Facilitate & Supporting Cassava seed multipliers platform
Spark develops higher education and entrepreneurship to empower young, ambitious people to lead their fragile and conflict-affected societies into prosperity. SPARK is a dynamic and growing, international not-for-profit development organisation with 80+ staff members, in more than 14 offices around the world. SPARK supports refugees in the Middle-East by providing them with scholarships in universities and higher education institutions in the region. SPARK also supports young entrepreneurs in fragile states, to start or grow their own businesses.

Terms Of Reference (Tor)
Cass Sustainability And Cassava Seed System Enhancement: Facilitate & Supporting Cassava seed multipliers platform
Position: Freelance consultancy service Provider
Location: Rwanda
Application Deadline: March, 11th , 2022
Duration: 15 Working days
Start Date: March 15th , 2022

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Background:
SPARK offers access to higher education and supports entrepreneurship development in fragile states so that young, ambitious people can lead their societies into stability and prosperity. SPARK offers a variety of business and entrepreneurship programs around the world (over 15 countries) since 1994. By offering private-sector development services and enabling the local environment to provide existing SME's and new entrepreneurs with all the tools they need to flourish, sustainable, economic growth which essential for the alleviation of poverty can be achieved. SPARK has on-going programs in Rwanda and Burundi that offer direct and indirect leverage and co-funding.
Under the leadership of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), SPARK Rwanda in collaboration Wageningen University (WUR), Rwanda Agriculture and Animal Resource Development Board (RAB) and the Institute des Sciences Agronomiques du Burundi (ISABU) are implementing Cassava Agribusiness Seed Systems (CASS) Project in Rwanda and Burundi. This project started in April 2019 for a period of 36 months.

SPARK is leading the development and testing of different cassava agribusiness seed system (CASS) models (such as farm- firm-facilitation, cooperative and private business models) in Burundi and Rwanda and ensure its effective monitoring and evaluation along the projects' Impact Pathway. Also it leads the capacity strengthening through training and proximity coaching of the farmers, cooperatives, and private partners involved in a gender and youth sensitive way.
Finally, the project will focus on understanding and addressing the constraints and opportunities at farmer and institutional levels that will influence whether or not the cassava seed system agribusiness models can go to scale. These are often higher-level bottlenecks that require implementation of policy or strategy solutions in order for the project to have a wider impact.

Research objectives (including alignment to the aim and objectives of the call)
1. To diversify the availability of cassava varieties with strong resistance/tolerance to CBSD and CMD that meet farmer and commercial end-user preferences. Aligns with call's aim to respond to end-use preferences of improved varieties to improve quality seed adoption by farmers.
2. To develop, test and tailor different types of CASS models with and for different groups of farmers. Aligns with call's aims to (i) develop innovative business models for seed value chain actors which are economically, environmentally and socially sustainable while technically sound, (ii) understand existing factors at farm level that trigger improved adoption of quality cassava seed.
3. To understand and respond to constraints and opportunities at farmer and institutional levels for up scaling CASS models in collaboration with different cassava value chain actors. Aligns with call's aim to understand existing factors at institutional level that would trigger improved adoption of quality cassava seed.
SPARK seeks an Individual Consultant to provide freelance consultancy services while supporting and facilitating the initiated cassava seed platform (Platform of cassava seed entrepreneurs).
These are from three different models namely processor led, private company led and community led that are envisaged to drive seed adaptation, through the business cases and key business players and actors within CASS project intervention districts.
Time schedule of an assignment
The said assignment will be taking place from 15th to 30th March 2022.

Expected outputs/deliverables:
• The consultant will be responsible for providing supporting services and accompaniment of initiated cassava seed platform through legally registration and on implementation planning (Strategic plan design elaboration) and sustainability enhancement.

Key deliverable
1. Supporting on cassava seed multipliers inventory for ensuring seed multipliers’ database;
2. Facilitate and support seed multipliers on platform registration process and accompaniment;
• Design an awareness and feasibility plan of the seed platform initiated;
• Design and elaborate a Strategic plan and action plan for the seed platform, ans build capacity of platform members;
• Provide future recommendations to contracting authority to ensure monitor and track the outcomes of an assignment.
Proposal Evaluation
The training material must clearly outline the chapters of action, methodology, tools and duration of each action. The financial proposal/invoice proforma can be submitted in Rwanda Francs.
Evaluation Criteria
Technical Evaluation % Score
Practical skills & high professionalism in Agri SMEs supporting & Farmers & business organizations capacity building, Agri BDS provision 30
5 years Experience working and conducting similar assignment and in strategic plan and business plan designing and elaboration. Having knowledge about agriculture value chain in Rwanda being an advantage. 30
S/t Technical 60
Financial Proposal Evaluation Score 40
TOTAL 100

Quotations and Submission
The interested candidates should submit their well presented Expression of Interest not later than 11th March2022 at 5:00 pm on e-mail addressed to rwanda@spark-online.org with a clear Subject Line: Application for freelance Consultancy Services provision: CASS Sustainability And Cassava Seed System Enhancement: Facilitate & Supporting Cassava seed multipliers platform
Bidders are required to submit updated CVs and 3 reference of the successfully completed similar work. The selection will be done based on application rolling process, and only successful bidders will be notified.