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Title: Request for proposals for an individual consultant to develop an agribusiness development program for Côte d’Ivoire and strategies for government and private sector engagement in building competitive, inclusive, and resilient food supply chains
Background
Founded in 2006, the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) is an African-led and Africa-based organization that seeks to catalyze agricultural transformation in Africa. AGRA is focused on putting smallholder farmers at the center of the continent’s growing economy by transforming agriculture from a solitary struggle to survive into farming as a business that thrives.
AGRA is implementing a 5-year strategy to catalyze and sustain an inclusive agricultural transformation in Africa to increase income and improve food security for 30 million farming households. The current strategy also aims to support 11 focus countries to embark on a pathway to attain and sustain agricultural transformation. AGRA’s approach includes;
(1) Strengthening state capacity to drive agricultural transformation through improved planning, coordination, implementation and accountability as well as putting in place an enabling environment that facilitates private sector investment in agriculture and allied industries;
(2) Developing systems closer to farmers in order to drive productivity, access to markets, boost resilience, and strengthen public and private sector capacity to achieve the scale required to transform the agricultural sector;
(3) Partnering with governments and private agribusinesses to mobilize and improve the integration and coordination of investments.
In addition to the above-mentioned strategic choices, AGRA invests in efforts that strengthen farmers and agribusinesses’ resilience to shocks and stresses, women empowerment, and youth employment.
Partnership for Inclusive Agricultural Transformation in Africa (PIATA)
In order to maximize impacts and achieve efficiency in resource allocation, AGRA, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), Rockefeller Foundation (RF), and United States Agency for International Development (USAID), BMZ Germany, and DFID came together to create a Partnership for Inclusive Agricultural Transformation in Africa (PIATA). This is a strategic partnership that seeks to strengthen the alignment and complementarity of efforts deployed by multiple actors working to achieve agricultural transformation in Africa.
PIATA is committed to driving collective efforts and providing member organizations with greater ability to deliver impact at scale, a common voice, greater convening power. The partnership is intended to support and complement existing national, regional, and continental bodies and initiatives by providing the necessary support for them to deliver on the Malabo commitments and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
PIATA leverages on tools, systems, knowledge, and resources of partners to achieve the desired objectives and impact. This partnership is operationalized through AGRA’s full business model of grant-making, consultancies, technical assistance, partnerships, communications and convening.
Agriculture in Côte d’Ivoire
According to the World Bank, the agricultural sector contribute 22% to the country’s GDP and accounts 75% of the exports. Despite its importance to Côte d’Ivoire, this sector has had only a tepid effect on rural income growth and poverty reduction due to fluctuations in international prices.
Côte d’Ivoire is a net food exporter of major cash crops such as cocoa, coffee, rubber, cotton, palm oil, cashew nuts and bananas. However, the country depends on imports to feed its people. Côte d’Ivoire is a major importer of grains such as rice and cereals. The Government of Côte d’Ivoire has invited AGRA to support its effort to transform its agricultural sector to ensure that this sector reaches its potential to reduce incidence of poverty and increase income for farming households.
Objective of the assignment
The main objective of this assignment is to inform AGRA and its partners on effective entry strategies for the transformation of Ivorian agricultural sector. A major emphasis will be on government and private sector engagement approaches for effective partnership, increased food trade, and the development of competitive, inclusive, and resilient supply chains.
To achieve this, the consultant will perform the following tasks:
- Assess government priority food crops and describe the cropping systems as well as complementarity with cash crops;
- Determine the state of market fundamentals (demand and supply) of priority food crops and identify propose strategies that can be used to improve the competitiveness of domestic producers
- Propose opportunities to enhance food trade between Ivory Coast and its neighbours with respect to key staples such as rice, maize, cassava, legumes as well as other oilseeds.
- Work with key medium and large companies such as Olam, Cargill, and Nestlé to identify opportunities to leverage their existing cash crop origination models to promote food crops;
- Identify market failure and policy related impediments to the development of competitive, inclusive and resilient supply chains for priority food crops
- Develop a project proposal that will be co-funded by the main private sector companies, AGRA, and the Government of Côte d’Ivoire.
Expected Deliverables of the Assignment
- Inception report detailing the approach, methodology and work plan of carrying out the assignment.
- Draft report in PowerPoint format describing the current configuration of key food supply chains and how to make them more competitive, inclusive, and resilient
- A project proposal with negotiated leverage from private sector food companies and the government of Côte d’Ivoire.
Period for the assignment
This assignment will take 1 month
Reporting requirements
The consultant will report to the Vice President for Country Support and Delivery at AGRA. The consultant will also have access to guidance from a core team consisting on the Heads of various AGRA units including Food Trade, Markets, Policy, State Capability, and Strategy and Analytics.
Qualification of the consultant
The consultant shall have:
- Connections to a wide network of private sector agribusinesses operating in Côte d’Ivoire as well as high level government officials;
- Knowledge of the interaction between core agricultural systems (among themselves), enabling environment, and supporting goods and services;
- Experience in developing supply chains in and analyzing food systems;
- Expertise in designing and conducting qualitative and quantitative assessments in developing public private partnerships;
- Strong experience in data and analytics in the agriculture sector;
- Excellent knowledge of agricultural development issues and policy advocacy in Côte d’Ivoire and the wider West Africa region;
- Ability to negotiate deals with multiple partners including private sector companies, governments, and philanthropic organizations.
Documents to be submitted
Interested and qualified consultants are invited to submit their proposal(s) comprising of the following:
- A brief technical proposal including understanding of the assignment, methodology and work-plan for performing the assignment
- Detailed and updated Curriculum Vitae
- Detailed reference list indicating the scope and magnitude of similar assignments carried out
- Completed bio data form
Evaluation Criteria
The proposal shall be evaluated based on the following criteria:
- General qualifications (general education and training): [20%]
- Understanding of the assignment, methodology and work-plan for performing the assignment: [30%]
- Experience in carrying out similar assignments: [40%]
- Language and relevant experience in the region (Sub-Saharan Africa): [10%]
Total weight: 100%
Clarifications
Clarifications may be requested no later than 3days prior to the submission deadline. Responses to questions raised shall be shared with all shortlisted the Consultants.
Procedure for application:
- Interested parties are requested to submit their Technical and Financial Proposals separately to procurement@agra.org by 8th August 2019 5:00PM East African Time
- Neither technical nor financial proposals should exceed 10MB.
- The financial proposal MUST be password protected. The password shall be requested from individuals that meet the minimum technical score of 75%
- Consultants shall use the Financial Forms provided under annex 1 to prepare their financial proposal.
Disclaimer
AGRA reserves the right to determine the structure of the process, number of short-listed participants, the right to withdraw from the proposal process, the right to change this timetable at any time without notice and reserves the right to withdraw this tender at any time, without prior notice and without liability to compensate and/or reimburse any party.
For more information on AGRA kindly visit the website: www.agra.org
