Rapid Assessment on How Best to Promote Regional Seed Trade

Posted by East Africa, ESA Opportunities, Opportunities

Position:  Rapid Assessment on How Best to Promote Regional Seed Trade

Location: Nairobi, Kenya

Period of Performance: January 2018 to March 2018

Level of Effort: 35 days

The Opportunity

Africa Lead, seeks a consulting firm (team) to conduct a rapid assessment of the regional seed sector and impediments to regional seed trade, including a review of COMSHIP and the COMESA Seed Catalog to determine the effectiveness of USAID’s current activities to promote regional seed trade; identify barriers to regional seed trade including specific obstacles at border crossings; map out other key donor support to regional seed trade.

Objective of the Assignment

The objective of this assessment is to evaluate the effectiveness of regional seed trade, USAID support on regional seed trade and to COMESA and other regional seed trade programs and to recommend strategies for greater impact.

Specific Objectives of the Assignment:

  1. Assess the status, achievement and effectiveness of the COMSHIP process.
  2. Determine what is preventing the COMESA Seed Catalog from being utilized and expanded as expected.
  3. Identify and assess the effectiveness of other major programs and mechanisms for regional seed trade.
  4. Assess the appropriateness and capacity of the organizations implementing COMSHIP and recommend the most effective partnerships and/or strategies for any needed capacity strengthening.
  5. Assess the current barriers to regional seed trade, including specific obstacles at selected border crossings.
  6. Assess the level of engagement and recommend strategies to enhance private sector participation and support of regional seed trade.
  7. Recommend both short-term and long-term interventions to promote regional seed trade

This assessment will produce specific and actionable recommendations on the most cost-effective and timely approaches that USAID, other partners and stakeholders can undertake to promote greater regional seed trade and address the barriers to seed trade.

Submission of Proposals

Interested firms should submit their expression of interest to [email protected] by December 22nd, 2017. Only shortlisted firms will be contacted. Download the the detailed scope of work on this link for more information : Scope of Work Seed Assessment

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RESPONSES TO QUESTIONS

UPDATED: 18 DECEMBER 2017

  1. Given the timing targeted for the work, are you only requesting an expression of interest before the 22nd? Or would you like a full proposal with budget? 

    The advert only requires that an EOI be submitted by Friday, December 22. Based on the holiday period and selection process, Africa Lead anticipates that the start date of the assessment will be delayed likely two weeks (or till the end of January 2018). Short-listed applicants will be contacted by email by December 28, 2017 and will be asked to submit a full proposal and detailed budget by January 7, 2018.

  2. When appropriate, will this be a fixed price contract? Should we expect to submit detailed budgets, as supplemented to the fixed price contract, as we have in the past? 

    Yes, this will be a fixed price contract.

  3. Will the contacts and their contact details to be interviewed COMESA country seed trade association, ministers of agriculture and trade, seed company managers and African Seed Trade Association be provided or should we plan on originated? 

    This will be the responsibility of the company awarded. Africa Lead may suggest some contacts to be interviewed, but it will the responsibility of the firm to organize those appointments.

  4. Do you envision a convening will be held to review the results with key stakeholders interviewed or are the results of this work only to be reported to USAID? 

    Africa Lead and the firm will host a validation workshop for the assessment where stakeholders will be invited and the findings presented. In addition, Africa Lead and the firm will have two debriefs with USAID; one before the validation workshop and one after where findings will be presented. A final report will then be submitted to USAID.

     

     

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ABOUT AFRICA LEAD

Africa Lead is Feed the Future’s primary capacity building program in sub Saharan Africa. Feed the Future (FTF) is the U.S. Government’s global hunger and food security initiative.

The program works to help realize FTF's and the African Union’s Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program (CAADP) goals of reduced hunger and poverty by building the capacity of champions, institutions and stakeholders to develop, lead and manage the structures needed for African-led agriculture transformation.

US Office

Africa Lead is working across sub-Saharan Africa, with offices and staff across West Africa, East, and Southern Africa. Africa Lead II's US office is based in Bethesda, MD, USA.

East & Southern Africa Regional Office

  • Acorn House, 97 James Gichuru Road, Lavington Nairobi, Kenya

West Africa Regional Office

  • 8, Route du Meridien President Almadies
  • Residence Rokhaya /49 Dakar, Senegal
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