Request for Proposal (RFP) at Cultivating New Frontiers in Agriculture (CFNA)

Cultivating New Frontiers in Agriculture (CFNA) is an international agricultural development organization that specializes in the design and implementation of sustainable, enterprise-based agricultural initiatives. We work with businesses, foundations, governments, and communities to build customized local and global partnerships that meet the world’s growing demand for food.

• Improving the agribusiness enabling environment
• Broadening access to finance by mitigating the credit risks of agribusinesses
• Facilitating investment opportunities for agribusinesses to expand and scale up operations
• Enhancing the performance of agribusiness Medium Small and Micro-Enterprise (MSMEs). 

In line with the U.S. and Nigerian Government’s commitment to growing the non-oil-based economy, these efforts will increase the quality, quantity, market access, and diversification of Nigeria’s economy.

• Protect and strengthen sustainable rural resources management practices that are supportive of an inclusive agricultural/environmental activity for multiple benefits. 
• Increase responsible investment and positive incentives aimed at promoting sustainable rural integrations of gender and youth management.
• Establish and foster targeted rural economic development research to enable national evidence-based programs that will drive sustainability in rural economic growth and development.
• Identify and list partners to work with rural actors and users of rural resources and address the constraints they face in increasing the rural ecosystem towards a more contemporary service.
• Prevent and minimize rural resources degradation and restore/rehabilitate degraded rural resources such as forestry, water, rivers, soils (including historically degraded soils) especially through soil conservation approaches that have proved to be successful. 
• Promote effective education programs to ensure adequate inclusion of sustainable rural resources management and extension services.
• Establish a framework for rural resilience for market infrastructure information systems.

• The Activity will require the successful bidder to work to support the Benue State Government, through the Benue State Ministry of Rural Development to assess the best options and framework for developing a sound and coherent Rural Development Policy in line with the existing legal and regulatory framework in Nigeria.
• The consultant/consulting firm will thoroughly review all the existing policies and guidelines relevant to the development of a new Rural Development Policy, incorporating trends and new changes in technologies and investment opportunities, and other relevant socio-economic regulations and guidelines with a view to addressing the need of the rural economic actors and to close existing regulatory gaps. Thus, the consultant or firm will clarify the goals, objectives, constraints to be addressed, and desired outcomes for either introducing a new or revising existing guidelines and related regulations in Benue State’s rural economy. 
• In view of the above and the urgent need for an improved enabling environment for agribusinesses and to ensure active and robust advancement rural ecosystem that supports agribusiness in Benue State, the consultant’s responsibilities will focus on a policy that will increase the quality and productivity of the rural economies in the sustainability of resources in the environment. H/She will also provide the required support to ensure that the final policy is suitable for approval by the Benue State Executive Council (SEC). 

• Ensure the review of all the relevant documents that impact on Benue State Rural Resources Management in the form of policies, guidelines, procedures, practices for the attainment of Food Security and creation of standards and protocols to ensure quality agricultural soil resources management.
• Sufficiently address the legal and regulatory bottlenecks in the rural environment relevant to achieving sustainable and scalable economic outcomes in the agricultural soil resources management practices for policy formulation process.
• Work closely with the Benue State Ministry of Rural Development technical committee to develop strategies in the proposed policy to create a more enabling business environment to attract quality private sector finance and investment into the rural industries in the state, and by extension into the larger agribusiness sector. 
• Ensure that the Benue State Rural Development Policy is designed to enhance agricultural land usage for farmers and other stakeholders in a competitive manner in the priority sub-sectors and promotes innovative agricultural soil management technologies and sustainable resources management. 
• Ensure that the policy is designed to promote resource efficiency and supports the shift towards environmentally friendly rural management practices, including the principles of low-carbon and climate-resilient economy in agriculture.
• Provide an implementation and monitoring plan that takes into consideration the availability of resources both in financial and human capital means, identify all agencies to be involved at all policy levels, and define milestones(i.e. timelines) which allow for the early detection of delays and plan for emergency activities. 
• Provide valuable expertise on cross-cutting and strategic issues particularly those that promote women and youth by devising more effective interventions to increase agricultural productivity, enhance household and economic growth, achieve food security, and reduce poverty.
• Introduce specific gender development strategies in order to improve the specific needs of gender and youth in the areas of women’s literacy, business skills, entrepreneurship and saving who are marginalized due to the magnitude of patriarchal domination.
• Support the progress and integration of a strategy for the Benue State Rural Development Management Policy to align with appropriate management training providers’ best practices, methodologies, and training curricula.
• Align with rural development policies at the national level to synergy.

• This invitation is open to consulting firms (who are registered in Nigeria under the CAC and all necessary body); and independent consultants who are nationals of Nigeria.
• Consultant/consulting firm must demonstrate their knowledge of the assignment by clearly interpreting the terms of reference and providing a methodology and approach that will be adopted in undertaking the assignment.
• 10+ years of relevant experience working in economic policy, including rural and agricultural policy space in related matters, rural resilience, finance and investment, agribusiness strategic partnerships, and experience working in Benue State and across Nigeria with details of his/her resume indicating previous experience on similar jobs in the past. If it is a consulting firm, it must provide the name and profile of the lead consultant to carry out the assignment and should also attach their company profile/capability statement to the proposal. The names and profiles of any other personnel with their roles in the project, their respective levels of effort and their CVs should be attached.
• Experience in conducting research for USAID- and/or other donor-funded programs will be an added advantage.
• Experience working collaboratively with institutional and private‐sector partners and stakeholders in Benue State across several sector with experience in sustainable economic development and management.
• Demonstrate capacity to work well in diverse teams but also, productive working individually with minimum supervision.
• Well organized, strong analytical skills, creative thinker, innovative, demonstrated personal initiative, stress tolerance, integrity, and ethics.
• Sound knowledge of Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.
• Excellent written and oral communications skills in English.
• Ability to produce various informational products under tight deadlines.
• Legally able to work in Nigeria.

• Please reference the RFP number in any response to this RFP.
• Offers received after the specified time and date will be considered late and will be considered only at the discretion of CNFA. 
• The cover page of this solicitation summarizes the important dates of the solicitation process. Offerors must strictly follow the provided deadlines to be considered for award. 

• Questions must be submitted in writing; phone calls will not be accepted. Questions and requests for clarification and the responses thereto that CNFA believes may be of interest to other offerors will be circulated to all RFP recipients who have indicated an interest in bidding.
• Only the written answers issued by CNFA will be considered official and carry weight in the RFP process and subsequent evaluation.Any verbal information received from employees of CNFA or any other entity should not be considered as an official response to any questions regarding this RFP.