Support the establishment of the Postharvest Incubation Program and Agribusiness Accelerator aimed at promoting technologies and innovations in postharvest management of indigenous fruits and vegetables under the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Horticulture project.
Name of Project: Lead Institution: Partner Institutions
Enhancing the production and consumption of African Indigenous Fruits and Vegetables to improve diets in Ghana and Mali (Eco-Inveg) the University of Ghana Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa; the University of Science, Techniques and Technologies of Bamako (USTT-B); Council for Scientific and Industrial Research – Food Research Institute (FRI)
Procurement Ref:
FARA/UG/FeedTheFutureInnovLABS/CS/QCBS/2024/01
Issue Date:
Tuesday, July 03, 2024
Submission Deadline:
Wednesday, July 17, 2024
The Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Horticulture is funding a collaborative project in Ghana and Mali involving academia, research institutions and the private sector from the two countries. The collaboration involves the University of Ghana, Université des Sciences, des Techniques et des Technologies de Bamako (USTT-B), Food Research Institute of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) Ghana, Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) and Young Professionals for Agricultural Development (YPARD).
The overall goal of the project is to increase the production and access to nutrient-dense indigenous fruits and vegetables in Ghana and Mali through diet diversification by valorizing indigenous fruits and vegetables and promoting their consumption. To ensure effective implementation, monitoring and evaluation, the project has been organized into five (5) work packages, which include:
Work Package 1 – Profiling of four Indigenous fruits and vegetables
Work package 2 – Value chain analysis
Work package 3: Improving postharvest handling and preservation of indigenous fruits and vegetables.
Work Package 4 – Creation of an Innovation Centre or Incubator
Work Package 5 – Dissemination of technologies, methods, and processes
This assignment is with reference to sub-theme 4.
The objective of the incubation program is to establish an incubator/innovation hub for women and youth entrepreneurs and key stakeholders in all 16 regions of Ghana to connect, increase knowledge sharing, and co-create solutions to spur innovations and business opportunities for selected indigenous fruits and vegetables.
To achieve the above, FARA and the University of Ghana propose engaging a suitable firm to support the process.
3. This request for proposals aims at engaging a consulting firm (hereafter referred to as Consultant) to carry out the following functions:
The Consultant shall liaise with the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for the Horticulture team for the necessary assistance and clarifications to undertake this assignment.
The consultant shall coordinate activities and engage with all relevant stakeholders to conduct interviews and schedule training using appropriate training materials.
The Consultant shall present the initial strategy and advise the team on the strategy for the incubation program before the launch of the call for applications.
The Consultant shall be responsible for the Screening of applications (establishing selection criteria)
The Consultant shall be responsible for coordinating the development of training manuals for participants (competency-based)
The Consultant shall recruit trainers and facilitators for the training
The Consultant shall be responsible for scheduling all training sessions, seminars, workshops and mentorship sessions of pre-selected participants
The Consultant shall conduct pre and post-training evaluations to assess the impact of the training.
The Consultant shall provide quarterly monthly reports and timely feedback on the progress of the incubation program and recommend strategies for continuous improvement.
The Consultant shall be responsible for coaching finalists in managing their enterprises after the award of grants.
The Consultant shall be responsible for monitoring and Evaluation of the Incubation Program.
The Executive Director of FARA invites interested firms to express interest in carrying out this assignment.
Your proposal, including a technical and financial proposal based on the Terms of Reference outlined above, must be submitted. The proposal must outline your firm’s proposed methodologies, references related to the execution of similar contracts, experience in similar areas, evidence of knowledge and a proposed timeline. The proposals must also include the CVs of the proposed team.
The anticipated period of performance for this consultancy is 18 months.
The firm shall be selected based on the Quality and Cost-Based Selection (QCBS) procedures defined in the FARA procurement Guidelines.
Interested firms may obtain further information from the Project Lead,[[email protected]]; [[email protected]] and copy the Procurement Expert, FARA, [[email protected]] during the following hours: 9h00 to 16h00 GMT.
Please download the Terms of Reference below for further information on this opportunity.
Proposals should be submitted electronically to [[email protected]] and addressed to Dr. Aggrey Agumya, Executive Director of FARA, No 7 Flower Avenue, New Achimota, Mile 7, Accra, Ghana, no later than Wednesday, July 17, 2024, at 16h00 GMT. Tel: +233 302 772823/744888.
FARA-UG Affirmative Action Statement on Recruitment: there is no discrimination based on gender race, religion, ethnic orientation, disability, or health status.
From 25 to 29 September 2023, a CORAF delegation, consisting of the Head of Knowledge Management, Ms Poko Alida Nadinga and the Head of IT Mr Ababacar Diouf, embarked on a benchmarking mission to learn about FARA’s knowledge management system. The team was welcomed to the FARA Secretariat in Accra, Ghana, by the Head of Human Resources and Administration, Ms Ama Pokuah Asenso, on behalf of the Executive Director, Dr Aggrey Agumya.
Mr Ababacar DIOUF and Ms Poko Alida NADINGA
The FARA team, consisting of the Lead specialist from the Knowledge, Learning and Communication Management Unit, Mr Benjamin Abugri, the IT Manager, Mr Francis Kpodo and the Web Designer, Mr Gabriel Quansah, provided an overview of FARA and its role as a continental institution. The technical sessions focused on the operational infrastructure and products of the FARA knowledge management system, including the virtual knowledge hub christened FARADataInformS, the directory of experts, the digital archiving system, and the community of practice. The team also seized the opportunity to examine the technological architecture supporting these different knowledge management platforms.
It is important to note that as part of the implementation of the CAADP XP4 programme, FARA is responsible for developing the continental Agricultural Research for Development (AR4D) directory of experts and transferring the West and Central Africa’s management of experts to CORAF and the lead Sub-Regional Agricultural Organization. In addition, FARA intends to work with CORAF to revitalize its knowledge management system through experience sharing and technical assistance.
CORAF has affirmed its commitment to support FARA in strengthening data security and integrity to ensure the protection of key knowledge generated over the years. To this end, a FARA delegation will visit Dakar to inspect CORAF’s entire technological infrastructure, including the data centre and security platforms. This mission will also serve as a framework for presenting and validating the expert directory tool and training the CORAF team in its use.
A team of Knowledge Management and IT Experts from FARA and CORAF
The two teams have developed a joint action plan to ensure better follow-up of the actions and recommendations resulting from this knowledge-sharing mission.
The two organizations, through a letter of agreement signed, will continue to leverage each other’s strengths in Knowledge Management, Information technology and monitoring and evaluation to accelerate the achievement of the CAADP Malabo targets and support the African farmer and related actors, to realize their highest potentials.
Join the Continental Experts Directory
This mission is made possible mainly through the vision of the two eminent leaders of FARA and CORAF, Dr Aggrey AGUMYA, Executive Director of FARA, and Dr Abdou TENKOUANO, Executive Director of CORAF, who are committed to improving knowledge management in the agricultural research sector for a better future for the people of Africa.
H.E. Josepha Leonel Correia Sacko, Commissioner of the African Union Commission’s Department of Rural Economy and Agriculture has called on Africa’s development partners to allocate at least 10% of the resources committed to fighting the COVID-19 Pandemic to supporting agricultural research institutions in Africa.
The Commissioner made the call on Wednesday 20th May, during the first regional and continental eForum hosted by the implementing institutions of the European Union funded CAADP XP4 programme which is administered by the IFAD; on the contribution of agricultural research and innovation in mitigating the impact of COVID-19 in Africa.
“…to our member states and development partners, I’d like to call for the allocation of at least 10% of the emergency financial resources being mobilized for COVID-19 to support science, technology and innovation in Africa”, says Her Excellency Josepha Sacko.
Clarion Call for Home-grown Science
While lauding the prompt action of FARA and its partners for the sense of urgency in initiating a homegrown response to the pandemic, Her Excellency Madam Sacko pointed to the fact that COVID-19 is rapidly exacerbating the already existing food safety and nutrition crisis on the continent. She indicated that the room for maneuver for Africa in the face of COVID-19 is getting smaller by the day and any further delays could pose real and existential threats to the continent’s rural economy and food and agriculture system.
“We need to be careful not to move from a health crisis to a food crisis as a result of the worsening trend of COVID-19”. She indicated that this calls for an enhanced role agricultural research in the face of the pandemic, saying, “therefore, the next best time to invest in Africa’s food system is now”
Stating the need for urgent boosting of Africa’s science and research infrastructure, the Commissioner renewed the clarion call for governments to meeting the 10% investment target in the agricultural sector as defined by the Malabo Declaration, and 1% to agriculture research in particular.
The webinar which is the first in the series, is based on the response to COVID-19 by the implementing partners of the CAADP XP4 programme namely, AFAAS, ASARECA, CCARDESA, CORAF and FARA. It was attended by more than 200 hundred participants drawn from research, academia, NGOs, farmer organizations,
The CAADP XP4 COVID-19 Response Issue Paper identified three critical intervention areas namely technologies for fast-tracking mitigation of food shortages and extending storability, strengthening of food supply systems, trade and labour markets and foresighting vulnerabilities in Africa’s food system.
Dr. Alioune Fall, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Forum for Agriculture Research in Africa, has called on the members of the consortium and all stakeholders to prepare to take up new ways of doing things, particularly in agricultural research and innovation on the continent, in the wake of the corona virus pandemic that has hit the world.
Giving his opening remarks at the first regional and continental e-forum on the contribution of agricultural research and innovation in mitigating the impact of COVID-19 in Africa, Dr. Fall, who is also the Director General of Institut Sénégalais de Recherches Agricoles (ISRA), reiterated that the COVID-19 is more than a health crisis which has precipitated shocks in other sectors among which the worst hit is Africa’s agriculture and food system, thereby requiring immediate and brisk action to develop and implement a sector-relevant response.
“COVID-19 is also projected to be with us a for a very long time, such that, living with it will become the new norm”, Dr. Fall intimates. He likened the crisis to climate change and indicated that world must find a way of developing appropriate response to and living with the pandemic. He also notes that as organizations within the food and agriculture research value chain, there is need to make a choice between staying idle and be consumed by the shocks of the virus or to put appropriate systems in place, formulating smart regional systems to mitigate its impact and thereby help improve the livelihoods of the people on the continent.
The eForum is the first in the series of webinars by the implementing institutions under the European Union funded CAADP XP4 programme. The Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) ex-Pillar IV Africa Regional and Sub-regional Organizations for Agricultural Research and Innovation project (CAADP XP4), is funded by the European Union (EU) under the Development Smart Innovation through Research in Agriculture (DeSIRA) initiative and administered by IFAD.
The programme which brings together the major continental and sub-regional organizations AFAAS, ASARECA, CCARDESA, CORAF and FARA, aims at contributing to Agenda 2063 and to the climate-relevant CAADP goals as set in the 2014 African Union’s Malabo Declaration in advancing Accelerated African Agricultural Growth and Transformation for Shared Prosperity and Improved Livelihoods.
The objective is to enable agricultural research and innovation, including extension services, to contribute effectively to food and nutrition security, economic development and climate mitigation in Africa.
Rome, 20 April 2020 – With the COVID-19 pandemic and economic slowdown threatening the lives and livelihoods of the world’s most vulnerable people, the UN’s International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) today committed US$40 million, and launched an urgent appeal for additional funds, to support farmers and rural communities to continue growing and selling food.
IFAD’s new multi-donor fund, the COVID-19 Rural Poor Stimulus Facility, will mitigate the effects of the pandemic on food production, market access and rural employment. As part of the broader UN socio-economic response framework, the Facility will ensure that farmers in the most vulnerable countries have timely access to inputs, information, markets and liquidity. On top of its own contribution, IFAD aims to raise at least $200 million more from Member States, foundations and the private sector.
“We need to act now to stop this health crisis transforming into a food crisis,” said Gilbert F. Houngbo, President of IFAD. “The fallout from COVID-19 may push rural families even deeper into poverty, hunger and desperation, which is a real threat to global prosperity and stability. With immediate action, we can provide rural people with the tools to adapt and ensure a quicker recovery, averting an even bigger humanitarian crisis.”
With their movements restricted to contain further spread of the virus, many small-scale farmers are unable to access markets to sell produce or to buy inputs, such as seeds or fertilizer. Closures of major transport routes and export bans are also likely to affect food systems adversely. As entire production chains are disrupted and unemployment rises, the most vulnerable include daily labourers, small businesses and informal workers, who are very often women and young people. The return of workers from cities affected by lockdowns will put further strain on rural households, which will also stop receiving much needed remittances.
About 80 percent of the world’s poorest and most food insecure people live in rural areas. Even before the outbreak, more than 820 million people were going hungry every day. A recent United Nations University study warned that in a worst-case scenario, the economic impact of the pandemic could push a further half-billion people into poverty.
“This pandemic is threatening the gains we have made in reducing poverty over the past years. To avoid serious disruption to rural economies, it is essential to ensure agriculture, food chains, markets and trade continue to function,” said Houngbo.
“A majority of the world’s most impoverished people are already suffering the consequences of climate change and conflict. An economic downturn in rural areas could compound these effects, generating more hunger and increasing instability, especially in fragile states.”
Provide inputs for production of crops, livestock and fisheries to small-scale producers so that they can weather the immediate effects of the economic crisis.
Facilitate access to markets to support small-scale farmers to sell their products in conditions where restricted movement is interrupting the functioning of markets, including providing logistics and storage support.
Provide targeted funds for rural financial services to ensure sufficient liquidity is available and to ease immediate loan repayment requirements to maintain services, markets and jobs for poor rural people.
Use digital services to share key information on production, weather, finance and markets.
IFAD has significant experience in working in fragile situations improving the resilience of rural populations. For example, in Sierra Leone during the Ebola outbreak, IFAD-supported banks were the sole providers of banking and financial services in affected areas. They provided timely assistance during the outbreak and supported the renewal of the rural economy after the crisis passed.
Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, IFAD was already stepping up its programmes and calling on member states to increase investments in rural development to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 2 – ending hunger.
“A timely response to the pandemic is an opportunity to rebuild the world’s food systems along more sustainable and inclusive lines and build the resilience of rural populations to crisis, whether related to health, climate or conflict,” said Houngbo.
IFAD has received requests from governments in more than 65 countries to help respond to the impact of the pandemic. It has already adapted its projects and diverted funds to support this.
