UNDP Jobs - 107407- Local Consultant for Value Chain Assessment of Win

Local Consultant for Value Chain Assessment of Wine products

Location :

Home Based, GEORGIA

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

11-Jun-22 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

National Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

Up to 25 working days within the period end of July – August 2022

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

The conflict in Ukraine has already significant a negative effect on global and regional economies, including Georgia that has significant economic ties with both Ukraine and Russian economies through trade, Foreign Direct investments (FDI), remittances, etc. Georgia’s growth forecast for 2022 has already been downgraded to 2.5 percent from 5.5 percent projected (World Bank, May 2022). In case of Russian market, the top product groups exported from Georgia to Russia in 2021 included ferroalloys; wine of fresh grapes; waters; spirituous beverages; fresh apricots, cherries, peaches, plums, and sloes. Instability in Russian caused by decreased consumer and investors’ confidence market can have a significant negative effect on the export of the following products: Wine, Citruses, fresh fruits, potatoes. 55% of the total export of wine was exported to Russia (2021). In 2021, more than half of the total export of citrus fruit was exported to the Russian market. During the last years over 95% of the mandarin was exported to Ukraine and CIS countries. Since Adjara is Georgia’s leading producer of citrus fruits, instability on the Russian market may damage local producers in the region. Since 2019, the inflow of Russian visitors has decreased significantly due to pandemics and absence of the regular flights. The conflict between Russia and Ukraine has a negative effect on the tourism industry in the whole region, incl. Georgia. Therefore, the tourism post-COVID recovery process is slow.

Economic challenges created by the conflict in Ukraine cerates additional hardships, esp. for those working in the rural areas. As rural dwellers and companies on in the rural areas produce most of the citrus, wine and most host international tourists, these industries suffer from short-term to at least mid-term shocks. Consequently, as rural residents were starting to recover from COVID-19 pandemic, they started to lose additional income and risk higher levels of poverty, esp. those of the most vulnerable. Therefore, effective mechanisms are needed to cushion the negative effects of conflict in Ukraine and exploit the emerging opportunities. For this, UNDP seeks to hire a consultant to conduct value chain mapping and analysis of wine products and develop relevant recovery and support recommendations.

Duties and Responsibilities

The overall objective of this technical assistance is to conduct value chain mapping and analysis of impact of Ukraine crisis on wine industry in Georgia and develop relevant recovery and support recommendations, incl. to mitigating the risks (esp. impact) caused by the conflict how to develop effective response strategies (esp. targeting the most vulnerable groups in rural areas).

Specifically, Consultant will be expected to undertake the following tasks but not limited to:

Develop detailed workplan and methodology for assessment assignment, including detailed content of final value chain analysis and mapping report.
Mapping the value chains: Identify the main actors and other stakeholders (supporters and influencers, e.g. industry associations, governmental agencies, etc.) and how are they linked and interact in the value chain; assessing the flow of products, information and financial resources along the value chains – both descriptive and as a value chain map.
Mapping of existing production. Identify and map existing production (incl. the production volumes) in target areas by type of producers (e.g. women, social enterprises, self-employed, etc.) and type of wine products.
Functional analysis of the value chain. Profile of the industry structure, skills/human resources and production technology by identifying, describing and quantifying in physical terms the sequence of operations concerning production, processing, marketing and sales and final consumption and related agents carrying them out. Describe the factors affecting the value chain actors.
Overview the vulnerability and livelihood profile and risks for the self-employed in the wine sector.
Analysis of input and output markets. Examine the input and output market and their structure. Procurement processes, logistics/distribution networks, accessibility to and availability of inputs required as well as related. Identify of final buyers for output market, type of contractual arrangements and transaction costs involved, degree of positioning in wine sector. Analyze degree of competitiveness, market shares and market segmentation for both input and output markets. Identify and describe bottlenecks, obstacles and shortcomings.
Policy environment & institutional analysis: Analysis of the institutional set-up: identify the set of interactions taking place among institutional agents; describe the support provided to producers by government services and how existing governmental programs respond to the needs of the sector; services provided to producers by input providers, traders, banking institutions, commercial extension providers etc.; specify the degree of organization of producers (e.g. cluster networks), networks and partnerships, the constitution and services provided by producer organizations.
Economic value chain analysis & development options, predominantly focused the impact of the conflict in Ukraine; Economic analysis of the value chain: assess in quantitative terms the value-added creation and distribution among the various actors of the chains; assess the socio-economic context of the producer profiles, specifying the costs of production, the producer place price and income of average production household, marginal revenues and costs; quantify the demand on market for wine products and services by their type; analyze bottlenecks in the chain and potential added values. Analyze of business development service market for the chains.
In close consultations with UNDP team, develop final analysis and mapping report and presentation file (in English) that specifically and in details provides recommendations for: (1) mitigating negative impact of the conflict in Ukraine (esp. for those vulnerable in rural areas); and (2) design conceptual support mechanisms/interventions (potentially with detailed ToRs) that could help the industry actors to exploit some of the new opportunities to growth (e.g. diversification of the export markets). that can stimulate growth of the industry in target municipalities. Note: UNDP expects that the Consultant will also serve as speaker on the subject on various events organized (as required).

All materials delivered to IRDG, including reports should be in English.

The Consultant will work together with IRDG’s Economic Diversification Coordinator under the direct supervision of Project Manager of the “Improving Rural Development in Georgia” project and in consultation with the UNDP Economic Development Team Leader.

Deliverables and payment modality:

10% of the consultancy fee - 20 July 2022

Detailed workplan and methodology for assessment assignment, including detailed content of final value chain analysis and mapping report.

40% of the consultancy fee - 5 August 2022

Draft Report: Report covering themes of the value chains/detailing out backward and forward linkages with margins of all the actors in the value chain with recommendations mentioning the bottlenecks, opportunities and key leverage points where the project can intervene for maximizing the returns to producers. Full report submitted with annexes.

50% of the consultancy fee - 25 August 2022

Final analysis and mapping report and presentation file (in English): that specifically and in details provides recommendations for: (1) mitigating negative impact of the conflict in Ukraine (esp. for those vulnerable in rural areas); and (2) design conceptual support mechanisms/interventions (potentially with detailed ToRs) that could help the industry actors to exploit some of the new opportunities to growth (e.g. diversification of the export markets).

Competencies

Core competencies

Demonstrated commitment to UNDP’s mission, vision and values.
Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability.
Highest standards of integrity, discretion and loyalty.

Functional competencies

Knowledge Management and Learning:

Shares knowledge and experience.

Development and Operational Effectiveness:

Ability to undertake analytical work and prepare narrative parts of working papers, reports and studies.
Strong communication skills.
Advanced computer skills including Microsoft Office and web-based applications.
Proven ability to deliver quality output working under tight deadlines.
Excellent communication and facilitation skills.
Strong and proven research and analytical skills.

Leadership and Self-Management:

Focuses on impact and result for the client and responds positively to feedback;
Leads teams effectively and shows conflict resolution skills;
Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
Demonstrates strong oral and written communication skills;
Builds strong relationships with clients and external actors;
Remains calm, in control and good humored even under pressure;
Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Advanced university degree in economics, business administration or other related discipline (minimum requirement) - 10 Points;

Experience:

At least 5 years of work experience in value chain assessments (minimum requirement) - 18 Points;
AAt least 3 years of experience in supporting income generating activities in rural areas (minimum requirement) - 12 Points;

Language requirements:

Fluency in Georgian and English (both written and oral) languages.

Evaluation :

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the Cumulative analysis:

Individual consultants will be evaluated against combination of technical and financial criteria. Technical evaluation stage encompasses desk review and interview of applications. Experts not meeting any of minimum technical qualification requirements will be automatically excluded from the list of candidates for further technical evaluation.

Maximum obtainable score is 100, out of which the total score for technical criteria equals to 70 points (70%) and for financial criteria 30 (30%). Technical criteria composed of desk review (40 points) and interview (30 points). Offerors who pass 70% of maximum obtainable scores of the desk review (i.e. 40 x 70% = 28 points because of a desk review of applications will be invited for the interview. Those offerors who pass 70% of maximum obtainable scores for interviews of (i.e. 30 x 70% = 21 points) will be considered as short-listed offerors and requested to provide financial proposals.

Financial Proposal:

The financial proposal shall specify a total lump sum amount, and payment terms around specific and measurable (qualitative and quantitative) deliverables (i.e. whether payments fall in installments or upon completion of the entire contract). Payments are based upon output, i.e. upon delivery of the services specified in the TOR. In order to assist the requesting unit in the comparison of financial proposals, the financial proposal will include a breakdown of this lump sum amount.