CONSULTANT SOLICITATION

COOPERATIVE GOVERNANCE CONSULTANT

COLLABORATIVE ACTION FOR THE EXPORT OF HANDICRAFT PRODUCTS 

(ACEA) PROJECT

Period of Performance:    February 17, 2022 – June 30, 2022

Expected Level of Effort:  60 days

Place of Performance: Tunis, Tunisia, with field trips to 7 governorates ( Beja, Jendouba, Siliana, Sidi Bouzid, Kairouane, Kef et Kasserine)

Program Background:

ACEA Tunisia (Action Collaborative pour les Exportations Artisanales, or “Collaborative Action for the Export of Handicraft Products”) is a 6-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 five sectors in Tunisia: essential oils and related natural products (West governorates), olive wood kitchenware and tableware (in Sfax and Sidi Bou Zid), carpets (Gafsa and Gabes) and potery (Siliana and Kef). 

ACEA is seeking a consulting firm or individual consultant to assist project’s beneficiaries to enhance their cooperative’s governance. 

Objective of Consultancy :

The Consultant will develop and implement a capacity building plan for project beneficiaries (GDAs and SMSAs) focused on internal governance improvement and based on an initial assessment conducted by the project. The consultant will accompany the ACEA team in implementing an individualized capacity building plan for each GDA or SMSA.

The Consultant should clearly define specific needs for capacity building activities for each cooperative. This technical assistance may include formal or on-the-job training and coaching or demand-driven advisory services (e.g. marketing, financial analysis, development of policies and procedures).

• Detailed Tasks and Deliverables

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

Review and revise diagnosis report: The consultant will review all documents, data and analysis from the diagnosis phase conducted by the project, and develop a detailed plan, in conjunction with ACEA and ONAT counterparts, for a capacity building plan. 

Develop a capacity-building plan for each cooperative:  The consultant will design a roadmap/development plan with each cooperative, with realistic intermediate objectives to be achieved: 

• Short/medium-term objectives and priorities,
• The specific activities and key success factors to achieve it
• The different kind of actors to be involved in each kind of activity, such as training, technical assistance, financing and other forms of support. 
• Elaboration of a community development plan
• Organizational strengthening:

• Formalization of operating procedures and procedures (identification of responsibilities, tasks, frequencies, objectives, etc.)
• Organization of the democratic lifetime of the cooperatives
• Development of services to members
• Adaptation of the legal aspects according to the new legal ESS framework 

Provision of technical assistance for capacity-building support: The consultant will conduct trainings and technical assistance for all the GDAs 

Follow-up on the field: The consultant will conduct follow-up missions after the trainings.

Fair-Trade Certifications: The consultant will support obtention of internationally recognized fair-trade certifications

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.

Required Skills and Qualifications:

• Postgraduate degree in management, economy, agriculture engineering or any relevant field.
• A minimum of seven years demonstrated experience working in the field of cooperative governance and capacity building. 
• Demonstrated knowledge and experience of the essential oils industry in rural regions of Tunisia is desirable. 
• Strong analytical skills and written and oral communication skills.
• Knowledge of Arabic and French required; English highly desirable.

Criteria/Qualification for Evaluation

Candidates 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. Candidates will first be evaluated and scored from a technical standpoint.  Candidates that are considered to be 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.

Level of Effort and Remuneration:

The Consultancy will consist of a maximum of 60 working/billing days (1 day = 8 hours) 

The Consultant will be paid the agreed daily fee rate for every day worked, up to but not to exceed 60 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 require several meetings in Tunis and field trips to ±7 governorates to conduct interviews with stakeholders and implement training sessions. Thus, Consultancy firm and their team must show up the fully vaccination certificate.

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.