Background

United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) is the UN’s capital investment agency for the world’s 47 least developed countries (LDCs). With its capital mandate and instruments, UNCDF offers “last mile” finance models that unlock public and private resources, especially at the domestic level, to reduce poverty and support local economic development.

Local Finance Initiative (LFI) is one among several programmes being implemented by United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) in Tanzania and other countries with the aim of unlocking domestic capital markets to invest in local development. LFI supports commercially viable economic infrastructure projects with transformational impact in local communities. These projects are either sponsored/owned by private investor(s) or/and Local Government Authorities (LGAs) such as district and town councils, municipals, and cities.

Between 2019 and 2020, UNCDF under the Kigoma Joint Programme (KJP) supported the district councils of Kakonko, Kibondo and Kasulu in Kigoma region to establish crop aggregation centres. Specifically, UNCDF financed the construction of 1 aggregation centre in each of the 3 districts, and the formation of 3 agricultural marketing cooperatives (AMCOs) around the aggregation centres. The agricultural marketing cooperatives will be responsible for the day to day operations of the centres. It is expected that the AMCOs will enable small-holder farmers/members to attain improved crop prices through collective bargaining; improve their productivity through access to extension services; and enhances their competitiveness by reducing the transaction costs of off-takers who purchase in bulk from the centres.

UNCDF is seeking a consultant to support the operationalization of the 3 AMCOs, while providing on-the-job training to the various committees of the AMCOs. The consultancy will be based on the scope of work outlined below.

Duties and Responsibilities

To ensure effective operationalization and functioning of the AMCOs, UNCDF is seeking a consultant who will provide the following services:

Scope of Work

Working under the direct supervision of the UNCDF technical team in Tanzania, and in collaboration with the cooperative’s officers of the respective LGAs, the Consultant will be required to provide the following services:

Developing a procedure manual that covers the following areas:
Post -harvest technology, safe near-farm cereal storage and handling to aggregation centres
Procedures for testing of grain, cereals and other applicable products before storage i.e. threshing and testing to ensure quality and avoids waste
Access to agriculture inputs, collective borrowing, individual credit i.e. guarantee mechanisms for member owned AMCOS-SACCOS, microfinance and commercial bank borrowing
Collective marketing policies and procedures, price bargaining, warehouse receipt management etc
Accounting and financial procedure depending on the specific needs of each AMCOS. An accounting manual contains pertinent accounting rules and other information for a business or organization. It is a manual that is internally developed and contains information specific to the organization for which it was developed.
Developing all key operational documents. These documents include invoices, receipt books, membership and store ledgers, store receiving and issuing/delivery books and stocks movement report books.
Developing and putting into operation, a simple and effective book-keeping/accounting system and an inventory management system.
Training AMCOs on the procedure manuals.
Training AMCOs on keeping detailed, accurate and up to date financial records and inventory records.
Training AMCOs on preparation of annual operational plans and implementation of the workplans.
Working with UNCDF’s partners under the KJP to identify potential buyers, inputs suppliers and financial services providers and linking the members to the buyers and suppliers.
Training members on negotiating skills for engaging and entering into contracts with buyers, inputs suppliers and financial services providers.
Training members on management of contracts and ensuring members adhere to the requirements stipulated in contracts.
Where applicable, the consultant will be required to liaise with AMCOs management and UNCDF on acquisition of the basic operational equipment for the aggregation centres such as weighing scales, pallets, moisture meters, fire extinguishers, and more.

Deliverables

Procedure manual covering areas listed under item 1 under scope of services
Templates for key operational documents which include the annual operational plans, invoices, receipt books, membership and store ledgers, store receiving and issuing/delivery books.
Detailed write-ups/guidelines for the book-keeping/accounting system and the inventory management system.
A template for financial records containing income from membership fees and other sources, and expenses related to AMCOs operations.
A template for inventory/stock movement showing quantity of stock at the beginning of a month, any purchases/sales, and at the quantity of stock at the end of the month. The inventory records should also classify the stock based on type of crop and total weight.
A training programme for the AMCOs members covering items 3-9 under scope of services.
Training report with respect to the approved training programme.
Final report at the end of the assignment documenting lessons learnt, challenges, and recommendation for improvement.

Compensation

Payments will be made to the consultant based on deliverables/output as per the payment terms described below, and after submission of invoices to UNCDF. All outputs shall be subject to written final acceptance by the Chief Technical Advisor of UNCDF and subsequent authorization to disburse the payment.

Payment Terms

Milestone 1 (20%): Final workplan and training programme (indicated as deliverable 6 above), to be submitted within 30 days of signing the contract;

Milestone 2 (30%): Procedure manual (referred to as deliverable 1), write-ups/guidelines and templates (deliverables 2-5), to be submitted within 3 months from contract signing;

MIlestone 3 (40%): Presentation to UNCDF on the implementation by AMCOs of (i) annual operating plans, (ii) book-keeping/accounting system, and the inventory management system; (iii) and training report (deliverable 7), due within 9 months from contract signing.

Milestone 4 (10%): Fina report (deliverable 8), due within 12 months from contrat signing

Payments will be subject to review, acceptance/approval of deliverables by UNCDF.

Travel

The Consultant will be required to travel to Kasulu, Kibondo and Kakonko districts in Kigoma. The maximum number of travel days for this assignment shall not exceed 108 days. The applicant will have to provide estimates for travel costs as part of the financial proposal.

The travel costs associated with the assignment will be paid by UNCDF based on UNDP/UNCDF rules and regulations which states that consultants shall only be paid the most direct and most economical ticket, as will be quoted by the official UN travel agency. Any amount in excess of the said quotation, such as class and airline preference of the consultant, shall be borne by the consultant. Lodging and terminal expenses shall not exceed those allowed within UNCDF policy.

Competencies

Functional and technical competencies include:

Project management and planning skills
Communication, consultation and presentation skills (including ability to manage social development dialogue processes)
Team management skills
Demonstrated knowledge of research and analytical capacity
Rural development and finance experience

Required Skills and Experience

Education (Mandatory):

Bachelor’s Degree in Cooperatives Management/development, Community Development Commerce, Business Administration, Rural financing, Entrepreneurship, Agriculture, Agribusiness, Agriculture Economics or any relevant field.

Experience:

Demonstrated experience of at least 5 years in providing organizational capacity development for small-holder farmer organizations e.g. developing guidelines, providing capacity building, financial management and advisory service etc. (mandatory).
Experience working with small-holder farmer organizations in addressing access to finance and access to markets/providing market linkages.
Specific experience over the past 5 years in establishing small-holder farmer organizations including AMCOs and SACCOS in Tanzania (mandatory).
Experience working with development partners in delivering similar assignments to the one being advertised