Call for Applicants: Consortia partner for the implementation of Agricultural Empowerment Program for Young Women in Rwanda.

1. Introduction: SNV Netherlands Development Organization is seeking proposals from qualified African organizations to implement a comprehensive five-year program aimed at creating job opportunities for young women in agriculture within four districts of Rwanda.

2. Background: SNV is committed to supporting the creation of 40,000 dignified and fulfilling work opportunities, primarily for young women, in agriculture across ten districts of Rwanda. The selected organization or firm will join a wider consortia and play a pivotal role in achieving this goal by implementing a targeted program in four districts, focusing on skill development, employment generation, and inclusive programming.

3. Objectives:

• Create 12,000 sustainable job opportunities for young women in horticulture and poultry within four districts of Rwanda.
• Provide on-farm training for farmers, with a focus on regenerative and sustainable agricultural practices.
• Implement training of trainers projects to build the capacity of local facilitators in delivering effective agricultural training.
• Ensure inclusivity by targeting youth, women, and people living with disabilities in all aspects of the program.
• Coordinate with government agencies and support lobby and advocacy efforts at the district level.

4. Scope of Work:

• Conduct a comprehensive needs assessment to identify the specific requirements and challenges faced by young women in agriculture within the target districts and related available resources.
• Together with the rest of the consortia, develop and implement a detailed program strategy, including training schedules, curriculum development, and monitoring mechanisms.
• Provide on-farm training sessions tailored to the needs of young women, covering topics such as agronomy, agribusiness, and value chain development.
• Facilitate a training of trainers programs to enhance the capacity of extension workers and facilitators in delivering high-quality agricultural training.
• Design and implement inclusive programming strategies to ensure the participation and empowerment of youth, women, and people living with disabilities throughout the program.
• Monitor and evaluate the progress of the program regularly, using both quantitative and qualitative indicators, providing regular data using digital data collection tools, and make necessary adjustments to ensure its effectiveness and impact.
• Provide comprehensive financial management and quarterly reporting, demonstrating transparent and accountable management of project funds.
• Participate in all consortia meetings, providing ideas and feedback for partner organizations and constructively contributing to overall project management.

5. Qualifications and Experience: The selected organization must demonstrate:

• Legal registration with the relevant authorities in Rwanda to receive funds and implement development projects.
• Proven experience in implementing large-scale (>500,000 USD) agricultural development projects, particularly those focused on youth and women empowerment.
• Experience with partnerships and collaborations with Government authorities, donors, local organizations, especially in women empowerment and youth employability in agriculture sectors.
• Expertise in providing on-farm training and capacity building initiatives for farmers, including experience in training of trainers projects.
• Inclusive programming experience, with a track record of engaging and empowering marginalized groups such as youth, women, and people living with disabilities.
• Financial capacity to manage and implement multi-year, multi-district projects effectively.

7. Proposal Submission: Organizations interested in applying are requested to submit their applications along with the documentation below that demonstrates their qualifications and experience:

• Company profile
• Legal registration in the country
• Evidence of tax payments in the last 2 years
• Annual reports for the past three (3) years, including financial statements.
• Organizational chart and CVs of key staff.
• Track record of project implementation for the past five (5) years, following the table in Annex 1

8. Timeline:

• Proposal Submission Deadline: July 15, 2024
• Selection of Organization: August, 2024
• Program Commencement: TBD in 2024
• Duration: 42 months

9. Contact Information:

• For inquiries and proposal submissions, please contact: rwanda@snv.org
• Interested applicants should send their application file to SNV Rwanda Office Country Director via rwandaprocurement@snv.org by the closing date of 5:00pm (Kigali time), Monday 15^th July 2024.

Note: SNV reserves the right to accept or reject any proposal and is not bound to select the lowest-priced proposal. All submissions should be in accordance with the terms outlined in this document.

SNV encourages youth-led and women-led organizations to apply.

10. ETHICAL AND BUSINESS CONDUCT REQUIREMENTS

SNV is committed to integrity in procurement, and only selects suppliers based on objective business criteria such as price and technical merit.

SNV does not tolerate fraud, collusion among offerors, falsified proposals/bids, bribery, or kickbacks. Any firm or individual violating these standards will be disqualified from this procurement, barred from future procurement opportunities, and may be reported to both the Office of the Inspector General.

Employees and agents of SNV are strictly prohibited from asking for or accepting any money, fee, commission, credit, gift, gratuity, object of value or compensation from current or potential vendors or suppliers in exchange for or as a reward for business. Employees and agents engaging in this conduct are subject to termination and will be reported to the Office of the Inspector General. In addition, SNV will inform the Office of the Inspector General of any supplier offers of money, fee, commission, credit, gift, gratuity, object of value, or compensation to obtain business.

Offerors responding to this ToR must include the following as part of the proposal submission:

• Disclose any close, familial, or financial relationships with SNV or project staff. For example, if an offeror’s cousin is employed by the project, the offeror must state this.
• Disclose any family or financial relationship with other offerors submitting proposals. For example, if the offeror’s father owns a company that is submitting another proposal, the offeror must state this.
• Certify that the prices in the offer have been arrived at independently, without any consultation, communication, or agreement with any other offeror or competitor for the purpose of restricting competition.
• Certify that all information in the proposal and all supporting documentation are authentic and accurate.
• Certify understanding and agreement to SNV’ prohibitions against fraud, bribery and kickbacks.

11. Vetting

SNV carries out rigorous background and reference checks concerning possible safeguarding incidents for all candidates applying for International determined positions. As SNV participates in the Inter-Agency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme, all reference checks include a request to past employers to fill in a questionnaire regarding Misconduct (sexual exploitation, sexual abuse, or sexual harassment), the “Statement of Conduct". This Statement of Conduct adopts the definitions used in the Scheme. 

12. Data Protection assurance

SNV will not retain your Personal Data for longer than is allowed by law or is necessary for the Purposes.

If you are selected and offered employment, the Personal Data you have provided will be used by SNV for the purpose of this bidding administration. If you are unsuccessful on this occasion to secure tender with SNV, SNV will retain your Personal Data for required period for the purpose of any future internal or external audit.

Annex 1. Track record