Terms of Reference (TOR) for developing issues paper

Organization Rwanda Development Organization (RDO)

1. Background

InterAction awarded funding grant to Rwanda Development Organization (RDO) to implement “Enhance Small holder farmer voice for Agriculture development through participatory Governance and Accountability” (IJWI RY’UMUHINZI) in the districts of Kayonza and Nyagatare.

The project aims at strengthening engagement between Farmer Organizations (FOs) and duty bearers at local and national levels through dialogue to discuss agricultural issues that affect farmers.

The activities involved to attain the objectives include collecting data on the farmers’ issues and conducting policy dialogue at district and national level to discuss the issues. RDO through the use of Survey CTO has collected the data from the targeted 26 Farmers organizations (16 in Nyagatare and 10 in Kayonza) on issues that affect farmers. In collaboration with the network of Farmer organization district coordination teams (NofO) RDO held district District dialogues in Kayonza and Nyagatare. To achieve the total results RDO need to hold policy dialogue at national level that will bring together civil society organisations involved in agriculture and national government officials including Ministry of agriculture and Animal Resources( MINAGRI), Rwanda Agriculture and Animal Resources, Ministry of local government and local authorities from Kayonza and Nyagatare. RDO need to develop issues paper that will highlight all the agriculture issues raised by the farmers, the issues addressed by local authorities or committed to address and pending issues that need national level attention.

It is against this background that RDO intend to hire the services of a consultant/ firm to produce a well-designed document in English to be shared with concerned government institutions, CSOs, and a brief summary document, translated in Kinyarwanda for Farmer organizations and local authorities. The consultant will also produce a 3-minute video to support the issues paper as evidence of farmers’ concerns.

2. Purpose of the consultancy

The purpose of the consultancy is to provide technical support to RDO in developing the issues paper and the short video. The consultant will develop the issues paper in close consultations with RDO and the district coordination teams who have been engaged in collecting data on farmer issues and uploading the on the survey CTO. The consultant will also work with RDO team that supervises the Survey CTO server. The consultant will also engage discussions with District Agriculture officers from the 2 targeted districts to agree on a priority issues among identified ones that need advocacy at national level and prepare a document on key identified issues ( issues paper) .The developed detailed document will be a booklet with editing adequate. The Overall style and design of the final product will be agreed between consultant and RDO . The detailed document will be produced in English and 2 page summary in Kinyarwanda. The video will be a 3- minute video with written explanations in English.

3. Scope of the consultancy work

Under the guidance of RDO, the consultant/firms shall undertake the following tasks:

a. Undertake a literature review of project to understand the project concept
b. Visit the two project districts and meet at least with 5 FOs in each district to collect information on farmer issues

c. Undertake consultations with the district agriculture officers(Kayonza and Nyagatare) to harmonise on the issues that need advocacy at national level

d. Develop the detailed English document designed into a booklet.
e. Make a brief summary documents of 2 pages in Kinyarwanda language

4. Expected deliverables:

a) Inception report indicating methodology, tools to be used, work schedule and the proposed format of the document;
b) Draft document for review;
c) A 3-minute video to support the issues paper as evidence of farmers’ concerns;

d) Final detailed document ,well designed booklet with logos of RDO and InterAction in English submitted in both hard and soft copy

e) A summary document of 4 pages in Kinyarwanda submitted in soft and hard copies;

5. Approach:

a) The consultant/firm is expected to work directly under the supervision of the Executive Secretary –RDO;

b) The consultant will use a consultative and inclusive approach to ensure that all beneficiaries and stakeholders provide information on issues that affect farmers.

c) The consultant/firm to work hand in hand with the network of farmer organization coordination teams for information clarity.

d) For secondary data the consultant shall undertake a literature review of the project documentation and reports generated by survey CTO.

e) For primary data, the consultant will base on information gathered from farmer organizations , local authorities and other stakeholders

6. Assignment duration and management arrangements:

This assignment will last for 25 days. The inception report presented on 5th, day after signing contract, draft document reviewed on 20 day and final documents submitted within 25 days. The consultant/firm can work from own premises, but contacts RDO for field work engagements. The independent consultant/firm should however present work schedule in the technical offer.

Expertise required and Qualification:
Interested consulting firms or individuals should demonstrate relevant experience in the following areas:

Consultant to have masters degree in agricultural sciences or social sciences
High level of analysis , project evaluation and report production
Understanding of agricultural policy advocacy and citizen participation
Previous experience in developing issues paper/ position paper will be particularly appreciated
Good command of English and capability to translate from English to Kinyarwanda
Working within agreed deadlines while producing high quality work output.
Conflict of interest.
Any conflict of interest involving an applicant must be fully disclosed to RDO. Failure to disclose a conflict may disqualify an applicant or invalidate an award of the contract. Applicants are required to declare any current or past work which might reasonably be considered to represent a conflict of interest. It will be for RDO to decide if any material conflict of interest exists and applicants in doubt in this regard should seek the advice of RDO.

Intellectual property
Any material developed during the contract will be considered as property of RDO and may be used by RDO.

Documents required for expression of interest (EOI)
Consultants/Consulting companies submitting EOIs should submit the following:

Technical bid showing clear understanding of the scope of assignment ;
Proposed timeline for accomplishing the assignment ;
Annex examples of similar assignments done before;
Financial bid with clear breakdown of costs
Payment terms
VAT Registration and Tax Clearance Certificates;
RSSB clearance certificate
Contact details of 3 references from the Development sector; and
Proof of registration with relevant institutions.
Resume of the persons who will carry out the assignment

11. Application process:

Interested consultants/ firms who meet the required criteria shall submit the technical and financial proposals in 2 different envelopes put together in one bigger envelope addressed to the Executive Secretary, Rwanda Development Organization (RDO), KK500 /22, BRALIRWA Road, P.O. Box 368, Kigali. Envelops clearly marked issues paper IJWI RY’UMUHINZI should be submitted to RDO secretariat offices on 12/7/2021, 10.00 am

The financial proposal should be inclusive of tax and quoted in Rwandan Francs (RWF). Demonstrable experience and Value for Money (VFM) will be key considerations in evaluating proposals submitted. Only suitably qualified consultants/firms resident in Rwanda will be considered. Any questions regarding this consultancy should be directed to the same addresses above.

Only selected consultants/firms will be notified