UNDP strives to have a workforce which reflects diversity and gender balance and applies an equal opportunities approach. All selection is on merit.

BACKGROUND

India is the largest producer as well as the consumer of the spices in the world with a total export value of approximately US $ 2.8 billion every year. Consumers have grown suspicious of the food they are consuming. Food fraud costs the global food industry an estimated $30-40 Bn annually. Food allergies and food food-related illnesses are much more common now than 25 years ago and consumers are beginning to demand the information related to the food they are consuming. Most spice farmers are poor small and marginal farmers. One of the major challenges for getting their due share of income for farmers is lack of a robust monitoring mechanism that can ensure the quality of spices at every stage of value chain.

Blockchain is a decentralized process of recording transactions on an open and shared electronic ledger. With blockchain the food supply chain gets simplified as the data management across a complex network that includes farmers, brokers, distributors, processors, retailers, regulators, and consumers gets simplified and transparent. Blockchain increases transparency and accountability across the value chain to enhance the quality assurance of agricultural export commodities. This has a great potential of doubling the income of small farmers in a country such as India. Farmers and all members of the supply chain can access all the information throughout the chain. This will make the entire supply chain more efficient and equitable. 

Accelerator Lab, UNDP is currently working towards developing a blockchain platform for spices collaborating with collectives of farmers, GS1, Spices Board India, UNDP State Teams and a wide range of stakeholders. Through this experimental pilot, Accelerator Lab, UNDP is building a robust technological interface powered by blockchain that can strengthen the eSpice Bazaar platform of Spices Board India to provide market access, quality assurance and traceability of spices for millions of small and marginal farmers in India.  Accelerator Lab, UNDP is also involved in several other experimental pilots including a Geo-AI platform for monitoring hotspots of air pollution from brick kilns, IoT based smart irrigation, technological pilots for mitigation air pollution at source and so on.

Towards ensuring timely coordination and management of various tasks related to the above projects, UNDP is interested to hire the services of a consultant who can effectively liaise with key stakeholders and partners for these experimental pilots, provide timely inputs, perform monitoring and evaluation of progress related to the pilots and assist the Accelerator Lab in making these innovations reach scale. The consultant will be reporting to the Accelerator Lab team. This assignment might require travel to liaise with stakeholders and partner organizations.

OBJECTIVES

1. To liaise with key stakeholders, coordinate with partner organizations and assist in tracking progress related to the Blockchain for spices project and various other ongoing technological pilots of accelerator lab.
2. To prepare timely project progress reports, monitor the expenditure of funds, alert the project teams on project deadlines and deliverables for ensuring timely completion of activities.
3. To assist the accelerator lab in preparing project pitches, presentations, outreach materials related to the project and also in convening project meetings, preparing background materials and creating knowledge products related to the projects.

SCOPE OF WORK

1. Consultant is required to prepare detailed workflow documents, project monitoring and evaluation frameworks and a wide range of project related documentation related to blockchain for spices project as well as other ongoing projects of accelerator lab.
2. Coordinate with partner organizations, vendors, UNDP programme teams in close consultation with accelerator lab team to ensure timely implementation of various projects.
3. Prepare detailed roadmaps and undertake tasks for timely delivery of various activities and ensure compliance to UNDP corporate procedures and that of the donors and their reporting requirements.
4. The consultant may also require conducting few discussions with the concerned stakeholders like farmers, intermediaries, Govt. Officials, blockchain platform developers, exporters and processors across the value chain of spices and try to collect information and data.
5.  Support the accelerator lab in organizing project meetings, review meetings, making project pitches and presentations to report the progress related to the various projects.
6. This assignment might require travel to liaise with stakeholders and partner organizations. 

OUTPUT/ DELIVERABLE

• Project Delivery Roadmap for Blockchain for Indian Spices project, Scaling up the Geo-AI Platform for monitoring hotspots of air pollution from brick kilns across Northern India and other projects as required by Accelerator Lab.
• Project progress reports (monthly) and Final reports for donors as well as UNDP
• Presentations, knowledge products, outreach materials and Minutes of meetings and related documentation

DURATION OF WORK

10 months (01 March, 2021 to 01 December, 2021)

PAYMENT TERMS

On the basis of daily fee for a maximum up to 171 working days during the contract period and upon submission of monthly progress report and time sheet certified by the reporting officer. 

DESIRED EDUCATION QUALIFICATION AND EXPERIENCE

Education:

• Master’s degree in one of the following disciplines – management, development studies, science and technology and related subjects

Experience:

• Minimum 6 years experience in managing field projects, capacity building/training programs, convening project meetings and ensuring multi-stakeholder engagements
• Experience of collecting primary and secondary data from various government and private sources
• Demonstrated experience in preparing project progress reports, donor reports and monitoring and evaluation reports
• Demonstrated experience in managing data and information systems in close coordination with multiple stakeholders
• Desirable experience of working in technological areas especially in the context of transfer of innovations to communities at the grassroots level
• Desirable to have project management certifications such as PMP
• Ability to work under minimal supervision, strict timelines and prioritising deliverables based on time sensitivities
• Good programme design skills, including capacity to prepare logical, coherent and consistent documents including log-frames and budgets.

Language requirement

• Excellent knowledge of written and spoken English. Knowledge of Hindi is highly desirable.

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 total evaluation)    

Job Knowledge & Expertise – 30 %

Education – 20%

Sample of work done of similar nature – 20% [Summary of similar projects undertaken in the past; Published reports/papers] 

Financial Proposal

Technically qualified consultants will be requested to submit their daily fee 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.

Financial Criteria: (30% of the total evaluation) based on the total all-inclusive lump sum amount for professional fee for tasks specified in this announcement. Those candidates short-listed after technical and financial evaluation of their bids will have to appear in an interview and final selection of candidates will be done based on all three parameters (technical evaluation, financial evaluation and outcome of the interview process).

Documents to be submitted by Consultants

• Curriculum Vitae
• Sample of work [Summary of similar projects undertaken in the past; Published reports/papers]
• Financial to be submitted at the next stage after receiving necessary instructions from UNDP