Introduction

HarvestPlus improves nutrition and public health by developing and promoting biofortified food crops that are rich in vitamins and minerals and providing global leadership on biofortification evidence and technology. HarvestPlus works across CGIAR as part of the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).

HarvestPlus is interested to procure the services of vendors (NGOs) to work closely with government agencies and private sectors to improve nutrition, nutrition-related rights, and gender equality for the poorest and most marginalized, especially women, adolescent girls, and children under 5 years of age. This is a six-year project “Realizing Gender Equality, Attitudinal Change & Transformative Systems in Nutrition (REACTS-IN)” which is being implemented to improve zinc nutrition through adoption of biofortified zinc rice in the Thakurgaon district of Bangladesh. The project contract period will be from October 2024 to September 2025. Preference will be given to the vendors (NGOs) having experience in delivering and marketing of biofortified zinc rice/food.

Template to Propose Implementation Strategy

Activities	Unit	Deliverables	Quantity	Unit Rate (BDT)	Budget (BDT)	Implementation Strategy
Extension personnel training	Trainee	To increase the capacity of SAAOs on biofortified zinc rice and to disseminate the technology to the farmers, Sub-Assistant Agricultural Officers (SAAO)/ extension personnel will be trained. NARS scientists will train 35 Extension personnel in a batch. Venue including Multimedia Projector, Morning Snacks, Lunch, Banner, Stationaries, suitable venue, SBCC materials, event registers, Honorarium for participants & resource persons, Bags/premium item, Media, etc. should be ensured.	35
Agro dealer, seed dealer/ retailer training	Trainee	In each batch, 25 seed retailers will be sensitized on zinc rice benefits in human health and motivated to collect and sell zinc rice seed to local farmers. Venue including Multimedia Projector, Morning Snacks, Lunch, Banner, Stationaries, suitable venue, SBCC materials, event registers, Honorarium for participants & resource persons, Bags/premium item, high-definition photographs, Media, etc. should be ensured.	25
Contract with BRRI for EGS production	MT	The vendor (NGOs) will purchase early generation seeds (EGS/breeder seed) of biofortified zinc rice varieties from BRRI and distribute it to the community-based women owned seed producer groups who have the license from the ministry as producers & will be able to produce quality seeds.	0.5
Establish demonstration plots	Unit	Participatory block demonstrations will be established in at least one-acre continuous/clustered land. Inputs like seeds, fertilizers, signboards, , high-definition photographs crop cut & data collection must be ensured. Farmers themselves will use various necessary inputs and do proper crop management, harvesting, etc.	50
Training volunteers/ community extension facilitators (CEF)	Trainee	To increase the capacity of community extension facilitators (CEF) on the benefit of biofortified crops and inspire participants to cultivate effective communication skills with community people about zinc nutrition, 15 CEF will be trained in a batch. A NARs scientists will be the trainer, where suitable training venue including Multimedia Projector, Morning Snacks, Lunch, Banner, Stationary, SBCC materials, event register, Honorarium for Volunteers, Bags for Volunteers, Honorarium for Guest, Media, high-definition photographs etc. must be ensured.	15
Farmer leader training	Trainee	In each batch, 100 farmer leaders will be trained on production technology of biofortified crops. It is basically seed distribution program where farmers will receive seeds and be informed about the technology, so that they can also be able to train/disseminate the technology to other farmers. DC/DD(DAE)/UAO/UNO will be the resource speakers. Banner, variety brochure, flyer, snacks, honorarium (for trainers/guests, venue (suitable places with decoration, sound systems, stages), fill out event register, high-definition photographs, media coverage, etc. must be ensured.	4,000
Cascade down training and seed pass-on	Trainee	Lead farmers who have received biofortified zinc rice seeds and received production training in the previous year will each train at least 3 neighboring farmers and pass-on seeds at the rate of 4 kg from their produced zinc rice seeds. Vendor will ensure and document cascade down training and seed pass.	12,000
School sensitization program	Event	At least 100 secondary students in each event from different school will be sensitized on zinc nutrition and importance of biofortified crops. Banner, snacks, projector, media coverage, high-definition photographs must be ensured.	20
Field day	Event	Crop cut and field day event will be conducted in the presence of around 150 participants (farmers and guests like DAE personnel, seed dealers, retailers, local leaders, media personnel etc.) with proper arrangement. Please ensure snacks, honorarium for guests, media, stage decoration with sound systems, banner, high- definition photographs, fill out event register, crop cut, threshing, weighing etc.	20
Advocacy meeting	Event	A meeting comprising around 40 influential stakeholders (in each event) at district and sub-divisional levels will be held to discuss the scope of including bio-fortified crops in various programs and policies. Venue including Multimedia Projector, Morning Snacks, Lunch, Banner, Stationary, Honorarium for participants, premium item/Gift, media coverage, high- definition photographs, fill out event register, etc. must be ensured.	5
Value Chain Actors Meeting	Event	This meeting will be done to link among the 30 selected grain value chain actors, such as farmers leaders/CBO leaders, aggregators, rice millers/processors in each event. Venue including Multimedia Projector, Morning Snacks, Lunch, Banner, Stationary, Honorarium for participants, premium item/Gift, media coverage, high- definition photographs, fill out event register, etc. must be ensured.	5
SBCC material development & distribution	Unit	Develop IEC/SBCC materials and distribute/circulate. One pager 2,000 pcs, Training manual 200 pcs, Variety Brochure 10,000 pcs etc. The project may reduce or increase the number of items or include or exclude any item as required.	Lumpsum
Demand creation with loudspeaker announcement	Event	Using a horn speaker/video show, a core message must be disseminated in the target area. A rickshaw/easy bike will carry horn speakers for about 8 hours to reach at least about 10,000 people per day/event. The video will be shown in markets or places where there is a large gathering of people.	20
SMS messaging	Person	The nutritional message of biofortified crops will be disseminated to the target people in the project area through the leading telecommunications service provider in Bangladesh.	100,000
Procure BRRI dhan74	kg	The vendors will procure BRRI dhan74 seed from BADC and distribute the local farmers so that they can cultivate the variety in this Boro 2024-25 season.	6,400
Procure BRRI dhan84/BRRI dhan102	kg	The vendors will procure BRRIdhan84/BRRI dhan102 seed from BADC and distribute the local farmers so that they can cultivate the variety in this Boro 2024-25 season.	3,200
Procure BRRI dhan100	kg	The vendors will procure BRRI dhan100 seed from BADC and distribute the local farmers so that they can cultivate the variety in this Boro 2024-25 season.	6,400
Distribute free seed with procurement, transportation, etc.	Farmer	Ensure transportation and distribution of procured seeds to farmers.	4,000

Instructions to Apply

Kindly share:

• Cover letter
• Creative, cost-effective and complete work proposal describing the strategy against each of the activities (see above template)
• Comprehensive work plan and reasonable proposed time frame
• Summary table mentioning preferred working upazila
• Identification of possible challenges; include creative approaches to addressing them
• Expected breakdown of budget, cost-effectiveness and return on investment of proposed activities
• Roles and responsibilities of each team member shall be clearly defined, with one main contact person for HarvestPlus clearly defined in the proposal (address, email, cell number, current business, etc.)
• Organizational profile (not more than one page)
• Copy of legal documents (VAT certificate, TIN certificate, Social Welfare certificate, Trade license, etc.)

Please note:

• Incomplete, conditional tender and alternative offer shall not be considered
• All documents should be sent in PDF format and should be visibly clear
• HarvestPlus reserves the right to accept or reject any or all tenders partly or wholly without assigning any reason
• Any application after the deadline will be rejected
• Physical documents will not be accepted in the office

Kindly submit your application on the IFPRI website: https://phf.tbe.taleo.net/phf04/ats/careers/v2/viewRequisition?org=IFPRI&cws=50&rid=3505. In the event of any questions, kindly contact Sayed at a.muktadir@cgiar.org.

Preferred Qualifications

• Dedicated workforce (e.g. at least 1 project coordinator/officer & 10 volunteers to deploy in the working area)
• Capital to incur expense for activities in advance
• Experience with value chain actors, CBOs, SMEs, millers, women’s groups, etc.
• Experience in providing agricultural support to farmers
• Ability to work virtually
• Ability to write report in English
• Ability to organize events and trainings
• Objective to work in nutrition development
• Ability to complete the activities within a tight time frame
• Ability to submit reports monthly, quarterly, semi-annually, and/or annually as project requires