Background

Purpose
The purpose of the consultancy is to strengthen capacities of selected beneficiaries to generate income through the application of modern production technologies and good agricultural practices in maize production.

Objective
The principal objective of this assignment is to support small-scale agricultural producers by providing advisory assistance in the field of maize production.

The Agronomist is expected to prepare training curricula and training material that includes examples from current maize practice and examples/proposals of new approaches and specific measures for flood mitigation and adaptation in agriculture. Through individual field trainings and regular monitoring field visits to the agricultural producers during the period from March to October 2019, the Agronomist will guide the producers towards sustainable yields and quality products through the usage of modern agriculture techniques and good agricultural practices in the maize production.  
 
Background Information

The disaster that struck Bosnia and Herzegovina in May 2014 affected a quarter of the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina and approximately one million people, which is about 27% of the country’s population.  Over 50% of local governments in the country were in some form affected by the event, with substantial damages recorded to the housing stock, infrastructure, vital service providers, and the country’s productive assets. The effect of the disaster on the most vulnerable merely exacerbated pre-existing problems and disproportionately impacted their lives.

In the aftermath of the disaster, the international community reacted swiftly, providing emergency and humanitarian assistance, as well as convening a donor conference in July 2014, pledging substantial funds for the rebuilding of the country. The first comprehensive recovery effort to hit the ground was the Flood Recovery Programme financed by the European Union (EU FRP), rolled out in August 2014 and spearheaded by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Bosnia and Herzegovina, along with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). Despite the intervention’s impressive outreach, with more than 610,000 people assisted, there remains a significant number of the most vulnerable yet to recover; UNDP estimates place that number at around 20,000 households that require further assistance in the form of durable housing solutions or livelihood support. With national and international recovery efforts winding down, the remaining caseload is largely left to its own limited capacities to self-recover.

Against this background and acting on behalf of the European Union as the principle donor, UNDP has been implementing a targeted recovery intervention across Bosnia and Herzegovina aimed at reaching out to the most vulnerable households within the most heavily affected communities. By the end of the Project, the following results are expected to be achieved:

  • Socially and economically vulnerable households, rendered homeless by the 2014 disaster, provided with new homes. 
  • Socially and economically vulnerable households, residing in disaster-affected substandard housing, benefit from restored and improved homes.
  • Livelihoods needs identified, enabling tailoring of income generation support for housing assistance beneficiaries.
  • Vulnerable households benefit from a steady and sustainable income stream. 

This Terms of Reference (ToR) focuses on the implementation of the forth Project objective and aims to help small scale agricultural producers to generate additional income for their families and develop new skills related to maize production. 

Maize is the most important grain crop in Bosnia and Herzegovina.  One third of the total arable area in BiH is sown with maize every year.  Maize is the highest yielding cereal crop, but successful production depends on the correct application of production inputs. Average maize yield in BiH is far below its genetical potential while there are good climate and soil conditions for such production. The main objective of this assignment is to support small-scale agricultural producers – project beneficiaries to increase the skills and capacities in modern maize production which will in return lead to higher yields and better maize quality.   

Through individual field trainings and regular monitoring field visits to the agricultural producers during the period from March 2019 to October 2019, the selected Agronomist will guide the producers towards sustainable yields and quality products through the usage of modern agriculture techniques and good agricultural practices in maize production. Additionally, the Agronomist is expected to prepare training materials in the form of short instructions/leaflets with all relevant information, guiding agricultural producers step by step through the whole production process from the soil cultivation, fertilize application, weeds and insects control, irrigation where applicable to harvesting and post-harvest treatment. It is expected that this will result in higher maize yield as well as have a motivating effect on the farmers to apply the same technology practices in the future.

Duties and Responsibilities

The Agronomist will work under direct supervision of the Project Manager to complete all activities in this Terms of Reference.

Scope of work

The Agronomist will be working closely with 40 Project beneficiaries who will receive support packages including agricultural inputs (seed, fertilizer and herbicide) for the maize production at the total area of 41 ha distributed in 16 municipalities. Individual areas range from the 0,3 ha to 3 ha. 

An overview of the project beneficiaries distributed per municipalities is given in the table below:
Municipality  Number of beneficiaries

  • BIJELJINA  5
  • DOBOJ  2
  • GRADIŠKA  2
  • JEZERO  2
  • KOSTAJNICA  1
  • LOPARE  1
  • MODRICA  1
  • NOVI GRAD  2
  • PRIJEDOR  1
  • PRNJAVOR  1
  • SRBAC  13
  • ORAŠJE  3
  • KALESIJA 3
  • ZAVIDOVICI  1
  • ZENICA  1
  • ŽEPCE 1

TOTAL 40

The consultancy will include the following key tasks:

  1. Technical assistance to the Project team;
  2. Technical assistance to Project beneficiaries;
  3. Reporting.

Task 1: Technical assistance to the Project team

  • Provides a detailed work plan for 2019 sowing season, prepared in close coordination with the Project team;
  • Prepares training curricula and modular training materials in the form of leaflets. It is expected that the Agronomist prepares five 1-2-page leaflets, one for each production stage/aspect. Training material should cover all topics from soil preparation, sowing, fertilizer application, plant protection measures with focus on weed control and control of corn beetle using non-chemical measures, to harvesting and post-harvest treatment. While preparing training material, one should have in mind that the most of beneficiaries do have some experience in this type of production but also make a lot of mistakes including the lack of work discipline in implementing production measures. That is why it is important to guide them through whole process providing information on all technical aspects as well as challenges related to negative effects of climate change and needed adaptation measures.
  • Monitors and supervises the delivery of seed, fertilizer and herbicide to project beneficiaries in specified localities including inspection of quantities as well as quality of delivered assistance.

Task 2: Technical assistance to Project beneficiaries

  • Inspects agricultural plots prior to the sowing activities; This activity will be coupled with the on-the-spot training related to fertilizer application and seedbed preparation;
  • Conducts regular field monitoring combined with four on-the-spot trainings: 1. sowing time, 2. herbicide application /pre-emergency phase, 3. five leaves growth stage prior to top dressing and potential corrective herbicide application and 4. harvesting time.
  • Practically demonstrates application of sowing machine and sprayer calibration (where applicable) and advises on the usage of adequate type of seeding as the most important factors of the successful maize production;    
  • Prepares proper documentation of all undertaken actions;
  • Prepares proper documentation of issues that arise during the implementation of the sub-activities;
  • In addition to the records that will be kept by the Agronomist, it is also necessary for the beneficiary to keep records of the measures taken. The Agronomist will prepare simple forms for keeping these records and regularly check if they are filled properly and in a timely manner.

Task 3: Reporting

  • Prepares monthly interim reports for each beneficiary; These will be very concise reports detailing the activities, identifying issues (if any), including photos, records on field visits conducted and other relevant documents;
  • Prepares a final report which includes projection of income generation from the agricultural activities in 2019 for each project beneficiary, value chain integration potential, recommendations and lessons learnt.

The assignment is expected to last up to 60 working days in the period from March 2019 to 31 October 2019, including 53 days of field work and 7 days of office work.

Deliverables/outputs

The Agronomist is responsible for the following deliverables:

# Deliverables / outputs # of days per task Due date %
1 Task 1: Technical assistance to the Project team (18 days)

  • Submitted and approved work plan; (2 days)
  • Submitted and approved curricula and training materials; (3 days)
  • Submitted progress report on inputs distribution to the beneficiaries. (13 days)  18 working days (13 field and 5 office work) 15 May 2019 30%

2 Task 2: Technical assistance to project beneficiaries (40 days)

  • Submitted progress reports on training delivery after each training. (10 days)  
  • Submitted monitoring reports for each beneficiary following each field visit. (30 days) 40 field working days  15 October   2019 67%

3 Task 3: Reporting (2 days)

  • Submitted final report (2 days) 2 office working days  31 October 2019  3%

Competencies

Corporate competencies:

  • Demonstrates integrity by upholding the UN’s values and ethical standards;
  • Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UN;
  • Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, national and age sensitivity and adaptability;
  • Treats all people fairly without favoritism.

Functional competencies:

  • Knowledge in agribusiness and state of 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.

Required Skills and Experience

Academic Qualifications/Education:

  • University degree in Agriculture

Experience:

  • Minimum 5 years of relevant experience;
  • Minimum 3 years of proven experience in maize production
  • Practical experience in providing trainings and transferring knowledge including the provision of technical assistance to farmers;
  • Previous experience with an international public and/or private sector Organization would be considered as an additional asset;
  • Readiness for intensive field work;

Languages Requirements:

  • Excellent command in B/S/C language.


Criteria Max. Point
Technical (only those with minimum 70% of total technical evaluation score will be further considered for financial evaluation).

  • Rating based on Qualifications 20

Interview:

  • Relevant professional experience and proven experience in maize production

                   -Knowledge in agribusiness and state of art agricultural techniques and practices

  • Demonstrated practical experience in provision of trainings and development of training materials and brochures in the relevant area (20 points);
  • Demonstrated experience in providing similar services to international public and/or private sector organizations (10 points) 80.

Long/Shortlisting Criteria
Criteria Points

  • Relevant Education max 15 points (10 points allocated for University degree 3 years, 15 points University degree 4 years)
  • Minimum 5 years of relevant experience 20
  • Minimum 3 years of proven experience in maize production 30
  • Practical experience in providing trainings and transferring knowledge including the provision of technical assistance to farmers  25
  • Previous experience with an international public and/or private sector Organization 10

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:

Please scan all above mentioned documents and upload as one attachment only online through this website.

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.