Job Description
Consultancy Service to Develop a variety registration system
roadmap for farmers and pastoralists in Ethiopia
Open TENDER No. CRS-SC-2022-54
Date & Time for submission of technical & financial documents:
December 18, 2022 up to 3:00pm Eastern Time
CATHOLIC RELIEF SERVICES- ETHIOPIA OFFICE
ADDIS ABABA
- Quotes submitted after the deadline has passed or that do not include all of the information requested may be rejected*.*
- By responding with a quote you are acception the requirements as outlined aboyer, including any delivery requirements and payment terms.
- CRS Ethiopia’s invitation to bid is non-binding and in no way obligates CRS Ethiopia to award any contract. CRS Ethiopia reserves the right to purchase this services, to adjust requirements if necessary, or to make no service purchases. Firm commitment to this service purchase is not established until a written order is issued by CRS Ethiopia or contract is signed. CRS Ethiopia will not pay for vendors’ quote preparation costs.
- CRS Ethiopia employees have an obligation to conduct business within guidelines that prohibit actual or potential conflicts of interest. An employee may not accept or solicit any gift, favor or service that might reasonably tend to influence him/her in the discharge of official duties or with the intent to influence official conduct. Similarly, the contractor shall not give or offer bribes, gifts, gratuities, commissions or any other thing of value to an employee of CRS as an inducement or reward in relation to the contract. If the contractor fails to comply the agreement/contract with the organization will automatically be terminated. If any of the mentioned misconducts occur the contractor can report the incident through phone number: +251 11 278 88 00.
Note: The Supplier or Service Provider agrees to adhere to the requirements laid out in the Supplier and Service Provider Code of Conduct.
Overview S34D
- S34D is a five-year LWA, funded by the Feed the Future through the Bureau for Resilience and Food Security and by USAID through the Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance. S34D focuses on the livestock sector, seed policies and regulations, forage seed, cultivated forages and feed reserves. S34D is promoting resilient, nutritious, productive and profitable seed systems to contribute to the agriculture-led inclusive economic growth objective of the host government and USAID. S34D is contributing to Ethiopia’s mission to “build modern seed industry to ensure users’ timely access to required seed at the right quality”. There are several factors that contribute to the realization of this mission 1) Effective development, release, and registration of high-quality varieties, and 2) A vibrant market environment which enables public and private producers to produce, market and distribute seed effectively through multiple channels.
Background
Varietal selection is not only performed by formal seed system actors, such as research institutes, but also by farmers, who employ a range of practices to select and maintain their planting material. Examples include improving and maintaining local or adapted improved crop varieties and landraces. Farmers select varieties for adaptation to local conditions and preferences and thus strengthen and increase local agro-biodiversity. This practice enables farmers with coping mechanisms to minimize risks, stabilize livelihoods, and meet local needs – all key to strengthening resiliency at the grassroots level. Farmers’ traditional selection practices, enriched with formal sector selection methods, can help maintain the genetic diversity of crops. To support the conservation of local genetic diversity, there is a need for a variety registration system dedicated to farmers/pastoralists to register those diverse varieties resulting from their selection efforts.
S34D will support Ethiopia to create a road map on creating a farmer variety registration system, drawing on similar implementation efforts in other Global South countries such as – Laos, Nepal, Bolivia, Zimbabwe, and Zambia.
Description of Work
The objective of this consultancy is to develop a variety registration system road map. To meet this objective the consultant will conduct a review of national seed laws, identify key stakeholders, draft a roadmap template, facilitate convenings and workshops, determine stakeholders and their roles and responsibilities for roundtable discussions, facilitate and negotiate debates (if any), and contribute towards developing a roadmap with actionable steps to establish the system – focusing on policy and regulatory systems, overview of human and technical capacity needs, and implementation / operational strategy.
S34D with support from the current consultancy, will start off by initiating an approach to create a specific registration system – identify the needs, processes, technical capacities, and stakeholder mappings. S34D will identify the policy and regulatory needs to establish the variety registration system and a catalogue (that is publicly accessible) for landraces/farmers’ varieties. The system will be first conceptualized using learnings from countries that are already piloting farmer variety registration.
To learn and foster global South-South collaboration, S34D will conduct a convening with support from the consultant. The convening will host international and national stakeholders and Ethiopian policymakers in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. To do that, S34D with support from the Consultant will coordinate with MoA, Input regulatory authority, and with the Ethiopian Biodiversity Institute.
The outputs include: a roadmap with actionable steps established to create the system focusing on policy and regulatory systems, overview of human and technical capacity needs, and implementation / operational strategy.
- Period of Performance: The period of performance is from January 2023 till May 2023. Maximum 50 billable days.
Payment Methodology: First payment after deliverables 1, 2, and 3 have been approved by CRS. Second payment after 4, 5, and 6 have been completed and approved. Final payment upon completing and approval of deliverables 7,8 9 and 10.
Note: Travel costs will be reimbursed/ paid for by CRS upon prior written approval.
Requirements/Qualifications:
- Master’s degree in agriculture, plant breeding. Degree in law preferred.
- At least 5 years’ experience working in seed systems, access and benefit-sharing, FAO Plant Treaty (ITPGRF), CBD, and such.
- Established track-record of dealing with intellectual property right and debates surrounding those.
- Demonstrated experience in leading assessments and conducting Key Informant Interviews (KII) and Focus Group Discussions (FGD).
Application procedure:
- For consideration of this Scope of Work, submit the following information to S34D@crs.org by December 18, 2022: Current Curriculum Vitae, (maximum 4 pages) which specifically addresses the points in the requirements above, three referees; proposed daily rate as well as daily rates/fees for last three clients. All submissions should include subject line: TENDER No. CRS-SC-2022-54
- Superb connections with the MoA and EBI.
- Superb collaboration skills to work with a diverse set of partners, especially with Ethiopian stakeholders.
- Must demonstrate a publication track record.
- Excellent communication in English and a local vernacular.
- Must be an Ethiopian citizen.
How to Apply
https://www.crs.org/about/bid-opportunity Please visit the CRS.org website for the full scope of work and attachments.
The bid / proposal MUST include all the following information. Failure to include all the required information may be considered non-responsive and may result in the disqualification of the Bidder.
1. Interested bidders are expected to fulfill the requirements stated here below.
– A valid and renewed Business License for the sector
Tax Identification Number (TIN) and Value Added Tax (VAT) Certificates.
2. Bids marked as:
Open Tender No. CRS-SC-2022-54
Consultancy Service to Develop a variety registration system
roadmap for farmers and pastoralists in Ethiopia
Swaziland St. Gulele Sub-city, Enkulal Fabrica,
P.O. Box 6592,
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
4. Please sign and rubber stamp your quotation before sending the document. The scanned copy of the technical and financial documents should be sent through email to S34D@crs.org with the subject line TENDER No. CRS-SC-2022-54 before December 18, 2022 3:00PM Eastern Time.
5. Bids received after the closing date and time will be automatically rejected.
6. Bidders are seriously advised to read and comply with the instructions provided in this bidding document.
7. CRS Ethiopia reserves the right to reject all or parts of this bid.