UNDP Jobs - 49628- Consultant for Developing Farmers Services Package

Consultant for Developing Farmers Services Packages and Agriservice Centre’s Strategic Development Action Plan

Location :

Batumi, GEORGIA

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

30-Sep-14 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

30 days including 20 days in Ajara (October – November 2014)

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence. UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

Background

UNDP implements EU and Government of Ajara supported project ENPARD Ajara – Support to Agriculture Development of Ajara AR which is a part of ENPARD Georgia Program. The project has two main objectives (1) to increase returns to farming in Ajara and (2) to strengthen the capability of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Autonomous Republic of Ajara and its agencies in policy analysis and related tasks.

In the course of achieving these objectives, and in responding to the priorities set out in the Ajara Regional Development Strategy, support will be provided under the three components:

Increasing and improving services to small farmers;
Development of business oriented small farmers’ groups, associations and other forms of profit-based collaborative actions between farmers; and
Institutional development of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Autonomous Republic of Ajara

Agriculture was announced as priority sector for development of Georgia. With general perspectives ahead, Agroservice Centre (ASC) faces serious challenges, opportunities and risks related to effectiveness of its services, sustainability, profile and scope of the work, interference in private sector niche of the farmers’ services market and etc.

UNDP supports ASC from the beginning of its existence since 2011 and various activities for diversifying the farmers’ services, developing its institutional capacities were implemented. Extension services are regularly delivered by ASC in Agronomy (new varieties; efficient production; and plants protection), Animal Husbandry (artificial insemination; animal treatment), Veterinary (prevention and medical care of infections) and Technology; Consultants of ASC have been retrained in above mentioned fields. Citrus and fruits nursery was developed separately on more than 20 ha territory. Consolidation centre infrastructure was partially developed and cold storage and some processing equipments have been purchased for demonstration and learning purposes. Management and staff of ASC have been retrained in value chain development and implementation. ASC has developed branches in all the districts of Ajara Autonomous Republic.

Duties and Responsibilities

The overall objective of the consultancy is to provide advice to the Government of Ajara (Ministry of Agriculture of Ajara AR) to ensure consistent development of the services to farmers to supporting the agriculture development in the Ajara Autonomous Republic.

The selected Consultant will be accountable to the Project Manager of the ‘ENPARD Ajara - Support to Agriculture Development in the Ajara Autonomous Republic’ project and UNDP Georgia Economic Development Team Leader.

The selected Consultant is expected to:

Familiarize with the current version of the services to farmers, the work and service package of ASC’s, its Strategic Plan and, assess ASC’s present services package, outreach and information channels, quality control internal coordination and communication of the Agroservice Centre and the units of MoA of Ajara providing information consultancy services to farmers,
Create detailed Map of Agriculture Services (further MAS) for wide range of potential beneficiaries (farmers and their households agriculture processing and etc.);
Overlay MAS on Ajara reality and demonstrate viability (and/or opposite) of provision of each service package. Provide relevant recommendations strengthened with analyses in quantitative, qualitative and financial perspectives, including outreach, quality control and effectiveness assessment and costing aspects.

Based on all above create Diversified Technical Service Packages (DTSP) that ASC and MoA of Ajara may offer:

Define and structure potential clients in quantitative and other descriptive terms such as farm size, household development level, and etc;
Brake down DTSP according to the above structured clients’ groups;
Brake down DTSP according to the needs/applicability to farmers households;
Develop operational and information form per each service in the DTSP;
Tailor DTSP to Ajara climate, geography and other specifications;
Assess and suggest recommendations for the farmers’ outreach, internal and external communication, quality control mechanisms and indicators services, assessment of effectiveness, tools for farmers’ needs assessment and effective responses to it.

Develop DTSP Implementation/Intervention Plan:

Provide recommendations for effective/efficient delivery and management of proposed service packages;
In cooperation with ASC management develop time schedule with consideration of ASC budget and resource perspectives;
Develop Monitoring and Evaluation scheme for proposed service packages;

Revise the current version of the ASC Strategic Plan with due consideration of the stakeholders interests and suggestions;

Develop the ASC institutional development plan in line with the revised Strategic Plan already developed.

The Consultant is expected to base his/her suggestions on good international practice of extension and consolidation system development in Eastern European countries. The Consultant should hold consultations with the MoA of Ajara AR and management of ASC, as well as with farmers/producers, input providers, and other type of service providers within the local agricultural sector.

Major Deliverables:

The selected Consultant is expected to deliver below deliverables in accordance to the Duties and Responsibilities section:

Map of Agriculture Services (MAS) for different beneficiary groups (small, medium and commercial farmers` households; agriculture processors and etc.) overplayed with Ajara reality;
Diversified Technical Service Packages (DTSP) for ASC and MoA of Ajara and their Implementation/Intervention measures;
Revised Agroservice Centre Strategic Plan and its implementation plan.
Recommendations list on the farmers’ outreach, internal and external communication, quality control mechanisms and indicators services, assessment of effectiveness, tools for farmers’ needs assessment and effective responses to it.

Evaluation:

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on cumulative analysis method:

Offerors will be evaluated against combination of technical and financial criteria. Maximum obtainable score is 100, out of which total score for technical criteria equals to 70 and for financial criteria – to 30.Offerors obtaining minimum of 40 points (10+15+15 as per below table) as a result of the desk review, will be invited for an interview. The maximum score for interview will be 15 points. Those Offerors who pass 70% of maximum obtainable scores of the technical criteria (i.e. desk review and interview, 70 x 70% = 49 points) will be considered as short-listed offerors.

The short-listed offerors will be asked to provide financial proposals (lump sum) for the scope of work defined in the Terms of Reference in detail.

Financial Proposal:

The financial proposal shall specify a total lump sum amount, and payment terms around specific and measurable (qualitative and quantitative) deliverables should be accompanied by the proposed number of installments. All envisaged travel costs must be included in the financial proposal as well.

Payment Modality:

The payments will be made in two installments via bank transfer upon certification of successful submission of deliverables from ENPARD Ajara Project Manager. The first installment will be provided to the Consultant upon arrival to Georgia and include the DSA, daily fee and ticket price, while the rest of the amount will be paid upon timely submitting of high quality deliverables (please, refer to the section on 'Major Deliverables').

Competencies

Core Competencies:

Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
Treats all people fairly without favoritism.

Functional Competencies:

He/she should have strong communication and analytical skills related to Agriculture support policy development;
Proven strong analytical abilities and knowledge in agriculture support services, consolidation and extension models and value chains;
Ability of interpretation, development and analyses of related documentation;
Ability to work under pressure with several tasks and various deadlines;
Excellent writing, presentation/public speaking skills;
A pro-active approach to problem-solving;
IT literacy.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Master's degree in development policy and or agribusiness related disciplines (agriculture economics, agro-technical practices, agriculture policy development and of the related fields) (minimum qualification reqruirement: Master's degree - 10 points; PhD - 15 points).

Experience:

At least 7 years of professional experience in planning and developing of farmers services and service providers, and/or regional Agriservice development projects (minimum qualification reqruirement: 7 to 9 years - 15 points; more than 9 years - 20 points);
At least 5 years of professional experience in monitoring and evaluation of performance of Agriculture Service Organizations and/or regional/local Agriservice development projects preferably in Eastern European countries (minimum qualification reqruirement: 5 to 7 years - 15 points; more than 7 years - 20 points);
Experience in supporting the development of small holder, medium and big size farmers’ and their groups’ supporting services;
Experience in development, implementation and evaluation of agriculture value chains;
Experience in working with public sector, private sector and donor organizations on institutional development or similar projects will be an asset.

Language Requirements:

Fluency in English is a must;
Knowledge of Georgian or Russian languages will be an asset.