Closing date: 18 March 2022
Program for Agro-Business Induced Growth in Amhara regional state (AgroBIG) is a bilateral development programme funded by the Governments of Ethiopia and Finland. The Bureau of Finance (BOF) of Amhara Regional State is the responsible government coordinating agency.
The long-term goal of AgroBIG is to contribute to development that enables agriculture to provide sustainable livelihoods to people in rural Amhara, by supporting value addition within eight agricultural value chains to increase rural incomes and create jobs, with a particular emphasis on women and youth.
Currently, NIRAS Finland Ltd, the consulting company who is providing technical assistance for AgroBIG, is looking for qualified short-term consultants to support programme implementation.
(i) Short Term Consultancy to provide Facilitation Skills Training (re-advertized)
AgroBIG beneficiaries are adults, many of them with limited formal education background. Women often remain quiet in public events. Trainers and facilitators thus need thorough understanding of adult learning, and strong communication and facilitation skills to ensure that project participants engage actively and fully benefit from the time they invest in attending trainings and meetings.
The assignment is to design and carry out a three-day training programme for agriculture, agribusiness and other technical experts from relevant regional bureaus and woreda sector offices in the AgroBIG programme area. Three trainings shall be delivered, back-to-back, from one location in Amhara, to three groups of experts for 3 days each, i.e. a total of 9 days training delivered. Deliverables include an inception report detailing approach and time-table, training materials and an end of assignment report.
The assignment will be carried out before the end of EFY 2014 (March-June 2022). Two consultants are needed (one lead and one assistant). The maximum chargeable days are 30 (19 for lead trainer, 11 for assistant). Individuals / companies may apply. Professional qualifications are found in the detailed Terms of Reference available for download
(ii) Short Term Consultancy to assess and support Social Inclusion Pilot
The AgroBIG identifies people living with disabilities (PWDs) as one of the target groups for intervention. Other vulnerable groups are the food insecure, youth, elderly, women and the disabled. At the start of the programme, a strategy for social inclusion was prepared. The objective was dual: to make sure that vulnerable groups are benefiting from and not negatively affected (further marginalized) from interventions.
From EFY 2012, a pilot scheme to include PWDs in value chain activities began. Resources from Community Coalition at kebele level and in-kind contributions by PWDs were pulled together and complemented with AgroBIG support to enable disabled community members start animal rearing, fattening and poultry activities.
The specific tasks are to (i) conduct a rapid assessment of the situation of PWDs in selected AgroBIG kebeles and woredas and to identify the obstacles and opportunities for effective engagement; (ii) provide trainings for Bureau experts on appropriate strategies for inclusion of PWDs in agriculture, value addition and agribusiness development; (iii) Propose realistic mainstreaming strategies, specific activities and action plans that can be included into the AgroBIG post-project Sustainability Action. Deliverables include an inception report detailing approach and timetable, an assessment report of the PWD pilots, a training plan, 4 delivered trainings, recommendations for mainstreaming, and an end of assignment report.
The assignment will be carried out before the end of EFY 2014 (March-June 2022). Two consultants are needed (an assessment expert and a training expert). The maximum chargeable days are 26 for the assessment expert and 25 for the training expert. Individuals / companies may apply. Professional qualifications are found in the detailed Terms of Reference available for download.
(iii) Short Term Consultancy to undertake a Cooperative Trainings Needs Assessment
The AgroBIG programme supports capacity building and enhanced access to finance and financial services for value chain actors. The main financial instruments are a loan fund targeted to Women and Youth micro-enterprises (WYLF, Women and Youth Loan Fund); and a loan fund for business-oriented cooperatives to serve as their working capital (CLF, Cooperative Loan Fund). The budget for WYLF and CLF is 41% of the AB II implementation budget. Individual borrowers are also supported with capacity building activities.
The WYLF loan fund is currently managed by three Cooperative Savings and Credit Unions (COSACUs) and some 50+ savings and credit cooperatives (SACCOs) through contractual agreements with the Amhara Region Bureau of Finance and the Regional Cooperative Promotion Agency. Work is on-going to identify a suitable arrangement for the future ownership and management of the loan capital.
The training needs assessment is intended to help the cooperatives boost their technical and financial management skills. Specifically, the consultancy will provide guidance for the development of a training and capacity-building programme tailored to the needs of the three COSACUs and approximately 35 SACCOs.
The assignment will be carried out before the end of EFY 2014 (March-June 2022). One consultant is needed for a maximum of 24 days. Individuals / companies may apply. Professional qualifications are found in the detailed Terms of Reference available for download.
(iv) Short Term Consultant to undertake a Horticulture Processing and Value Addition Feasibility Study (re-advertised).
Amhara Region Chamber of Commerce and Sector Association (ARCCSA) is a regional private sector entity established to strengthen the capacity of its members, provide services, information and to represent the private sector in policy formulation. Currently it has a total of 176 member associations, comprising more than 245,000 individual traders and manufacturers. ARCCSA has been working closely with AgroBIG Programme.
An experience sharing visit was carried out by a group of ARCCSA members and leaders in Oromia and SNNPR familiarising with horticulture processing industries. Encouraged by what was discovered during the tour, a committee was formed to facilitate establishment of food-processing plant in Amhara region relying on the supply potential of AgroBIG programme woredas, in particular. The assignment is intended to prepare a business feasibility study to discover the business potential and explore applicable business models for the envisaged initiative. Provided that the identified prospects show adequate potential, a business plan will, later on, be prepared after the necessary decisions are concluded by the committed investors.
The assignment will be carried out before the end of EFY 2014 (March-June 2022). Two consultants are needed (one lead and one assistant). The maximum chargeable days are 42 for the lead consultant and 30 for assistant(s). Individuals / companies may apply. Professional qualifications are found in the detailed Terms of Reference available for download
General Guidance to Applicants
Qualified and interested applicants are invited to send their expression of interest letter and attachments electronically as advised below, addressed to Chief Technical Adviser, AgroBIG applications@agrobig.org before March 18, 2022 (09/07/2014 EC). The application letter and documents should clearly indicate which position is being applied for. Note that an individual consultant may only submit his/her CV for one assignment at a time.
- A. A consultant firm should submit:
- Documents that show legal personality, profile, copies of registration and renewed trade license
- TIN number and VAT Registration Certificate
- Curriculum vitae of proposed consultants assigned for the assignment
- (clearly stating individual roles)
- A brief technical proposal (not exceeding 3-5 pages)
- A statement of availability indicating the desired timeframe for the assignment
B. The individual consultants should submit
• Document that shows legal entity, profile, copies of registration and trade licence
• TIN number and VAT/TOT registration certificate
• Curriculum vitae/s of proposed consultants assigned for the assignment (clearly stating individual roles)
• A brief technical proposal (not exceeding 3-5 pages)
• A statement of availability indicating the desired timeframe for the assignment
No financial proposals shall be submitted at this stage. Only short-listed applicants will be contacted to submit financial proposals.