Request for Proposal (RFP) - Development of Aquaculture Policy at Cultivating New Frontiers in Agriculture (CNFA)

Posted by Future on Wed 12th Jan, 2022 - nigeriantenders.com

Cultivating New Frontiers in Agriculture (CNFA) invites interested / eligible Independent Consultants and Firm's to indicate interest by submitting RFP documents for the following works:

Cultivating New Frontiers in Agriculture (CNFA) 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.

Applications are invited for:

Title: Request for Proposal (RFP) - Development of Ebonyi State Aquaculture Policy

Preamble

The five-year USAID Feed the Future Nigeria Agribusiness Investment Activity [The Activity], implemented by Cultivating New Frontiers in Agriculture (CNFA) with Connexus Corporation and J.E. Austin Associates as subcontractors, aims to strengthen the enabling environment for agribusiness finance and investment. To achieve this goal, the Activity focuses on four interrelated components:

Improving the enabling environment for agricultural sector growth;
Broadening access to finance by mitigating the credit risks of agribusinesses;
Promoting and facilitating investment opportunities for agribusinesses to expand and scale up operations; and
Sustainably enhancing the performance of agribusiness micro, small and medium size enterprises (MSMEs).

In line with the U.S. and Nigerian government's commitment to growing the non-oil-based economy, these efforts will increase the depth, breadth, dynamism, and competitiveness of Nigeria’s agribusiness sector. The Activity operates in seven states of Benue, Cross River, Delta, Ebonyi, Kaduna, Niger and Kebbi along soybean, maize, aquaculture, rice, and cowpea value chains.

Ebonyi State is recognized as one of the foremost states in Nigeria with high potential for agricultural investment due largely to its fisheries and aquaculture resources. The state shares a border with Benue State to the North, Enugu State to the west, Imo, and Abia States to the south and Cross River State to the east. Over 50% of the population in the state are rural dwellers with an estimated urban population of above 40%, clearly showing a potential for growth and promising huge investment opportunities for entrepreneurs and investors.

The Ebonyi State Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (EBMARD) organized a Public Private Dialogue (PPD) on Wednesday 28th October 2020, with the theme: Harnessing the Ebonyi State’s Fisheries and Aquaculture Value Chain - An investment and Finance Public Private Dialogue with the support of the Activity. The Aquaculture value chain PPD in Ebonyi State brought together public sector officials and leading private sector agribusinesses and producers to review the existing policy of the sub-sector and determine priority actions to make it more responsive to the opportunities and development of the Aquaculture value chain.

Objective

The broad objective is to promote a competitive soybean value chain by creating a level playing field for all stakeholders in the value chain aimed at ensuring a conducive business enabling environment and a competitive market for empowering smallholder farmers in a sustainable manner in the state. This will entail the following:

To transform the aquaculture value chain into a highly competitive and mature market driven by strong price competition, high level market concentration and increase in private sector investment.
To increase the level of complementarity between the state agricultural policy on the one hand and aquaculture policy on the other to bring to the limelight the competitive and comparative advantages of the aquaculture value chain in the state.
To open up more opportunities in the development of aquaculture production in the state
To reduce the cost of aquaculture production inputs that would enhance profitability and consequently increase aquaculture production for sustainable food security of the country
To increase levels of concentration, specialization, vertical integration, and economies of scale in the value chain to enable small producers compete with fast expanding and highly efficient trade on aquaculture.
To improve the economic viability of aquaculture in the state by encouraging the smallholder-based production systems to diversify production, generate income, and capture positive rotation effects that improve productivity of other crops being grown.
To improve the standard of living of small-scale aquaculture growing farmers by enabling/empowering them to be self-reliant through supply of high yielding planting materials, providing agronomic support, assisting in adopting advanced agronomic practices, providing market linkages, and sharing experiences of research and development on aquaculture value chain.
To understand the roles, opportunities and constraints faced by women and youth to promote their inclusion in the value chain development.
To focus on skill development and awareness raising mainly in the context of specific value chain nodes so that women and youth can effectively participate as producers, input suppliers, processors, and marketers.

Scope of Work

The Activity will require the successful Offeror to thoroughly review the existing legal and regulatory frameworks in the state relevant to the development of a new Fisheries and Aquaculture Policy, incorporating changes in technologies,investment opportunities and any other agribusiness regulations and guidelines with a view to addressing the needs in the value chain and any other regulatory gaps as they affect the rights and obligations of the operators in the state. Thus, the consultant will clarify the goals, objectives, and desired outcomes of introducing new administrative guidelines and related regulations in the policy.

Tasks

The successful local consultant/consulting firm among several duties, will perform the following specific duties:

Develop a sound and coherent Fisheries and Aquaculture Policy of Ebonyi State shaped in the axis of increasing productivity and competitiveness, ensuring food security and safety and sustainable development.
Sufficiently address the legal and regulatory bottlenecks in the agribusiness environment in the state to achieve sustainable and scalable economic outcomes and boost economic growth in the aquaculture value chain.
Work with Ebonyi State Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to develop strategies for a more conducive business environment to attract quality private sector finance and investment that would upgrade the value chain.
Integrate in the policy to enhance farm viability and the competitiveness of the value chain and promoting innovative farm technologies and sustainable management of the aquaculture value chain.
Integrate in the policy to promote resource efficiency and supporting the shift towards a low-carbon and climate-resilient economy in agriculture.

Eligible Offerors Qualifications

Consulting companies (who are registered in Nigeria under the CAC and all necessary bodies); or independent consultants who are Nigerians and legally able to work in Nigeria.
The consultant must demonstrate 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 agricultural policy, ideally including agricultural economics, agricultural technology, agribusiness contracts, finance and investment, agribusiness strategic partnerships.
Experience working collaboratively with institutional and private‐sector partners and stakeholders in the Nigerian agricultural sector. Working experience in the aquaculture value chain in Nigeria particularly in Ebonyi State will be an added advantage.
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.

Application Closing Date

5:00pm (WAT), January 20, 2022.

Submission of Documents

Offers must be submitted by email to: operations@ag-invest.org

For more clarifications on this RFP, please Click Here (MS WORD).