Association Tubibe Amahoro (TA)  

Western province, Karongi District, Bwishyura sector

Website: https://ta>-rwanda.org

Email: sowpeace@gmail.com

Contact: KABANO Pierre Célestin, tel. 0788409736

TERMS OF REFERENCE TO RECRUIT A CONSULTANT TO TRAIN FARMERS ON VALUE CHAIN SKILLS

PROJECT: Improving Food Security and Boosting Farm Income for Women Smallholder Farmers in Rwanda-IFS Project.

1. Background to TUBIBE AMAHORO (TA)

Tubibe Amahoro Association (TA) is a community-based, a human rights promoter and community development led organization founded in 1995 right after the genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda by some of the survivors and human rights defenders. TA was granted the legal status through the Ministerial Order n^o 41/08.11 of 31/03/2011 found in official gazette (OG) n^o 33 of 15/08/2011^[1]. TA dreams to “Achieve a society of equity in which laws and human rights are respected by everyone” and, therefore, defining its mission as “To promote respect for human rights and integral socioeconomic progress of Rwandan population by emphasizing civic participation, access to justice, sustainable community livelihood and gender promotion.” Thus, based on that strategic orientation, TA basically strives for the fulfilment of the citizens’ rights in its all aspects [human dignity, civil rights, economic rights, justice, equality, positive peace and unity among Rwandans. 

Strategically, TA’s interventions articulate on four (4) mains pillars: (1) civil participation, consisting of influencing policies, and building capacities of the right holders to effectively participate to the fulfilment of their civil rights, influencing service providers to account…; (2) access to justice, comprising projects of raising awareness of the communities on policies, laws, rights…for them to claim for them where they are violated or unfulfilled; projects to provide assistance to rights violations victims especially the victims of GBV through psychosocial centres (IWACU Centre; RUHUKA Centre), trainings of families living

in domestic violence…and eventually, those providing legal aid services; (3) Environmental protection and Rural community development, comprising projects focusing on agroecology, projects working on climate change (environmental justice), and projects aimed at supporting local communities to engage in small projects generating income; and (4) gender promotion pillar, a programme consisting of sensitizations and campaigns aiming at raising awareness on gender equality, unpaid work redistribution, rethinking on our traditional cultural beliefs, habits and attitudes nurturing gendered inequalities. 

Tubibe Amahoro currently operates in 9 districts of Rwanda with respective local offices; those being Karongi [head office], Rutsiro, Ngororero, Burera, Nyanza, Gisagara, Nyamagabe, and Nyaruguru. TA works with around 1500 community volunteers Comprising Governance Focal Persons (GFPs), Paralegals, and Counsellors; all coordinated by personnel varying between 10 and 20 staff. 

To achieve its mission, TA has always worked with core support of its members and donors like Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA), ActionAid International-Rwanda (AAR), Ambassade de France in Rwanda (French Embassy), UNDP/Rwanda Governance Board (RGB), RCN-Justice et démocratie, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC)…In this respect; Tubibe Amahoro jointly with Actionaid-Rwanda gained a fund from the European Union (EU) to implement “Improving Food Security and Boosting Farm Income for Women Smallholder Farmers in Rwanda-IFS Project” or KUNGAHARA project. It is a three-year project (November 2023-October 2026) lining with TA’s 3^rd and 4^th Pillars (as described above), the AAR’s Country Strategy Paper (CSPII) aiming at strengthening resilient livelihoods and secure climate justice and which focuses on specific issues namely (i) Access to land, resilient livelihoods, and food security, (ii) Agro-ecology and sustainable environment and (iii) Access to markets and financial services.

One of the outcomes to achieve priority 2 is that women smallholder farmers are able to practice agroecology, increase productivity, advance value chain management and are linked to financial institutions for credit to expand their businesses. The main economic sector of this densely populated country is agriculture, an activity that engages 70% of the population with half practicing exclusively subsistence agriculture mostly in very small farms often on hillsides with limited terracing and low levels of irrigation. These small farms are very vulnerable to the effects of climate change, long droughts and unpredicted heavy rainfall that can have devastating impacts, destroy livelihoods, and threaten household food and nutritional security of whole communities. As in most countries of the world, Rwanda has also suffered from the consequences of the COVID -19 pandemic that exposed the fragility of the country to external shocks. Russia’s war in Ukraine has exacerbated these fragilities, particularly with regard to food, fuel and fertilizers, and it threatens a sharp rise of hunger levels and an increase in the number of severe food insecure households. In a move to contribute toward addressing the above needs and constraints, IFS/KUNGAHARA is designed to address three interrelated problems:

1. Low level of food production and farm income by women farmers and their cooperatives. 2. High levels of food insecurity and under-nutrition, particularly among children and women.
2. Increasing Inflation rates [13.88% (2022); 14.03% (2023)]^[2] which are partially due to Ukraine-Russia war; This invasion directly affected agricultural inputs supply (lack of fertilizers) and food supplies (lack of cereals, sunflower oil…).

In order to achieve this, Kungahara Project has planned to build capacities of 220 women farmers cooperatives working with IFS project in Nyaruguru, Gisagara, Nyanza, Musanze and Karongi Districts. This will help them to manage well their cooperatives to make them profitable and sustainable.

In this regard, TUBIBE AMAHORO would like to recruit a consultant to conduct the training on values chain skills to empower them to participate more effectively and profitably within the agricultural sector and for them to suitably achieve expected results of the project of which they are the direct target group.

1. Name of Consultancy Service: Consultant to facilitate the training women smallholder farmers on values chain skills.
2. Selection Method: Recruitment of Individual Consultant or firm

3. The purpose of the consultancy

The purpose of the consultancy is to build capacities of women smallholder farmers on values chain skills.

2. Activity Significance

Training farmers on value chain skills is a significant investment that can empower farmers, improve agricultural efficiency, contribute to a more sustainable and profitable food system and solve the issues of food insecurities.

This training on value chain skills to women’s cooperative framers will result in:

• Increased income through understanding the value chain allowing farmers to negotiate better prices for their produce, reduce waste, and potentially identify new markets.
• Improved decision-making by understanding the different stages of the value chain, farmers can make informed decisions about production practices, resource allocation, and marketing strategies.
• Access to new opportunities for farmers to explore new value-added opportunities like processing, packaging, or direct marketing, potentially increasing their income further.
• Enhanced market competitiveness by making this sector more competitive in domestic and international markets.
• Increased productivity and improved product quality through contributing to higher overall production and a more efficient food system as well as helping farmers to tailor their production methods to meet market demands, leading to higher quality products.

3. Objectives of the consultancy

These objectives can be further tailored to address the specific needs and challenges faced by Rwandan agriculture. The consultant can conduct a needs assessment prior to training to identify these specific areas of focus:

• Empower women farmers with the skills and knowledge to be leaders within their cooperatives and play a more prominent role in decision-making within the agricultural sector.
• Identify and address specific challenges faced by women in accessing different stages of the value chain (e.g., land ownership, access to credit, market access).
• Equip farmers with the knowledge and skills to increase their income by negotiating better prices for their produce, reducing post-harvest losses, identifying and accessing new markets and exploring value-added opportunities
• Improve agricultural productivity and efficiency through production methods, resource management and optimization and post-harvest handling and storage techniques.
• Promote sustainable agricultural practices while integrating different techniques that conserve soil health, minimize environmental impact and adapt to climate change.

4. TRAINING AND LEARNING TOUR TIME

The consultant will conduct 2-day training sessions on value chains skills through building capacities of 220 women champion farmers from 11 sectors in 5 Districts .

A one day per district learning tour on Value chains skills will be organized to visit URWIBUTSO Enterprises which is oriented towards agro-processing industry sector located at Nyirangarama in Rulindo District. This action will be a valuable tool for enhancing the knowledge, skills, and motivation of cooperative farmers in Rwanda.

The training and learning tours are planned per each district as follows:

5. Expected output

The activity outputs will include:

In general, 220 representatives from 110 women-led cooperatives will acquire and improve knowledge and skills on values chains such as cooperative management skills, marketing and negotiations, post-harvest handling skills.

Overall, the expected outputs highlight a significant knowledge gain and exposure to best practices for the participating farmers. The training will equip them with valuable skills, and the learning tour to URWIBUTSO Enterprise ltd will lead to a spark motivation and potentially lead to future collaborations as well as contributing to improved problem-solving skills and innovation among participants and also will lead to increased confidence among the farmers

6.Deliverables The expert company/firm will deliver the following specific activities or items:

• Farmers will gain a solid grasp of the different stages within their chosen value chain and how their role contributes to the overall process.
• Participants will be equipped to make informed decisions regarding production practices, resource allocation, and marketing strategies based on their understanding of the value chain.
• Improved post-harvest handling practices with the knowledge and skills to minimize post-harvest losses and maintain the quality of their products.
• Identified value-addition opportunities through processing, packaging, or branding, potentially increasing their income.
• A collaboratively developed action plan for the cooperative, outlining specific steps they will take to implement the skills and strategies learned during the training.
• Produce a Final Report at the completion of the assignment summarizing the training and learning tours activities, key findings from assessments, and recommendations for future programs.

7. Approach will be used

The qualified company/firm is deserved the full responsibility to develop appropriate Training Materials in Kinyarwanda. These materials should cover value chains and their stage, building Cooperative Strength, Women's Empowerment in Agriculture, negotiation skills, and financial literacy, post-harvest handling and storage, productions practices, Value addition, Time Management and Labor-Saving Technologies and best practices for Rwandan contexts. Consider incorporating visuals, diagrams, and real-life examples for better understanding.

Use a participatory approach that actively engages women farmers in the learning process. This could involve interactive sessions, group discussions, role-playing exercises, and hands-on demonstrations.

To Organize Field Visits to successful farms or enterprise which is oriented towards agroprocessing industry sector. This will allow participants to see these practices in action and interact with experienced industry workers. Encourage peer-to-peer learning and knowledge exchange.

 The training will be established in each one of the 11 sectors (in the 5 districts).

8. Period for training and learning tours

The training and the learning tour will be done in July 2024.

9. Technical and financial proposals

Detailed TECHNICAL and FINANCIAL proposals must be submitted in English in a PDF document.

The Technical Proposal should not exceed 5 pages and should demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the tasks set forth and the candidate’s capacity to perform the assignment.

The following information should be provided in the technical proposal:

• In-depth description of the candidate’s recent experience in a similar assignment.
• Description of the methodology proposed to reach the deliverables.
• Up-to-date C.V. (max. 4 pages) of the Consultant and eventually his/her technical team members.

The following information shall be disclosed as part of the technical proposal:

• Statement to certify that all the information provided in the candidate’s bid is, to the best of its knowledge, accurate and complete. Any misleading or false information may result in disqualification of the candidate at the sole discretion of TUBIBE AMAHORO.
• References
• List of previous contracts and their amounts and addresses of the contracting authority. TUBIBE AMAHORO has rights to verify the information provided by the bidder.

Administrative documents:

• TIN/VAT certificate;
• Company registration certificate; - Proof of EBM invoice.

N.B: Withholding tax of 15% will be considered if the consultant is not registered with RRA.

The financial proposal should be submitted in Rwf with sufficient details on the activity of training women farmers on value chains skills and its respective learning tours to facilitate cost analysis.

The financial proposal of the selected candidate will be reviewed during contract negotiations to determine the final contract price.

10. How to apply

Proposals must be addressed to TUBIBE AMAHORO organization not later than Wednesday, June 19^th,2024 at 5:00 pm; you should mention “Application to the consultancy of Training women’s cooperative farmers on Value chains skills under IFS/KUNGAHARA project” on the following email: sowpeace@gmail.com.

Duly submitted bids will be publicly opened two days after the deadline at 11:00 am. In case of enquiries, please don’t hesitate to contact us via email: sowpeace@gmail.com or a direct call to TA Program Manager: 0785830876. 

You are requested to adhere to the deadline, proposals submitted after the deadline will be automatically rejected and returned unopened to the bidder.

Done at Karongi, 06/06/2024.

Pierre Célestin KABANO

Executive Secretary of TUBIBE AMAHORO

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