Request for Proposal. Technological innovation to improve market access and entrepreneurship for smallholders

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1 Request for Proposal Technological innovation to improve market access and entrepreneurship for smallholders The purpose of the present request for proposals is to improve market access and entrepreneurship for smallholders. BACKGROUND IFAD s goal is to empower poor rural women and men in developing countries to improve their incomes and food security. To do this, IFAD works with national and local governments, farmer s and civil society organisations, and the private sector focusing on country-specific solutions for increasing poor rural people's access to financial services, markets, technology, land, water and other natural resources. Building poor rural household s and communities resilience to climate and market shocks and enhance their nutrition security are other important focus areas for facilitating their sustainable exit from poverty. The purpose of the present request for proposals is to identify, through a competitive selection process, a technical assistance provider specialized in the deployment of mobile technology to design and pilot the use of a mobile technology platform that complements existing in-country efforts to connect smallholders to more and better markets as well as to new financial resources in El Salvador and Honduras, and to support the expansion and deployment of an existing technology platform, the egranery, from Kenya to Uganda. All data digitally collected through the pilot should be aggregated and processed in a central platform where IFAD can use the information to promote smallholder access to markets and financial services. The mobile technology to be used in the grant will be based on existing market solutions and will be deployed on top of existing IFAD programmes and leverage project infrastructure and resources, enabling greater geographic and application scope. OBJECTIVES The private sector has become the growth engine in rural economies as a main source of investment and plays a critical role in developing much needed rural financial infrastructure. Therefore, connecting smallholders to the private sector to lift rural populations out of poverty has been one of IFAD s core objectives. However, IFAD struggles to fulfill this objective as it faces numerous constraints in assisting the private sector to build partnerships with smallholders; in particular lack of information on small producers production levels and the quality of their produced goods is a barrier to facilitating market linkages. Private sector actors usually require this type of detailed information to source from smallholders directly. Although IFAD s vast portfolio of smallholder projects can, in theory, be leveraged to link private sector players with project beneficiaries, IFAD currently lacks a structured system for collecting, storing, and analyzing consistent, timely, and easily accessible information on smallholders in its project portfolio. Luckily, digital technology, and the widespread access of smallholder farmers to mobile phones, presents a viable approach for cost-effectively data collecting. This provides on opportunity for IFAD to connect private sector actors to farmers and unlock greater access to formal markets.

2 FUNDING AND DURATION The IFAD funding for this proposal is provided through a grant for which the proposal will be subject to further review and clearance by IFAD senior management and subsequent approval by IFAD s Executive Board. The approved grant will be awarded to the organization or a lead organisation (in case of a consortium) which has been selected as grant recipient. The grant amount is up to USD Co-financing (incash and/or in-kind, preferably in the range of minimum 15%) of the IFAD grant-financing amount provided by the applicant and any additional co-financing is part of the selection criteria. The duration of the programme will be three years following the approval by the Executive Board of IFAD. The expected date to initiate the grant on the field is early/mid MODALITIES OF PARTICIPATION Recipients of IFAD grants can include developing Member States, intergovernmental organizations (including United Nations agencies and Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research centres), civil society organizations, academic institutions and the private sector. Each institution can decide to submit alone or jointly with other partner(s); in that case, the lead institution who will enter into a legal agreement with IFAD - should be clearly identified and roles and responsibilities of the other partners and national implementing agencies be explicitly stated within the submitted proposal. Complete proposal must include all documentation indicated in the `Submission template` document downloadable in the United Nations Global Market Place ( UNGM ) indicated below. Proposals have to be submitted using the template in English. Proposals together with all supporting documentation must be submitted by 29 May at 15:00 CEST through the UNGM. Those received after the deadline will not be considered, while the ones received by the indicated deadline and deemed to be compliant with the requirements set out in this call for applications will be evaluated in accordance with the process. Applicants are given until 19 May at 15:00 CEST to send eventual questions and requests for clarifications through the correspondence function in the UNGM. Response to clarification enquires will be issued by IFAD through the UNGM. Applicants should be aware that receipt of grant funds are subject to IFAD s internal clearances and approvals following the selection process. IFAD reserves the right not to appoint any successful applicants if the quality of the received applications is not deemed sufficient or does not meet IFAD requirements.

3 INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW TO ACCESS RFP/ITB DOCUMENTS: In order to have access to the Tender Documents, it is necessary to register in UNGM portal ( Please read the instructions that follow this page on how to register and have access to the tender documents. DEADLINE: Your proposal should be submitted through UNGM portal by 29 May at 15:00 CEST. REFERENCE CODE: IFAD/2017/001-GS/RFP CONTACTS: Na Eun Choi Administrative Services Analyst Tel

4 INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW TO ACCESS THE ITB/RFP DOCUMENTS The IFAD e-tendering system, In-tend, is integrated with the United Nations Global Marketplace portal ( Below some instructions on how to access the tender documentation. 1. REGISTRATION IN UNGM To access the tender documents, you need to be fully registered in UNGM (Basic Level is sufficient). Follow the instructions and define your UNGM LOG-IN account (your ) and password. 2. LOG-IN IN UNGM Once the registration at Basic Level is complete, please log-in with your address and password

5 Please ensure that your BASIC REGISTRATION in UNGM with IFAD is complete. If not, please add the information requested by the UNGM system before proceeding. 3. SEARCH FOR THE TENDER NOTICE ISSUED BY IFAD From the UNGM Home page, select BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES, or from any other webpage, select TENDER NOTICES on the left-hand menu. Click on SHOW MORE CRITERIA on the upper right side.

6 In the UN Organization Field, type IFAD. The system will automatically show all the active tender notices issued by IFAD. On the right side of each line, you will see a green button with either EXPRESS INTEREST (if this is the first time) or VIEW DOCUMENTS. In case of first access, click on EXPRESS INTEREST to notify IFAD that you are interested in participating in this Tender. After few seconds, the button will change in a green button VIEW DOCUMENTS. Click on this VIEW DOCUMENTS button (on the left side) to have access to the tender documents.

7 4. TENDER MANAGEMENT You will be transferred from the UNGM portal to the IFAD e-tendering system. Management screen should appear. The following Tender At any time you will be able to return to UNGM by selecting the UNGM tab on the upper menu. IMPORTANT: If it does not show the Tender Management screen, please inform immediately IFAD You are now in the IFAD e-tendering system. Under this area you have few menu tabs. TENDER: General information about this tender BIDDING PROCESS: IMPORTANT! here there is the deadline plus all the documents of the tender process (RFP or ITB). In the same area, you have the placeholders for uploading your proposal and all your documents. CORRESPONDENCE: an area where you can write and receive answers from IFAD CLARIFICATIONS: an area for reading the clarifications issued by IFAD and made available to all bidders. Please ensure to read all the clarifications as they become part of the specifications. HISTORY: a log of past activities related to this tender. If you click on UNGM in the upper menu, you can return to the UNGM home page

8 From this point onward, we think that the system is more intuitive and you will be able to navigate without major difficulties. But if you have questions, please contact us using the CORRESPONDENCE function of the e-tendering system or via at 5. IF YOU RE-ENTER UNGM AT A LATER STAGE There is a short-cut to the tender notices. After the LOGIN in UNGM, you can select the Menu option MY TENDERS/CONTRACTS, under the Vendor Menu on the left side of the UNGM main page. Again, click on VIEW DOCUMENTS to see the details of the Tender Notice and its document.

9 6. HOW TO DOWNLOAD THE TENDER DOCUMENTS In the TENDER MANAGEMENT, select the BIDDING PROCESS menu tab, scroll down until the section TENDER DOCUMENTS RECEIVED, and download all documents. 7. HOW TO ATTACH & SUBMIT DOCUMENTS 1. If any mandatory documents have been requested, they will be shown in the MY TENDER RETURN section against a Red button. You will need to attach them using the Attach Documents button within the My Tender Return section to the bottom of this screen. 2. If a Questionnaire is required to be completed, it will be shown in Red and marked Not Started in the My Tender Return section. It is mandatory that any Questionnaire s must be completed. 3. To attach additional documents you wish to submit as part of your tender return, click the Attach Documents button under the My Tender Return section (if available). These will then appear in the My Tender Return section. NOTE : Large files may take some time to upload. We advise you to keep the files under 5MB. 4. IMPORTANT : When you have completed all the above steps and are ready to submit your tender return, click the red Submit Return at the bottom of this page.

10 8. IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS Please note that the UNGM system has been recently upgraded, and it may present some issues. We apologise for any inconvenience caused. In case, you can also contact directly via or over the phone. Na Eun Choi Administrative Services Analyst Tel