Background

UNDP strives to have a workforce, which reflects diversity and gender balance, and applies an equal opportunities approach. UNDP does not solicit or screen for information in respect of HIV or AIDS status. All selections are on merit.

The DAY-NRLM (Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana - National Rural Livelihoods Mission) is the flagship program of Ministry of Rural Development, Govt. of India relaunched in 2016 for promoting poverty reduction by building strong institutions of the poor, particularly women. The programme creates and enables community owned institutions of women to empower and make them economically self-reliant by improving their agency to access a range of livelihood and financial services and maximize their resources for creating sustainable livelihood opportunities. 

The state governments are mandated to set up dedicated Mission Management Units at the state, district and village/community level for the effective implementation of the NRLM scheme.  The mission provides regular hand-holding support to SHG/federations for a period of 5-7 years.  At the end of a fully implementation cycle the SHGs/federations are well prepared to become resource institutions at the community level for providing evidence and support to other social initiatives. 

Karnataka State Rural Livelihood Promotion Society (KSRLPS)

The State Government is implementing DAY-NRLM scheme in phases through Karnataka State Rural Livelihood Promotion Society in the name of “Sanjeevini”. The mission statement of KSRLPS is: “To reduce rural poverty by providing gainful wage and self-employment opportunities through community institutions resulting in sustainable improvement in their livelihoods”.

Sanjeevini is a community driven and process-oriented programme. The processes include different activities such as awareness building, social mobilization, development of Community Resource persons (CRPs). Formation of CBOs, strengthening SHGs/ CBOs/federations/Livelihood Collectives, establishment of linkages and promotion of livelihoods. The conventional methods of monitoring focuses on physical, financial and logistic aspects of projects, but do not capture the processes of community perception, satisfaction with project services, inclusion and institutional dynamics. As the community processes do not conform to pre-set rules, deadlines, targets or blueprint approaches, a responsive and adaptive implementation is necessary.

It is in this context that the State government of Karnataka has partnered with UNDP to implement The National Rural Economic Transformation Project (NRETP) in Karnataka. NRETP proposes to implement higher order economic activities which are cross cutting in nature, for instance, the project design envisages that there will be an organic link between the model Cluster Level Federation (CLFs) and financial inclusion strategies, insurance and pension schemes, producer groups and organizations, product marketing and enterprise development. The financial inclusion strategy will also have a key role in financing of farm and non-farm enterprises. UNDP will be uniquely positioned to quickly transfer the technical know-how gained at the national and state level working across the country.  The state SMMU will be fully synchronized with the National level team working at the center, important for better alignment of state priorities with those of the national programme while formulating the State specific poverty reduction action plans.

Under the scheme, UNDP is looking for a Individual Consultant – Senior Technical Expert _Value Chain and Forward Linkage to undertake the activities as provided below. The incumbent will be based at SANJEEVINI- KSRLPS and will perform duties under the direct supervision of the Mission Director.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the supervision of the Mission Director-KSRLPS the incumbent will focus on the achievement of the following results:

• Development of new proposals in value chain development - Development of intervention strategy, business plan and execution
• Plans for Value Chain development interventions Facilitating partnership with institutional buyers / local buyers, conducting buyer seller meets
• Planning, execution and monitoring of the sanctioned value chain development projects / SRLM interventions through regular field visit and review
• Develop appropriate institutional strategy to exploit opportunities for value chain development
• Develop -Mapping of value chains, Analyzing value chain competitiveness, project strategy, business plans, and standard operating processes for Producer Enterprises and Producer Groups.
• Maintain information regarding produce being handled by PG / PE, markets (prices and trends), commodity-wise details.
• Close handholding, capacity building and support to Producer Enterprise staff.
• Regular review of the performance of all Producer Enterprises and Producer Groups promoted by the SRLM
• Developing and executing capacity building plans for the project staff and community members on value chain development
• Develop manuals and guidelines to facilitate implementation of value chain development. Also, facilitate workshops, consultations necessary for developing the same.
• Identify and document best practices in value chain development interventions.
• Co-ordination with the Technical Support Agencies for development and implementation of value chain development proposals.
• Review of concerned staff at all levels
• Development of modules in MIS for monitoring and evaluation of value chain interventions
• Any other task assigned by reporting officer.

Competencies

• Setting up a business / vertical in corporate agribusiness company/ start-up environment.
• Setting up systems and processes to increase efficiency, profitability of the business Knowledge, skills and ability to use a variety of communication methods, tools and media
• Knowledge of supply chain management, designing procurement operations, project management.
• Familiarity with mutual assistance principles, functioning of cooperatives or other community-based business enterprises, governance mechanisms for Producer Companies would be preferred.
• Good data analysis and conceptualization skills
• Ability to write concept notes, proposals etc., and make effective presentations
• Ability to build and sustain effective partnerships with Government Agencies and private sector organizations
• Proven ability to coordinate the work of others and to work as part of a team and share knowledge with others
• Effective Teamwork with conflict resolution skills
• Demonstrated openness to change and ability to manage complex situations.

Required Skills and Experience

Qualifications:

Postgraduate in Agri-business management / Rural Management / Rural Marketing or MBA in Marketing from a reputed university/institute. Candidate with UG/PG in agriculture or veterinary science is desirable.

Experience:

• Should have an experience of minimum 5 years in handling value chain development/ market linkage for agriculture produce. She/he should have experience of procurement and marketing of specific agri commodity in large scale.
• Candidates with experience in managing agriculture commodity supply chain in companies engaged in agri-business, P&L handling experience in a corporate environment would be preferred.
• Candidate with experience in enterprise promotion, business advisory services, forward and backward linkages for large agriculture-based businesses would be given priority.
• Should have handled procurement / marketing / supply chain for business line / enterprise promotion of at least INR 10 crores turnover annually.
• Proven experience of leading professional staff and building their initiative and enable them to function as members of efficient and effective teams
• Developed and managed partnerships in market side, supply side, better technologies
• Demonstrable experience of project management, ensuring the delivery of high-quality program
• Managed a team of at least 10 members.

Official Travel

All official travel must be authorized and certified in advance. Candidates will be entitled to reimbursement from KSRLPS and in case of official journey outside the state, prior approval of reporting officer shall be required.

Languages Required: Fluency in English spoken, read, and write for all official communication is essential and Kannada preferable.

Schedule of Payments:

Consolidated annual consultancy fees payable as per the deliverables and payment schedule mentioned above, upon submission of working progress report certified by the reporting officer i.e., Project Officer - Program and Partnerships (NPSA9), UNDP.

Institutional Arrangement:

All the logistic support related to official travel will be borne by the KSRLPS, Government of Karnataka.

Documentation Required

Personal CV indicating all past experiences from similar projects, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the candidate and at least 3 professional references.

Evaluation Method and criteria

Preliminary shortlisting would be done based on the following criteria:

• Educational Qualification 30 marks.
• Relevant Experience 40 marks.
• Interview for 30 marks

Those who obtain a minimum of 70% of total of 70 marks (Educational Qualification & Relevant Experience) will be eligible to appear for the interview. 

Interview for the shortlisted candidates would be either conducted face to face in Bangalore or by telephone/over skype.

The contract shall be awarded on a merit basis.

Note: Please ensure that all the documents to be uploaded should be combined in a single PDF file before uploading as the system has the provision of uploading only one document.

General Conditions for Individual Contract-
http://www.in.undp.org/content/dam/india/docs/procurement/UNDP%20General%20Conditions%20for%20Individual%20Contracts.pdf 

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.