Request for expressions of interest for individual consultant for food balance sheet compilation – technical assistance to countries – Côte d’ivoire

Request for expressions of interest for individual consultant for food balance sheet compilation – technical assistance to countries – Côte d’ivoire

 

 

Context :

1. The African Development Bank hereby invites Individual Consultants to indicate their interest in the following Assignment: Consultancy Services for Food Balance Sheet Compilation – Technical Assistance to countries ;
2. The services to be provided under the Assignment include: The provision of Technical Assistance to AfDB Regional Member Countries (RMCs) in Supply and Utilization Accounts (SUA) and Food Balance Sheets (FBS) compilation using the required standard methodology.

A new Guideline on Food Balance Sheets compilation which provides countries with a user-friendly handbook on the construction of country-level Food Balance Sheets for policy- making and analysis is available. Some innovations have been made in this handbook in terms of approaches and the estimations of the variables. Apart from these guidelines, a new FBS Compilation Tool has been developed. This Tool facilitates the imputation of missing values, production of Food Balance Sheets, and the computation of derived indicators.

3. The Statistics Department of the African Development Bank invites Individual Consultants to indicate their interest in providing the above-described services. Interested Consultants shall provide information on their qualifications and experience demonstrating their ability to undertake this Assignment (A cover letter and CV clearly indicating reference to similar services and experience in similar assignments, etc.) ;
4. The eligibility criteria and the selection procedure shall be in conformity with the Bank’s Procurement Policy for Recruitment of Corporate Consultants. Please, note that interest expressed by a Consultant does not imply any obligation on the part of the Bank to include him/her in the shortlist ;
5. The estimated duration of services is 6 Months and the estimated starting date is 1^st July 2019. Place of assignment will be at the Bank’s Headquarters in Abidjan ;
6. Interested Individual Consultants may obtain further information at the address below during the Bank’s working hours: Between 8:00 and 17:00 hours local time ;
7. Expressions of interest must be received at the address below no later than 25^th June 2019 at 17:00 hours local time and specifically mentioning: Consultancy Services for Food Balance Sheet Compilation – Technical Assistance to countries.

Statistics Department (ECST) Avenue Joseph Anoma

01 B.P. 1387 Abidjan 01 Côte d’Ivoire

Attention: Ms Fetema DEME (F.Deme@afdb.org) and Ms.Nejma LAZLEM

(L.Nejma@afdb.org) with copy to: V.Ngendakumana@afdb.org;

8. Any questions and requests for clarifications may be sent to: Vincent NGENDAKUMANA (v.ngendakumana@afdb.org).

 

Evaluation criteria :

9. The following criteria with the corresponding weights shall be considered in the selection of the candidat:

CRITERIA	WEIGHT
General qualifications and adequacy for the proposed	30
Assignment
Similar  experience  in  the  area  of  expertise  of  the	60
Assignment as described in the Terms of Reference
Experience with the Bank	5
Language proficiency	5

Terms of Reference for International Consultant for Technical Assistance to countries on Food Balance Sheets (FBS) compilation.

 

1. Background :

Agriculture plays a central and strategic role for Africa development in terms of economic growth, enhanced living standards, poverty reduction, and increased food security. Indeed, all the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as well as the H5s of the Bank have direct or indirect linkages to agriculture. Therefore, the importance of agricultural sector requires that its planning, management, and monitoring be based on sound incidence. In turn, this requires the availability of comprehensive, reliable, consistent and timely agricultural statistics in a form that is usable to a variety of users at both national and international levels.

A new Guideline on Food Balance Sheets compilation which provides countries with a user-friendly handbook on the construction of country-level Food Balance Sheets for policy- making and analysis is available. Some innovations have been made in this handbook in terms of approaches and the estimations of the variables. Apart from these guidelines, a new FBS Compilation Tool has been developed. This Tool facilitates the imputation of missing values, production of Food Balance Sheets, and the computation of derived indicators.

An increasing number of African countries have expressed the need to be technically supported in the use of this new FBS Guideline and related Compilation Tool. Towards this end, the Bank is seeking for an international consultant to help with the undertaking of activities related to building country capacity in producing FBS.

 

2. Objective of the Consultancy Services :

The purpose of the consultancy services is to provide technical support to Regional Member Countries (RMCs) through regional and national training workshops and direct/bilateral TA to countries so that they can produce and disseminate FBS based on the recommended international methods, hence the New Guidelines and related Compilation Tool on the subject.

 

3. Tasks and Activities to be undertaken :

• Review existing Supply Utilization Accounts (SUA) and FBS of RMCs ;
• Review related relevant and required documentation available at country level ;
• Compile needed SUA basic data, Technical Conversion Factors (TCFs), nutritive factors, etc. for the purpose of compiling SUA/FBS which are customised to each country specificity and context, through the related FBS Compilation Tool ;
• Populate each country’s FBS compilation tool with production, trade and utilization data as well as with the TCFs and Nutritive Factors for all of the food products included in the Tool ;
• Conduct regional, national Training Workshops and national Validation Workshops on SUA/FBS, introducing the use of the Tool in processing the agricultural data from detail level into the aggregate format of the FBS ;
• Provide technical assistance to countries on specific issues related to improving national SUA/FBS systems ;
• Regularly provide technical guidance to national staff in compiling the SUA/FBS on conceptual issues, estimation procedures and data sources ;
• Contribute to setting up national technical working teams in charge of SUA/FBS compilation;
• Conduct checking and validation of the annual National FBS results ;
• Supervise the analytical work of the FBS results ;
• Contribute to the editing of the final version of the FBS report/publication ;
• Contribute to the development of countries Compilation Tools, including the mapping of trade data to Central Product Classification (CPC) ;
• Assist in posting SUA/FBS database onto Africa Information Highway ;
• Prepare a comprehensive report highlighting the methodology used, the key findings, best practices, and the constraints and limitations faced during the process of the Technical Assistance in this area; and
• Any other task as it may be requested by the Management.

 

4. Qualifications of the Consultant :

The Consultant should have the following qualifications:

• A Master’s degree in Statistics or the equivalent :
• A minimum of 10 years relevant experience in the field of Agricultural Statistics at national and/or international levels ;
• At least 5 years’ experience in the compilation of Food Balance Sheet ;
• Good knowledge of Agricultural Statistical Systems in Africa ;
• Experience working with African Development Bank ;
• Good interpersonal skills in liaising with colleagues and partners ;
• Ability to make presentations and participate to international conferences; and
• Ability to write reports and complete tasks on a timely basis.

 

5. Language :

The Consultants shall have an excellent working knowledge of English and/or French with good working knowledge of the other language.

 

 

6. Duration of the Assignment :

The consultancy is for 6 months, renewable subject to satisfactory performance.

 

7. Duty station of the consultant :

The duty station of the consultant is Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire), but will be entitled to any travel/mission needed for his respective fulfilment of the duties, particularly to countries for the delivery of TA, and attending meetings/workshops as needed.

 

8. Reporting :

The Consultants will be required to prepare and submit (a) monthly reports outlining activities undertaken during each specific assignment, (b) required technical documents, including recommendations on the related program improvement and performance.