Foreign economic-aid-related services

Tender description

The Department for International Development (DFID) has launched a new Commercial Agriculture for Smallholders and Agribusiness (CASA) programme which aims to increase sustainable investment in agribusinesses with smallholder supply chains and increase the involvement of poorer smallholders in those supply chains, with demonstrably higher incomes. These outcomes will drive impacts of increased smallholder incomes, improved food security and inclusive and sustainable economic growth. Key cross-cutting priorities will be women’s economic empowerment, nutrition and climate resilience. The following components of the CASA programme are included in this procurement: Component A) Country level value chain activities (Lot 1); Component B) Emerging Smallholder Facility (Lot 2); Component C) Learning, Communication and Monitoring activities (Lot 1). Note that activities relating to local community engagement will not be part of this procurement and DFID may issue additional accountable grants as part of the CASA programme. These will also need to be closely linked in management and oversight to maximise synergies and overall goal achievement. DFID is now seeking the services of suppliers to implement Lot 1 (comprising of Components A and C) and Lot 2 (comprising of Component B) of the programme with mobilisation expected to be in October 2018. Contracts for each lot shall be awarded for a period of 60 months (maximum available budget of 17 500 000 GBP for Lot 1 and of 8 000 000 GBP for Lot 2) — with the option to extend for up to 24 months (with a maximum indicative available budget for the extension period of 7 000 000 GBP for Lot 1 and of 3 200 000 GBP for Lot 2), dependent upon the requirement and at DFID’s discretion – and will comprise of a 6-month Inception / Engagement phase and 54-month Implementation phase. There will be break points after both the Inception / Engagement phase and after 30 months of Implementation. Lot 1 — Components A and C: The objectives of Component A are to enable more, poorer smallholders with moderate to good potential to access commercial markets through involvement in appropriate value chains and to grow these markets by attracting investment into SME agribusinesses that trade with smallholder farmers and their organisations. The delivery of the programme will require the suppliers to scope, design and implement technical assistance in a targeted number of value chains supporting: — SME agribusinesses to improve their business operations and prepare for and access investment from impact investors and local banks, — smallholders and organisations that represent them (e.g. cooperatives, producer organisations and contract farming schemes) to increase their trade with commercial markets and improve the productivity, — changes in the business enabling environment impacting on the target value chains. Attention to and demonstration of impact on the cross-cutting priorities of women’s economic empowerment in agriculture, nutrition impacts and climate-smart approaches are a must. Component A activities will take place in 3 countries (Nepal, Malawi and Uganda) and in 2 value chains per country which have been identified following a series of sector analysis studies. The objectives of Component C are to draw together and communicate a compelling case for increased investment in smallholder related agribusiness and agriculture using the learning from all CASA components, from DFID's wider commercial agriculture portfolio and from the experience of other organisations. This component includes: — conducting an annual learning programme of primary research, analysis and synthesis across a rolling set of themes and research questions, — conducting and updating an annual review of DFID's commercial agriculture portfolio and the key lessons emerging from it, — designing and implementing a communications strategy to influence investors, donors, governments, NGOs and academia to invest more resources and energy in smallholder related agribusiness and the commercialisation of smallholders, — monitoring of the whole CASA programme (Components A, B and C) and maximising synergies and cross learning to achieve the overall goal and deliver value for money in a complex, multi-component programme. Note that activities relating to local community engagement will not be part of this procurement and DFID may issue additional accountable grants as part of the CASA programme. These will also need to be closely linked in management and oversight to maximise synergies and overall goal achievement. DFID is now seeking the services of suppliers to implement Lot 1 (comprising of Components A and C) and Lot 2 (comprising of Component B) of the programme with mobilisation expected to be in October 2018. Contracts for each lot shall be awarded for a period of 60 months (maximum available budget of 17 500 000 GBP for Lot 1 and of 8 000 000 GBP for Lot 2) — with the option to extend for up to 24 months (with a maximum indicative available budget for the extension period of 7 000 000 GBP for Lot 1 and of 3 200 000 GBP for Lot 2), dependent upon the requirement and at DFID’s discretion — and will comprise of a 6-month Inception / Engagement phase and 54-month Implementation phase. There will be break points after both the Inception / Engagement phase and after 30 months of Implementation. Lot 2 — Component B: The objectives of Component B are to increase the smallholder impact of existing development finance and impact investment deals and to thereby raise expectations regarding the level of development impact that can be achieved from future investments. The delivery of this component will require the establishment of an Emerging Smallholder Facility which will work with the investment community to identify, scope, design and implement projects with invested companies that benefit smallholder farmers. These benefits may include, amongst others, increasing the volume of purchases from smallholders, improving market access to poorer smallholders, including women, in roles along the value chain, and improving the productivity and quality of smallholder suppliers and related to that their incomes. Component B also includes working with local communities to improve their engagement in agribusiness deals — these activities will be delivered through an accountable grant with IIED and are not part of this procurement exercise. However, the Emerging Smallholder Facility and IIED will work together to maximise impact wherever appropriate.