Global Alliance For Improved Nutrition (GAIN)- Request For Proposals For Raw Materials Quality, Handling Finished Product Packaging And Storage Material Specification To Meet Quality And Regulatory Standards In Nigeria

DEADLINE: 14TH OCTOBER, 2022
GLOBAL ALLIANCE FOR IMPROVED NUTRITION (GAIN)
REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS FOR RAW MATERIALS QUALITY, HANDLING FINISHED PRODUCT PACKAGING AND STORAGE MATERIAL SPECIFICATION TO MEET QUALITY AND REGULATORY STANDARDS IN NIGERIA

(1) ABOUT GAIN
The Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) is a Swiss-based foundation launched at the UN in 2002 to tackle the human suffering caused by malnutrition. Working with both governments and businesses, we aim to transform food systems so that they deliver more nutritious food for all people.

At GAIN, we believe that everyone in the world should have access to nutritious and safe food. We work to understand and deliver specific solutions to the daily challenge of food insecurity faced by poor people. By understanding that there is no “one-size-fits-all” model, we develop alliances and build tailored programmes, using a variety of flexible models and approaches.

We build alliances between governments, local and global businesses, and civil society to deliver sustainable improvements at scale. We are part of a global network of partners working together to create sustainable solutions to malnutrition. Through alliances, we provide technical, financial and policy support to key participants in the food system. We use specific learning, evidence of impact, and results of projects and programmes to shape and influence the actions of others.

Headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, GAIN has representative offices in Denmark, The Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In addition, we have country offices in Bangladesh, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Tanzania. Programmes and projects are carried out in a variety of other countries, particularly in Africa and Asia.

GAIN’s Workforce Nutrition programme aims to improve the nutrition of workers and farmers in low and middle- income countries or communities. The programme focuses on improving the access and demand for healthier diets using existing business structures as an entry point (workplaces or supply chains). GAIN began its workforce nutrition programme in 2013 and has reached over 230,000 estate workers, smallholder farmers and their families in the tea, cocoa and garment supply chain across Africa and Asia. We currently work with partners in the tea sector (India, Kenya, and Malawi), cocoa sector (Ghana), garment sector (Bangladesh), and we are running pilots in a variety of industry sectors in Mozambique.

Our work on biofortified crops aims to scale access to and demand for nutrient-dense varieties of commonly consumed staples such as maize, sweet potato and cassava through targeted support to address challenges and constraints to increased production and consumption of these foods. We do this through market development and commercialization, such as in our partnership with Harvest Plus and through non-commercial pathways focused on farming households and public procurement systems.

A key part of our approach is improving the enabling environment for biofortified seeds, crops and food products through advocacy, catalytic financing, and the licensing of technology and related services. GAIN supports businesses, especially micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), through most of our programmatic offerings. This support is coordinated through the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Business Network (SBN), which is convened by GAIN in Nigeria and was launched in 2016 to improve and strengthen the private sector’s contribution to nutrition. The Network has supported businesses with brokering business-to-business linkages, facilitating connections to government and other sectors, including development partners, and capacity building for MSMEs to address critical barriers to start, grow and scale their business. Specific support areas include access to finance, access to markets, quality control and assurance in their production processes, and food safety and nutrition education.

(2) BACKGROUND
The Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) is issuing this Request for Proposal (RFP) and will be the administrative lead organisation for this RFP.

The purpose of this RFP is to engage services of a Service Provider to conduct targeted training(s) for processors and businesses on raw materials quality, manufacturing process, handling, material balance, finished product packaging and storage material specification to meet quality and regulatory standards with a specific focus on women-led businesses functioning in four (4) selected Local Government Areas (LGAs) in each of the four selected states of Kaduna, Benue, Nasarawa and Oyo in the Vitamin A Cassava, Vitamin A Maize, Rice and Orange-Fleshed Sweet Potato value chains. This activity is part of our targeted intervention to support and strengthen the efficiency of supply chain actors operating in selected priority value chains.

The Strengthening Nutrition in Priority Staples project is currently implemented by The Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition in partnership with GIZ and the Green Innovation Centre for the Agricultural and Food Sector in Nigeria (GIC), with support from the German Government through the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). The Strengthening nutrition project will strengthen the GIC priority value chains and improve food security and safety through improved diets for farmers, farm workers, other workers in businesses in these value chains, and among the wider population in Nigeria. The business support component will empower women and young people and unleash the creativity and energy of youth and women to support their families, succeed in agri-business and attempt to tackle malnutrition, prevent food borne illnesses as well as food and social insecurity. This workstream will increase women and youth involvement in value-added agriculture and entrepreneurship that directly addresses the specific challenges that women and rural youth face in the four focal states for this project. It will respond to opportunities to harness the political will at local, state, and national levels in Nigeria to invest in creating economic opportunities for women and youth in the production, processing, and sale of nutritious and safe foods. This will be achieved by significantly increasing the knowledge and information available to women and young people about nutrition, food safety, increasing their participation in decision-making and targeting business support and investments so they can bring forward innovations, increase livelihood opportunities and build nutrition sensitivity into the GIC value chains.

This will be carried out using three interlinked approaches:

• Improving the nutritional quality of staple foods produced by SMEs and farmers involved in GIC activities.
• Improving the capacity of food safety and value chain actors to adhere to standards and regulations on best practices.
• Supporting technical innovations for supply chains through innovation challenges and innovation clinics.

(3) OBJECTIVES
The main objective is to engage a service provider to conduct targeted training of food processors, aggregators, and distributors on raw materials quality, manufacturing process, handling, material balance, finished product packaging and storage material specification to meet quality and regulatory standards. This training is for processors and distributors operating in the Vitamin A Cassava, Vitamin A Maize, Rice and Orange-Fleshed Sweet Potato value chains in Kaduna, Nasarawa, Benue and Oyo States.

The specific objectives are:

(1) To design and develop training manual to enable food processors, aggregators and distributors to understand raw material quality[1], material balance, manufacturing process for efficient finished product packaging and storage to meet quality and regulatory requirements. These manuals will be

deployed for training of food processors, aggregators and distributors in the priority value chains across the following states:

(a) Vitamin A Maize: Kaduna

(b) Rice: Nasarawa

(c) Rice and Orange Fleshed Sweet Potato: Benue

(d) Vitamin A Cassava and Orange Fleshed Sweet Potato: Oyo

(2) To train women and youth-led SMEs (food processors, aggregators, and distributors) on the raw material quality and material handling to meet regulatory standards.

(3) To train new and existing women and youth-led SMEs on finished food product packaging as a means of storage to prevent spoilage and contamination and as an aesthetic value to increase demand for the consumption of biofortified foods.

(4) To develop the capacity of SMEs through practical training to adhere to storage specifications after product packaging to ensure nutrient retention for biofortified food products from Vitamin A Cassava, Vitamin A Maize, and Orange Fleshed Sweet Potato (OFSP).

(3.1) PROJECT STATES, LGAs AND VALUE CHAINS

Under the guidance of, and in consultation with, the GAIN team responsible for the SNIPS project, the Consultant shall carry out the objectives outlined above in Kaduna, Benue, Nasarawa and Oyo states across four LGAs and value chains as detailed below:

(4) SCOPE OF WORK AND DELIVERABLES

(4.1) SCOPE OF WORK

The successful applicant shall present the following services:

• Develop a gender strategy document to guide the implementation of the training(s) across the targeted states.
• Design a manual for the targeted training for food processors, aggregators and distributors on raw materials quality, manufacturing process, handling, material balance, finished product packaging and storage material specification to meet quality and regulatory standards.
• Facilitate the training of 300 women/youth-led businesses with a particular focus on food processors, aggregators and distributors on raw materials quality, manufacturing process, handling, material balance, finished product packaging and storage material specification to meet quality and regulatory standards across the four states.
• Submit training deliverables covering each state of intervention which is not limited to the training manual, attendance list, training report etc.

(4.2) DELIVERABLES

The timeline for completion of all aspects of the Scope of Work and submission of deliverables is outlined in the table below:

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