AGRA

1. Background

AGRA is an African-led alliance focused on putting smallholder farmers at the center of the continent’s growing economy by transforming agriculture from a solitary struggle to survive into farming as a business that thrives. Founded 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 transformation in Africa through innovation-driven productivity increases and access to markets and finance that improve the livelihoods of smallholder farmers.

AGRA’s Vision is to contribute to a food systems-led inclusive agricultural transformation across Africa, to reduce hunger, improve nutrition, and adapt to climate change.  In delivering its mission, to catalyze the growth of sustainable food systems across Africa, by influencing and leveraging partners to build a robust enabling environment where the private sector thrives and smallholders are empowered to produce sufficient, healthy food, AGRA seeks to achieve the following four objectives: 1)Empower and build the resilience of smallholder farmers; 2)Support the development of inclusive markets and finance to strengthen agricultural systems; and 3) Strengthen state capability to sustain agricultural transformation.

For information about AGRA, please visit www.agra.org.

AGRA is seeking a consultant to conduct a Board evaluation in compliance with its governance documents and in line with recent best corporate governance practices on board evaluations. The AGRA Board strives to be the model of governance and therefore seeks to ensure that the AGRA board practices remain current, strategic and effective to enable the Board deliver its governance mandate.

2. Scope of Work

The Evaluation is expected to:

  1. Obtain feedback and valuable input from all board members on how the full board and its committees are performing against generally accepted best governance practices.
  1. Support the Board in its commitment to continuous enhancement of its capacity to fulfill its governance mandate.
  1. Use the information provided through the evaluation to bolster the performance and effectiveness of Directors in their roles in executing the Board’s duties and set performance expectations for individual directors.
  1. Support in identifying the developmental areas/needs of the Board as a whole and individual Directors to enhance the skills of the Directors for effective delivery of the Board’s mandate.
  1. Provide the framework for setting Board and Board Committees priorities for the success of the institution.
  1. The consultant is expected to employ methodology, skills and tools that will yield a higher level of success in the evaluation of the Board as a whole, its Committees and the individual directors. In this regard, the Consultant should have extensive recent experience managing similar assignments and have the capacity to deliver on the below scope and deliverables within the agreed timeline.
  1. Consultants may propose additional scope and deliverables to ensure that a comprehensive review of the Board performance is carried out in line with recent best practice.
3. Key Deliverables

3.1 Assessment of the performance of the Board as a whole, four Board Committees, one Sub- committee of the Board’s Committee, individual directors, and key Officers of the Company. The areas of assessment will include, but not limited to the following:

  1. Board and Committees compliance with Terms of Reference.
  2. Board and Committees meeting effectiveness.
  3. Board relationship with/support to the CEO.
  4. Director engagement.
  5. Board structure; board processes, board roles and responsibilities, information flow and presentation, decision making process etc.
  6. Assess the effectiveness of the Board succession plan and remuneration structure.
  7. The effectiveness of the corporate governance systems and processes (ethics, values, governance, controls, compliance, and risk management)
  8. Process for monitoring progress towards meeting the Board’s mandate, strategic plans, action plans and succession planning.

3.2 Assessment of the Board’s relationship with its key stakeholders including the Donors, and senior management.

3.3 Consultants may propose additional scope and deliverables to ensure that a comprehensive review of the Board performance is carried out in line with recent best practice.

4. Management Arrangement 

During the assignment, the consultant will be required to report regularly on progress. Reporting will take the form of regular meetings with the General Counsel & Corporation Secretary. Access to files, databases, and other program related files depending on the consultant’s requirements will be availed, to the extent that these are critical for delivery of this assignment.

5. Duration of the Assignment

Consultants shall propose the most appropriate period for carrying out the assignment. The consultants shall share their proposed efficient time frame based on usual recent best practice and depending on the methodology they choose to adopt.