Background

With COVID-19 now spreading in India, massive consequences to health and livelihoods are feared, and the government has imposed lockdown to limit virus transmission. It has affected the supply chain, disrupting activities in production, logistics and finally sale of produce, thereby affecting income of farmers and producers. Given the precarious livelihoods of many farmers and wastage of produce due to lack of storage facilities and disruption of supply chain, there is a need to revive and restore businesses, agriculture and horticulture sector to ensure food security on one hand and livelihoods and income of farmers on the other.

In view of the above, UNDP is supporting Department of Horticulture, Dept. of WCD, Tribal Welfare, TRI, MSME and other Departments of Government of Madhya Pradesh in establishing and strengthening end-to-end value chain for certain identified agriculture, and horticulture crops including herbal and medicinal plants with a larger objective of restoration of livelihoods and economic activity in the sector. In doing so, UNDP shall be working closely with farmer producer organizations, women SHGs/Federations, and collectives including tribal communities in building long lasting capacities of these organizations while also strengthening supply chain and market linkages.

In addition, UNDP, in partnership with Department of Horticulture and Food Processing, Government of Madhya Pradesh, envisages creation of a technological solution for the farmers of the state which is holistic, both in concept and practice. While the major thrust of the app and website would be to link small farmers to small storage and transportation facilities available across the state, the app will eventually be given several features to serve the following objectives:

1. Disintermediating and integrating the supply chain of Horticulture products: Access to Storage
2. Guidance on Farm Inputs and Strengthening FPOs
3. Platform connecting Farmers with Buyers across the Country
4. Advisory Services and Cropping Solutions
5. Facilitate Digital Payments and Credit

It is evident that there is a need for a more organized and efficient supply chain and elimination of intermediaries. This can be achieved through the proposed Bhandharan app and website that can bring about the technology-enabled disruption and development in this sector. The app will help create a reliable supply chain, wherein farmers will be directly linked to large institutional buyers through the access to storage and transportation facilities. This will help the farmers in commanding high prices for their produce without the interference from intermediaries. Specifically, the support is targeted at identifying clusters, develop end -to-end value chain of agriculture, horticulture, and MFP products. UNDP will also support in development of MIS, Dashboard and other ICT enabled applications/system and processes to further strengthen the initiatives in above – mentioned areas. UNDP initiatives are aligned with the government efforts under Atmanirbhar Bharat and Atmanirbhar Madhya Pradesh.

With the above background, UNDP seeks to recruit a short term consultant (Individual Consultant) to support the above mentioned activities while working closely with Dept. of Women and Child Development, Dept of Horticulture, Dept. of WCD, and other Departments along with UNDP. 

Duties and Responsibilities

The primary responsibility of the Consultant will be formally working under the supervision of the Head of State Office at UNDP, he/ she will also be working under the guidance of the co-leads of the working group. The consultant areas of work are defined as such:

• Developing strategy in promotion of horticulture development, medicinal plants, minor millets, and agricultural products specific to the State.
• Identification & adoption of appropriate production and value addition technologies.
• Provide state specific inputs to fill gaps identified in discussion with state level stakeholders
• Provide support to the government of MP in the gaps in knowledge and skills to bring visibility and sensitize decision makers to relevant emerging issues.

• Provide technical support and monitor the development of Bhandaran App being developed by UNDP
• Design and conduct trainings of Tribal SHG Federations in online marketing, transactions, and provide support in managing the Online/Digital Andai Portal
• Support, design and implement the Monitoring System to the project.
• Provide technical support to the line departments.
• Provides solutions and guidance related to project in a timely and cost-effective manner, with complete buy-in of the Department of Horticulture and MP DAY SRLM, Government of Madhya Pradesh the other partners and keeping the key organizational mandate and principles of UNDP.
• Coordinate with Department of Horticulture/MP DAY SRLM and other agencies for dissemination of study findings with State level stakeholders;
• Formulate strategy for training and capacity building of stakeholders for better management.
• Facilitate development, deployment and implementation of Key Performance Indicators and performances to improve functioning of department’s Operation and Management System.
• Support in obtaining necessary approvals for projects from concerned department.
• Ensure that programs implemented by implementation partners are in line with approved agreements and monitor deliverables 
• Any other specific task assigned by the UNDP State Office Head, MP.

Expected Deliverable/ Outcome

Deliverable 1

• Submission of training report on “ANDAI Portal management “under the Capacity building of women SHG Federation in Dindori district assignment.  

Deliverable 2

• Develop Mobile Application – “Bhandaran” in association with the selected vendor

Deliverable 3

SDG related outputs with concrete recommendation for state Department and /or Districts pertaining to SDG India Dashboard Index.

Competencies

• Analytical skills: Able to synthesize large sets of inputs and data to form coherent outputs
• Ability to interact with senior members and stakeholders effectively and efficiently
• Must be detail-oriented
• Communication skills: Able to communicate clear ideas across a variety of mediums
• Writing and presentation skills: Able to produce high quality reports and presentations
• Team skills: Able to work independently as well as in teams
• Great organizational and time-management skills

Required Skills and Experience

Academic Qualification:  

• Must have Post Graduation in IT, Information management, or another related discipline with excellent academic track record
• Must have Project Management Certification from reputed institution will be preferred.
• Must have Certificate/Diploma/PG Diploma in Advanced Data Analytics from Tier I Institute of national and International repute.

Professional Experience: 

• Minimum 10 years of experience in developing IT solutions and providing IT support and maintenance services.
• Proven professional experience in developing and managing databases within the non-profit   sector.
• Proven professional experience in web technologies, including the development and deployment, and development of web-based information systems
• Good understanding of development results and Results Based Management Concepts.
• Experience of working with Central and/or State Governments/ international agencies/ on similar assignments will be preferred.

Official Travel: Travel within the state and districts may be required. Travel expenses shall be borne by the Office. All travel must be pre-approved by the Supervisor.

Language Requirement:  English/Hindi

Evaluation Criteria

The award of the contract shall be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as Responsive to the requirement. Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points (70% of the total technical points) would be considered for the Financial Evaluation;

•           Technical Criteria weight - 70%;

•           Financial Criteria weight – 30 %

Technical Criteria (70% of the total evaluation)

Criteria 1: Qualification (30%)

• Post-Graduation in IT, Information management, or another related discipline with excellent academic track record (10%)
• Project Management Certification from reputed institution will be preferred. (10%)
• Certificate/Diploma/PG Diploma in Advanced Data Analytics. (10%)

Criteria 1: Prior Experience (25%)

• Minimum 10 years of experience in developing IT solutions and providing IT support and maintenance services including web technologies along with the development and deployment of web-based information systems (15%)
• Minimum 10 years of experience of working with Central and/or State Governments/ international agencies/ on similar assignments. (10%)

2. Criteria 2: Demonstrated Knowledge (15%)

• Worked on at least 3 projects that demonstrate designing, development and data handling of for implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of Online/Digital Marketing Portals. (15%)

Financial Proposal:

Technically qualified consultants will be requested to submit their lump sum rate i.e. consultants who score more than 70% i.e. 49 marks with respect to the above-mentioned evaluation criteria. Consultant should not specify their consultancy fee on their CV or with the submission. The CV will not be evaluated further in case the consultant submits the same.

Payment Scheduled: Payments will be deliverable linked per the following schedule of payments:

Notes: 

Miscellaneous charges i.e. internet, phone, relocation charges, local travel etc. would not be reimbursed separately.