Background

The consultancy is planned within the Local Integrated Development (LID) Project (2016 – 2018). The project is primarily funded by the European Union and co-funded and implemented the by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). As part of the UNDP BiH’s Rural and Regional Development Sector’s portfolio, the LID Project has the overall objective to raise the standards of living and improve social cohesion in Bosnia and Herzegovina through inclusive sustainable socio-economic development. LID interventions are streamlined along two main pillars: governance, and economic development and job creation. The main partners in project implementation are the BiH Ministry for Human Rights and Refugees and the two entity governments. 
The purpose of the consultancy is to provide technical assistance to 59 small-scale agricultural producers as well as quality assurance of completed agriculture activities funded by the LID Project. During the Project duration from 2016 to 2018, the Project supplied to all 59 Project beneficiaries production kits consisting of seedlings, plant protection products, fertilizers and irrigation systems. The objective of this assignment is to provide technical assistance to Project beneficiaries through field visits during the period from April 2019 to June 2019. The selected Agronomist, under the direct supervision of the LID Programme Manager, will guide the producers towards higher yields and quality products through the usage of modern agriculture techniques and good agricultural practices. Additionally, the selected Agronomist will provide the quality assurance for three completed agriculture activities.

 

 

Duties and Responsibilities

The selected Agronomist will work closely with 59 LID Project beneficiaries who produce cherries, hazelnuts, raspberries and strawberries.
More concretely, the Agronomist is expected to perform the following tasks:

  • Task 1: Technical assistance to the LID Project team;
  • Task 2: Technical assistance to 59 Project beneficiaries/producers;
  • Task 3: Quality assurance of 3 completed agriculture projects;
  • Task 4: Reporting.


Task 1.    Technical assistance to the LID Project team

Under this task the Agronomist will provide detailed work plan for the field visits including all activities in the agriculture sector to be accomplished in the target localities.

Task 2.  Technical assistance provided to 59 LID Project beneficiaries/producers

Under this task the Agronomist will:

Conducts regular field visits to 59 LID Project beneficiaries/producers of cherries, hazelnuts, raspberries and strawberries and provides regular extension services and technical assistance. An overview of LID Project beneficiaries per location is provided in the table below:

No. Location Value chains and Number of Beneficiaries
  Hazelnut and Strawberry Cherry and Strawberry Raspberry
1. Celinac 5 1 0
2. Modrica 1 2 0
3. Mostar 0 4 0
4. Orašje 7 0 0
5. Prijedor 0 0 27
6. Šamac 3 0 0
7. Žepce 9 0 0

More specifically, the Agronomist will conduct following activities:

  • A total of minimum two (2) field visits to each raspberry producer must be completed including, but not limited to, the following activities: regular assessments of raspberry plantations condition, instructions for plant protection treatments and application of the fertilizers, practical demonstration of plant growth and development; assessments of  health  and nutritional status of raspberry plants and provision of the relevant instructions; assessment of potential yield; assessment of proper functioning of the irrigation systems and installed anti-hail nets and provision of the relevant instructions; verbal and written instructions issued to the beneficiaries that clearly document how to resolve all issues in production; all verbal instructions should be complemented by written notes and delivered to the producers during the visits; any other activities deemed necessary.
  • A total of minimum two (2) field visits to each hazelnut/strawberry producer and to each cherry/strawberry producer must be completed including, but not limited to, the following activities: Hazelnut: regular assessments of the hazelnut plantations condition; instructions for necessary plant protection treatments and application of fertilizers; assessment of health and nutritional status of plants and provision of the relevant instructions; instructions for weed control; assessment of the intensity of plants growth;  verbal and written instructions issued to the beneficiaries that clearly document how to resolve all issues in production; all verbal instructions should be complemented by written notes and delivered to the producers during the visits; any other activities deemed necessary.

Strawberry: regular assessments of the strawberry plantations condition; instructions for plant protection and application of fertilizers; assessment of health and nutritional status of plants; instructions for acting in case of possible frost;  assessment of potential yield;  verbal and written instructions issued to the beneficiaries that clearly document how to resolve all issues in production; all verbal instructions should be complemented by written notes and delivered to the producers during the visits; assessments of the plantation and delivery rate of the envisaged activities; any other activities deemed necessary.
Cherry: regular assessments of the cherry plantations condition; advice regarding the installation of irrigation systems on plantations; assessment and instructions for additional cultivation measures after the planting; instructions for weed control; instructions for plant protection treatments and application of fertilizers; instructions for pruning; verbal and written instructions issued to the beneficiaries that clearly document how to resolve all issues in production; all verbal instructions should be complemented by written notes and delivered to the producers during the visits; any other activities deemed necessary.

  • Make assessments whether the producers keep proper farm records as previously instructed during the training and provides suggestions for improvement;
  • Perform condition assessments for the installed anti-hail nets.

Task 3. Quality assurance of three completed agriculture activities
Apart from providing technical assistance to LID Project beneficiaries, the Agronomist will undertake quality assurance of three agriculture activities implemented through LID project as follows:

No. Municipality Activities
1 Modrica Jabucik II (Distribution of strawberry and raspberry seedlings including a drop-irrigation system for 12 beneficiaries).
2 Tuzla Improvement of Agriculture Production in the City of Tuzla by creation of better business infrastructure (Procurement of cold storage and shock chamber, electronic palette floor scales, electronic scale with bar code, disinfection machine and plastic crates).
3 Trebinje Affirmation of agricultural resources in order to improve socio-economic position of rural population (Distribution of greenhouses with irrigation systems for 35 beneficiaries).

Under this task, the Agronomist will:

  • Carry out a quality evaluation and quantity survey missions to each of the defined project sites which implies assurance of quality and verification of presence of all the procured equipment/materials;
  • Determine the extent and nature of defects, if discovered, during compliance and survey activities of finalized agriculture works;
  • Monitoring execution of mitigation activities in line with recommendations of the audit, if any.

Task 4. Reporting
Progress reports - will contain the outcomes of LID Project’s support to selected 59 Project beneficiaries/producers after each visit including information on technical assistance provided to the beneficiaries and other relevant information on implementation of Project activities. These reports should include the photos of plantations, status of those plantations and written instructions to the beneficiaries on how to improve/manage the plantation.
The Progress Reports for the three activities where the Agronomist will conduct the quality assurance, the Agronomist will prepare a report for each activity, including the findings, results and recommendations for quality improvements, where necessary.
Final Report - will review and encompass the assessments of plantations and overall progress in the implementation of the Project activities. This Report should also include the recommendations, with the elaboration of the ideas that could be integrated into new Project proposals. In addition, the report should contain the estimation of raspberry and strawberry yields in 2019.  Regarding the quality assurance process the Agronomist will provide a final report in both narrative and financial respect in form defined by the UNDP signed both by the auditor and the contractor.
 

Deliverables

UNDP LID team will closely oversee the service provided by the Agronomist. The expected timeframe for the service is April 2019 – mid June 2019. The Agronomist is responsible for the following deliverables:

Deliverables  Number of days per task Timeline Percentage
Task 1:  Technical assistance to the LID Project team 

  • Detailed work plan for the field visits including all activities in the agriculture sector to be accomplished in the target localities 0,5 day Beginning of April 2019  5%

Task 2:  Technical assistance provided to 59 LID Project beneficiaries/producers,  15 days April 2019 - May 2019, 50%

  • Completed field visits;
  • Submitted and approved the Progress reports for each beneficiary/producer following each field visit.    

Task 3. Quality assurance of three completed agriculture projects

  • Detailed quality assurance report on completed agriculture works with recommendations; supervision over execution of additional works if any;  12 days April 2019 – Mid June 2019, 40%

Task 4: Reporting 0.5 day  By mid-June 2019 5%

  • Delivery and presentation of the final report to LID Programme Manager      

Competencies

Corporate Competences:

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

Functional Competencies:

  • Knowledge in agribusiness and state of the art agricultural techniques and practices
  • Promotes a knowledge sharing and learning culture in the office and in the field
  • Ability to assist in implementation, monitoring and evaluation of agriculture projects
  • Good communication skills, both orally and in writing, in a clear and persuasive style tailored to match different audiences.
  • Ability to work under tight deadlines and perform well under pressure.

Required Skills and Experience

Academic Qualifications/Education:

  • University degree in Agriculture

Experience:

  • Minimum 5 years of relevant experience in Agriculture;
  • Minimum 3 years of proven experience in cherry, hazelnut, raspberry and strawberry production;
  • Practical experience in providing technical assistance to the large group of the producers at the same time;  
  • Previous experience in quality assurance of agriculture projects;
  • Experience in similar projects involving the provision of technical assistance to producers with little or no previous experience in cherry, hazelnut, raspberry and strawberry production; 
  • Excellent and proven experience in dealing with producers, local authorities and other relevant socio-economic actors;
  • Previous experience with an international public and/or private sector Organization would be considered as an additional asset;
  • Experience in the usage of computers and office software packages (MS Word, Excel, PPT etc.);
  • Readiness for intensive field work, using own car;
  • Driver's license required;

Languages Requirements:

  • Excellent use of B/C/S. English language proficiency will be considered an asset.


Evaluation

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the following methodology:

Cumulative analysis

When using this weighted scoring method, the award of the contract should be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:
a) responsive/compliant/acceptable, and
b) Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.

  • * Technical Criteria weight-70%
  • * Financial Criteria weight- 30%

Applicants are required to submit an application including:

Documents to Be Included When Submitting the Proposals

Interested individual consultants must submit the

Financial Proposal

Lump sum contracts
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 instalments 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 (including travel, per diem, and number of anticipated working days).

Travel;
All envisaged travel costs must be included in the financial proposal. This includes all travel costs related to site visits and meetings with UNDP Project team on a monthly basis.

Qualification Requirements

Criteria Weight  Max. Point

  • University degree in Agriculture 50% 50;
  • Minimum 5 years of relevant practical experience in Agriculture  50% 50

Total 100% 100
 

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 90 points would be considered for Technical Evaluation

Technical Evaluation
Criteria Weight  Max. Point

  • Qualification Score 10% 10
  • Demonstrated knowledge and minimum 3 years of proven practical experience in cherry, strawberry, hazelnut and raspberry production.  35% 35
  • Demonstrated experience in quality assurance of agriculture projects. 30% 30
  • Practical experience in providing technical assistance to the large group of the producers at the same time;   15% 15
  • Demonstrated experience in providing similar services to international public and/or private sector.  10% 10

Total 100% 100
Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 70 points would be considered for the Final Evaluation


Note:

  • For an assignment requiring travel, consultants of 65 years or more require full medical examination and statement of fitness to work to engage in the consultancy.
  • Due to large number of potential applicants, only competitively selected candidates will be contacted for remaining steps of the service procurement process.