APPLICATION DEADLINE: 5TH SEPTEMBER 2021
OLAM/GAIN HEALTH
REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL
THEMATIC AREA: NUTRITION TRAINING IN RURAL FARMING COMMUNITIES
PROJECT TITLE: CONSULTANCY FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF A NUTRITION TRAINING KIT FOR RURAL FARMING COMMUNITIES
PROJECT START DATE: 13TH SEPTEMBER 2021
PROJECT END DATE: 31ST JANUARY 2022
Background
Good nutrition is both an outcome of and key input for economic growth and social development, and is therefore of great interest to the private sector and governments alike.
Olam is a multi-national agri-business supplying food, feed and fibre to thousands of customers worldwide. Headquartered in Singapore and present in 60 countries worldwide, Olam is a farmer, supplier and a processor. Our team of over 80,000 full-time, seasonal and contract employees have built leadership positions in many of our businesses such as Cocoa, Coffee, Cotton, Edible Oils and Spices. As well as growing crops in our own orchards and estates, and operating some 160 process facilities, we source from a network of around 5 million farmers globally.
Through our purpose to ‘Re-imagine Global Agriculture and Food Systems, we aim to achieve positive impact for farming communities, our planet and all our stakeholders. One of the ways we do this is through support to over 700,000 smallholder farmers through sustainability initiatives that aim to improve their livelihoods, agricultural productivity, environment, and well-being, including nutrition.
Olam is therefore seeking one or more persons or entities on a consultancy basis to develop a nutrition training kit for smallholder farming communities. The training kit will include a handbook, a training visual aid, take-home materials and videos to reinforce key concepts. The content of the training shall include a standard core as well as sections that can be adapted to local context, starting with the Nigerian rural context.
Rural Nigeria is affected by some of the highest rates of malnutrition in the world, and yet it is also home to many of the smallholder farmers who grow export crops, such as Cocoa, that are hugely important to the Nigerian economy. The Nigerian cocoa farmer is often characterized as male, 55 years and above, having completed little or no schooling and living in communities with limited health and water infrastructure. However, this profile ‘hides’ the members of the cocoa farming households who are among the most nutritionally vulnerable groups, namely women and children, and who are also involved and/or impacted by the cocoa value chain.
Given the importance of good nutrition to productivity and social development, Olam is committed to a cocoa value chain that supports good nutrition for all. A specific training on nutrition is needed to empower cocoa-farming families with basic nutrition knowledge needed to eat safe, diversified and healthy diets, and, in turn, reap the many health and economic benefits that come with good nutrition.
Consultancy objective
The objective of this consultancy is to develop a training kit on nutrition that will be delivered to rural farming communities.
Consultancy context
This consultancy will be managed by Olam’s Corporate Responsibility & Sustainability (CR&S) Department (Corporate Function & Nigeria Cocoa), with technical collaboration from the Global Alliance on Improved Nutrition (GAIN).
The nutrition training kit should be suitable for a generic profile of rural adult learners, and especially women who will be a primary target trainee group. It should make use of illustration, visuals, and use only simple terminology. It must also be appropriate for people who not necessarily have nutrition expertise, such as agricultural extension workers, to deliver.
The training kit will be part of a broader training package delivered to farmers by Olam’s extension staff, who have important experience in training farmers and can provide insights on tried and tested approaches. Furthermore, the consultant should draw on their own experience and lessons on successful farmer training, as well as existing online research on best practices to develop the kit. Olam also has some existing experience in delivering nutrition training and some previous materials that be drawn on for inspiration or revamped for use in this kit.
Submission Process and Evaluation Criteria
Proposals for this engagement must be sent by email to crs.thinkin@olamnet.com with the subject line ‘Nutrition Training Kit Consulting Application – [Specify Part Number(s)]’ not later than 5 September 2021.
The following requirements indicate a list of the significant criteria against which proposals will be assessed. This list is not exhaustive and is provided to enhance the applicant’s ability to respond with substance.
▪ Evidence of experience of implementing similar work and description of previous relevant work (maximum 1 page)
▪ Detailed proposal explaining how the scope of work will be addressed, including ideas on how to make the materials appealing and digestible for the users (maximum 5 pages)
▪ Feasible work plan to ensure successful completion of deliverables (timelines)
▪ Budget and detailed budget justification (table plus no more than 1-page narrative of all-inclusive fees, including lump sum travel and subsistence costs)
▪ Possible challenges, strategies to overcome them, and opportunities envisaged in undertaking the consultancy assignment
▪ Resume or curriculum vitae of consultant or consultancy team members (maximum 2-page per person)
▪ References
