DEADLINE: 17TH FEBRUARY, 2023
GLOBAL ALLIANCE FOR IMPROVED NUTRITION (GAIN)
REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS FOR CONSULTANCY TO CONDUCT FINANCIAL, TECHNICAL AND REGULATORY COMPLIANCE ASSESSMENTS ON SBN MEMBERS
ABOUT GAIN
The Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) is an alliance driven by the vision of a world without malnutrition. Created in 2002 at a Special Session of the UN General Assembly on Children, GAIN supports public-private partnerships (PPP) to increase access to the missing nutrients in diets necessary for people, communities, and economies to be stronger and healthier.
GAIN and the World Food Program (WFP) co-convene the SUN (Scaling Up Nutrition) Business Network (SBN), which is one part of the wider SUN Movement. The SBN is a global programme that was established in 2012 with an initial focus on recruiting and developing an international network of pioneering multinational enterprises (MNEs) in the food groups that supports the private sector to make a positive contribution to malnutrition. It now has over 500 corporate members worldwide, from multinational to national companies.
OVERVIEW OF THE SUN BUSINESS NETWORK
The SUN Movement, of which SBN is a part, recognizes that malnutrition is a complex problem and, if it is to be eradicated, requires the skills and expertise of all sectors of society. Any long-term solution is only possible if the private sector can play a full and active part in addressing malnutrition and the challenges in the availability and affordability of safe and nutritious foods in Nigeria.
Effective collaboration with the private sector is essential to reaching scale and achieving sustainable improvements in nutrition, particularly for low-income consumers. The way the private sector produces, manufactures, stores, and markets this food has a significant impact on its nutritional value.
Launched in April 2016, SBN Nigeria has been inspiring actors in the private sector, including but not limited to Small and Medium Scale enterprises, to invest in nutrition by making commitments that eventually result in improving demand for and access to nutritious food in the country, we have also established partnerships and collaborations that have provided an enabling environment for all kinds of businesses while strengthening Public-Private Partnership towards improving Nutrition in Nigeria.
Through this initiative, GAIN Nigeria will contribute to growing a sustainable market for nutritious, affordable foods for consumers as part of a strategy led by the Government of Nigeria to reduce malnutrition in its population. It will create opportunities for wider participation of the private sector to engage and make commitments in nutrition through the development of the SBN platform, as well as providing advice and services to private sector companies wanting to improve nutrition in the workplace.
Over the past 7 years, SBN Nigeria has focused on the following:
- Increasing private sector participation in the nutrition platform.
- Sensitize private sector companies/employers to improve their workforce nutrition
- Engage the private sector in identifying and developing nutrition-related products and services and
- Increase consumption of nationally produced nutritious foods, focusing on those likely to be highly acceptable to low-income households.
ASSIGNMENT BACKGROUND
A country’s development is centred on its small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs), which help create jobs, stimulate the economy, and make items available to consumers. In 2021, Nigerian SMEs contribute 46.31% to the national GDP and accounted for 6.21% percent of gross exports (Small & Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria , 2021).
The contribution and significance of SMEs can be divided into four categories: job creation, the competitiveness of the nation, the diversification of the national economy and stimulation of innovation and creativity, and finally, social, economic resource mobilization. Although the significance of SMEs is increasingly acknowledged, the development of SMEs in Nigeria still faces several obstacles, which restrains the expansion of this market sector.
While the study, of which agricultural businesses made up 38.4%, reported a 3.7% increase in employment creation in the previous reporting period, there was a 3.5% decrease in the contribution to GDP and 4.5% decrease in the number of enterprises. Additionally, lack of infrastructure, limited access to finance, lack of engagement of professional services, lack of finance, lack of skilled manpower, multiple taxation and the high cost of business operations in Nigeria have been identified as some of the challenges plaguing Nigerian businesses.
Since its launch in 2016 in Nigeria, the SUN Business Network (SBN) constantly recruits companies, mostly MSMEs as members. Within the framework of its mandate to demonstrate the economic, financial, and social contribution of the private sector to the national nutrition agenda, the network is committed to providing tailored support to network members to mitigate the challenges inhibiting the supply of safe and nutritious foods to the markets.
SBN Nigeria is a diverse body whose membership characteristics span cultural, geographical, value chain, years of operation and business model parameters. This implies that a one-size-fits-all approach to addressing technical gaps and improving members’ capacity will be counterproductive.
It is on the heels of its diversity that GAIN is looking to engage the services of a consultant to carry out financial, product development, and regulatory compliance assessments of its members who span the length and breadth of the country. Additionally, the consultant is expected to assist the SBN team to group members into nodes across the nutrition and by extension, the agricultural value chain.
