Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia

REQUEST FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST FOR CONSULTING SERVICES INTERNATIONAL FUND FOR AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPEMENT (IFAD) DAIRY MODERNISATION AND MARKET ACCESS (DIMMA) PROGRAMME

The Dairy Modernization and Market Access (DiMMA) Programme funded by The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) invites experienced local individuals to express interest for the following position:

 5 Field Facilitators (local individuals) for the following regions: 

1) Kakheti – 2 Fasilitators

2) Qvemo Qartli – 2 Fasilitators

3) Racha-Lechkhumi – 1 Fasilitator

The Field Facilitators (here and after “Consultant”) will provide services to The Dairy Modernization and Market Access (DiMMA) Programme (here and after “Project” or “DiMMA”), which  aims at rural economic development and poverty reduction by contributing to the modernization and emergence of a competitive, diversified, resilient and sustainable dairy industry in Georgia. 

DiMMA will be executed over a six-year period, starting in 2019. The total cost of the programme is about EUR 46.9 million. The implementation agency of the Project is the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia (MEPA) and coordinated at by the Project Management Unit at MEPA that is responsible for the execution of the IFAD-funded agricultural projects in Georgia.

The programme is implemented in the six contiguous regions of Imereti, Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti, Samtskhe-Javakheti, Kakheti, Qvemo Qartli and Racha Lechkhumi. DiMMA’s benefits will reach three categories of value chain actors comprising; (i) smallholder dairy producers, both the progressive and the market vulnerable ones; (ii) farm level service providers (FLSPs), providing specialized services and inputs to dairy producers; and (iii) dairy aggregators, who will develop market linkages with the dairy producers. Non-commercial rural households will also benefit from pilot non-extractive livelihood projects that support pasture regeneration and employment in small enterprises supported by the programme. Within each of these categories, DiMMA will have special focus on the inclusion of women and youth. 

DiMMA has two principal and inter-related technical components: (i) Dairy value chains (VC) Development and (ii) Institutional and Organisational Development. Dairy VC component will target the development of dairy VC innovations and capacities of VC actors, for the improvement in milk production, milk safety, marketing and profitability of target households. Dairy aggregators will be assisted to expand the outreach of their milk collection and dairy product supply chains to the programme communities. Profitable linkages between the aggregators (including processors) and target households will be initiated based on the Public-Private-Producers Partnership (4P) approach. Institutional and Organizational Development component will address localized challenges, which constrain production and marketing brought about by weak institutions and will promote dialogue between dairy sector stakeholders and their engagement in policy dialogue. To mobilize the community, the programme will use a cluster development approach, whereby a number of dairy clusters will be identified in the 6 target regions as economic and geographic entities which include a production basin, milk collection centres, as well as up- and downstream VC actors to which the producers and processors from the basin are connected. Farmer Organizations (FOs) will be supported with emphasis on strengthening the Pasture User Associations (PUAs).

DiMMA aims to increase the income of at least 6,740 smallholder households. Of these, 4,220 will be linked to dairy value chains (VC) through partnerships with aggregators ; 370 will be employed in new jobs in small enterprises in the programme area; 250 youth will start non-extractive livelihood activities that promote pasture regeneration and 1,900 will benefit from improved productivity of pastures. In addition, DiMMA will support the development of 117 small enterprises (75 aggregators as well as 42 farm level service providers FLSPs) creating the capacity to process 240 tons of milk per day in the programme area; bring a total of 9,500 ha of land under climate resilient management and improve the access to pastures by supporting the rehabilitation of 300 kilometres of roads.

The Field Facilitators will work under the direct supervision of the DiMMA Regional Coordinators (one Coordinator per region) and will act as the extended arm of DiMMA Project Management Unit staff in the field. He/she will provide day-to-day follow up at local/municipality level, coordinate demonstration sites to be established with Progressive Dairy Producers, assist Market Vulnerable Dairy Producers and non-commercial households in developing, finetuning and implementing their business plans for investments eligible to seed capital financing, and facilitate the development of local dairy initiative platforms.

He/she will work in close cooperation with the DiMMA’s Livestock Specialist and the Capacity Building Service Providers (CBSPs) that will be hired by the Project for target municipalities of coverage regions. The Consultant will also liaise with other Field Facilitators operating in his/her cluster, and coordinate his/her actions with local authorities, including the Agricultural and Rural development Agency (ARDA) that will be in charge of the management of DiMMA’s Dairy Value Chain Development Facility (DVCF).

Scope of Services of each Field Facilitator:

• Ensure mobilization and targeting of potential beneficiaries in line with the programme’s targeting strategy;

• Establishing and keeping regular working connection with the representatives of local office of ARDA;

• Establishing and keeping regular working connection with the local municipality authorities;

• Contributing to the selection/information of beneficiaries of MVDP grants and Progressive Dairy Farmers (PDPs) demonstrations sites;

• Ensure organization and follow up of demonstration sites at PDP level in close collaboration with CBSPs;

• Supporting the development of simplified Business Plans (BPs) of MVDPs and Non Commercial Households in accordance with ARDA BP formats;

• Training and Coaching of MVDPs in close collaboration with CBSPs;

• Ensure organization of field days and exchange visits in close collaboration with CBSPs;

• Monitoring and backstopping of implementation of the business plans of MVDPs and Non Commercial Households;

• Facilitating the formation/initial operation of Value Chain (VC) cluster platform;

• Identifying the dynamic representatives of local stakeholders who will facilitate the operation of these dairy platforms and continue platform member mobilisation and outreach efforts on a voluntary basis;

• Identifying existing groups of pasture users; promoting their development as Pasture User Associations (PUAs) in close collaboration with the     Pasture NGO to be hired by the programme;

• Preparation of necessary reports as required by the hierarchy; 

• Performing any other project related tasks assigned by the DiMMA Project Director.

Duration, location and employment conditions 

The Field Facilitators will perform the assignment based on a contract concluded with him/her by the MEPA. The duration of the assignment will be 1 year renewable based upon a satisfactory performance. 

The assignment is full time job, 5 days per week, with frequent travels in the selected municipalities within the region.
The expected starting date is October 2020.

Working Modalities

The Field Facilitator will report directly to DiMMA’s Regional Coordinator in his/her region of work. 

The duty location for this assignment is the municipality itself (exact city location to be discussed and confirmed). 

Required Qualification and Experience of Field Facilitator

• Minimum BSc Degree in Rural Development Science, Agricultural Economics, Business Administration or other relevant discipline related to           coordination of rural development projects;

• Minimum 3 years of working experience in the field or rural development, agribusiness, smallholder agriculture;

• Particular experience in the selected region is an asset;

• Particular experience in the dairy sector is an asset;  

• Proven ability to work with local communities and governmental organizations; 

• Sound knowledge of project management principles;

• Ability to gather and report information in a simple form;

• Responsible and flexible attitude and demonstrated ability to work with minimum supervision;

• Demonstrated strong passion for assisting clients in building profitable and sustainable businesses that benefit the rural poor;

• Excellent oral & written presentation skills;

• Knowledge of Russian Language (in case of Qvemo Qartli municipalities) is a must;

• Knowledge of English language will be a plus;

• Good knowledge of computer (MS Office, Internet, familiarity with the relevant project management software);  

• Willingness to travel extensively to the field and work closely with the value chain actors; 

• Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to form and maintain cooperative working relationships with colleagues and stakeholders.

Interested individuals must provide information on which region/s they are interested to work that shall be cleared specified in the expression of interest. Interested individuals must provide information verifying that they are qualified to perform the services and meet minimum required experience criteria above. Submitted information shall include: (i) Cover Letter that must include information on which Region/s Consultant would like to work; (ii) CV of the candidate, including description of similar assignments conducted; (iii) Copies of diplomas, certificates and letters recommendations. Expressions of interest with indication of (hard or electronic copies) must be delivered to the address or e-mail below not later than September 7, 2020, 12:00.

The Consultants will be selected based on the “Selection of Individual Consultants” procurement method using IFAD Procurement Guidelines (adopted by the Executive Board of IFAD in September 2010). 

Interested individuals may obtain detailed information on the assignment at the e-mail address below. 

INTERNATIONAL FUND FOR AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPEMENT (IFAD)

The Dairy Modernization and Market Access (DiMMA) Programme 
Address: 6 Marshal Gelovani Ave., Tbilisi 0159, Georgia, 2nd building, 1st floor.
E-mail: yana.samkharadze@mepa.gov.ge  
Cc: Ketevan.Sharabidze@mepa.gov.ge