BACKGROUND INFORMATION
ARCS Culture Solidali
ARCS is an international non-profit organization founded in Rome in 1985 by Arci, one of the most important national networks of the Italian Third Sector. ARCS mission is that of promoting processes of social change, of education to global citizenship, to peace and intercultural and intergenerational dialogue, and of strengthening democratic ownership. ARCS builds national and international partnerships based on equal dignity and respect for diversity and differences. ARCS has been engaged in the Middle East for over twenty years, with projects aimed at improving access to work and support to local communities, refugees, and displaced persons, in emergency and development contexts. In Jordan, ARCS has been active since 2011 implementing emergency and development programs mainly in the protection and livelihood sectors.
Project Description
The project BORO’OM: “Formal employment opportunities and entrepreneurship development in the governorates of Mafraq and Aqaba” implemented by the Italian NGOs AVSI and ARCS aims to enhance the resilience of the local population by supporting access to sustainable income opportunities in the Governorates of Aqaba and Mafraq.
In this phase, the project has the below specific objective:
In particular, the project has two specific objectives:
S.O 1: Foster access to quick livelihood opportunities and opportunities of formal employment through the promotion of an inclusive labor market in line with the standards of protection and decent work.
S.O.2: Support the creation and the strengthening of entrepreneurial and self-employment activities responding to the specific needs of the local market, encouraging durable environmental and economic sustainability.
SCOPE OF WORK
Overall objective
The overall objective of market linkage solutions to enable entrepreneurs to connect with other actors in the agricultural and food value chain, including buyers, sellers and service providers will aim to support the achievement of Specific Objective 2 (Support the creation and the strengthening of entrepreneurial and self-employment activities responding to the specific needs of the local market, encouraging durable environmental and economic sustainability). The proposed activity fosters market linkage services to enable small producers to access new markets, increase sales and expand their trade networks: the role of the service supplier positively impacts the work of supported enterprises as it enables their sustainable growth and, potentially, job creation.
In addition, the service supplier will offer end-to-end commercial services covering every aspect of the business process from procurement to delivery and tests the quality of products to ensure that they meet the quality and safety standards required for the target markets.
Within the proposed initiative, the service supplier’s role is to form partnership agreements with project MSMEs to connect them with local and global markets by purchasing,guiding MSMEs in packaging, storing, and delivering their products.
The partnership agreements between the service supplier and the MSMEs will be structured by providing:
- For the producer, quantity to be produced, product specifications, production period, price per kilo and a penalty for breach of contract. The penalty is envisaged to guarantee the manufacturer’s commitment in the delivery of the goods in the agreed manner and timeframe but is quantified taking into account the principle of do not harm. The service supplier, in fact, is able to mitigate possible breaches of agreement by manufacturers by having a network of MSMEs.
- Lower transport costs as the service supplier takes care of the procurement of goods and their delivery
- Payment 30 days from delivery upon collection of the goods
- The service supplier (a profit non for profit company) generates its margin from the sale of production to market participants and, therefore, does not profit from the small business, paying it fairly
- Promotion of a culture of safe and decent work and prohibition of discrimination, forced labour and child labour
Target Group
Project staff will follow up with MSMEs that have signed agreements with the service supplier to evaluate the progress of the partnership and the multidimensional socio-economic impact on the enterprise.
The geographical area covered within the scope of work is the district of Jordan in the governorate of Mafraq.
The target group who will be participating in this activity is at least 60% of the MSMEs trained through the project activities, around 60 MSMEs. The selection of participants will be carried out by the ARCS in collaboration with the service supplier.
Methodology of the Collaboration
The service provider will conduct the activities foreseen in the targeted area in accordance with the criteria and information shared by ARCS through ad-hoc meetings.
The tasks will be conducted according to the following steps:
Phase 1: Market planning experts will be needed for the market study and the market planning for project beneficiaries (two experts 12 days/each)
Phase 2: Experts will negotiate off-take agreements for the national and international market (two experts 15 days/each)
Phase 3: A team of experts (1 expert for fresh products and 2 experts in processes food) will evaluate MSMEs production and advise on how to improve it in order to meet the market requirements and standards (36 days for the all team)
Phase 4: Market linkage through product placement and contract negotiations between the service supplier and the MSMEs owners and between the MSMEs owners and the retailers (one marketing coordinator for 12 days and one lawyer for 5 days)
START DATE AND PERIOD OF IMPLEMENTATION
The activities will happen within the project activities involving the MSMEs. It is estimated that Phase 1 will start in December 2024, after the project’s training activities.
REQUIREMENTS
Supplier requirements
- The supplier has to be a registered social enterprise: in its status, it has to state clearly that the company cannot distribute any profits obtained from the company’s business and any such profits shall be added to the company’s capital to be used for supporting their MSMEs network (for instance, offering agricultural services and/or equipment to MSMEs owners).
- The supplier needs to show a solid knowledge of the Jordanian and international markets.
- The company’s main mission is to promote local agricultural products through market linkages and production improvements with focus on income seasonality risk reduction to small and medium farmers by signing long-term contracts with them that guarantee stable income.
- It is requested that the supplier has a proven experience on cheaper and effective production methods, creation of cooperatives (clusters) to realise economies of scale and on training on best agricultural and product processing practices, to enable delivery to the market to the required standards, including through the attainment of valid certifications on national and international markets.
- Proven experience in linking businesses with local and global markets is requested.
- The supplier needs to show previous experience (2 years) with similar projects – working in livelihood and support to entrepreneurship with international NGOs.
- Good computer skills, in particular good command of Word, Excel and PowerPoint are required.
- Arabic mother tongue and good knowledge of English (spoken and written) are requested.
- Commitment and understanding of project objectives.
- Previous experience working in the area of intervention.
Personnel
Specialized personnel have a crucial role in implementing the contract. These terms of reference contain the profiles required for a successful implementation of the activity.
The tenderer shall submit CVs for the following personnel:
- 2 market planning experts
- 1 national market expert
- 1 international market expert
- Production team (1 expert for fresh products and 2 experts in processed food)
- 1 marketing coordinator
- 1 lawyer
Support staff
Support staff and expected costs for management and coordination must be included in the financial offer in detail.
Facilities
If any facilities need to be rented for the project activities, they have to be located in the target area, based on their proximity to the target communities and according to an appropriate cost-efficiency balance. All details need to be listed within the financial offer.
Equipment
All costs are detailed in the Financial Offer. No equipment is to be purchased on behalf of the contracting authority as part of this service contract or transferred to the contracting authority at the end of this contract. Any equipment or needed supplies related to this contract must be included in financial offer in detail.
Transportation
The anticipated transportation costs to the location must be included in the financial offer for this in detail.
CONDITIONS OF THE COLLABORATION
The service provider will work independently.
However, the service provider must ensure field visits to the project locations and weekly report on the analysis progress to ARCS Project Manager.
At the end of each phase, final training reports and evaluations must be submitted in English.
The documentation should include the following, based on the templates shared by ARCS:
- An evaluation of the activity’ effectiveness
- Report on participant individual development
- A copy all contracts signed
- Photo and video documentation, with a consent agreement from the participants.
How to apply
HOW TO APPLY
The service provider will submit a separate technical and financial offer.
The technical offer must clearly indicate:
- The company CV;
- CVs of the personnel dedicated to the initiative;
- Methodology of the collaboration.
The financial offer must indicate:
- Personnel cost
- Support staff cost (if any)
- Facilities rental (if any)
- Equipment (if any)
- Transportation (if any)
All costs are detailed in the Financial Offer in EURO. Applications using a different format for the financial proposal will not be considered.
Applications will be received no later than 30/06/2024 by email to arcs.jordan@gmail.com with “BOROOM_Market linkage” in the subject line.