RFP-TOR Consultancy to Provide Leadership and Governance Training for Select Seed Companies Board of Directors in Tanzania, JULY 2024

1. About AECF (Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund)

AECF (Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund) is a leading non-profit development organization that supports innovative enterprises in the agribusiness and renewable energy sectors with the aim of reducing rural poverty, promoting resilient communities, and creating jobs.

We catalyze the private sector by surfacing and commercializing new ideas, business models, and technologies designed to increase agricultural productivity, improve farmer incomes, expand clean energy access, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and improve resilience to the effects of climate change. We finance high-risk businesses that struggle to access commercial funding; we are committed to working in frontier markets, fragile contexts, and high-risk economies where few mainstream financing institutions dare to go.

1. Programme Overview

Government of Sweden window of funding under the Seed for Impact Programme (SIP 2.0) funded by the Government of Sweden, seeks to address the challenges faced by smallholder farmers (SHFs) in accessing seeds of improved and high-yielding climate-resilient crop varieties. By providing catalytic funds to private seed enterprises through a grant coupled with technical assistance, this initiative aims to empower SHFs to increase agricultural production, mitigate the effects of adverse climate conditions, and promote the consumption of nutrient-dense foods.

In Tanzania, SHFs play a vital role in the country’s agricultural sector and food security. However, they often face limited access to high-quality seeds that are adapted to changing climatic conditions. This constraint hampers their ability to achieve sustainable productivity gains and adapt to the challenges posed by climate change. By focusing on improving seed access and availability, the Tanzania-specific window of funding aims to address these barriers and support SHFs in realizing their full agricultural potential.

The core objective of this funding initiative is twofold. Firstly, it aims to increase the availability of seeds of improved and high-yielding climate-resilient crop varieties specifically tailored to the agroecological conditions of Tanzania. This will be achieved through partnerships with private seed enterprises, which will receive catalytic funds in the form of grants. These funds will enable the enterprises to invest in product sourcing and development, production, and seed distribution of these climate-resilient crop varieties. Secondly, the initiative will provide technical assistance to the supported seed enterprises. This assistance will focus on enhancing their capacities in seed production, quality control, and distribution systems. By strengthening the operational and technical aspects of these enterprises, the initiative aims to ensure a sustainable supply of quality seeds to SHFs across Tanzania

To achieve the objectives of SIP 2.0, three funded seed companies were mandated to reconstitute their board membership to be more effective and efficient in providing strategic leadership to the enterprise. As a result, the entire board membership will be trained in leadership and governance to enhance their effectiveness by building clarity and understanding of their roles, responsibilities, and specific support for a sustainable growth of the seed business. They will be expected to gain a deeper understanding of the policies, procedures, and processes essential to a well-functioning board of directors.

1. Objectives

To train the board membership of contracted seed enterprises in Tanzania for effective and well-functioning strategic leadership. The training will take place in the Mbeya Region.

1. Scope of Work

The consultants will be responsible for the following tasks:

• Develop a pre-test survey to measure the knowledge of the Board members.
• Develop the training modules outlining clear topics to be covered during the training.
• The consultant will be expected to Conduct a one-day training of the Board of Directors on responsive and effective leadership and their governance role to support the achievement of the vision and mission of their respective companies.
• Capacity-build the Board of Directors on leadership, governance, management style, transparency, and accountability skills to enhance their provision of financial oversight, checks and balances and controls in their respective organizations.
• Strengthen the knowledge and skills of the board of directors to develop leadership and development plans for their respective organizations.
• Develop a post-test survey to measure the knowledge of the Board members.

1. Deliverables
2. Reporting

The consultants are expected to deliver the following:

• Training manual and materials used during the workshop, detailing the approach used, proceedings during the sessions and recommendation for future related assignments.
• A one-day training session in Mbeya, Tanzania with the Board of Directors of the contracted seed companies.
• A comprehensive workshop report on leadership and governance as well as feedback on the training effectiveness.

The consultant is expected to liaise regularly with AECF to report on progress, deal with any queries and highlight any challenges that threaten timelines. The AECF contact person will be Portfolio Officer, Seeds for Impact Programme.

1. Duration

The estimated duration for the consultancy is 3 weeks, starting from the contract signing date. The specific timeline for each deliverable will be agreed upon during the contract negotiation phase. All work is expected to be concluded by 30th August 2024 at the very latest.

1. Qualifications and Experience

Below are the qualification and academic requirements for the consulting firm:

• A consulting firm/individual should have over 10 years prior experience of capacity building strategic leadership of the Agribusiness SMEs in Africa as well facilitating training workshops.
• The lead consultant should have over 12 years facilitating training workshops for the board membership. In addition, an advanced degree in the field of strategic planning and management, social sciences, or closely related field will be an advantage.
• Demonstrable experience in developing high quality training manuals specifically for capacity building board members.
• Strong analytical skills and the ability to synthesize complex information into clear and actionable recommendations, especially financial management and reporting as well as governance.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English and Kiswahili, with the ability to make presentations effectively to diverse audiences.

1. Proposal Submission

Interested consultants should submit a comprehensive proposal that includes the following:

• Detailed understanding of the RFP.
• Technical approach and methodology for conducting due diligence.
• The technical and financial proposals will need to be submitted as separate documents.
• Proposed timeline, work plan, and deliverables.
• Updated curriculum vitae for the whole team
• Cost breakdown, including fees, expenses (accommodation for the participants, workshop cost, reimbursements, travel cost), and any other relevant costs (in USD)
• Examples of previous similar projects and client references.
• As per the evaluation criteria below

1. Pricing

The AECF is obliged by the Kenyan tax authorities to withhold taxes on service contract fees as well as ensure that 16% VAT, is charged where applicable. Applicants are advised to ensure that they have a clear understanding of their tax position regarding provisions of Tanzania tax legislation when developing their proposals.

1. Evaluation Criteria.

An evaluation committee will be formed by the AECF. All members will be bound by the same standards of confidentiality. The consultant (s) should ensure that they fully respond to all criteria to be comprehensively evaluated.

The AECF may request and receive clarification from any Consultant when evaluating a proposal. The evaluation committee may invite some or all the consultants to appear before the committee to clarify their proposals. In such an event, the evaluation committee may consider such clarifications in evaluating proposals.

In deciding the final selection of a qualified bidder, the technical quality of the proposal will be given a weighting of 80% based on the evaluation criteria. Only the financial proposal of those bidders who qualify technically will be opened. The financial proposal will be allocated a weighting of 20% and the proposals will be ranked in terms of total points scored. The following will be considered in the evaluation process.

NO.

CRITERIA FOR ASSESSMENT

Weighted Award

1. TECHNICAL PROPOSAL

80

1. An understanding of the terms of reference

Demonstrate understanding of the assignment and expected outcomes.

5

Demonstrate understanding programme’s specific requirements for leadership and governance training

10

1. Methodology and work plan that will deliver the best value on the assignment

Soundness and feasibility of the technical proposal that provide comprehensive leadership and governance training.

40

Realistic and well-structured training modules to be delivered, pre-and-post survey to provide clear feedback on the effectiveness of the workshop.

10

1. Qualification and Experience

Demonstrated experience in similar assignments, proof of previous workshops facilitated, and positive client references or testimonials. With at least 3 signed reference letters.

15

1. FINANCIAL PROPOSAL: Detailed showing level of effort of the team, Clarity, relevance, and reality to market value/ value for money of cost for the assignment (inclusive of any applicable tax, reimbursable, and travel where applicable).

20

Total Score

100