Historique

Since agriculture is one of the four main pillars of Cambodia’s economic growth, the government has thus identified it as the top priority for Cambodia’s socio-economic development and is currently focusing on increasing productivity and diversifying within this sector. Cassava is one of the selected priorities after rice.

Cassava plays an important role in agriculture, economic growth and development in Cambodia. It is the second agricultural crop after rice with production of 4,368,160 tons, covering over 205,128 ha of cultivated areas in 2011, increasing from a production of 142, 262 tons and cultivated areas of 13,590 ha in 2001 . Cassava is identified as one of the priority export crops in the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) strategy for agricultural crop exportation.

Currently, most of the cassava products in Cambodia are exported informally and mainly in the form of fresh roots and dried chips to Thailand and Vietnam. China is the world largest importer of cassava products and is identified as an alternative market for Cambodian cassava considering the preferential market access for Cambodian products to China and the signed protocol between Cambodia and China for the phytosanitary requirement for Cambodia cassava export to China.

Under the trilateral partnership between China, Cambodia and UNDP, a training programme on technology transfer about cassava production was provided to 30 Cambodian agricultural practitioners with diverse backgrounds and expertise such as technical staff, researchers, lecturers, practitioners from MAFF. The training was organized and delivered by the Chinese Academy for Tropical Agricultural Sciences (CATAS) in Hainan province from 27 December 2011 to 16 January 2012.

To deepen trilateral cooperation further and to follow up on the pilot project, the China-Cambodia-UNDP Trilateral Cooperation Phase II on cassava project has been initiated. The proposed project would contribute to move Cambodian producers (especially smallholders), processors and exporters of cassava up the value chain, therefore targeting more sustained growth of the sector, increased revenue and, possibly, employment generation. It will seek to help producers, processors and exporters to better assess and understand Chinese market requirements when it comes to imports of commodities from Cambodia, bearing in mind the preferential market access Cambodia is enjoying with China.

To accomplish the expected project deliverables and objectives, the following outputs are planned in the project:

Needs assessment study: it will be conducted to understand the current conditions of the cultivation and processing of Cambodian cassava and identifying gaps to be addressed and practices to be improved in order to export to Chinese market. Based on the need assessment, training plan and training packages will be developed to build capacity of the relevant stakeholders in the current cassava value chain to enable them respond to Chinese market requirement. From this need assessment, the target group for the project will be also identified.

Development of training plan and materials, and training deliveries: using the information and data gathered from the needs assessment, a set of training packages will be developed and implemented: 

  • Training of trainers (ToT) will also be designed, developed and provided to the trainers. The target trainees are from line departments of MAFF.  The purpose of this ToT is to equip trainers with training techniques and technical knowledge and skills related to cassava production, processing and exports;
  • Training deliveries: a series of trainings will be provided to the targeted beneficiaries of the project identified during the needs assessment study. The training will be practical, hands-on and results-based;
  • Organizing a business matching programme in addition to the training:  a study tour to China for business matching purpose will also be organized to allow a group of Cambodian cassava farmers, processors and exporters to meet buyers, importers as well as processing factories.

Environmental impact study: Considering the possibility that production of cassava might increase exponentially over the next years, a study of the environmental short-term to long-term consequences of cassava cultivation (i.e. on soil degradation/erosion, including roads) and processing (i.e. on water and the environment) in Cambodia is required. Current international best practice in sustainable cassava-based cultivation and processing will also be identified. Subsequently, the findings of the study will be disseminated in Khmer language and used by relevant government authorities in planning sector development, and in designing technical support systems.

Handbook production: the training materials, best practices, impact assessment shall form the basis of a handbook on cassava cultivation, processing and exports of Cambodian cassava to China so as to potentially increase in the future the quality and quantity of processed cassava exported to China by motivating more processors and exporters to consider China as an export market. Guidelines for good cassava cultivation practice and certification will be developed to meet international export requirements.

Devoirs et responsabilités

The team leader is responsible for the delivery of Output 1: need assessment study, and Output 2: training development.

Under Output 1: need assessment study 

The team leader will lead a group of consultants, one international, one/several from Cambodia. International consultant will be responsible to produce a study on Chinese market demand, market requirement and how to address those market requirements. The Cambodian consultant(s) will be responsible to produce need assessment in Cambodia to understand the current cassava market in Cambodia, strength, weakness, and areas needing improvements to respond to cassava Chinese market requirement.  Both international and Cambodian consultants will work under the supervision of the Team Leader to produce a final report, need assessment report.

Under output 2: training development

The team leader will lead one local consultant and other relevant experts to develop training plan, training materials for ToT and project beneficiaries and deliver training for trainers and for project beneficiaries.

Expected Outputs and Deliverables:

  • Draft need assessment report produced;
  • Final high quality need assessment report produced ( plus presentation of the findings to the project team);
  • Training plan for the trainer and for the project beneficiaries produced. The plan should consist of the timeline, expert to be invited, materials to be produced, and approach to ensure effective training;
  • Training plan for trainer is successfully implemented;
  • Training plan for project beneficiary is successfully implemented.

Duration of the Work:

This assignment will take approximately 9 months, expected to start in September 2013 and finish in June 2014. The consultant is expected to travel to duty station 6 times from his/her home country to complete the assignment. Specific purpose of each mission will be further developed once the consultant is on board. The consultant is expected to spend about 20 days (10 days for each output) in Cambodia for the whole assignment.

Compétences

Functional Competencies:

  • Excellent analytical, communication and inter-personal skills;
  • Proven ability to work under pressure and deliver outputs in a timely manner;
  • Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
  • Proven knowledge on Chinese agricultural market, specifically cassava, and its trade relation with other countries especially Cambodia. Knowledge of Chinese market demand for cassava, SPS requirement, and trade.

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.

Qualifications et expériences requises

Education:

  • Advanced Degree in Agriculture, International Trade, Development Studies or related field.

Experience: 

  • Minimum 7 years of professional experience at the national or international level in the area related to supporting agricultural sector development and its linkage to trade;
  • Expertise in export potential assessments, analysis of market attractiveness, and the use of other measures of trade development and trade competitiveness;
  • Proven experience in agricultural crop management, agricultural plantation;
  • Proven experience in conducting need assessment and policy-relevant reporting;
  • Proven experience in developing training packages and conducting training of trainers;
  • Proven experience working with stakeholder including government, private sector, and development agencies;
  • Previous work experience in China and Cambodia is a strong asset;
  • Experience in the usage of computers and office software packages (MS Word, Excel, etc).

Language Requirements:

  • Excellent oral and written communication skills in English;
  • Good working knowledge in Khmer language is an advantage.

Important note:

Interested offeror is strongly advised to read the Individual Consultant (IC) Procurement Notice, wich can be viewed at http://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_file.cfm?doc_id=18891 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:

Please note that UNDP Online Recruitment System allow only one uploading, so please make sure that you merge all your documents into a single file.

Any request for clarification/additional information on this procurement notice shall be communicated in writing to UNDP office or send to email vannara.chea@undp.org or 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.