CONSULTANT SOLICITATION

SECTOR SELECTION & VALUE CHAIN CONSULTANT

COLLABORATIVE ACTION FOR THE EXPORT OF HANDICRAFT PRODUCTS 

(ACEA) PROJECT

Period of Performance:    1st February 2022 – March 30th, 2022

Expected Level of Effort:  5 days

Place of Performance: Tunis, Tunisia, (Desk work). 

• 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 three sectors in Tunisia: essential oils and related natural extracts (Northwest and central west Tunisia), olive wood kitchenware and tableware (in Sfax and Sidi Bou Zid) and weaving in (Toujene, Mednine).

ACEA is seeking a consulting firm or individual consultant to support the project in the development of technical specifications for extraction equipment for aromatic and medicinal plant products.

• Objective of Consultancy :

 the objective of the mission is to take the list of equipment defined by the project team and the artisans of the Wiki PAM cluster and to develop the corresponding specifications. The technical specifications must meet the standards of the international market.

• Detailed Tasks and Deliverables

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

• Review th equipment matrix and prepare technical specifications. The consultant will be asked to review the equipment matrix and provide expertise in the selection of equipment based on the defined need. He will develop the technical specifications corresponding to each item in the matrix. For the development of the technical specifications the consultant will have to consider the international standards (Certification, product quality). The consultant also will have to provide approximative budget for every equipment 
• Review technical offers submitted to the project: The consultant will be asked to verify the technical bids received by the project. He/she shall verify the correspondence of the submitted bids to the developed specifications and score the submitted bids.

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 process engineering or related field.
• A minimum of five years demonstrated experience working o the development of technical specifications and evaluation of technical offers, Aromatic and medicinal plants sector
• Demonstrated knowledge and experience of the handicraft industry and more specifically on the natural extracts products
• Strong written skills.
• Knowledge of Arabic and French required; English highly desirable.

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.

• Level of Effort and Remuneration

The Consultancy will consist of a maximum of 5 working/billing days (1 day = 8 hours) between February 1st, 2022, and March 30, 2022.

The Consultant will be paid the agreed daily fee rate for every day worked, up to but not to exceed 5 days. The consultant will submit a record of LOE monthly for processing and payment.

• Location

This mission will be a desk work (No travel needed).