UNCDF Jobs - 74215- Recruitment of a Consultant for Experience Capital

Recruitment of a Consultant for Experience Capitalization

Advertised on behalf of

UNCDF

Location :

Ouagadougou, BURKINA FASO

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

15-Sep-2017

Application Deadline :

08-Sep-17 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

2.5 months

Languages Required :

English French

Expected Duration of Assignment :

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 support programme for agricultural finance tailored to family farming (AgriFinance-Burkina) is an initiative of the Government of Burkina Faso (2014-2018), officially launched in 2015, with the technical and financial support of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF).

AgriFinance seeks to improve producers' (especially women and young people) access to financial services tailored to the needs of family farming (in particular the rice sector, market garden crops and small-scale livestock).

The Programme has five (5) components: I) provide technical assistance to microfinance institutions to offer financial services adapted to the needs of family farming, II) develop a local offer of technical service providers and support, III) strengthen the capacities and skills of small farmers in mastering? family farming and managing? their income; III) draw up a roadmap around? agricultural financial inclusion to support family farming; capitalization, documentation and popularization of ?experience in financing family farming.

Through the adoption of a “Make-Do” strategy, AgriFinance Burkina recruited a range of strategic partners based on a selective, transparent and competitive process for the implementation of the components of its activities with a focus on the value chain approach:

Four (4) MFIs: FCPB (Faitière des caisses populaires du Burkina), APFI-Burkina (Association de promotion de la finance inclusive du Burkina), SOFIPE (Société de financement de la petite entreprise) and PAMF-Burkina (Première agence de microfinance Burkina) and;
Five (5) Technical agricultural service providers: LESSOKON, ICDE, SOSSIBF, CISV and GRAD-FDC group.

Through AgriFinance-Burkina, UNCDF which is in charge of the implementation of the Programme, strives to improve access to financial and technical services adapted to the needs of small-scale farmers. AgriFinance-Burkina combines public and private (banks and microfinance institutions) resources to help farmers reduce their risk profile and increase their use of agricultural inputs, make more productive investments for higher income and outputs, and thus improve food security. During its initial phase (2014-2018), the programme covers the Eastern, Northern and Mouhoun buckle zones, targeting about 20 000 small-scale farmers (including 50% women and 25% youths). UNCDF, UNDP and the Government intend to extend the programme throughout the country.

AgriFinance-Burkina is in line with the priorities of the Economic and Social National Development Programme (PNDES), particularly regarding its axis 3 and its Expected Effect 1.1 “The primary sector contributes to food security, decent employment, the supply of local food processing industry and is respectful of sustainable development principles”.

With a focus on poverty reduction, food security and women and youth empowerment, the programme contributes to achieving SDG 1, 2 and 8.

The AgriFinance-Burkina Programme, through the MAP (Making Access to financial services) process, undertook an in-depth diagnosis of the financial services demand which was officially presented in April 2017 in Ouagadougou. The supply side diagnosis including the regulation and distribution channels is under preparation with the aim of developing the financial inclusion roadmap which will support the elaboration of the National Strategy for Financial Inclusion before the end 2017.

Duties and Responsibilities

Duration of the mission Overall Objective

The overall objective of the mission is to capitalize the experience gained by AgriFinance over the period from 2015 to April 2017 in order to share the good practices and lessons learnt with regard to agricultural/rural financing which could guide the future UNCDF and UNDP actions relating to the development of agricultural value chains in the country. It will involve producing, in the form of capitalization notes and articles, in paper format and publishable electronic document, the good practices and lessons learnt from the various mechanisms, tools, strategies and approaches implemented within the framework of AgriFinance.

Specific objectives:

More specifically, the mission will focus on the following themes:

Key lessons learnt from the implementation of the Programme, in general;
Strengths and limits of partnerships between microfinance institutions and technical service providers for the development/improvement of integrated products (financial and non-financial) in the funding of value chains;
The added value of the AgriFinance Programme to the positioning of partner financial institutions (MFIs and Banks) on agricultural and rural financing;
The contribution of new developed/improved products to the funding of value chains, in particular onions, potatoes, animal fattening and lowland rice;
The conditions under which financial education of the populations is likely to contribute to increasing financial inclusion in areas of intervention, in particular.

Expected outcomes

The mission is expected to yield the following outcomes:

A general capitalization note (good practices, challenges, lessons learnt…), on the implementation of AgriFinance is prepared (max 15 pages);
Four capitalization notes (7-10 pages per note) are produced on (I) partnerships between Financial Service Providers -Technical Service Providers (FSPs-TSPs) under AgriFinance; (II) added value of the AgriFinance Programme for the positioning of partner MFIs and Banks on rural and agricultural financing; (III) description of new developed/improved products, lessons on the processes and their contributions to the funding of value chains (in particular onions, potatoes, animal fattening and lowland rice); (iv) financial education, mentoring, training of family farmers and involvement in the maintenance or creation of rural employment.

Methodology of the mission

The mission will follow a methodology comprising the following elements:

Develop a table of contents and a methodology for the 5 capitalization notes;
Interview major stakeholders (MFIs, Banks, Technical Service Providers (TSPs), Farmer Organizations, Governments, Donors, etc.);
Collect relevant information, data and images from partners of the Programme to provide input to the capitalization notes;
Summarize, process and analyse information and data;
Develop the provisional versions of the capitalization notes;
Incorporate UNCDF comments (AgriFinance team, and Regional office) to the final versions of the capitalization notes;
The sample will cover the Programme's three regions of intervention, namely the Eastern, the Northern and the Mouhoun buckle.

Deliverables

For each of the five (05) capitalization products, the consultant will submit:

The draft version of the table of contents and the methodology to be adopted;
The final version of the table of contents;
The draft version of the capitalization notes;
The final version of the capitalization notes.

Organization and duration of the mission

The mission will be conducted under the supervision of the Technical Adviser of AgriFinance in close collaboration with the UNCDF Regional office.

Organization of relevant documentation

AgriFinance will collect and provide the consultant with basic documentation for the preparation of the preliminary report. It will also facilitate meetings with stakeholders for interviews and focus groups, where necessary. The main sources will be as follows:

Beneficiaries of financial and non-financial services offered by financial service providers

AgriFinance Implementing Partners;

Members of the Investment Committee;

The reports, studies and other relevant documents.

Follow-up (regular reports, examination) and mission reports;
SNMF (National Microfinance Strategy) document?;
Research - financial Information and management reports (Atlas, performance steering, audit, results-based management, etc….);
Minutes of Investment Committees, performance based agreement and performance indicators, financial reports of supported MFI;
Quarterly reports on the implementation of the Programme;
Various studies; Reports of various consultations at national level;
Etc.

Duration of the mission

The Consultant will be recruited for 2.5 months from September 15 to November 30, 2017. The consultant will conduct remote interviews and may, where necessary, undertake a country visit to gather data.

Deliverables

Final versions of the table of contents and methodology for capitalization notes (1, 2 and 3)

Indicative date: 30 September, 2017;
Payment percentage: 25%.

Final version of capitalization notes (1, 2 and 3) & Final versions of the table of contents and methodology for the capitalization notes (4 and 5)

Indicative date: 31 October, 2017;
Payment percentage:50%.

Final version of capitalization notes (4 and 5)

Indicative date: 30 November, 2017;
Payment percentage: 25%.

Competencies

Selection criteria

Candidates are invited to submit a technical and a financial proposal.

The technical proposal

The proposal should include a methodological note to conduct the mission. The latter will enable the panel to evaluate the candidate on the basis of the detailed evaluation grid provided below. It should be noted that the methodology proposed by the selected candidate will be amended thereafter in the light of the documentary review and the requirements of the organization in this regard, and then be submitted to the evaluation committee for validation. The technical proposal accounts for 70%.

The financial proposal

Detailed financial proposal for the mission including the daily fees and per diem allowances in in case of day mission;
The consultant will bear all travelling expenses related to the implementation of his mission;

The consultant's financial proposal is subject to negotiation on the basis of the United Nations rates, DSA and logistics costs, depending on the availability of the budget. The financial proposal accounts for 30%.

Applications will be evaluated based on:

The understanding of the ToRs;
The methodology and work plan;
Qualification and skills (education, qualification, general experience, specific experiences, etc.….).

The contract will be awarded to the qualified and compliant technical proposal with the best application. If none the technical proposals obtains the minimum technical score, the contracting authority reserves the right to negotiate and sign a contract with the consultant who has the highest technical score.

Criteria

Overall methodological score: 10 points

Consultant's Qualifications and Skills: 90 points:

At least a Master's Degree in a relevant subject area: 10 points
Experience in the production of capitalization notes for widespread dissemination: 50 points
Experience in financial inclusion: 20 points
Knowledge of the Burkinabe context: 10 points

Total: 100 points

The minimum score required to be qualified is: 70 points.

Required Skills and Experience

The consultant must have:

Education:

A University Degree (at least a Master’s Degree) in economics, management, finance, social sciences, statistics, econometrics or any similar subject area.

Experience:

At least 7 years hands-on experience in the development of capitalization notes for widespread dissemination (the consultant must attach a copy of some notes, or reference sites);
Relevant experiences and in-depth technical knowledge in financial inclusion;
Good knowledge of the Burkinabe context.

Language:

Excellent skills in both French and English

Documents to be included in the proposal

Technical:

Methodological note to support the implementation of the mission;
Form P11 + CV - similar experiences and three references - email and telephone contact;
Letter of motivation.

Financial:

This proposal will be negotiable subject to budget availability and adjustment to the UN rate.

Detailed and complete financial proposal for the duration of the mission itemized as follows:

Daily fees;
Logistics expenses (communication, consumable, etc. …);
Costs for the translation of the gathered documents (where necessary).

Evaluation Ethics

In conducting their missions, the evaluators should refer to the principles, ethics and procedures of evaluation set forth in UNEG’s “Ethical Directives for Evaluation”. Knowledge of these schemes is essential to safeguard the rights and confidentiality of people providing information, for example: measures to guarantee compliance with the legal codes governing the areas, such as provisions to collect and report data, in particular, authorizations required to interview or obtain information about children and teenagers; provisions to help store and protect the security of gathered information and protocols to guarantee anonymity and confidentiality.

Confidentiality

The selected consultant shall comply to preserve the confidentiality of professional information obtained or discovered during the mission.

Penalties for delay

The penalties for delay will be applicable if the submission of the final report unduly exceeds the consultant's planned schedule. In the event of established delay, UNDP will notify the consultant of the expected date for the submission of the final report, which shall not exceed an additional unpaid week. With effect from the 8th day, a penalty of 2% of the contract amount for each day of default will be applied. When it reaches 10%, UNDP reserves the right to unilaterally opt out of the contract with no financial compensation.

Note:The consultant should not have been directly involved in the Programme, at any time and in any way.