Fee: Maximum £15,000 (All inclusive)
Closing date: 17:00 GMT, 7 February 2022
Background to the assignment
One of the objectives of the Supply Side Connectivity Cluster (SSCC) is to identify potential disruptive effects of digital innovations on the agricultural and fisheries value chains. A survey conducted by the Secretariat regarding priority areas for the member countries identified the need to enhance the Commonwealth’s digital agriculture/fisheries ecosystem through capacity building on digital technologies, digital literacy, peer to peer learning for MSMEs. Training and capacity building is key to the growth of the MSMEs sector. Harnessing the potentials of digital innovations to effectively support MSMEs’ participation in the agricultural and fisheries value chains will enable the Commonwealth to promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth.
The main goal of the capacity building activity therefore is to support business development of MSMEs within the agricultural, fisheries, and digital sectors in the Commonwealth, by addressing the constraints regarding market and facilitating more effective trade and supply chain services through business development services (BDS). Specifically, the activity focuses on:
- Coaching on innovative models in marketing, resourcing, and scaling products and services through digitalisation,
- Providing opportunities for digitising internal business processes as a condition for digitalisation
- Enabling approaches that better leverage digitalisation for business process by MSMEs,
- Providing opportunities for business to business (B2B) connection between agricultural/fisheries MSMEs, digital innovators and other actors across the Commonwealth.
About 22 MSMEs were identified through an online call and a series of screening processes in the first half of 2021 to benefit as the first cohort of the activity. The first phase of diagnosis and goal setting for the MSMEs took place between July and December 2021. This led to a better understanding of the enterprises including their current profiles, market plans, and ideas on outreach strategies among others.
Scope of the requirement
The consultant/consulting firm/consortium is being engaged to contribute to the business development capacity building for the selected MSMEs during the second phase as part of the Secretariat interventions. In consultation with the Secretariat, the consultant/consulting firm/consortium will work with the selected MSMEs focussing on the following and bearing in mind the role of digitalisation in supporting the businesses.
As outlined in the objectives above, the focus going forward during Phase II is to enable the enterprises to identify innovative models for financial resourcing, marketing, and scaling of their products and services through digitalisation. This may cover areas such as supporting them to better define their operating values; nurturing culture for innovation and intrapreneurship; boosting access to technology for production and marketing; supporting alternative sales and promotion channel development; supporting 2-3 years business plan development; and identifying potential partners for market and funds.
To be considered for this opportunity, you will need;
Education:
- Degree in ICTs, business administration, economics, agribusiness or other relevant fields.
Experience:
- 5+ years’ experience in agriculture and food systems in the Commonwealth regions.
- Experience in accelerator/incubation/coaching programmes for start-ups including mentorships, seed funding, software development support, training, growth strategy and networking opportunities.
- Experience working with the private sector and government officials
Skills:
- Excellent written and oral communication skills.
- Knowledge of least developed countries (LDC) and small island developing states (SIDS) context is an advantage.
Please apply for this contract by submitting a Technical and Commercial proposal to [email protected] by 7 February 2022.
Prices quoted should include VAT but must indicate clearly where VAT is applicable and where items might be zero-rated.
Evaluation will be based on both competency and cost.
Closing date: 17:00 GMT, 7 February 2022