TECHNICAL SERVICES FOR AGRIBUSINESS REFORMS IN TANZANIA

Consultancy task: to carry out the redesign and pilot testing of e-voucher scheme for fertilizer subsidy program in Tanzania and demonstrate this to the Minister of Agriculture, Senior Government Officials and stakeholders to inform their decision making and approval.

Background:
The Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) is a not-for-profit organization formed in 2006. AGRA’s mission is to catalyze an agricultural transformation in Africa through, innovation-driven, sustainable, productivity increases and access to finance that improve the livelihoods of smallholder farmers.

AGRA is implementing a five year Micro Reforms for African Agribusiness (MIRA) project in Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana, Nigeria and Tanzania. MIRA will provide these governments with access to high quality local and international technical assistance for identifying, prioritizing and reforming specific agricultural regulations that currently deter or limit private investment in agribusiness operating in smallholder agricultural value chains. In doing so, the MIRA project will help to build the capacity of African governments to continuously review and reform regulations that unintentionally limit private investment in local agribusinesses operating in the smallholder value chains.

In Tanzania MIRA and government counterparts identified and prioritized 5 reforms:
• Reforms to improve private companies’ access to registered public varieties, and the quality of public foundation seeds by amending Ministerial Circular 2011
• Reform fertilizer industry regulations to ease registration of new fertilizer products
• Develop umbrella legislation for contract farming in Tanzania
• Reform the institutional arrangements and regulations involved in the issuance of export permits to make it easy to obtain export permits
• Improving the targeting and delivery of the fertilizer subsidy: Reform fertilizer subsidy delivery mechanism

As part of AGRA’s support to the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries (MALF), AGRA wishes to support reforms in the targeting and delivery of fertilizer subsidy program.

Objectives of the Consultancy
Support MALF through the Department for Policy Planning to reform fertilizer subsidy delivery mechanism by assessing practical options for implementing an e-voucher scheme, evaluating technical feasibility and private and social profitability of the options and recommending the design that is appropriate for Tanzania. Technical evaluation will look at government’s IT infrastructure and feasibility of integrating e-voucher with existing government’s IT assets, network coverage and impact on country-wide roll out of e-voucher, initial outlay and running costs, and technical competence to run the program.

Scope and approaches of the consultancy
For this reform, the contractor is expected to carry out the following tasks:
• Develop a design for an e-voucher scheme following the best global standards
• Assess the set up costs (capital investments) and the running costs required to implement the e-voucher scheme
• Assess extent of existing government IT infrastructure and the potential for integrating e-voucher to the existing infrastructure
• Assessment of the network coverage and the implications for the roll-out of the e-voucher which is necessarily tied to availability of s strong network
• Assessment of practical issues of linking farmers, agro-dealers and the paying agency, and addressing how transactions will be effected
Outputs/Outcome:

1. Initial presentation of concept to MALF and AGRA
2. Written report providing an assessment of financial, personnel, and technical requirements for establishing and operating an e-voucher scheme for the fertilizer subsidy, and the technical options that are available
3. Final presentation of the recommended option, highlighting the design, and the costs required to install e-voucher
4. Operational manuals and other aids needed for running the program
   All deliverables should be succinct but informative, and key points should be easily understandable to a wide range of stakeholders. Deliverables should be submitted in English
   Competencies required
   AGRA wishes to contract a software design electronic database company with the following skills and qualifications:
   • Previous experience of designing electronic transactions. Those with specific experience designing and implementing e-voucher will be preferred
   • Good understanding of relevant technical specifications and conditions affecting agricultural fertilizer subsidies in Tanzania
   • Ability to present complex problems in easy-to-understand language
   • Understanding of the Tanzanian agricultural subsidy programs
   • Experience of working with the MALF
   • Country presence in Tanzania
   Duration of the assignment: 6 months
5. Reporting arrangements: The consultant will report to the Head of Policy and Advocacy throughout the engagement period

HOW TO APPLY:

Proposal submission: Taking into account the TOR, the consultancy candidate should submit a proposal containing the following elements:-
• Understanding of the assignment
• Outlining past experience of the firm/ consultant (Please provide a minimum of two concrete samples of similar work done for other organizations)
• Methodology proposed for the assignment (including tools proposed for the assignment)
• Work plan that includes clear timelines for the assignment
• Summary resume(s) of key staff who will work on the MALF/AGRA account
• Consultancy fee for undertaking the assignment and budget breakdown

Deadline of submission of proposals: August 31st, 2016
Interested consultancy firms or individuals should submit separately their technical and financial proposals indicating how they plan to undertake the assignment to: procurement@agra.org
Important note: Technical and Financial proposals will need to be submitted as separate documents. Financial proposals will not be opened until the conclusion of the technical evaluation and then only for those proposals that are deemed qualified and responsive.
Payment terms: The contracted consultancy firm or individual will be paid 50 percent of agreed upon fees at inception of the assignment and the remaining 50 percent upon successful completion of the assignment.
Disclaimer: AGRA reserves the right to determine the structure of the process, number of short-listed participants, the right to withdraw from the proposal process, the right to change this timetable at any time without notice and reserves the right to withdraw this tender at any time, without prior notice and without liability to compensate and/or reimburse any party.