UNDP Jobs - 79983- Consultant for Developing an Inclusive Cassava Con

Consultant for Developing an Inclusive Cassava Contract Farming

Location :

Phnom Penh, CAMBODIA

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

03-Aug-2018

Application Deadline :

01-Aug-18 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

National Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

153 working days

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

153 working days

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

Cassava is Cambodia’s second largest agricultural crop, a major export and an input to several industrial processes. Cassava has a developed value chain with a wide range of uses and applications, in sectors ranging from animal feedstock to human food, and consumer and industrial products. The latter include bio-fuels such as bioethanol mixed with gasoline or biomass used either as a gas burning accelerant as pellets for direct energy production.

Global trade in cassava and cassava derivatives is substantial. Exports at the early stages of the supply chain tend originate in Asia and selected Latin American countries, that have large exportable crop surpluses. Higher value-added derivatives such as cassava starch and cassava modified starch (industrial inputs) are produced by BRIC countries, upper middle-income developing countries and advanced economies. While demand for raw products is variable, that for semi-processed and processed cassava is buoyant.

The expansion of cassava area in Cambodia has been accompanied by great economic benefit. However, in light of low recent prices, it is now necessary to rethink cassava production and processing industries in order to ensure that the sector can continue to prosper and compete. Cassava production should therefore be considered as a component of the complex picture of smallholder livelihood strategies. Its development offers both near term, and long-term structural benefits to the Cambodian economy

The inclusive and sustainable development of the cassava sector would require stronger linkages between stakeholders in the cassava value chain with access to accurate information about the constraints in the local context that farmers face and the opportunities that market demand offers.

Duties and Responsibilities

The consultant should perform the following roles:

To organize business dialogue forums between farmers and a starch processor to identify challenges, build consensuses, and agree on a plan to roll out contract farming
To consult with relevant stakeholders to mobilize their supports and based on dialogue forums develop a detailed contract farming model including start-up procedure, contract format with the elaboration of terms and conditions, contract signing arrangement, local team building, follow-up, and accountability mechanisms in compliance with laws, spirits of both parties, and fair/just process
To develop a strategy to support GL to promote its image by building initial relationship directly with farmers and creating an environment leading into buy-in or trust
To identify and mobilize local agents (commune extension workers) to implement the contract farming plan. They should be capable to perform multiple roles such as define cassava areas and identify farmers interested in contract farming, organize them into producer groups or appropriate collective mechanisms, build capacity of group leaders/representatives or champions to manage their members, facilitate the contract signing between farmers and GL, support GL’ local staff members to deliver agricultural services on credit, and support the development of local cassava agricultural system supported by the project
To provide orientation and basic training to local agents to carry out contract farming, and develop a systematic approach to build their capacity to perform their assigned tasks as expected by the project
To produce a record of households entering into a contract with GL to track their livelihood improvement
To supervise local agents to achieve its outputs or targets, such as organize farmer groups/agricultural cooperatives, get the contract signed, outreach to farmers, and assist GL to deliver services
To document knowledges generating from this contract farming, and provide concrete recommendations to sustain the organized structure and scale up within or new target areas

Interested Offerors must visit this link http://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_notice.cfm?notice_id=47980 to download Individual Consultant Procurement Notice, Terms of Reference, and Document Templates to be included when submitting this online application.

Competencies

Time management (in managing deliverables)
Team management
Professionalism, courtesy, patience
Outstanding inter-cultural communication, networking and coordination skills.

Required Skills and Experience

Education: At least Master Degree in Agricultural Economics, related fields

Experience:

Substantial knowledge on agriculture and rural development, preferable with cassava value chain
At least 10 years of working experience in contract farming, especially in the Cambodian context
Experience on leading and managing teamwork to deliver outputs at expected quality and timely
Experiences in successfully formulation of contract farming for agriculture related product (sample of previous work if any)

Language Requirement::

Fluency in oral and written Khmer. Excellent knowledge of oral and written English.

UNDP reserves right to reject any applications that is incomplete.

Please be informed that we don’t accept application submitted via email.

Interested Offerors are required to submit application via UNDP jobsite system as the application screening and evaluation will be done through UNDP jobsite system. Please note that UNDP jobsite system allows only one uploading of application document, so please make sure that you merge all your documents into a single file. Your on-line applications submission will be acknowledged where an email address has been provided. If you do not receive an e-mail acknowledgement within 24 hours of submission, your application may not have been received. In such cases, please resubmit the application, if necessary. Please combine all your documents into one (1) single PDF document as the system only allows to upload maximum one document.

Any request for clarification/additional information on this procurement notice shall be communicated in writing to UNDP office or send to email sereyvattana.chan@undp.org and cc 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. The UNDP's response (including an explanation of the query but without identifying the source of inquiry) will be posted in Individual Consultant (IC) Procurement Notice page as provided above. Therefore, all prospective Offerors are advised to visit the page regularly to make obtain update related to this Individual Consultant (IC) Procurement Notice.