Background

Poverty reduction and growth are the highest priorities of the Royal Government of Cambodia (RGC). The Rectangular Strategy Phase III reaffirms government’s commitment to prioritize policies and investment in support of agriculture; infrastructure; private sector development and employment; and human resources development. The global economic crisis and the rise in food and fuel prices have led the RGC to adopt a dual approach. This aims to increase national competitiveness and diversify the economy; and to expand the social protection and safety nets.

The government has identified agriculture as the top priority for Cambodia’s socio-economic development, focusing on increasing productivity and diversifying within this sector. This is clearly reflected in the Rectangular Strategy III and the National Strategic Development Plan (NSDP) IV both covering the period 2014-2018. Similarly, the Cambodia Diagnostic Trade Integration Strategy 2014-2018 (CTIS 2014-2018) stresses the need for Cambodia to strengthen and accelerate the diversification of its export base above and beyond its original two core export sectors – garments and tourism.  To support this major strategic orientation, CTIS identifies: (1) 10 product and service with potentials for export (including cassava) (2) “cross-cutting” reforms and institutional developments required to unleash growth in those potential exports; and, (3) capacity developments in areas of trade policy and Aid for Trade management. The strategy was endorsed by the Sub-Steering Committee on Trade and Trade-Related Investment in December 2013 (the committee serves as National Steering Committee for all Aid for Trade in Cambodia) and launched officially by H.E. Prime Minister Hun Sen in February 2014. This is also in line with the results of the country’s Trade Policy Review undertaken in 2011 in partnership with the World Trade Organization (WTO) that calls for Cambodia to move away from its dependency on garment and rice and urges to diversify and expand the country’s export basis.

Cassava is the second largest agricultural crop in Cambodia, and is growing rapidly. Statistics from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) indicates production of nearly 4.250 million MT in 2010, up from 3.5 million MT in 2009. MAFF sources estimate that 2013 production reached almost 8 million MT. The fast growing importance of the sector for export diversification and export revenues cannot be underestimated. Additionally, the sector might have been generating anywhere between $300 to $400 million worth of “informal” export revenues in 2013. Even though Cassava has become the second largest agricultural crop in term or income, employment, hectares cultivated, and exports, there is very little technical assistance support provided to the sector.

This lack of technical support is potentially serious considering cassava cultivation could have ecological consequences. Research has shown that continuous cassava cultivation on small plots could contribute to serious nutrient depletion and deterioration of chemical and physical conditions of the soil. When grown on even gentle slopes, continuous cassava cultivation could even contribute to soil erosion. But it need not be the case: cassava cultivation can be made sustainable using proper methodologies or when part of a sustainable integrated system.

The Ministry of Commerce and UNDP Cambodia have partnered since 2008 to tackle the above challenges and provide know-how and best practices to Cambodia’s cassava sector. One key instrument developed under this cooperation was a Value Chain Analysis of the cassava sector carried out in 2009. Five year later, increased investment in the sector coupled with interests from new buyers (in particular from China) for raw and processed cassava products meant that Cambodia’s cassava value chain is changing deeply. As a result, UNDP wishes to update the existing Value Chain study as a tool to assess where support provided through the CEDEP II project could be best used.

UNDP, in its CPAP, has vowed to support the above goals of economic diversification and poverty reduction and in particular the human capital development and competitiveness issues. Similarly, at the request of the Government, UNDP has decided to re-engage deeply in the trade sector, trade being an engine for economic growth, through the creation of a dedicated project within UNDP

The Cassava component will contribute directly to:

• UNDAF outcome on “promotion of equitable, green, diversified economic growth”;
• CPAP Outcome #1 on Poverty Reduction: strengthening national and sub-national capacities to develop a more diversified, sustainable and equitable economy;
• CPAP Output #1.1: supporting human capital development and institutional capacity for selected sectors of importance for the diversification of the economy;
• CPAP Outcome #2: enabling national and local authorities, communities and the private sector to sustainably manage eco-system goods and services and respond to climate change.

Duties and Responsibilities

Scope of Work

The principal aim of a Value Chain Study (VCS) is to generate sufficient information to identify the main opportunities and bottlenecks in the export value chains, and to assess whether or not a UNDP intervention is likely to contribute significantly to export growth of the cassava products, and if so, to build a business case for them.

* The Value Chain Study is expected to provide two level of analysis including a) sector analysis; b) specific cassava value chain analysis. Below is the more detail description.

Sector analysis
Based on the understanding on the sector dynamic:

• Provide assessment on the current country cassava production capacity and elaborate the sector strength and weakness with consideration of the regional context;
• Looking at the regional and global trend of the world cassava market, combined with the understanding on the sector challenges, analyze the potential growth of the sector and recommend strategic way forward in term of what are the potential markets that the country should target;
• Provide specific recommendation on what  are the areas that the country needs to address to reach out to the potential markets and to ensure the competitiveness in those markets;
• Provide specific recommendation on what bottlenecks can be addressed by UNDP under the scope of CEDEP II – cassava component project which is currently implemented up to 2017.

Value chain analysis
In addition to the sector analysis, provide assessment on cassava value chain to understand the opportunity, constraints in each stage of the value chain and its possible impact on potential growth of cassava export and its potential relation to inclusive growth – meaning the growth that leads to poverty reduction and reducing gender gap in the cassava value chain. This requires:

• In-depth analysis to understand the dynamic relation of the key stakeholder involving directly in the production and flow of cassava product in the country including farmers, processors and exporters of cassava. In addition, the analysis should as well highlight how the behavior of those three main actors which can be influenced by other relevant players and the implication on the market dynamic of the flow of cassava product. Looking from gender lens, the analysis should be done by looking into gender disaggregated data of the main players in Cambodia cassava value chain and reflect the role of women at each stage of the value chain – entailing potentially what is their remuneration compared to men and identifying recommendations to increase women’s role in higher value added level of the value chain where relevant;
• Provide cost structure analysis and identify how the value added is generated in each stage of the value chain;
• Identify the main bottlenecks (incl. finance and investment) along the export value chain that hinder exports. In other words: why export currently is not reaching its full potential?;
• Give a realistic indication of the sustainable and inclusive development potential (economic, social and environmental), and in particular for women (this could be done by assessing the roles of women in different segments of the value chains -production, processing, trading- and the possible impact of the sector to the gender issues);
• What service provider(s) or institution(s) is/are in the position and/or show the potential capacity to remove the bottleneck(s)?;
• Describe what opportunities exist in the chain(s), in terms of possible improvements that lead to significant increases in export volume. This should relate to the demand in the market on the one hand, and the possibilities that exist within the chain(s) on the other hand;
• Risk assessment. The assessment should at least answer the following two questions for all the identified bottlenecks:

Are the bottlenecks critical (i.e. the CEDEP II project would fail to improve exports if the bottlenecks are not removed as planned)

What is the risk that these bottlenecks will not be removed on short-term (High-Medium-Low)?

• What bottlenecks can be addressed by UNDP under the scope of the CEDEP II – cassava component project which is currently implemented up to 2017.

* This Value Chain Study is conducted in three phases including 1) Phase 1 – literature review; 2) Phase II – field data collection; and 3) Phase III – writing the report of the Value Chain Analysis.

To deliver the assignment, the International Consultant will work with Local Consultant who is already on board.

While phase I and Phase II were already conducted by a National Consultant, the International Consultant is expected to work closely with the Local Consultant to work out the approach moving forward to produce the draft of the overall Value Chain study in Phase III.

Below is the detail of the arrangement to bring the International Consultant on board to deliver the assignment: 
During the first start of his/her assignment, the following documents will be provided to the International Consultant so that he/she can be quickly on board to deliver the assignment:

• Literature documents: the main studies conducted in the past on cassava value chain in Cambodia;
• The National Consultant will provide the International Consultant with the preliminary analysis report on cassava sector which is based on the data collection from the field in Phase II. The International Consultant will have full access to get clarification from the National Consultant on their field work to get the full information necessary to deliver the expected output.

Based on these materials, combined with his/her knowledge, the International Consultant can further consult with the Local Consultant and the project focal person – National Project Management Specialist, and produce his/her proposed work-plan and approaches to carry out the assignment. 
While the project believes that the above materials provided to the International Consultant is a strong base (adequate) for the International Consultant to build on to produce full Cassava Value Chain Study report, the International Consultant can propose for a short field work at project target areas or interviews with stakeholders as needed in order to familiarize him/herself to the dynamic on the ground.
If the field work report produced by the Local Consultant need further clarification, the International Consultant need to communicate to the Local Consultant and ensure the proper approach proposed by the Local Consultant to get further info needed.
The International Consultant can get support from Local Consultant on field work and meeting arrangement within the country.

Institutional Arrangement

Under overall direct supervision of the Programme Team Leader, oversight of Programme analyst with guidance from CEDEPII Project Management Specialist, to produce the full Cassava Value Chain report the International Consultant will need to work in team with the Local Consultant.

Below is the detail description of working arrangement: 

• The Local Consultant is already on board. The role of the Local Consultant is to provide the preliminary report based on the data that their team collected from the target areas of the project in early 2015 on the dynamic of cassava in Cambodia. The Local Consultant already produced the draft of the preliminary report from the field. The report will be shared with the International Consultant once s/he is on board. The Local Consultant is responsible for good quality of data collected from the target areas of the project and good quality of preliminary report produced; 
• The International Consultant will work based on previous studies on cassava provided by the project and the preliminary report provided by the Local Consultant, combined with his/her knowledge about cassava in the region and globally, produce a full draft Cassava Value Chain report. The part related to the finding from the field, the International Consultant can get the support from the Local Consultant to develop that section;
• The full draft of the Cassava Value Chain Study report will be reviewed and commented by the UNDP’s project team. Then, upon the satisfaction of the project team, it will be shared for comment from stakeholders. Following the consultation, the International Consultant will then be responsible for working with the Local Consultant to produce the final report of Cassava Value Chain Study with all the relevant comments from stakeholder incorporated.

Duration of the Work

The duration of assignment is 32 days over the course of 3 months, starting from August to October 2015.

Duty Station

The consultant will perform his/her duties from a home office through e-mail and telephone/Skype correspondence combined with short, focused in-country missions in Cambodia.

He/she is expected to come to Cambodia for three times with the total of 15 days: 1) first mission to go to the field to get more hand-on knowledge on the dynamic of cassava sector (expect to spend 7 days in the field and 2 days in the city – Phnom Penh); 2) 2nd mission to present the draft report and to gather comment from stakeholder (expect to come for 3 days); 3rd mission to present the final report to the stakeholder (expect to come for 3 days).

Once the consultant is on board, he/she can further discuss with the National Project Management Specialist and also with the National Consultant to firm up the work plan to deliver the assignment. The mission arrangement as mentioned above can be adjusted accordingly.

The consultant should cover all the related cost while working in Cambodia except for transportation cost to the provinces which will be covered by the project.

Competencies

Functional Competencies:

• Time management (in managing deliverables);
• Team management;
• Professionalism, courtesy, patience;
• Outstanding inter-cultural communication, networking and coordination skills.

Corporate Competencies:

• Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
• Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
• Treats all people fairly without favoritism;
• Fulfills all obligations to gender sensitivity and zero tolerance for sexual harassment.

Required Skills and Experience

Education: 

• Masters  in Agricultural Economics or Social Science especially in Economics, Development Economics, Management with preference to SME Development.

Experience:

• Proven understanding and clear knowledge of Commodity Market or Agro Processing or Cassava products;
• Extensive knowledge or not less than 10 years of  experience with international agencies and programs, preferably with UN agencies in the areas of promoting agricultural trade;
• Experience with value chain analysis in developing countries and in particular in Asian LDCs; and has at least conducted one or more value chain analyses before as lead consultant/researcher;
• Have conducted similar exercise in the recent past;
• Practical experience in design of value-chains and frameworks for agricultural economic development.

Language Requirement:

• Excellent written and oral English; knowledge of Khmer is an asset.

Important note:

Interested offeror is strongly advised to read the Individual Consultant (IC) Procurement Notice, which can be viewed at http://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_notice.cfm?notice_id=24627 for more detail about term of references, instructions to offeror, and documents to be included when submitting offer.

Documents to be included when submitting the application:

Interested offeror/individual must submit the following documents/information.

• Cover letter: Explaining why the consultant the most suitable for the work;
• Proposed approach;
• Offeror’s letter to UNDP confirming interest and availability for the Individual Contractor (IC) assignment and Final all-inclusive price proposal with breakdown of costs as per UNDP template, which can be downloaded athttp://www.kh.undp.org/content/dam/cambodia/docs/Operations/UNDP_Template%20for%20Confirmation%20of%20Interest%20and%20Submission%20of%20Financial%20Proposal.docx;
• UNDP Personal History Form (P11), which can be downloaded at http://www.kh.undp.org/content/dam/cambodia/docs/Operations/UNDP-P11%20modified%20for%20SCs%20and%20ICs.doc;
• Note for Interested Candidates above the age of 62: UNDP regulations require, at their own cost, to undergo a full medical examination including x-rays. Medical evaluation documentation does not need to be submitted with the other requested documents listed above, but will be requested should the candidate be chosen.
• UNDP reserves right to reject any applications that is incomplete.
• Please be informed that we don’t accept application submitted via email.
• Interested Offerors are required to submit application via UNDP jobsite system, because the application screening and evaluation will be done through UNDP jobsite system. Please note that UNDP jobsite system allows only one uploading of application document, so please make sure that you merge all your documents into a single file. Your on-line applications submission will be acknowledged where an email address has been provided. If you do not receive an e-mail acknowledgement within 24 hours of submission, your application may not have been received. In such cases, please resubmit the application, if necessary. Please combine all your documents into one (1) single PDF document as the system only allows to upload maximum one document.
• Any request for clarification/additional information on this procurement notice shall be communicated in writing to UNDP office or send to email chanpisey.ky@undp.org and cc procurement.kh@undp.org. While the Procurement Unit would endeavor to provide information expeditiously, only requests receiving at least 5 working days prior to the submission deadline will be entertained. Any delay in providing such information will not be considered as a reason for extending the submission deadline. The UNDP's response (including an explanation of the query but without identifying the source of inquiry) will be posted in Individual Consultant (IC) Procurement Notice page as provided above. Therefore, all prospective Offerors are advised to visit the page regularly to make obtain update related to this Individual Consultant (IC) Procurement Notice.