1. Background

Heifer International Nepal is actively implementing different programs and projects aiming with its mission of ending hunger and poverty while caring for earth since 1997. Its primary focus is on livelihoods improvement of smallholder farmers through agriculture and livestock sectoral interventions, women’s economic empowerment, social capital development and community self-reliance. Since 2020, Heifer has been partnering with more than 90 local governments to support on their agriculture and livestock sectoral growth objective, extend effective service delivery to their farmers, help local governments to prepare effective plan, policy and mechanisms to respond needs and opportunities, whereas closely working with Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, Department of Livestock Services, Nepal Agriculture Research Council, Nepal Dairy Development Board, private sectors and other stakeholders to contribute on national and local priorities.

In 2015, Nepal adopted new federal governance structure of three tire governments i.e. federal government, provincial governments and local governments (LGs). Defined by Constitution of Nepal 2015 and The Local Government Operation Act 2017 (LGOA), the agriculture sector is under the concurrent responsibility of all three levels of government, but the LGs have sole jurisdiction and responsibility for agricultural extension which broadly aims to shape the future of local agriculture and food system including input supply, production, processing and marketing. Unfortunately, majority of the local governments are failing behind to understand the local food system, extent of resilience to different external shocks including climate change and disaster, opportunities and obstacles to develop the resilient resiliency agricultural systems. Therefore, HPIN is planning to conduct a rapid assessment on current food system at Heifer’s project areas and recommend potential strategies for developing resilient food system, both from needs and opportunities perspectives. HPIN is seeking qualified consultant to undertake the study. The consultant is supposed to undertake, but not limited to the following broad scope of works:

1. Objectives 

This study will focus on assessing the current practices on production systems, state of local food value chain, and socio-economic and environmental factors as determinants of the resilient food systems at national, sub-national and local level. The study report will guide the smallholder farmers, government, development partners and other stakeholders to understand their food system, identify enablers or obstacles for food security for better livelihoods and suggest implementation strategies to transform the existing food system into more sustainable and resilient food system.

1. Scope of Work

The scope of this assignment is to carry out rapid assessment of representative projects, project participants and stakeholders including government, community, SMEs and private sector involved along the food value chain including production, processing, distribution, marketing and consumption. The consultants are expected to collect information on different determinants of resilient food system at local level and the current priorities by government at National and sub-national levels. The consultants shall assess the current capacity needs of the community, local governments and chain actors for food system transformation. Also, the study should include current policies, programs and projects from Government and Non-Government organization that focusses on resilient food systems. Importantly, the consultant shall provide recommendations for government, farming communities, private sector and development partners to consider while designing and implementing programs, policies, and interventions.

1. Methodology

The winning consultant and Heifer shall further work to refine the detailed process, approach and framework however the consultant(s) shall follow the extensive consultation with political and administrative leadership of the local governments and allied stakeholders to capture relevant information (qualitative and quantitative) in explain the local food system strengths, gaps, opportunities and challenges. As outlined in scope of this assignment, the consultant(s) shall follow, not limited to, following steps and actions.

• Submit technical and financial proposal to Heifer
• Consultation meetings with Heifer, project partner and respective Palikas,
• Review of existing literature, materials and reports.
• Develop and deploy study tools (questionnaire/checklist) for collection required data through FGD and KII with actors, enablers and stakeholders of the food system.
• Analysis of data collected through different methods and prepare draft report.
• Share draft report with Heifer and key stakeholders for inputs
• Incorporate the comments and inputs from Heifer and update the report.
• Facilitate a half-day report socialization workshop with Heifer team and representative stakeholders.

1. Key Deliverables

Under the stated scope of work and outlined objectives, the consultant shall fulfill following deliverables:

• An inception report with detailed robust methodology and outline of report,
• Draft report with major results for inputs and feedback
• Result sharing (socialization) workshop with project staffs and key stakeholders
• A summary report (2 pager) in English and Nepali language
• Detail final report (in English) with sufficient evidence and concrete recommendation.

1. Duration of assignment

The total expected duration of the assignment should not be more than 30 days which shall include preparatory work, field visits, report preparation, presentation and the deliverables. The assignment will be effective from the day of signing the contract.

1. Eligibility of consultant

The study will be led by expert consultant(s) with minimum 10 years of relevant professional experience in food system strengthening research and development. The consultant(s)/firm should have following composition, qualifications and expertise:

1. Team Leader: The Team Leader must have master’s degree in agricultural science or related field with minimum 10 years of experience in agri/food system research and development. S/he should have proven track records of conducting similar studies for government or non-government organization.
2. Team Composition: The team members should have minimum 7 years of relevant professional experience. The team should include experts with knowledge and experiences on crop agriculture system, livestock system, Climate change and other sectoral thematic focus. The team should be inclusive from GESI perspective.

1. The consultant(s)/consulting firm must have a good command of writing and speaking in English.

1. Institutional arrangement and Reporting

The consultant(s) shall work closely with Heifer’s country and regional office team and project partners however shall report to the Heifer’s designated personnel (point person) for day-to-day activities and every deadline via email on the progress of the work, any challenges being encountered, or risks foreseen, proposed, or taken mitigation measures, and where project support may be required. The firm/consultant will hand over all primary data and the report provided to project at the end of the service.

1. Budget and payment schedule

The consultant should propose all costs covering consultants’ fees including food and accommodation and transportation expenses during field work, and other recurrent expenses occur during the assignment. All applicable taxes will be deducted at source. It will be the Firm’s/consultant’s responsibility to ensure consultant’ insurance coverage during the assignment period.

1. How to apply

The interested and qualified consultant(s)/consulting firm are invited to apply for this assignment through submitting the technical and financial proposal and other required documents as indicated below.

• Technical proposal shall include a brief description of the overall design, methodology of the study, sample size, tool, work plan timeline etc. The technical proposal shouldn’t be more than 5 pages (main pages).
• Financial offer detailing the proposed budget for the study. It should state the fees per working day including applicable Tax/VAT, the number of working days proposed, food and accommodation, travel, insurance and any other costs.
• CVs of team leader and team members highlighting similar assignments in the past, at least one sample reports of a similar study conducted by organization/team leader.
• Organization profile,
• Firm Registration certificate
• VAT Registration certificate
• Tax Clearance Certificate FY 079/80

The consultant/firm may submit applications via email to procurement-NP@heifer.org by 10 December 2024, 5:00 PM with the subject line mentioning “Proposal for food system study and recommendation”.

Applications received with incomplete documents and after the due date will be disqualified. Only shortlisted applicants will be contacted for further evaluation process. HPIN reserves all the rights to reject any or all applications without providing any reasons.