Consultancy on Developing/Reviewing and Updating an Agent Training Curriculum – RFP-UGA-SERV-2023-010 – Danish Refugee Council

Please find complete bid documents in the following link RFP-UGA-SERV-2023-010 Developing-Reviewing and Updating an Agent Training Curriculum

Terms of Reference (TOR)

Developing/Reviewing and Updating An Agent Training Curriculum

Who is the Danish Refugee Council

Founded in 1956, the Danish Refugee Council (DRC) is a leading international NGO and one of the few with a specific expertise in forced displacement. Active in 40 countries with 9,000 employees and supported by 7,500 volunteers, DRC protects, advocates, and builds sustainable futures for refugees and other displacement affected people and communities. DRC works during displacement at all stages: In the acute crisis, in displacement, when settling and integrating in a new place, or upon return. DRC provides protection and life-saving humanitarian assistance; supports displaced persons in becoming self-reliant and included into hosting societies; and works with civil society and responsible authorities to promote protection of rights and peaceful coexistence.

DRC has been present in Uganda since 1997, implementing projects across the country with a current focus on the refugee situation in the West Nile and southwest regions as well as a focus on non-refugee humanitarian and development needs in the northern and Karamoja regions of the country

Purpose of the consultancy

Danish Refugee Council (DRC) intends to engage a consultant/company to develop/ review and update an Agent/sub agent Training Curriculum that is in line with the Technical Assistance needs of its partner Omia Agribusiness Development group. The consultant/ company will review and update any existing training curriculum and roll it out to Omia agents/sub agents in an inclusive and gender sensitive manner to meet Omia’s needs. The consultant / company is also expected;

1. To develop/review and update any existing training curriculum on any of the 3 aspects of Value chains,Demo garden management ,Marketing and financial literacy
2. To work closely with the Omia and DRC RIF contact persons to ensure congruence with training curriculum needs and expectations;
3. To design training curriculum and a training script that can be easily used by The

Omia Agents and sub Agents; iv. To facilitate Training of Trainers (ToT) Workshops to 60 Omia agents/sub agents to rollout the Training Curriculum.

Background

The Refugee Investment Facility ( RIF) seeks to address the challenges of unemployment, lack of economic opportunity and limited access to services and goods that are faced by refugees and their host communities. The impact-linked loans provided through the RIF will allow the enterprises to maintain or build their focus on refugee and host community populations, grow their businesses, and be financially rewarded through interest rate reductions for direct and measurable impacts they have on the refugee and host communities they are serving. The RIF invests along four impact themes: increasing the employability of displacement affected populations; increasing decent employment for displacement affected populations; improving financial inclusion of displacement affected populations; and increasing access to relevant products and services for displacement affected populations.

Through the RIF, enterprises receive two types of support: (1) favourable financing through impact-linked loans and other financial instruments, (2) technical assistance for business development and refugee impact.

Impact-linked loans provide financing at concessional rates to impact organizations that are rewarded for achieving pre-agreed development outcomes. These loans will have longer tenors (~3-5 years) with the interest rates tied to achievement of outcomes (“better terms for better impact”). The more impact the organization achieves over the term of the loan, the lower its cost of financing. For the RIF, the interest rate for each company will be linked to one or more KPIs that relates directly back to impact themes of the facility, resulting in measurable impacts on decent work, capacity and skills, financial inclusion, and access to goods and services.

The RIF Technical Assistance Facility (TAF) is established to provide technical assistance to the RIF’s investees to support business growth and impact targets. While the impact-linked loans deployed by the RIF addresses key financing challenges for such enterprises, enabling business expansion, product and service delivery, and job creation by tailoring financing terms to the local context and individual enterprises, the target enterprises for the RIF will often need business development services and advisory on how to maximize impact in refugee communities to make the best use of the financing provided through the RIF.

Objective of the consultancy

The purpose of this consultancy is to support DRC in offereing Techincal Assistance in the form of quality Agent trainings to Omia’s Agents/Sub Agents through the development/ review and updating of a Training Curriculum in the areas of Value chains,Demo garden management ,Marketing and financial literacy

Scope of work and Methodology

A selected consultant/s will be expected to employ suitable methods/approach to develop/ reveiw and update the Agent’s training curriculum. The assignmnet design is expected to conform to ethical standards with clear quality control measures and adherence to ‘Do No Harm’ principles.

The Training Curriculum development/ review and updating should apply, but not be limited to, the following data collection methods:

Desk review

• A review of training curriculum developed by any partner.
• Gaps and needs assessment for Omia to understand its areas of focus with the three aspects mentioned above.

Field Visits

• Undertake a physical training curriculum roll out with Omia’s Agents/sub agents in Arua district

Expected deliverables

Indicative description tasks

Phase 1

Develop/Review and update an Agent Training curriculum

Draft Training curriculum developed/reviewed and updated

The consultant/ consulting firm develops an agent training curriculum to support Omia’s training

Phase 2

Roll Out of the training curriculum( ToTs) training workshop

ToT Training workshop conducted

Conduct workshops with over 60 Omia agents/sub agens to rollout the developed/reviewed and updated training curriculum

Phase 3

FinalAgent Training curriculum

developed/reviewed and updated

Feedback from Omia ,DRC and Igravity to submit the final training curriculum

Duration, timeline, and payment

The total expected duration to complete the assignment will be no more than 15 working days The consultant shall be prepared to complete the assignment no later than 26th January 2024.

Eligibility, qualification, and experience required

• Qualification:

– At least an Advanced Degree in agribusiness, Agriculture , Development studies, social sciences or other relevant field

• Experience:

– A minimum of 7 years of experienceproven in developing, reviewing and updating training curriculum in the areas of value chains, Demo Garden management, Marketing and financial literacy.

 Skills and knowledge:

• skills and knowledge in developing training curriculum within the humanitarian context
• Knowledge in Refugee humanitarian operations
• A solid understanding of country’s cultural/economic context
• Language requirements:
• Written and spoken fluency in English Language
• Working knowledge of Arabic, Kishwahili and Lugbara Languages is an advantage.

Technical supervision

Preference will be given to consultants/ companies experienced in working with the curriculum build in consultancy with the Agri-business sector . They are expected to have experience in providing Agri business trainings, curriculum development. They are expected to understand needs of refugees in Uganda and be familiar how to deliver trainings at Agent/sub agent level and in refugee settlements. An experience in producing concise reports and presentations, training modules and materials is required.

Location and support

The Consultant will be required to make visits to Arua district and consistently work with Omia alongside DRC focal persons.

Submission process

DRC invites Expressions of Interest (EOI) from firms, teams of individuals or individuals, with an experience and skills described above. The EOI must include:

1. A cover letter of no more than 3 pages introducing the conslutant/s team and how the skills and competencies described above are met, with concrete examples. Please also use this cover letter to indicate the consultants’ availability for the proposed period.
2. An outline of no more than 3 pages of the proposed methodology and indicative workplan.
3. A one-page budget of the offer, covering all major anticipated costs
4. A CV for the conslutant (s) – max 3 pages each, including 2 referees (with phone number and email address). The CVs submitted should be for those who will directly undertake the assignmnent ; most preferably, lead and co-lead. Changes in key personnel (lead or co-lead consultants) are not allowed after the contract is awarded.
5. Two samples of reports from previous training curriculum /reviews relevant to this consultancy –preferably within the Agr-business sector .

Only electronically submitted technical and financial proposals to [email protected] by 4th January 2024 will be considered.

Please find complete bid documents in the following link RFP-UGA-SERV-2023-010 Developing-Reviewing and Updating an Agent Training Curriculum

How to apply

Bids can be submitted by email to the following dedicated, controlled, & secure email address:

[email protected]

When Bids are emailed the following conditions shall be complied with:

• The RFP number shall be inserted in the Subject Heading of the email
• Separate emails shall be used for the ‘Financial Bid’ and ‘Technical Bid’, and the Subject Heading of the email shall indicate which type the email contains
  • The Financial Bid shall only contain the financial bid form, Annex A.2
  • The Technical Bid shall contain all other documents required by the tender as mentioned in section A. Administrative Evaluation, but excluding any pricing information
• Bid documents required, shall be included as an attachment to the email in PDF, JPEG, TIF format, or the same type of files provided as a ZIP file. Documents in MS Word or excel formats, will result in the bid being disqualified.
• Email attachments shall not exceed 4MB; otherwise the bidder shall send his bid in multiple emails.

Failure to comply with the above may disqualify the Bid.

DRC is not responsible for the failure of the Internet, network, server, or any other hardware, or software, used by either the Bidder or DRC in the processing of emails.

DRC is not responsible for the non-receipt of Bids submitted by email as part of the e-Tendering process.

Bids can be submitted in one of two ways; hardcopy or electronically. If the Bidder submits a Bid in both Hardcopy and electronically, DRC will choose the version that is the most advantageous to DRC.