Consultant- Village Savings and Loan Associations - SSA L10
Organizational Context
The World Food Programme (WFP) is the world's largest humanitarian organization, dedicated to saving lives in emergencies and building pathways to peace and prosperity. WFP uses food assistance to support people recovering from conflict, disasters, and extreme weather. With a vision for diverse, skilled, and high-performing teams, WFP fosters an inclusive work environment, valuing integrity, collaboration, commitment, humanity, and inclusion.
Job Purpose
WFP Zambia, in collaboration with the Ministry of Community Development and Social Services and partners, seeks a consultant to conduct a comprehensive mapping and assessment of Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLAs) and similar community-based savings mechanisms. The objective is to identify and document the range of VSLA methodologies, geographic coverage, linkages to financial services, digitalization, and integration with social protection and market systems. The consultant will analyze the effectiveness, sustainability, and inclusiveness of these models, with a particular focus on their capacity to enhance financial resilience, livelihoods, and economic empowerment among vulnerable households, including those receiving social protection support. The consultancy will provide evidence-based recommendations for standardized and context-appropriate community savings and financial inclusion models suitable for adoption, adaptation, or scale-up within social protection programs, contributing to long-term resilience and graduation pathways for beneficiaries.
Responsibilities
The consultant's primary responsibility is to conduct a comprehensive mapping and assessment of community-based savings and financial inclusion models, particularly Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLAs), in Zambia. This involves a thorough desk review of existing documentation and policies related to financial inclusion. The consultant will identify and engage with key stakeholders, including NGOs, financial service providers, government bodies, and UN agencies, through interviews and focus group discussions. A detailed documentation of various VSLA methodologies will be compiled, covering aspects such as target groups, group formation, governance, savings and lending mechanisms, linkages to financial services, digital tool usage, training packages, integration with other programs, scale, geographic coverage, and performance indicators. A comparative analysis of urban and rural savings models will be a key component. The consultant will then conduct a gap analysis, identifying strengths, weaknesses, risks, barriers, and opportunities from a beneficiary-centered perspective. This includes assessing the effectiveness, sustainability, and inclusiveness of these models in supporting resilience, livelihoods, and economic empowerment for vulnerable groups. Finally, the consultant will recommend context-specific, scalable, and sustainable VSLA models suitable for social protection beneficiaries, considering various implementation contexts and target groups. A validation workshop will be held to gather feedback before producing a final report with recommendations and an implementation roadmap.
Work Experience
Requires at least seven years of experience in financial inclusion, VSLAs, microfinance, or resilience programming. Must have demonstrated experience in social protection/economic or productive inclusion, and understand the links between social protection, livelihoods, resilience, and financial inclusion. Prior experience with similar assignments is a plus.
Skills
Community-based savings mechanisms, Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLAs), Financial inclusion, Livelihoods strengthening, Resilience building, Insurance uptake, Social protection integration, Digital financial services, Market linkages, Data analysis, Stakeholder engagement, Programme assessment, Model comparison, Gap analysis, Opportunity identification