Request for Proposal at the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA)

The Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), is a not-for-profit organization working with African governments, other donors, NGOs, the private sector, and African farmers to significantly and sustainably improve productivity and incomes of resource-poor smallholder farmers in Africa. AGRA aims to ensure that smallholder farmers have what they need to succeed in their agricultural enterprises such as good seeds and healthy soils; access to markets, information, financing, storage, and transport; and policies that provide them with comprehensive support.

• Analytical support to determine optimal stock levels for the country’s SGR:
  • Undertake an analysis of the legal and policy environment under which the SGR in Nigeria is established to identify key issues affecting operational efficiency and effectiveness of the SGR. 
  • Review existing data to determine the effectiveness of the SGR regarding the vision espoused in the establishing policy framework to determine gaps and challenges. 
  • Map the current SGR infrastructure and determine capacities, stocking trends in the last 5 years, and current stocks in the reserves.
  • Evaluate the fiscal cost of the SGR to the government exchequer in the last 5 years. 
  • Determine optimal stocks of various SGR food commodities that collectively provide food and nutrition security and develop a seasonal calendar (if applicable) for the purchase and sale of SGR stocks.
  • Analyze historical food demand and food security vulnerabilities to determine the optimal level of food reserves at various national and regional levels.
  • Evaluate various economic, operational, and financial models for sustainability of the SGR and recommend the most optimal one for adoption by the FSRD.
  • Recommend a model that links the SGR operations with economic and production forecasting models such as early warning systems and to predict food insecurity incidences and surplus production (which could indicate where and when to buy food stocks in the region with a minimum impact on the cereals market).
  • Develop a model for demand estimation in order to minimize waste of SGR.
• Assessment of the existing storage infrastructure capacity:
  • Evaluate the distribution/location of SGR infrastructure vis a vis vulnerable regions and food insecurity hotspots.
  • Assess the condition of existing silos, warehouses, and storage infrastructure and determine/estimate the cost to rehabilitate those facilities that need upgrading.
  • Determine the optimal sustainable SGR capacity required for emergencies and recommend appropriate distribution of SGR infrastructure vis a vis vulnerability hotspots.
  • Design and develop real-time models/tools for monitoring the draw-downs and performance monitoring of SGR activities. 
• Designing and developing partnership models with the private sector:
  • Explore global best practices and mechanisms of including the private sector in the operations and/or management of SGR.
  • Review draw-downs and rotational models employed and recommend how a partnership between the private sector (millers/processors /producers) and the Federal/Regional (States) SGR can be adopted to streamline stocking and draw-downs.
  • Recommend a business model that can be employed to link small agricultural producers to the SGR.
  • come up with improvements to the FSRD.

• Have over 10 years’ experience in Agricultural Economics, Economics, Social Sciences, Finance and business management or related field.
• Experience in carrying out similar assignments in Nigeria and Africa in General.
• Strong understanding of commodities ecosystem in Nigeria and other African countries
• Experience working with governments.

Lead Consultant/Team Leader:

• The Consultant should possess a minimum of a Master’s degree in Agricultural Economics, Economics, Social Sciences, Finance and business management or related field.
• At least 15 years of international experience in programme management, Agricultural and Rural Development Sector in Africa.
• Strong demonstrated knowledge and experience of Strategic Grain Reserve (SGR) management. 
• Have a good understanding of the seasonal variation in commodity production and commodity marketing systems in the different regions of Nigeria in particular, and Africa in general. 
• Experience working with multi-donor projects and similar Warehouse inventory work.
• Good knowledge of warehouse/silos management and stock control system especially for strategic reasons as in emergency management among others.
• Deep and wide knowledge of the Nigerian commodity marketing systems in the different regions of the country and at the international level.
• Ability to professionally interact at High Levels of Government.
• Excellent process management and facilitation skills.
• Strong written, verbal communication, and presentation skills.
• Previous experience of conducting a similar assessment.
• Strong understanding of commodities ecosystem in Nigeria and other African countries
• Good knowledge of real-time stock control system will be an advantage.

Associate consultant (s) (Firm to specify number of additional key experts):

• Should possess a minimum of a BSc degree in Agricultural Economics, Finance, and Business Management or related field
• Should have a combination of the following skills and experiences spanning a minimum of 5 years of experience and expertise in:
  • Food and nutrition security reserve management, 
  • Agricultural statistics and market analysis, 
  • Economic model development, 
  • Training and capacity building
  • At least 5 years of experience in the management of SGRs.

• The Proposals shall be prepared in English Language.
• The technical proposal shall not exceed 20 pages.
• The proposal and ALL Attachments submitted via email SHALL NOT exceed 10MB.
• VALIDITY of the proposal shall be for a period of 90 days from the date of bid closure. 
• Financial proposal shall be sent as a separate attachment and MUST be password protected. The password shall be requested from the best technically qualified firm (s).