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

The Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), is an African-led alliance established in 2006, at a time when agricultural development was emerging from a 20-year decline characterized by minimal growth and investment in the sector. AGRA’s mission is to catalyze and sustain an agricultural and food system transformation in Africa through innovation-driven productivity increases and access to markets and finance that improves the livelihoods of smallholder farmers. With its headquarters in Kenya, AGRA is present in 11 countries in sub-Saharan Africa.

Applications are invited for:

Title: Request for Proposal (RFP) - Proposal Writing Consultants

Reference No.: RFP/043/RM/2022

Background
To deliver its overall goal of catalyzing and sustaining an inclusive agricultural transformation in Africa to increase incomes and improve food security for smallholder farmers, AGRA is now developing a 5-year strategy, including a resource mobilization strategy which takes into account the changing donor landscape, assesses lessons learned from current resource mobilization efforts to drive both growth and impact and aligns closely to AGRA’s emerging strategic focus. The resource mobilization strategy must convey a strong proposition to donors, diversify sources and cultivate lasting relationships with donors.

Scope of Work

• AGRA is seeking experienced proposal writers with a proven record of success to lead on proposal development for institutional donors (bilateral, multilateral) as well as, private sector and philanthropic foundations.
• Selected proposal writers will play a key role in supporting AGRA in securing new funding for the organization by working in collaboration with AGRA’s divisional teams to develop high quality and competitive proposals.
• As a lead proposal writer, the consultant will be responsible for ensuring that the proposals submitted by AGRA are compelling and responsive to donor guidelines and priorities and align with the organization’s strategy.
• For specific proposals, the consultant may also be asked to facilitate storyboarding sessions and the project design working sessions with the technical staff.
• Successful applicants will join AGRA’s roster of proposal writers, from which our Development Cooperation team can request services.

Sectors of Focus
The proposals will focus on the following sectors:

• Agriculture and Food Systems
• Seed Systems
• Sustainable Farming
• Climate Smart Agriculture
• Inclusive agriculture
• Policy and State Capability
• Inclusive Markets and Trade
• Gender and Youth
• Nutrition

Responsibilities
The selected consultant/s will be responsible for writing high quality proposals, in full compliance with the requirements of the donor and quality standards of AGRA.

Key responsibilities include:

• Familiarizing with AGRA’s work, (institutional and country strategies, and other related thematic documents).
• Coordinating the concept note/proposal development process by producing a workplan, tracking timelines and key deliverables
• Research and background reading to familiarize with the specific donor opportunity and alignment to AGRA’s strategy (request for proposals, TORs, and other published documents).
• Work with AGRA’s Technical Leads and other designated personnel to determine proposal concepts by participating in proposal planning, design and ideation meetings;
• Gather and analyze information, working with AGRA’s technical teams (virtually or in-person) formulating content and managing inputs through interviewing and engaging with technical experts.
• Draft the technical proposal, incorporating win themes, consolidating and integrating content from the Technical Lead and the wider technical teams. Create graphics and visuals as required.
• Incorporate feedback on the technical proposal from the review process and strengthening proposal drafts by incorporating changes through an iterative review process.
• Work with the Development Cooperation, technical and leadership teams to ensure that all relevant proposal content aligns with AGRA’s organizational values;

Qualifications and Experience of the Individual Consultant
The consultant will be selected based on their proven experience, qualifications and ability to deliver a quality product in a timely and efficient manner.

Minimum qualifications and experience of the consultant will include:

• At least 5 to 10 years of experience in similar assignments in international development. Experience in food systems, agriculture, climate change, energy, gender and/or youth considered an advantage.
• Demonstrable successful experience in writing competitive, winning proposals for at least one or more institutional donors (EU, USAID, GAC, BMGF, Rockefeller Foundation, AfDB to name a few).
• Knowledge of the donor landscape in relation to funding agriculture sector in AGRA’s priority countries.
• Solid experience in working with technical experts (virtually and in team settings) and synthezing large volumes of complex information into well-structured technical responses
• Excellent communicator able to write effective, concise and compelling content while under the pressure.
• Able to work effectively in and with diverse teams to get accurate, high-quality information from all bid stakeholders in order to produce quality bid documents
• Experience in supporting large international organizations.

Application Closing Date
5:00pm, 22nd March, 2022.

Submission of Documents
Proposals SHALL be submitted via email to: procurement@agra.org

Note

• 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 technically qualified individual (s).

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