Call for Expression of Interest (EOI): Business Plan Manual with Workbook for Agri-Businesses

CALL FOR EXPRESSION OF INTEREST (EOI)

June 2024

Terms of reference

Project Activity: Prepare Business Plan Manual with Workbook for Agri-Businesses

Duration: Up to a maximum of 30 calendar days 

1. Project Overview

Action Against Hunger | Action Contre la Faim (ACF) is an international humanitarian organization committed to ending child hunger. Recognized as a leader in the fight against malnutrition, Action Against Hunger saves the lives of malnourished children while providing communities with access to safe water and sustainable solutions to hunger. As a non-governmental, non-profit organization, we are committed to principled humanitarian action as outlined in our International Charter of Principles: independence, neutrality, non-discrimination, free and direct access to affected populations, professionalism, and transparency. In partnership with Sahara Nepal, ACF, funded by Neuflize, has initiated the project implementation in wards 1, 4, and 8 of Belaka municipality from August 2022 to July 2024. The main objective of the project is to ensure disaster-resilient livelihoods and enhance food security among the most vulnerable households of the Udaypur district through innovative Agri-businesses of bamboo, vegetable, mushroom, and Neglected and Under-utilized Crop Species (NUCS). 

2. Objective of the Assignment

The primary objective of this study is to finalize the business plan manual with workbook for start-up and growth-oriented agri-businesses of project locations in Nepal. The specific objectives are followings:

• To orient small-sized agri-businesses through essential information for those who want to start imparting skills on commercial business mindset, record keeping, enterprise budgeting, and marketing;
• To assist the farmers in designing and establishing profitable farm businesses and providing support for their sustainability;
• To help smallholder farmers by providing the business plan manual to develop knowledge and skills in sustainable farm management and resource conservation

3. Scope of the Work

The scope of work for this assignment will be the followings: 

• Desk review of relevant project documents, documents from successful agri-businesses, and other relevant documents;
• Coordination with ACF and local partner of ACF team to take information and primary data from the field;
• Collect and develop business plan training materials and guidelines from the project and prepare the template of the Business plan to share with ACF and project staff;
• Conduct a day half day for sharing the concept of a manual and workbook with key persons of ACF for the preparation of the Business plan and workbook; 
• Presentation of the business plan manual and workbook to ACF and local partners and collect feedback; 
• Finalize the business plan incorporating the feedback to be approved by ACF Nepal

4. Key Responsibilities

• Conduct desk study of reviewing the project documents and relevant documents;
• Identify and critically analyze relevant scientific and technical literature, including academic journals, reports, and other relevant publications, to document best practices for the preparation of materials for the agri-business sector;
• Take overall responsibility for developing agri-business strategy, business plan, management plan, and market-linked farming systems to achieve the project objectives;
• Analyze the aspects of Crop selection, Production plan, Marketing plan, Farm records, andBook Keeping ;
• Provide a manual and workbook on agri-businesses and share it with the project team and incorporate their feedback;
• Final Business Plan Manual with Workbook for Agri-Businesses submission

5. Deliverables

• Inception report with methodology and plan of action;
• Draft report share of Manual and workbook and incorporate feedback
• Relevant photograph, data sheet/data base; 
• Final report share to project team and submission 

6. Key Requirements

• The consultant should have a Master’s Degree in Agriculture Science or a relevant discipline having extensive work experience in agriculture extension, agri-businesses;
• Solid understanding of cost-benefit analysis, production and marketing plan of agriculture products;
• Be familiar with the technical aspects of production, the local market of the production site, cost-benefit analysis, and value chain actors of mushroom, vegetable, and bamboo;
• Should have demonstration skills and previous experience in the preparation of manuals, workbooks or similar documents related to agriculture

7. Evaluation Criteria

The procurement committee will evaluate the proposals submitted to ACF Nepal, based on a pre-determined criterion using weighted scoring method. Technical and Financial Criteria will be provided with the following weightage.

Technical Criteria: 70% 

Financial Criteria: 30%

8. Application Procedure

• ACF Nepal will select applications from consultancy firms/ teams or individual. Given the scope of this ToR;
• Approaches that incorporate creative methodologies to draw out and document learning are welcomed;
• Applications must include: 
  • Curriculum Vitae (CV) for all proposed individual or team members
  • In case of consulting firm (registration, VAT/PAN, profile, audited report and tax clearance certificate )
  • Cover letter outlining how the individual consultant or consultant from firm/company meet the person specification, confirmation of availability in the timeframe indicated, and contact details for three professional referees 
  • Technical proposal – outlining methodologies and plan for assessment with timeframe and an outline of the roles and responsibilities of each member of the consultancy team, 
  • Financial proposal – including daily rate and all costs in relation to travel, accommodation and other expenses related to business plan manual
  • 2 sample of a similar piece of work previously conducted in the relevant field

Interested firms/teams or individual can apply to procurement@np-actionagainsthunger.org with subject as “Application for Business Plan EOI” by 24 June 2024, 17:00 hours Nepal Standard Time. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. 

ACF Nepal reserves the right to reject any or all applications. Telephonic enquiries will not be entertained. 

Action Against Hunger | Action Contre la Faim (ACF) is an equal opportunity employer and encourages applications from women, people with disabilities and members from disadvantaged/underrepresented ethnic groups.