and the last decade as population numbers increase. Young women also leave the zone, although typically for longer periods of time. In general, more young people are migrating for employment and this trend will likely continue to grow in the future. Through this consultancy we seek to understand better trends and opportunities in wage employment for young people from Wag Himra.
This rapid assessment seeks to build on Save the Children’s current knowledge in these areas and specifically wage employment labour dynamics including existing opportunities and challenges. This includes on-the-ground expertise, internal reports, and two recent qualitative studies that look at wage employment in Wag Himra.
Objective/key questions
The focus of the assessment is mainly on the current status, trends and opportunities in wage employment for rural youth in Wag Himra zone. This could be employment in Wag Himra or most probably outside of the zone. The study will also assess broader livelihoods and economic development patterns including job creation opportunities. The objective of the assessment study is to have a deep understanding of operational contexts and perspectives of the youth, CSOs, Government and private sector in relation to wage employment opportunities, challenges, migration patterns, and trends. It is anticipated that the study will more specifically understand migration patterns and need to do some work in major ‘receiving’ areas for rural Wag Himran youth including possibly Bahar Dar, Dessie, Woldiya, and others, particularly in engaging with the private sector. The assessment has four main objectives:
Objective 1: Examine the wage employment labour market dynamics among youth in Wag Himra (young female and male migration for wage employment; family, community and Gov’t support for this, and local Government and private sector roles and plans) including analysis of wage employment and youth expectations.
Objective 2: Map out current and potential decent wage employment opportunities including common sectors and locations for youth to be employed both in and out of Wag Himra. Look at the current and potential employment opportunities and assess what would be needed to make them decent.The mapping will focus on the magnitude of movement outside of Wag Himra, the locations to where people are moving, their timeframes, and gender dynamics. It will specifically document any pattern of movement to existing and potential agro industrial and industrial parks developments in the target or nearby areas. In doing this, we will seek to identify private sector employers who employ Wag Himran youth to understand their current operations, growth opportunities, and constraints. This will likely include travel outside of the zone.
Objective 3:. Identify opportunities, challenges, readiness of target groups (male and female youth aged 15-29), as well as their expectations on salaries, security and working environment
Objective 4: Identify protection elements (such as work safety, abuse, etc..) in relation to wage employment with emphasis to the hazardous jobs involving youth including girls.
Key guiding questions: please see annex 1
Recipient
Save the Children Ethiopia is the primary recipient of the final product of this assessment. However, the products of this consultancy/assessment will be shared with the relevant actors including the EU, which would be the donor for the potential RESET+ project.
Save the Children will provide the consultant/resource person with:
All the necessary background information in relation to proposed project;
Input into and approval for the final assessment design through the inception report (see below);
One programme staff (part-time) to help facilitate the assessment particularly in arranging meetings with relevant actors and visit to different areas;
Background information (literature reviews) about program operational areas and previous studies.
Sharing the draft RESET+ proposal and meetings to explain thinking behind its design.
Other youth livelihood studies conducted by Save the Children.
Methodology
By using the following mostly qualitative methods, the consultant will collect the necessary information to undertake the work.
Desk-based literature review: The consultant will review existing study documents/ literature reviews in relation to some relevant, wage-based employment topics associated with the research;
Key informant interview: structured discussions at all levels with youth groups (men/boys and girls/women) from mostly rural communities, employers, trader associations, local government offices, NGOs, brokers, chamber of commerce, TVETs and any other entity deemed important. The Key informant interviews will be conducted in Wag Himra zone and other locations to be determined during the initial mapping of migration patterns such as Bahirdar, Mekelle, Woldiya, Dessie or other areas. A list of key informants will be provided to the consultant upon signing of the contract.
Focus group discussion: Participatory meetings with focus groups such as male and female youth groups, religious leaders, elders, etc. especially covering questions above, and also to ground-truth and update findings in sections (it is envisioned that the consultant will carry out 10 FGDs in Wag Himera zone. The FGDs will compose of male and female groups including relevant community member)
Visit to private sector employers- observation and interviews: The consultant will visit a sample of different sized private sector employers in adjacent areas and any other areas identified as offering long-term employment to youth from Wag Himera zone at significant scale. This will be done to get first-hand information about their current business, hiring practices, employee engagement, opportunities for expansion, and gaps in further developing their businesses.
Expected output/delivery
The consultancy will be expected to produce the following outputs:
An inception report detailing the proposed methodology, sample size, scope and other relevant information will be submitted to Save the Children for review and approval before commencement of the actual field assessment.
A stakeholder workshop during which the consultant will present preliminary findings and recommendations for discussion and agreement. This workshop will also serve to identify additional resources available for the project to potentially leverage once it is under implementation.
A draft report to Save the Children which provides detailed information and analysis for the questions in annex 1. The draft report should also include:
A broad assessment of patterns of migration/movement for wage employment among youth in the zone with differentiation among girls/women and boys/men, and an attempt to quantify this
Mapping of potential public private sector employers which provide job opportunities in different sectors/industries and geographic areas that meet the needs of target groups
Broad identification of impediments to private sector expansion and employment expansion
Identification of any hazardous or unsafe work
Alternatives source of job opportunities in addition to wage employment in the target areas that does not involve migration- context specific
Links between rural and urban development in terms of job opportunities
Additional quick assessment of barriers to further expansion of wage employment and opportunities for low-skill job growth.
Conclusions and recommendations
Power point presentations of key findings including methodologies.
Incorporating key findings of the assessment into a program strategy. This would be done in consultation with the Save the Children and EU RESET team.
Other relevant notes from different meetings.
Save the Children and EU will provide comments to the consultants on the draft report within five working days of receiving the report.
A draft report will be submitted to Save the Children and shared with the EU;
De-briefing to Save the Children, EU and relevant stakeholders in Addis Ababa, and each target zones with a specific focus on its applicability for the RESET+ youth wage employment livelihoods project. EU staff would be encouraged to attend the presentations in the targeted areas. Debriefing would be a half day workshop [power point presentation by the consultant] to offer comments and further inputs on their findings. This will serve as an input for the final report.
A final report which takes account of comments received from Save the Children, EU and participants from the debriefing workshops. This will be approved by Save the Children and the EU.
Specific recommendations for revision of the RESET+ proposal in which key findings of the assessment are integrated.
Reporting
The final product of the consultancy should comprise the following. The document should be written in plain and succinct English and submitted in electronic copy.
Main report not more than 20 pages in length;
Key summary note of the findings maximum of five pages;
Power point presentation of key findings and methodologies, and
Field notes and annexes, as appropriate.
The consultant will report to Save the Children Technical Team Leader for Livelihoods, Resilience and WASH.
Timing
The consultancy/assessment is expected to commence upon signing of the bid agreement and is expected to take maximum of one month.
Key documents (references)
EU/Save the Children assessments, GOE plans/policies, and other documents to be provided at the outset of the consultancy
Annex 1: Illustrative Guiding questions
[1] Youth are categorized by the governments’ Youth Policy as youth aged 15-29
[2] George G, 2016, Wag Hemra Social Transformation Programme, Assessment and Preliminary Design,
Qualifications and experience of the consultant/s
Master’s degree in Economics, development studies, migration, and related fields;
Experience in private sector engagement and assessment of wage employment in Ethiopia (preferably with a focus on young people)
Significant experience in successful consultancy services in similar fields [private sector, employment, etc.];
Ability to identify and analyze key gender aspects.