Background:
The Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) is a not-for-profit
organization formed in 2006. AGRA’s mission is to catalyze an agricultural
transformation in Africa through, innovation-driven, sustainable, productivity
increases and access to finance that improve the livelihoo
ds of smallholder
farmers.
AGRA is implementing a five year Micro Reforms for African Agribusiness (MIRA)
project in Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana, Nigeria and Tanzania. MIRA will
provide these governments with access to high quality local and international
technical assistance for identifying, prioritizing and reforming specific
agricultural regulations that currently deter or limit private investment in
agribusiness operating in smallholder agricultural value chains. In doing so,
the MIRA project will help to build the capacity of African governments to
continuously review and reform regulations that unintentionally limit private
investment in local agribusinesses operating in the smallholder value chains.
In Tanzania MIRA and
government counterparts identified and prioritized 5 reforms:
• Reforms to improve private companies’ access to registered public varieties,
and the quality of public foundation seeds by amending Ministerial Circular
2011
• Reform fertilizer industry regulations to ease registration of new fertilizer
products
• Develop umbrella legislation for contract farming in Tanzania
• Reform the institutional arrangements and regulations involved in the
issuance of export permits to make it easy to obtain export permits
• Improving the targeting and delivery of the fertilizer subsidy: Reform
fertilizer subsidy delivery mechanism
As part of AGRA’s
support to the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries (MALF), AGRA
wishes to support reforms in the targeting and delivery of fertilizer subsidy
program.
Objectives of the Consultancy
Support MALF through the Department for Policy Planning to reform fertilizer
subsidy delivery mechanism by assessing practical options for implementing an
e-voucher scheme, evaluating technical feasibility and private and social
profitability of the options and recommending the design that is appropriate
for Tanzania. Technical evaluation will look at government’s IT infrastructure
and feasibility of integrating e-voucher with existing government’s IT assets,
network coverage and impact on country-wide roll out of e-voucher, initial
outlay and running costs, and technical competence to run the program.
Scope and approaches of the consultancy
For this reform, the
contractor is expected to carry out the following tasks:
• Develop a design for an e-voucher scheme following the best global standards
• Assess the set up costs (capital investments) and the running costs required
to implement the e-voucher scheme
• Assess extent of existing government IT infrastructure and the potential for
integrating e-voucher to the existing infrastructure
• Assessment of the network coverage and the implications for the roll-out of
the e-voucher which is necessarily tied to availability of s strong network
• Assessment of practical issues of linking farmers, agro-dealers and the
paying agency, and addressing how transactions will be effected
Outputs/Outcome:
Initial presentation of concept to MALF and AGRA
Written report providing an assessment of financial, personnel, and technical
requirements for establishing and operating an e-voucher scheme for the
fertilizer subsidy, and the technical options that are available
Final presentation of the recommended option, highlighting the design, and the
costs required to install e-voucher
Operational manuals and other aids needed for running the program
All deliverables should be succinct but informative, and key points should be
easily understandable to a wide range of stakeholders. Deliverables should be
submitted in English
Competencies required
AGRA wishes to contract a software design electronic database company with the
following skills and qualifications:
• Previous experience of designing electronic transactions. Those with specific
experience designing and implementing e-voucher will be preferred
• Good understanding of relevant technical specifications and conditions affecting
agricultural fertilizer subsidies in Tanzania
• Ability to present complex problems in easy-to-understand language
• Understanding of the Tanzanian agricultural subsidy programs
• Experience of working with the MALF
• Country presence in Tanzania
Duration of the assignment: 6 months
Reporting arrangements: The consultant will report to the Head of Policy and
Advocacy throughout the engagement period
HOW TO APPLY:
Proposal submission: Taking into account the TOR, the consultancy candidate
should submit a proposal containing the following elements:-
• Understanding of the assignment
• Outlining past experience of the firm/ consultant (Please provide a minimum
of two concrete samples of similar work done for other organizations)
• Methodology proposed for the assignment (including tools proposed for the
assignment)
• Work plan that includes clear timelines for the assignment
• Summary resume(s) of key staff who will work on the MALF/AGRA account
• Consultancy fee for undertaking the assignment and budget breakdown
Deadline of
submission of proposals: August 31st, 2016
Interested consultancy firms or individuals should submit separately their
technical and financial proposals indicating how they plan to undertake the
assignment to: procurement@agra.org
Important note: Technical and Financial proposals will need to be submitted as
separate documents. Financial proposals will not be opened until the conclusion
of the technical evaluation and then only for those proposals that are deemed
qualified and responsive.
Payment terms: The contracted consultancy firm or individual will be paid 50
percent of agreed upon fees at inception of the assignment and the remaining 50
percent upon successful completion of the assignment.
Disclaimer: AGRA
reserves the right to determine the structure of the process, number of
short-listed participants, the right to withdraw from the proposal process, the
right to change this timetable at any time without notice and reserves the
right to withdraw this tender at any time, without prior notice and without
liability to compensate and/or reimburse any party.