Appel à consultation – ACEA عودة إلى الفرص

Period of Performance: 01 March 2021 – June 15, 2021

Expected Level of Effort: 50 days

Place of Performance: Tunis, Tunisia, with field trips to 2 governorates.

Program Background

ACEA Tunisia (Action Collaborative pour les Exportations Artisanales, or “Collaborative Action for the Export of Handicraft Products”) is a 4-year project funded by the U.S. Department of State and implemented by FHI 360. Its goal is to help artisans, especially those who are socially or geographically marginalized, to commercialize their products, and hence promote greater social and economic equity. Where possible, the project places a special emphasis on assisting artisans to export.

This project is helping to empower artisans and local communities by guiding and advising them using a cluster approach. Members of the Cluster (beneficiaries) meet in workshops and work in groups to learn and share various skills, in conjunction with relevant support entities and technical experts. To date, ACEA has launched cluster development activities in two sectors in Tunisia: essential oils and related natural products (Northwest Tunisia) and olive wood kitchenware and tableware (in Sfax and Sidi Bou Zid).

ACEA is seeking a consulting firm or individual consultant to assist the improvement of olive wood workshops, product quality and means of production.

Objective of Consultancy

The expert in artisanal olive wood-based products will bring in-depth sector expertise (preferably in-depth knowledge of production for the improvement of products quality and means of production. The tasks of this mission will include analysis and assessment, facilitation of technical meetings and workshops, and technical support for the implementation of the strategy, as described in more detail below.

Under the supervision of the Technical Monitor the Consultant will carry out the following tasks:

Phase 1: Assessment phase: Field visit of our beneficiary workshops

Identify possible problems related to the production in the workshops:

• Evaluate finished product quality level.
• Define the potential causes of irregularities in quality.
• Define the volume of production for each workshop.
• Determine the control of the production costs.

Deliverables:

Evaluation matrix / criteria

Situation analysis:  Clear indicator related to Organization in the workshop, Tools, Product Quality, Security.

Detailed Action plan: Methodology, Agenda, Training Topics.

Phase 2: training workshop

Deliverables:

Training materials and capacity building programs, part played and action plan and pre/post tests.

Phase 3: Evaluation and follow-up

Meeting with the artisans who attended the workshops:

Technical assistance and follow-up.

• Study in the form of a survey to measure the impact of our training on the workshops and the activity of the Artisans.

Deliverable: 

A survey to analyze the impact of the training on our beneficiaries.

Final Report.

After submission of the draft final report, ACEA will provide comments and feedback, after which a final report will be submitted in Word with a summary in PowerPoint, both in French and English.

DELIVERABLES

The Consultant shall be responsible for preparing and submitting the deliverables to the Technical Monitor according to the following schedule. ACEA will work with the Consultant to finalize format and structure for key deliverables during the consultancy, and the Technical Monitor and other relevant staff will review the consultant’s proposed drafts and provide feedback accordingly.

Criteria/Qualification for Evaluation

Consultants will be evaluated and ranked by an evaluation committee according to the conditions described in the evaluation criteria below, with a total overall maximum point value of 100. Consultants will first be evaluated and scored from a technical standpoint.  Consultants that are technically qualified shall then be evaluated in terms of cost reasonableness of their daily rate. The contract shall be issued to the consultant with the highest combined technical and cost score.

• Demonstrated knowledge and practical experience in wood or related fields : 30%
• Academic training : 20%
• Languages: 10%
• References: 10%
• Ability to meet the desired schedule: 10%
• Financial offer / proposed price: 20%

Level of Effort and Remuneration

The Consultancy will consist of a maximum of 50 working/billing days (1 day = 8 hours) between March 1, 2021 and June 15, 2021.

The Consultant will be paid the agreed daily fee rate for every day worked, up to but not to exceed 80 days, with reimbursement for related, budgeted expenses (e.g. travel and lodging on field trips outside of Tunis).  The consultant will submit a record of LOE on a monthly basis for processing and payment.

Location

This work will be primarily remote, due to Covid restrictions, but will require several meetings in Tunis and field trips to ±2 governorates to conduct interviews with stakeholders. FHI 360 will require an Expense Authorization form to be submitted and approved prior to travel and will reimburse allowable travel expenses.

Disclaimers and FHI 360 Protection Clauses

• FHI 360 may cancel the solicitation and not award.
• FHI 360 may reject any or all responses received.
• Issuance of the solicitation does not constitute an award commitment by FHI 360.
• FHI 360 reserves the right to disqualify any offer based on offeror failure to follow solicitation instructions.
• FHI 360 will not compensate offers for response to solicitation.
• FHI 360 reserves the right to issue award based on initial evaluation of offers without further discussion.
• FHI 360 may choose to award only part of the activities in the solicitation, or issue multiple awards based on the solicitation activities.
• FHI 360 reserves the right to waive minor proposal deficiencies that can be corrected prior to award determination to promote competition.
• FHI 360 will be contacting offers to confirm contact person, address and that bid was submitted for this solicitation.