Cultivating New Frontiers In Agriculture (CNFA)- Expression Of Interest For The Development Of Ebonyi State Aquaculture Policy

DEADLINE: 20TH JANUARY, 2022
CULTIVATING NEW FRONTIERS IN AGRICULTURE (CNFA)
DEVELOPMENT OF EBONYI STATE AQUACULTURE POLICY– (514)
JOB TITLE: DEVELOPMENT OF EBONYI STATE AQUACULTURE POLICY
LOCATION: NG (PRIMARY)
CATEGORY: PROCUREMENT

JOB DESCRIPTION

Section 1: Introduction, Technical Background and Scope of Work

(1.1)  Introduction: The five-year USAID Feed the Future Nigeria Agribusiness Investment Activity [The Activity], implemented by Cultivating New Frontiers in Agriculture (CNFA) with Connexus Corporation and J.E. Austin Associates as subcontractors, aims to strengthen the enabling environment for agribusiness finance and investment. To achieve this goal, the Activity focuses on four interrelated components: (i) improving the enabling environment for agricultural sector growth; (ii) broadening access to finance by mitigating the credit risks of agribusinesses; (iii) promoting and facilitating investment opportunities for agribusinesses to expand and scale up operations; and (iv) sustainably enhancing the performance of agribusiness micro, small and medium size enterprises (MSMEs). In line with the U.S. and Nigerian governments’ commitment to growing the non-oil-based economy, these efforts will increase the depth, breadth, dynamism, and competitiveness of Nigeria’s agribusiness sector. The Activity operates in seven states of Benue, Cross River, Delta, Ebonyi, Kaduna, Niger and Kebbi along soybean, maize, aquaculture, rice, and cowpea value chains.

Ebonyi State is recognized as one of the foremost states in Nigeria with high potential for agricultural investment due largely to its fisheries and aquaculture resources. The state shares a border with Benue State to the North, Enugu State to the west, Imo, and Abia States to the south and Cross River State to the east. Over 50% of the population in the state are rural dwellers with an estimated urban population of above 40%, clearly showing a potential for growth and promising huge investment opportunities for entrepreneurs and investors.

It is one of the states in the South East geopolitical zone of Nigeria that is evolving as a fisheries and aquaculture hub even though aquaculture has been practiced more at the subsistence level and not as a business by smallholder fish farmers. The interventions by government have always been in the form of grants which are limiting in scope and reach, with limited impact on the farming population.

The State Government is increasingly expanding the opportunities to create an improved enabling environment through the prioritization of the fisheries and aquaculture value chain by developing programs and projects that will attract finance and investment into the sub-sector. Similarly, these programs and projects of the government are focused on economic growth and prioritized the need for diversification, youth employment and gender inclusivity in the agricultural space for sustainable development of the aquaculture value chain.

The Ebonyi State Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (EBMARD) organized a Public Private Dialogue (PPD) on Wednesday 28th October 2020, with the theme: Harnessing the Ebonyi State’s Fisheries and Aquaculture Value Chain – An investment and Finance Public Private Dialogue with the support of the Activity. The Aquaculture value chain PPD in Ebonyi State brought together public sector officials and leading private sector agribusinesses and producers to review the existing policy of the sub-sector and determine priority actions to make it more responsive to the opportunities and development of the Aquaculture value chain.

Some critical issues were identified in the PPD notably the unavailability and affordability of inputs such as fingerlings, feeds, and poor infrastructure to support the sub sector. At the end of the PPD, participants agreed on the need to develop an effective policy that will address the bottlenecks in the legal and regulatory framework in the aquaculture sub sector and bring the efforts of operators to the limelight. Given the economic importance of the aquaculture sub-sector to the agricultural ecosystem in Ebonyi State, the Activity signed an MOU with Ebonyi State to provide short term technical assistance to develop an effective policy of the aquaculture value chain that will reinvigorate the sub sector in ensuring local food security and supporting the state agricultural sector. The policy will among others, ensure the availability of high quality, low priced inputs by setting a viable and conducive working environment that attracts private investment to the sector.

The broad objective is to promote a competitive soybean value chain by creating a level playing field for all stakeholders in the value chain aimed at ensuring a conducive business enabling environment and a competitive market for empowering smallholder farmers in a sustainable manner in the state. This will entail the following:

To transform the aquaculture value chain into a highly competitive and mature market driven by strong price competition, high level market concentration and increase in private sector investment.

To increase the level of complementarity between the state agricultural policy on the one hand and aquaculture policy on the other to bring to the limelight the competitive and comparative advantages of the aquaculture value chain in the state.

To open up more opportunities in the development of aquaculture production in the state

To reduce the cost of aquaculture production inputs that would enhance profitability and consequently increase aquaculture production for sustainable food security of the country

To increase levels of concentration, specialization, vertical integration, and economies of scale in the value chain to enable small producers compete with fast expanding and highly efficient trade on aquaculture.

To improve the economic viability of aquaculture in the state by encouraging the smallholder-based production systems to diversify production, generate income, and capture positive rotation effects that improve productivity of other crops being grown.

To improve the standard of living of small-scale aquaculture growing farmers by enabling/empowering them to be self-reliant through supply of high yielding planting materials, providing agronomic support, assisting in adopting advanced agronomic practices, providing market linkages, and sharing experiences of research and development on aquaculture value chain.

To understand the roles, opportunities and constraints faced by women and youth to promote their inclusion in the value chain development.

To focus on skill development and awareness raising mainly in the context of specific value chain nodes so that women and youth can effectively participate as producers, input suppliers, processors, and marketers.

Offerors are responsible for ensuring that their offers are received by CNFA in accordance with the instructions, terms, and conditions described in this RFP. Failure to adhere with instructions described in this RFP may lead to disqualification of an offer from consideration.

CNFA will consider proposals in response to this RFP from eligible Independent Consultants and Firms.

Application Submission
Offer Deadline and Protocol:  Offers must be received not later than 5:00PM, WAT on 20 January, 2022. Offers must be submitted by email to operations@ag-invest.org.

Please reference the RFP number in any response to this RFP. Offers received after the specified time and date will be considered late and will be considered only at the discretion of CNFA. The cover page of this solicitation summarizes the important dates of the solicitation process. Offerors must strictly follow the provided deadlines to be considered for award.

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