Alliance For A Green Revolution In Africa (AGRA)- Request For Proposal From Consultants For Developing Regulations To Support Implementation Of The Nigeria Seed Act

DEADLINE: 31ST MAY, 2022
ALLIANCE FOR A GREEN REVOLUTION IN AFRICA (AGRA)
REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL FOR CONSULTANCY SERVICES FOR DEVELOPING REGULATIONS TO SUPPORT IMPLEMENTATION OF THE NIGERIA SEED ACT

SYNOPSIS OF THE REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL

TERMS OF REFERENCE 
Developing Regulations to Support Implementation of the Nigeria Seed Act

(1) Background
A vibrant seed industry is key to ensuring agricultural productivity. A well-developed policy and regulatory framework will be critical to guarantee a functioning seed system that ensures farmers access to affordable, available, and appropriate quality seed. Globally, there is strong historical evidence that biological innovations embodied in seeds were the prime catalysts behind growth in crop yields and agricultural total factor productivity (Fernandez-Cornejo, 2004; Evenson and Gollin, 2003). The Nigeria Seed Council Act (2019) and the Plant Variety Protection Act (2021) are the primary legal instruments to date that provide the instruments for management and control of seed sector in Nigeria. The laws define institutional mandates, including issues around seed import and export, plant variety protection act, decentralization of quality assurance services and seed inspectorate services and variety release. However, there are still gaps and implementation challenges, due to the absence of complementary regulations that support the implementation of the new laws. For instance, while there is now a Plant Variety Protection (PVP) Act (2021) in place, the regulation still needs operational procedures and guidelines to be developed for the various component of the PVP system that will make acceptance and granting of rights visible and seamless for the PVP Office staffs and the intending applicants from anywhere in the world. The effectiveness of the policy instruments in governing the sector and providing the necessary incentives across various stakeholders depends on the enactment of complementary regulations, guidelines, and procedures to define implementation modalities, outline the roles and responsibilities of different actors, and strengthen the capacity of enforcement agencies.

AGRA therefore seeks to engage a consultant to help the organization and its partners in addressing the critical gaps in the policy, legal and regulatory environment, which affect the full implementation and operationalization of the new policy instruments. Some of the gaps include lack of enforcement of the NASC Act and no clear regulations on their activities around the National Variety Release Committee (NVRC). These challenges have been identified as some of the critical gaps affecting the availability, affordability, and accessibility of seed to the farmers and were identified during the SeedSAT assessments in March 2021. This work builds on the key recommendations emanating from these assessments and will seek to facilitate the operationalization of the and implementation of Nigeria Seed Council Act (2019?) and PVP Act (2021?) through supporting complementary regulations, guidelines, and procedures. While work has begun in certain areas, additional efforts are needed to help provide clarity on how specific provisions of the NASC Act will be implemented. It is also necessary to further develop procedures and guidelines which will further help bring the regulatory provisions down to the level of the common stakeholders and farmers who are beneficiaries of these national laws. This equally applies for the PVP Act for which an umbrella regulation has been developed but this has to be complemented with procedures and guidelines that will give clarity on how and who and where DUS Test will be conducted, the possibility of accepting DUS Test reports from other UPOV Member countries or how institutions can be contracted to conduct DUS Test for the Nigeria PVP Office in line with best practices

(2) Objectives of the assignment
The overall objective of this assignment is to enhance the capacity of National Agricultural Seeds Council (NASC) to deliver effective and efficient seed regulatory service.

(3) Scope of Work
The project overall goal is to contribute to strengthen Nigeria’s seed system by facilitating the development and strengthening of the needed regulations, guidelines, and procedures to ensure effective and efficient delivery of seed to the farmers and aimed at raising agricultural productivity in Nigeria. The specific objectives of the assignment are:

(1) Review the existing regulations and gaps around the NASC Act to identify the challenges and constraints affecting the full operationalization of the new law

(2) Develop regulations, guidelines, and procedures to define implementation modalities, outlining the roles and responsibilities of different actors and strengthen the capacity of enforcement agencies

(3) Mobilize stakeholders to participate in drafting of the regulations

(4) Facilitate validation of the developed regulations, guidelines and procedures with key seed sector stakeholders and the Federal Ministry of Justice department of Legal Drafting, and the production of final version for distribution.

(5) Facilitate capacity building of stakeholders and NASC Staff on the identified aspect requiring new regulations through a series of workshops

(6) Support development of awareness materials to raise awareness on the new regulations for public knowledge and buy in.

(4) Deliverables 
The Consultant is expected to deliver the following:

(1) Inception Report – the firm shall produce an Inception Report within 7 days after the contract is signed. The report shall provide a clear picture of how the Consultant understands the ToRs and intends to achieve the expected tasks. It shall highlight the proposed methodology and the work plan with timelines for all the tasks that the Consultant will undertake during the assignment.

(2) A comprehensive Report outlining the gaps- the consultant shall provide comprehensive report outlining the key gaps and constraints that might affect the full operationalization and implementation of the NASC and PVP Acts. This report will include strategies to address these challenges and the associated complimentary regulations, guidelines and procedures that will be needed to enhance the effectiveness of the new seed law in Nigeria.

(3) An outline of Regulations Under the NASC Act- the consultant shall provide a detailed document outlining the set of regulations, guidelines and procedures that would have been developed under the NASC Act. This document will outline the roles and responsibilities of different stakeholders within the seed sector policy and regulatory landscape in Nigeria, as well as the implementation modalities.

(4) Regulations for implementation of seed act developed with buy-in of stakeholders and submitted to Minister of Agriculture

All deliverables should be succinct but informative, and key points should be easily understandable to a wide range of AGRA teams. Deliverables should be submitted in English.

(5) Proposed Timetable and Duration of the Assignment
The assignment is estimated to take 120-man days including travel, spread over a 4-calendar month period estimated to commence in June 2022 to complete activities described above.

(6) Proposed payment schedule

Below is the proposed payment schedule.

(7) Location and nature of the assignment
The assignment is regional and should be carried out as per the schedule above, the consultant is required to periodically check in with AGRA team.

(8) Reporting arrangements
The consultancy team shall report to the Head of Seed Research and Systems, and Country Manager in Nigeria.

(9) Copyright
All materials/documents arising out of this consultancy work shall remain the property of AGRA.

(10) Firms Qualifications and Experience Required 
The assignment will be carried out by a consulting firm that has expertise in agriculture, seed regulation and seed system. Successful firm must present a team that demonstrate the key expertise shared below:

(1) Team Leader 

• A master’s degree (PhD preferred) in gender in agriculture, agronomy, development economics, law, seed regulation, economics specializing in seed systems or related field.
• Minimum 8 years of experience in Seed Systems regulation related work and assessments on the African continent including strategy and investment plan design.
• Evidence of knowledge and demonstration of supporting development of policy and regulatory reforms, guidelines, and procedures in seed systems.
• Deep knowledge and experience in seed systems, competent in analytics and deep understanding and experience of models for different elements of seed systems. The consultant must possess a sound reputation with demonstrated in-depth knowledge of public and private sector-led agriculture in Africa
• Past related experience in agricultural systems, value chains, seed regulatory systems in sub-Saharan Africa.
• Previous experience of conducting similar analyses of African agriculture
• In-country presence in and deep knowledge of target AGRA priority countries
• Demonstrated in-depth knowledge of the policy landscape in Nigeria
• Experience in working with government agencies, private sector and development partners is an added advantage.
• Good references for reliability, dedication, and an ability to work unsupervised.
• Previous experience in providing technical support/conducting assessments to the AGRA target countries is an advantage.

(2) Other Key personnel 

• Advanced degree in economics/statistics/ agriculture or related field, with additional experience in agricultural systems, value chains, seed regulatory systems in sub-Saharan Africa.
• Previous experience of conducting similar analyses of African agriculture
• Excellent communication skills, both spoken and written.
• Fluency in English and French is desirable.

(11) Evaluation Criteria
Interested firms shall be evaluated against the following technical criteria:

(1) Organizational  Capacity………………………………………………20%

Consulting firm profile, staffing, geographical presence, list of clients, company accreditations and certifications.

(2) Experience in agriculture and seed systems…………………….………25%

(1) Have over 10 years of experience in gender and agriculture/seed system and governance/ food value chain and institutional development at global, regional, and national level.

(2) In-country presence in and deep knowledge of target AGRA priority countries

(3) Experience in working with government agencies, private sector and development partners is an added advantage General experience in related services or projects.

(4) List of current and past clients and their contact details.

(3) Proposed approach, methodology and work plan………………….25% 

Understanding of the project/assignment requirements, practicality of the proposed methodology relative to the context of the assignment, proposed work plan, staffing schedule, risk assessment and mitigation strategies integrated into the assignment, planning, appropriateness of the implementation schedule to the project timelines and project quality assurance measures.

(4) Experience and Qualification of key personnel………………………30%

(1) Team Leader (20%)

(2) Other key experts (10%)

Total Score………………………………………………………………..100%

NB: Selection Method – Quality Based Selection (QBS)

(12) Pre-Bid Meeting
A pre-bid meeting has been scheduled as per the timeline summarized in the synopsis above. The purpose of the pre-bid meeting is to respond to bidder’s questions and provide further clarification on the objectives and scope of the assignment.

Interested bidders are required to register on the link provided in the synopsis. A calendar invite will be shared to bidders who have registered by the deadline indicated above.

(13) Application Submission Requirements 
(1) Technical Proposal

(1) Firms’ registration documents Company profile, Certifications, and accreditations.

(2) Proposed Methodology, approach and workplan with clear timelines.

(3) Detailed reference list indicating the scope and magnitude of similar assignments carried out.

(4) Proposed key staff, their roles including their CVs, academic and professional certificates.

(5) The technical proposal shall not exceed 20 pages. CVs and copies of academic certificates may be attached as annexes.

(2) Financial Proposal 
(1) The firm shall provide a financial proposal for carrying out the assignment. The breakdown of unit and total fees per person (for each proposed consultant) shall be provided. Use the templates provided under Annexes A, B and C for the financial proposal.

(2) Reimbursable costs if applicable shall be quoted separately.  These will be reimbursed based on actual cost incurred.

(3) Professional Fee quoted shall include all applicable Withholding TAX.

(4) VAT shall be quoted separately and is only applicable to firms registered in the following countries (Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Ghana, and Mozambique).

(5) If the financial proposal is silent on taxes, AGRA shall assume that these are inclusive.

(6) Prices must be quoted in USD ($). Contracting and Payment will be made in USD and bidders are encouraged to have a USD bank accounts

(7) The financial proposal shall be sent as a separate attachment and MUST be password protected.

(14) Guidelines for Preparations and Submission of Proposals 
(1) The Proposals shall be prepared in English Language.

(2) The proposals SHALL be submitted to procurement@agra.org by the deadline indicated in the synopsis.

(3) The technical proposal shall not exceed 20 pages.

(4) The proposal and ALL Attachments submitted via email SHALL NOT exceed 10MB.

(5) VALIDITY of the proposal shall be for a period of 90 days from the date of bid closure.

(6) Financial proposal shall be sent as a separate attachment and MUST be password protected. The password shall be requested from firms that meet the minimum technical score of 75%.

Click to Download RFP Document