CPIU IFAD announces selection of Service Provider to Selection of Potential Value Chains and Value Chain Analysis

The Government of the Republic of Moldova has received funding from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) for the cost of the Rural Capacity Improvement Project and intends to apply part of the proceeds to contract consulting services.

The use of any IFAD funding will be subject to IFAD approval, in accordance with the terms and conditions of the financing agreement, as well as the IFAD rules, policies and procedures. IFAD and its officials, agents and employees will be liable to and against all lawsuits, proceedings, claims, claims, losses and liability of any kind or nature brought by any party in connection with TRTP.

The agricultural sector is the backbone of the Moldovan economy, contributing 11 percent of GDP, 22 percent of employment, and 45 percent of exports. Small farms with less than 3 ha of land constitute 95 percent of the total 900,000 farms. The remaining 5 percent of farms are composed of commercial medium-sized farms of 3 to 50 ha and large farms of more than 50 ha, with the concept of Family Farming reaching up to 70 ha. While small farms generate 71% of all agriculture output, they are mostly engaged in subsistence and semi-subsistence farming and diversify their income with pensions, wage employment and remittances. The lack of jobs, particularly in the rural areas, is driving substantial outmigration of young people, which in turn contributes to an ageing population.

Transition from semi-subsistence to commercial agriculture has been slow, because of the small size of land plots (0.85 ha on average), vulnerability to climate change and associated shocks, lack of access to services and finance, barriers for entering modern markets, lack of access to water and irrigation facilities, as well as livelihood strategies that table on subsistence agriculture as a safety net.

Consulting services (“services”) include identify priority high value agriculture value chains that could be promoted by AGRI-M, based on a rapid mapping and ranking of potential commodities, select the four most promising ones, based on ranking against selection criteria;

conduct a value chain analysis for each of the selected commodities and provide recommendations as to priority interventions to be financed by AGRI-M;

The overall objective of this activity are:

• Phase 1: The pre-selection of value chains will be based on a desk review of existing value chain and competitiveness analyses.
• Phase 2: Value chain analyses will be inclusive, in that it will include the systematic assessment of the barriers affecting young women and men as well as poorer/smaller producers, and the identification of the specific measures required for them to take advantage of economic opportunities.

The deliverables for this study will be as follows:

By the end of Phase 1, a short report with the ranking of mapped value chains, along with a brief, evidence-based justification of ranking and a summary of opportunities and constraints for each of them.

For each of the detailed value chain analysis:

o          A value chain map showing the various stakeholders, sub-chains and respective production volumes, with flows and distribution of value added;

o          Geographical maps showing main production areas across the country and possible areas of extension;

o          The value chain analysis addressing all the points in the terms of reference (maximum 25 pages without annexes).

o          A list of persons met and bibliography of sources consulted will be presented in an annex. All the documents consulted for the analysis will be made available on a shared drive.

o          The amended Project Design Report for AGRI-M with the changes endorsed by the MAFI.

Upon confirmation by the Ministry of Agriculture, translate into the Project Design Report of Agri-M the necessary technical and budget amendments in track-change mode, for IFAD’s review and validation.

The study will be outsourced to a consulting firm or consortium of consultants/researchers with demonstrated expertise in the agricultural/ agro-processing & data management & statistics analysis.

The duration of each value chain analysis will not exceed two (2) weeks. The final report will be made available at the latest by early September 2024.

Company’s experience and required qualification:

The Service Provider shall possess the following qualifications as a company:

• Strong capacity and experience in conducting analysis, surveys ore research in the agricultural/ ago-processing and marketing & agro-trade sectors in Moldova;
• Deep knowledge of the value chains in the Moldovan agricultural sector; their strong and weak points; problems & challenges they face as well as opportunities;
• Have at least 5 years in conducting quantitative and qualitative surveys (minimum 5 quantitative & qualitative surveys conducted during the last 5 years);
• Strong capacity in data management, survey analysis and reporting of results;

For more details regarding the task and purpose of the activity, please refer to the Terms of Reference.

The IFAD (“client”) CPI now invites eligible consulting firms (“consultants”) to show interest in providing the services. Interested consultants should provide information demonstrating that they have the necessary qualifications and relevant experience to provide the requested services. Interested companies must complete the Letter of Manifestation of Interest according to the model published at ucipifad.md/… and send it to the address indicated below.

It draws the attention of interested consultants to IFAD’s Anti-Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Policy and IFAD’s revised Fraud and Corruption Prevention Policy, its activities and operations. The latter sets out the IFAD provisions on prohibited practices. IFAD continues to strive to ensure a safe, non-harassing work environment, including sexual harassment and no sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA), in its activities and operations, as detailed in its IFAD Prevention and Response Policy. sexual harassment, sexual exploitation and abuse. The IFAD (“client”) CPI now invites eligible consulting firms (“consultants”) to show interest in providing the services. Interested consultants should provide information demonstrating that they have the necessary qualifications and relevant experience to provide the requested services. Interested companies must complete the Letter of Manifestation of Interest according to the model published at ucipifad.md/… and send it to the address indicated below.

It draws the attention of interested consultants to IFAD’s Anti-Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Policy and IFAD’s revised Fraud and Corruption Prevention Policy, its activities and operations. The latter sets out the IFAD provisions on prohibited practices. IFAD continues to strive to ensure a safe, non-harassing work environment, including sexual harassment and sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA), in its activities and operations, as detailed in its IFAD Prevention and Response Policy. sexual harassment, sexual exploitation and abuse. The consultant will not have any real, potential or reasonably perceived conflict of interest. A consultant with a real, potential or reasonably perceived conflict of interest will be disqualified unless the Fund has explicitly approved otherwise. A consultant, including staff and affiliates, is considered to have a conflict of interest if a) they have a relationship that provides them with undue or undisclosed information about or influences the selection and performance of the contract, b) participates in more than an EOI in connection with this acquisition, c) have a business or family relationship with a member of the Buyer’s Board of Directors or its staff, the Fund or its staff, or any other person who has been, has been or may reasonably be directly or indirectly involved in any part of (i) the preparation of this REOI, (ii) the selection process or shortlist for this procurement, or (iii) the performance of the contract. The Consultant has a continuing obligation to disclose any real, potential or reasonably perceived conflict of interest during the preparation of the EOI, the selection process or the performance of the contract. Failure to properly disclose any of these situations may result in appropriate action, including disqualification of the consultant, termination of the contract and any other action as appropriate, in accordance with IFAD’s Fraud and Corruption Prevention Policy in its projects and operations.

The consultant (company) will be selected in accordance with the CQS procurement method set out in the IFAD Procurement Manual, which can be accessed via the IFAD website at www.ifad.org/project-procurement.

I.       Qualification criteria and experience requirements for the shortlist

Only the companies (maximum of 6) that will be selected in the Short List (the passing score is 70%) will be invited to submit the technical offer and the financial offer.

Any request for clarification regarding this REOI must be sent by e-mail to procurement@ucipifad.md by July 30^th, 2024, at 17:00 (Moldovan time). The client will provide answers to all requests for clarification by August 1^st, 2024, at 17:00 (Moldovan time).

Expressions of interest must be submitted in writing using the forms provided for this purpose. EOIs will be sent by email to the address below until August 5^th, 2024, at 13:00 (Moldovan time).

UCIP IFAD Moldova
Attn: Alexandru Scurtu, Procurement Specialist
Ștefan cel Mare și Sfînt bd. 162, Chișinău, MD-2004
Tel: (022) 22-18-80 / +373 780 77 185
E-mail: procurement@ucipifad.md /  scurtu.alexandru@ucipifad.md 

TOR and Templates can be found
https://www.ucipifad.md/achizitii/potential-_value_chains/