Synopsis of the Request for Proposal (Individual Consultants)
Solicitation Reference No. | RFP/026/P&A/2021 |
Title of Solicitation | Consultancy to carry out Joint Agricultural Sector Review in Kenya |
Issuing Office & Address | Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) Website: www.agra.org |
Point of contact for clarifications, questions and ammendments | AGRA General Procurement, Procurement@agra.org |
Email Address for submission of Proposals/ Quotes | AGRA General Procurement, Procurement@agra.org |
Solicitation Issue Date | April 19th , 2021 |
Deadline for submission questions and clarifications | April 23rd, 2021 1700 hours, East African Time |
Deadline for Answering questions and clarifications | April 27th , 2021 1700 hours, East African Time |
Deadline for Submission of Proposals | May 3rd, 2021 1700 hours, East African Time Please include the subject line “RFP/026/P&A/2021-JOINT AGRICULTURAL SECTOR REVIEW IN KENYA” of the email |
Type of consultant | Individual Consutants Only are eligible for this assignment |
Anticipated Award Type | CONSULTANCY AGREEMENT |
Submission and Evaluation Criteria | Bidder are encouraged to register as a vendor via the link provided below and provide the listed information in the submitted proposal: https://ekjd.fa.em2.oraclecloud.com/fscmUI/faces/PrcPosRegisterSupplier?prcBuId=300000001758868 Mandatory pre-registration documents: 1. Curriculum Vitae 2. Copy of ID/Passport Mandatory Eligibility Requirement: – Detailed Curriculum Vitae including at least 3 referees – Copy of academic certificate – Copy of your passport or National Identification Card Evaluation Criteria summary: 1. Qualifications…………………………………………..20% – Relevant academic qualifications 2. Experience of the consultant……………………………..……..50% – Meet requirements as outlined under competencies – Detailed reference list indicating the scope and magnitude of similar assignments carried out 3. Consultant’s methodology, work plan and understanding of the assignment…………………………………………………………..30% NB: Only the candidate with the best technical proposal equal or above 75% shall be considered for financial negotiations |
Terms of Reference
Consultancy to carry out joint agricultural sector review in Kenya
Background
The African Union (AU) Heads of State (HoS) and Government adopted the Maputo Declaration in 2003, which anchored the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) as the overarching framework to guide agricultural transformation, wealth creation, food security and nutrition, economic growth and prosperity for all. The declaration set broad targets towards agricultural transformation in Africa including ensuring at least 10% of public expenditures committed to the agricultural sector and ensuring achievement of at least 6% annual growth in agricultural GDP. After a decade of implementing CAADP, the AU leaders recommitted to advancing the CAADP agenda through the 2014 Malabo Declaration on Accelerated Agricultural Growth and transformation. The Malabo declaration sought to achieve agricultural transformation by 2025 through advancing seven commitments (AUC, 2014).
Mutual accountability is one of the seven commitments under the Malabo declaration. It aims at enhancing mutual accountability between different stakeholders for actions and results. Under this commitment, the HoS and Governments agreed to conduct systematic regular reviews of the agricultural sector to track progress/performance and foster accountability. The CAADP Mutual Accountability Framework (CAADP-MAF) was set up in 2011 to guide implementation of MA processes. Joint sector reviews (JSR) and the Biennial Reviews (BR) are the mechanisms for actualizing mutual accountability. BR is the mechanism for Mutual Accountability at the continental Level while JSR is at the country level.
Context
JSR provide a key foundation for evidence-based policy planning and implementation. In particular, JSRs provide a platform to collectively review the effectiveness of policies and institutions in the agriculture sector and assess the extent to which intended results and outcomes in the sector are being realized. Through the JSR process, state and non-state stakeholders hold each other accountable with respect to fulfilling pledges and commitments stipulated in the CAADP compacts, national agricultural investment plan (NAIP) and any related cooperation agreements. The JSR allows a broad spectrum of stakeholders to obtain insights into and influence overall policies and priorities of the sector, and thereby allowing the JSR to serve as a management and policy support tool for inclusive stakeholder planning, programming, budget preparation and execution, monitoring and evaluation (M&E), and overall development of the agriculture sector.
Ideally a JSR review for agriculture considers shared performance indicators in the NAIP results framework that are reported through the M&E framework. This years agriculture spending will be expounded to include all agriculture related functions both at National and County governments and their respective performances and the sectors performance in trade to fill the gap of food security. The review of public expenditure indicators will be derived from the ‘public expenditures in the agricultural sector’ (PEAS) database. The PEAS database includes recurrent and development expenditures for all vote groups (NT and Consolidated Fund Services; national government Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs); Counties; and the Equalization Fund) and expenditures from all sources of funding: domestic, external – grants, and external – loans.
These Terms of Reference spell out the scope of work and deliverables for developing the 2021 JSR for the Agriculture Sector in Kenya.
Scope of Work
The consultant will be expected to undertake an evidence-based analysis and assessment of the agriculture sector in Kenya. The JSR will involve the following:
- Documenting the performance of the sector, examining trends in sector processes, outputs, outcomes and changes in key CAADP indicators.
- Primary data collection and primary analysis of secondary data based on the CADDP indicators, the enhanced COFOG indicators.
- Undertake consultations with sector stakeholders on their contribution towards the attainment of indicators, and assessment of performance.
- Identify lessons and opportunities for the Country to improve performance in the sector; and
- Identifying the bottlenecks that the sector needs to overcome to enhance performance.
A JSR secretariat will be established to work with the consultant in the development of the JSR. The Secretariat and the consultant shall agree on the common set of questions to be answered to guide the preparation of the report. Three broad categories of questions will be asked to guide the JSR process, namely: policy and institutional related questions, sector performance questions, and agriculture budget and expenditure-related questions.
A. Policy and Institutional Related Questions
Key policy and institutional related questions include but not limited to, the following:
- What progress has been made in filling the gaps and addressing policy formulation and implementation constraints as envisaged in the ASTGS/ and the Big 4 agenda?
- What progress has been made in building or strengthening the capacity of policymakers and different institutions involved in formulating and implementing these policy actions?
- How have different stakeholders contributed to the progress made?
- Are the existing policies systematically encouraging investments in the agricultural sectors? If not, which policies are discouraging investments in agriculture?
- Which favorable policies should the government promote to encourage private investments in agriculture?
B. Agricultural Sector Performance-Related Questions
The agricultural sector consists of crops, livestock and fishery subsectors, which constitutes of numerous commodities and commodity groups. The ASTGS and the medium-term plan specific growth rate targets are given for the entire sector and different subsectors, commodity groups, or individual commodities. The questions include:
- To what extent have the growth targets in the overall agricultural sector and the different subsectors and commodities been achieved?
- How have the subsector and commodity achievements contributed to overall sector performance? This should include a review of the performance of the agricultural production and trade using mutually agreed indicators under the Malabo declaration and ASTGS;
- What progress has been made in addressing the challenges faced by farmers and other actors in the agricultural sector?
- What has been the progress and effect of the various agricultural policies, programmes, institutions and implementation processes?
- What are the key, success factors, and potential strategic and policy options to improve the sector’s performance?
C. Agricultural Sector Actors’ Budget and Expenditure Related Questions
The main thing here is assessing the extent to which the different partners (government, development partners, private sector, NGOs, CSOs, FBOs, etc.) to the ASTGS have met their commitments, including the composition and quality of the disbursements or expenditures made. The key questions here include but not limited to, the following:
- To what extent have the different partners been able to meet their overall financial and non-financial commitments?
- What is the composition and quality of the actual disbursements and expenditures and how have these been spent across the different (a) objectives of the sector, (b) subsectors and major commodities, (c) policies, programs and institutions and implementation units at all levels?
- How has the amount, nature, and allocation of expenditures influenced (a) incentives of the different implementing agencies to deliver, (b) delivery of public goods and services, (c) production and productivity in the various sub-sectors, and (d) overall sector growth?
Study Stages
There will be three main stages to the study. Namely;
Stage 1: Refining the Scope and Methodology
The first stage involves refining scope of the JSR study and the methodology. This will include agreeing upon common research questions by both the consultant and the secretariat.
Counties will be divided into regions, to guide the data collection and consultations for in-depth analysis and field work.
The consultant will be expected to further refine the scope, within the context of the overall study questions and in consultation with sector stakeholders, by:
- Setting out any additional research questions pertinent to the sector
- Proposing specific subsectors and/or issues to focus on during the study and illustrate the challenges in attaining the CAADP framework’s targets.
- Elaborating on the methodology for answering the research questions, including source of information, stakeholder identification, stakeholders interview questions, and a work plan.
- Adapting and elaborating the report structure whilst ensuring that core research questions and the CAADP dimensions are maintained to facilitate synthesis. As part of this stage and in defining the methodology, the consultant should compile and review existing literature and data sources. This may include:
– Available academic literature on the agriculture sector in Kenya;
– Relevant (national and county) policy documents;
– Statistical reports from Government Institutions
– Sector reports
– Budgets and financial reports
Stage 2: Field Visits and Draft Study
The second phase involves the consultant applying the methodology and study plan:
- Data analysis
- National stakeholder interviews, which may include:
– National line ministries and agencies
– Development partners bank staff and
– Civil society - Field visits to counties. These will include:
– County-level interviews of politicians, departmental staff etc.
– Consultations with key sector delivery staff and collect data on key indicators
– Interviews with frontline deliver staff
– Discussions with user groups/committees and sector stakeholders
The consultant will draft a report based on the agreed report structure. In carrying out this phase, the consultant will work closely with the JSR secretariat to ensure that the research questions are being adequately answered. The consultant will share the draft report with the secretariat.
Stage 3: Validation of the Report
Following the completion of the draft report, the consultant will be expected to make presentations in a variety of stakeholder workshops and to help facilitate discussions with key stakeholders in the sector including Government, development partners, civil society and the private sector, with a view to reaching agreement on:
- The level of performance for the indicators,
- Key issues affecting sector performance and,
- Set of policy options to address those issues.
Duration
The assignment is expected to take place within 60 days upon signing of the contract.
Deliverables
The consultant will be expected to provide the following deliverables:
- An inception report, two weeks after signing the contract
- A first draft report, ten weeks after the inception workshop
- A final draft report, one week after the national validation
Responsibility of the Consultant
The consultant will:
- Prepare an inception report elaborating the methodology and understanding of the assignment.
- Produce high quality reports that will provide solutions to problems and challenges facing the sector
- Build capacity of ATO to conduct future JSR
- Complete the assignment within the set timeframe
Coordination and Reporting
Based in Nairobi Kenya, the consultant will be working as part of the JSR secretariat. Therefore, the consultant will be expected to engage with the secretariat and ensure that any analysis are methodologically consistent. The consultant will regularly report to the Agriculture Transformation Office (ATO) and participate in secretariat meetings and briefings. The ATO will provide the following: ‐
- All relevant documentation, data and information regarding the execution of the assignment
- Arrange for reference group meetings and workshops with all the stakeholders
- Avail a team of technical personnel from ATO and Council of Governors to assist in executing the assignment and establishing a review team for the JSR.
- Facilitate conduction of stakeholders’ workshop to discuss the report
Qualifications & competencies
The consultant should have a wide experience working in the agricultural and rural development sector, particularly in Africa. Specific experience with the Kenya’s agricultural sector will be an added advantage. The consultant should have good analytical skills, experience with project/programme management, Biennial Reporting and Public Expenditure Reviews and monitoring and evaluation. Experience with sector-wide approach of programs implementation will be an added advantage. Specifically, the consultant should have the following:
- A Minimum of a Master’s degree in Agricultural Economics, Economics, Social Sciences or related field. A PhD will be an added advantage
- At least 15 years of international experience in programme management, program reviews and evaluations, performance reviews in the Agricultural and Rural Development Sector in Kenya or in Africa
- Good knowledge of management information systems
- Experience working with multi-donor projects
- Ability to professionally interact at High Levels of Government
- Excellent process management and facilitation skills
- Strong written, verbal communication, and presentation skills
- Strong Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint skills
- Ability to function and communicate professionally and effectively.
- Ability to communicate and translate fluently between English and French highly desirable.
- Female Candidates are encouraged to apply
Evaluation Criteria
- Qualifications & Competencies……………………………………………………………………..20%
– Relevant academic qualifications as indicated above - Experience of the consultant…………………………………………………………………………50%
– Meet requirements as outlined under competencies(30%)
– Detailed reference list indicating the scope and magnitude of similar assignments carried out(20%) - Consultant’s methodology, work plan and understanding of the assignment…….30%
NB: Only the best candidate whose technical proposal is above 75% shall be considered for financial negotiations
Application Submission Requirements
A. Technical Proposal
- Detailed Curriculum Vitae
- Detailed reference list indicating the scope and magnitude of similar assignments carried out
- Demonstrate possession of qualification and experience required
- Provide methodology, work plan and understanding of the assignment
B. Financial Proposal
- The consultant shall provide a monthly fee for carrying out the assignment
- All applicable taxes (withholding taxes) MUST be quoted separately
- The financial proposal shall be inclusive of the applicable withholding taxes. If the financial proposal is silent on taxes, AGRA shall assume that these are inclusive;
- Reimbursable costs if applicable shall be quoted separately.
- Price must be quoted in USD ($)
- The financial proposal shall be submitted separately from the technical proposal and should be password protected. Only the best candidate shall be requested for the password to their financial proposal
Guidelines for Preparations and Submission of Proposals
- The proposals SHALL be submitted to procurement@agra.org by deadline indicated in the synopsis
- 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 best technically qualified individual
Download full RFP:
https://agra.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/RFP-Consultancy-to-carry-out-Joint-Agricultural-Sector-review-in-Kenya.docx