AVIS DE RECRUTEMENT

Dans le cadre du renforcement des capacités dans le secteur Agriculture au Cameroun,  SNV / Organiation néerlandaise de Développement est à la recherche d'une organisation locale ou un(e) consultant(e) pour mener une étude sur les services de marché dans la chaîne de valeur maïs et de soja dans la région du centre du Cameroun.

Terms of reference

For the recruitment of a local organisation or individual consultant to conduct a study on market services in the maize and soybean value chains in the centre region of Cameroon.

1. Background

SNV/Netherlands Development Organisation is currently intervening in the maize and soybeans value chains in the Centre region through the implementation of a Smallholder Support Scheme Project (SSSP) in Mbanjock. The project works with two cooperatives and builds on the agropole program initiated by the Ministry of Agriculture which ended in June 2014. Following the agropole program, most of the farmers had essentially become maize farmers and depend almost entirely on it for their livelihoods. An evaluation of the situation of farmers in the area was done and the outcome revealed that another intervention was necessary for the farmers to continue maize production but the approach should be market-based and geared towards enhancing farming as a business for sustainable increase in productivity and incomes of the farm families. It was however observed that the smallholder farmers encounter major challenges to transition from subsistence farming to farming as a business (FaaB). Major constraints include weak entrepreneurship, limited agronomic knowledge and skills, limited access to farm equipment, weak organisational capacity and limited access to input finance.

With funding from the Technical Assistance Facility, SNV implements the SSSP with interventions in five main components comprising of; Agronomic and business skills development, access to farm equipment, cooperative management and leadership/governance, access to finance and sustainability of these services. An innovative business model was designed in this regards to provide relevant market services to smallholder farmers in a sustainable manner by involving the private sector. The project has engaged a financial institution which is successfully providing financing for inputs. Inputs suppliers have also been involved and are working closely with the financial institutions to supply inputs to farmers. The marketing of maize is being facilitated by the West End Farms, a big farm in Mbanjock also involved in the project.  Agronomic, agribusiness and leadership/management trainings are equally being provided by SNV and its partners.

It was pre-empted in the sustainability strategy of the project that it would be necessary to expand the opportunities available to farmers and to assist them to get appropriate and sustainable services to enhance their farm enterprises after the project. These include but not limited to technical (skills and inputs), financial, commercial (maize and soybeans marketing opportunities), transportation, institutional development services etc. that are relevant to the farmers and their organisations. At this point in the project implementation, a study on the maize and soybeans value chains is thus necessary to reveal the various services and opportunities provided by actors in the chain and how farmers can access these services. This will include services provided by both existing actors currently assisting farmers and more importantly other actors in the maize and soybeans value chains in order to have a comprehensive information on services and the best options available for farmers.

2. Objectives

The objective of this assignment is to document relevant information on existing market services in the maize and soybeans value chains for farmers in the SSSP.

Specific objectives/deliverables:

• Identify financial institutions (especially interested in agri-finance), their services and lending conditions.
• Identify agricultural inputs suppliers, their prices for relevant inputs and customer services provided.
• Identify major buyers of maize and soybeans, their prices and customer services offered.
• Identify relevant public and private technical services providers and their activities and areas of expertise.
• Identify existing and related projects/programs of interest to the farmers within NGOs, private and public institutions.
• Identify relevant capacity building organisations and their projects/programs of interest to farmers/organisations.
• Identify transporters of agricultural products (farm inputs, maize, and soybeans) at efficient locations to the project sites and from inputs suppliers and buyers.

3. Expected Results

The expected results of the LCB are:

• Appropriate financial institutions, their services and lending conditions are known.
• High quality inputs suppliers, their prices, trade conditions and customer services are known.
• Major buyers of maize and soya, their prices, trade conditions and services are known.
• Information on relevant public and private technical services providers and their activities and areas of expertise is available.
• Information on existing projects/programs of interest to the farmers within NGOs, private and public institutions is available.
• Information on relevant capacity building organisations and their projects/programs/services of interest to farmers/organisations is available.
• List of transporters including information on vehicle type, station, contacts, and prices is available.

4. Activities to be carried out by the LCB

The LCB will carry out the following activities:

4.1 Meeting with farmers cooperatives to ascertain and evaluate their various needs.

4.2 Data collection (field visit and secondary data) on actors, services and opportunities and any other relevant information in the value chains.

4.3  Writing, submission and presentation of draft report.

4.4  Review and submission of final report.

5. Level of effort

A maximum of 20 person-days will be used for the assignment

6. Profile of the local organisation

Individuals and local organisations interested in this call should meet the following requirements:

• Have a university degree in one of the following areas: Business, agriculture, rural development, project management, economics, or any other equivalent degree.
• Good knowledge and experience in carrying out development or business research.
• Good knowledge on the maize and soybeans subsectors in Cameroon.
• Minimum of 2-year experience in development work particularly facilitating private sector in development.
• Be fluent in the French Language.
• Good communication and relational skills to deal with businesses, government and development partners.
• Knowledge of the project area (Centre region) and major towns (Yaoundè, Bafoussam and Douala) will be an asset.

7. Application documents

Applicants are invited to submit an application before July 31st, 2015 by email to recruitmentcm@snvworld.org with the subject heading “Maize and Soybeans Study” with the following:

Technical tender that must include;

• An understanding of the ToR
• Methodology
• Proof of knowledge and experience in carrying out studies
• CVs of person(s) involved in the assignment
• A financial proposal (honorarium rate and amount only) considering a maximum of 20 person-days for the assignment.

8. Other information

• SNV will not have any commitment to the bidder for preparing and submitting its bid.
• The cost of accommodation and transport is supported by SNV according to its internal procedures; the financial bid will indicate only the unit price and total fees (honorarium). Expenses related to meetings (if any) are also not included in the offer.

 Only pre-selected candidates will be contacted.