REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS ON FOOD SAFETY ADVOCACY GUIDELINES AND TOOLS DEVELOPMENT

Ensuring food safety is a critical component of sustainable food systems transformation. Food safety is crucial for public health and sustainable development. In general, food safety practices are inconsistent or lacking, leading to increased risks of foodborne illnesses. There is a need for a comprehensive, strategic approach to food safety advocacy that can influence policy, enhance stakeholder capacity, and encourage behaviour change at all levels of the food supply chain.

Ethiopia has developed Food safety and quality strategy for primary Agricultural produce (2024 – 2030) . As part of implementation of the food safety plan, Advocacy strategy and tool development are crucial for effectively promoting food safety issues and driving systemic change at all levels.

GAIN in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Office seeks a consulting firm to develop food safety advocacy guidelines and tools. The purpose of this document is to strengthen efforts to promote food safety awareness, and best practices among stakeholders and food safety actors, including policymakers, farmers, cooperatives, food producers and processors, food collectors and transporters, distributes, storage, wholesalers and retailers, consumers, and public health officials as well as development partners.

1.2. OBJECTIVE

The objective is to support the development of an advocacy guideline and tool . This includes designing a practical and comprehensive tool that facilitates the implementation of Ethiopia’s Food Safety Strategy, promotes synergy among stakeholders, and strengthens collaboration within the food safety ecosystem. The consultant will review existing frameworks, identify gaps, develop the tool/guideline and propose actionable recommendations.

1.4. SCOPE OF WORK AND DELIVERABLES

1.4.1. SCOPE OF WORK

The consulting firm will be responsible to develop, validate, and deliver the Ethiopian Food Safety Advocacy Guideline and Tool.
The scope of the work includes

1.Conduct a Comprehensive Review:
▪Review Ethiopia’s Food Safety Strategy, relevant policies, and existing frameworks to and Identify gaps in advocacy, knowledge, and implementation of food safety practices across different sectors.
▪Review international experience on food safety advocacy materials
▪Consult with key stakeholders (government agencies, civil society organizations, food producers, consumer groups, etc.) to gather input on current challenges and needs.

2. Develop advocacy guidelines:
▪ Developing advocacy guidelines for food safety that clearly define key objectives, messages, and strategies for influencing policy and practice in different contexts.
▪
Provide actionable steps and recommendations for improving food safety awareness and policy formulation at national and regional levels.

3. Design advocacy tools:
Develop practical tools that can be used by various stakeholders, such as:
▪Fact sheets and infographics on food safety topics.
▪Social media templates to engage and raise awareness about food safety
▪Ensure that these tools are adaptable to different audiences (e.g., government bodies, NGOs, the private sector, general public).

4.Incorporate Feedback from Technical Experts:
▪Share the draft tool with a core technical team for review.
▪Incorporate feedback to refine the content and structure of the tool.

5. Validation of the guidelines and Tool:
Organize a validation workshop to present the draft tool to key stakeholders, including food safety experts, policymakers, and technical advisors.
▪ Collect inputs and recommendations during the validation process to address any gaps or areas of improvement.

6. Finalize and Deliver the Advocacy guidelines and Tool:
▪Revise the tool based on feedback from the validation process.
▪ Provide a finalized, high-quality advocacy guidelines and tools in both digital and print-ready formats.

1.4.2 METHODOLOGY

The consultancy firm or consultant is expected to use a participatory approach involving key stakeholders in the development process. Key activities will include:

•Desk review of existing materials, policies, and reports on food safety.
•Stakeholder consultations through interviews, focus groups, or surveys.
• Collaboration with local experts, government representatives, NGOs, and other stakeholders to ensure relevance and feasibility of the developed tools and guidelines.

1.4.3. DELIVERABLES

The consulting firm will provide the following deliverables:

1. Inception Report:

o A detailed report outlining the consultant’s understanding of the assignment, methodology, work plan, and timeline Including Initial analysis of Ethiopia’s Food Safety Strategy and relevant frameworks.

2.Advocacy Guidelines Document:

o A comprehensive guide outlining advocacy strategies, key messages, and approaches for food safety promotion.

3. Advocacy Tools Package:

o A collection of practical, user-friendly tools ( such as fact sheets, social media materials, training manual, messages to different stakeholders.) to be used by stakeholders in the advocacy efforts.

Qualification and Experience and Team composition

Qualification

The consulting firm must possess the following minimum academic and professional qualifications:
Academic Credentials: a minimum of a Master’s degree (or equivalent) in one or more of the following disciplines

Food Safety /Food science

•Social and Behavioural Change Sciences
•Advocacy, Strategic Communication, or Public Engagement
• Related interdisciplinary fields (e.g., public health, policy analysis, or applied social sciences).

Experience

The consulting firm should have the following experiences:

•A team with expertise in food safety, policy advocacy, and communication.
•Experience in developing advocacy tools and guidelines for public health or food safety issues.
•Proven track record in working with stakeholders across government, civil society, and private sector.
• Ability to produce high-quality, user-friendly materials tailored to diverse audiences.

Team composition

Team Lead ——————————————One

Communication/advocacy Specialist—————At least one

Food safety specialist——————————-At least one

EVALUATION CRITERIA

Proposals will be reviewed by the Selection Team. The following indicate a list of the significant criteria against which proposals will be assessed. This list is not exhaustive or 100% inclusive and is provided to enhance the applicants’ ability to respond with substance.
Applicants are required to submit the following information, conforming to the guidelines given in this section:

•Understanding of the scope of work:

o Proposal shall demonstrate a clear understanding of the project objective and deliverables as outlined in Section I.

• Demonstrate a clear understanding of the technical requirements of this RFP:

o Providing detailed technical documentation of the proposed strategy.
o Evidence of experience delivering solutions using the proposed information technology platform.

• The creative and methodological approaches required to implement each of the parts of the scope of work.

• Comprehensiveness of work plan and reasonableness of proposed time frame:

o Proposal shall include a feasible work plan to ensure successful completion of deliverables.
o The work plan details how activities will be coordinated.

• Detailed budget and cost-effectiveness of proposed approach:

o Evidence of cost-effective approaches to undertaking the scope of work within the proposed budget.
o Proposal shall identify possible challenges and include creative approaches to addressing them.

• Management and personnel plan:

o The team members working on this project shall have the relevant qualifications and overall experience required to successfully implement the project.
o Roles and responsibilities of each team member shall be clearly defined. GAIN shall have one main contact person clearly identified in the proposal.

• A duly completed offer of services.

For any clarification please contact the following email,

Genet Gebremedhin – Head of Policy and Advocacy email Genet Email- ggebremedhin@gainhealth.org