Consultant-Rapid Assessment of the Lentil Sector- Gaps & Opportunities

POSITION TITLE: Consultant-Rapid Assessment of the Lentil Sector- Gaps & Opportunities

LOCATION: Kathmandu, Nepal

REPORTS TO: Business and Market System Director

PROJECT BACKGROUND:

Winrock International is implementing USAID funded Knowledge-based Integrated Sustainable Agriculture in Nepal, (KISAN II) in twenty-four Hill and Terai districts in the Province 3, 5, 6 and 7 of the country for over a five-year period. The project’s overall goal is to increase the resilience, inclusiveness and sustainability of income growth through agriculture development. KISAN II will work with the private sectors such as lead firms, input suppliers, wholesalers and traders to catalyze agricultural productivity, competitive market systems, a stronger enabling environment, business and literacy skills for households in Zones of Influence.

KISAN II follows a market systems development approach to strengthen and improve agriculture markets, improve value chain efficiency and manage unexpected shocks. To ensure KISAN II success, it is necessary to understand the demand side of the equation and market opportunities and assist those on the supply side to meet market requirements.

INTRODUCTION:

Lentil is one of the most important legume and a key cash crop for Nepal. During the period between 2010-2013, Nepal was the sixth largest producer of lentils in the world. During this period, Nepal produced 214,000 tons of lentils in an area of 207,300 ha with an average yield of 1,033 kg/ha. The share of lentil in the gross cropped area of Nepal increased from 3.4 percent in the period 1979-1981 to 4.2 percent in the period 2010- 2013. According to latest MOAD statistics, from the period between 2015-2016, Nepal produced 253,041 tons of lentil in an area of 205,939 ha with an average yield of 1,113 kg/ha. The area under production for lentils has decreased by 1,361 ha but total production has increased by 39,041 Mt indicating an improvement in yield of 100 ka/ha.

Though the yield of lentil in Nepal is better than producers like Bangladesh (1,090 kg/ha), India (740 kg/ha) and Pakistan (520 kg/ha) FAOSTAT 2019, it is far behind the yields of some major producers such as New Zealand (2,580 kg/ha), China (2,310 kg/ha), Australia (2,045 kg/ha), Turkey (1,719 kg/ha), Canada (1,674 kg/ha), and France (1,656 kg/ha).

In the year 2015-2016, the total export of lentils was around 7,610 Mt. Nepal exported 6,602 Mt of lentils to Bangladesh, its largest export market. However, in the same period, Nepal imported roughly 42,592 Mt of lentils. Canada was the largest exporter of lentil to Nepal, selling around 32,292 Mt. On January 30th 2018, the Mechi Customs Office reported that in the first six months of the fiscal year, 3.31 million kg of lentils worth Rs359.9 million was exported to Bangladesh. However, in the same period, 7.84 million kg of lentils worth Rs. 813.9 million were imported from other countries.  This dip in export and uptick in import is contributed to low productivity.

A vast majority of the roughly 0.7 million farmers engaged in lentil cultivation are smallholder farmers. Lentil cultivation has traditionally been dominated by small farmer who use traditional technologies and postharvest practices. Due to the low volumes being produced by farmers and their fragmented nature, the bargaining power lies with the traders.

It is also seen that the Lentil sector is highly price volatiledue to high imports from other countries.

[1] MoAD Agriculture Statistics Book 2015-2016

[2] http://kathmandupost.ekantipur.com/news/2018-01-30/nepals-lentil-import-up.html

Assignment:

To conduct rapid assessment of the Lentil sector in  KISAN II districts of Kapilvastu, Dang, Banke, Bardiya, Kailali and Kanchanpur.

• General background (production and import volumes, cultivation practices, infrastructure, governance, etc)
• Identify the major private players operating in the sector, areas where they source from and backwards linkages with farmers if any.
• Identify major constraints, gaps and opportunities
• Identify possible points of interventions and partners for KISAN II.
• Possible partners will include those with innovative solutions or ideas that would result in not only increased sales and profit for the partner but also increased commercialization and income at the farmer level.
• Identify the appropriate structure for storage facility, threshing and supply chain
• Provide sustainable business models for respective actors

Experience:

• Extensive experience in agriculture Value Chain and/or Market System Development projects with expertise in conducting sector/value chain analysis.

Deliverables for assignment:

• Draft report including 2-page summary of key findings and opportunities for private actors and KISAN II including business models
• PowerPoint presentation to KISAN II team
• Once comments have been received, final written report
• Top private companies, processers, aggregators for KISAN II to work with
• 2-page summary on the key findings of the study- New business opportunities for private sector actors in the lentil sector.

Estimated Level of Effort:

Total of 20 days (Estimated 10 days for field work and 10 days for report preparation)

Disclaimer:

Issuance of this notice does not obligate Winrock International to award a Consultancy Service, nor will Winrock International pay any costs associated with the preparation or submission of application.  Furthermore, Winrock International reserves the right to reject any and all applications, if such action is considered to be in the best interest of Winrock International.  The consultancy service is contingent upon donor approval.

Applicants should submit:

• Application letter
• CV
• Expected daily rate (copy of VAT certificate is must if the total consultancy value exceed NRs. 500,000)
• copy of contract/agreement, or other proof of documents of two latest assignments.

How to Apply:

Interested candidates can post the required documents to Jobs.KISAN@winrock.org within November 10, 2019 . Applicants should reference Consultant-Rapid Assessment of the Lentil Sector in the subject line. Applications received after the stipulated date will not be entertained.