DEADLINE: 28TH APRIL, 2023
GLOBAL ALLIANCE FOR IMPROVED NUTRITION (GAIN)
REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL FOR THE STRENGTHENING AND PROVISION OF TECHNICAL SUPPORT TO DRIVE INCREASED PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION OF VITAMIN A MAIZE AMONG SMALLHOLDER FARMERS IN KADUNA STATE
(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 to all people.
GAIN’s work to improve the consumption of safe and nutritious food is based on three interlinked strategic objectives:
(1) to improve the demand for safe, nutritious foods;
(2) to increase the availability of nutritious foods and enhance the nutritional value of foods; and
(3) to strengthen the enabling environment to improve the consumption of safe, nutritious foods.
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.
(2) BACKGROUND
GAIN is implementing the Strengthening Nutrition in Priority Staples (SNIPS) Project which will add a nutrition lens to and deliver an integrated suite of activities to support GIZ’s Green Innovation Centre (GIC) in Nigeria.
This 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 following broad objectives for this programme are:
- Increased consumption of safe, nutritious foods by smallholder farmers, their families, and the wider population
- Strengthened cassava, maize, sweet potato, and rice value chains in Nigeria which provide more, safe nutritious foods to consumers.
- Increased use of nutritious varieties of the target staples in processed food
- Improved productivity & efficiency of farmers and other businesses to improve the production of safe, nutritious foods in the cassava, maize, sweet potato, and rice value chains.
To reach our overarching goal – improving nutrition through improved diets – the Project will build on the increased consumption of the staple crops, which is the primary focus of the GIC, through the following related interventions:
- A workforce nutrition programme to support farmers and workers in these value chains to improve and diversify their diets.
- Business support services to make a wide variety of nutritious and safe foods more accessible, affordable and desirable; and
- Increased production and consumption of biofortified maize, cassava, and sweet potato varieties.
Farmers’ nutritional health is directly linked to their productivity and earning potential both in terms of their own household, farms and businesses, and in terms of their contribution to national economic growth. However, farming families and households are often unaware of the importance of the nutrient content of the foods they produce and consume, and they are often unaware of the importance of consuming a diverse diet. Farmers engaged in the production of the priority staples in focus may be able to access foods that meet their energy needs but even earning good income from their business does not usually translate to accessing a sufficiently diverse diet. The costs of poor nutrition on lost revenues to businesses in a context like Nigeria, where underweight, stunting and anemia are prevalent in rural areas, and obesity rates are growing could mean as much as 2.7% of GDP is lost from lower worker productivity (Chatham House, 2020).
The Workforce Nutrition Programme will support farmers and workers in these value chains to improve their diets. The Workforce Nutrition (WFN) component aims to reach rice and maize value chain workers (from small holder farmers to processing employees) with workforce nutrition Programmes that aim to improve the consumption of nutritious foods as part of a healthy, diverse diet for workers, farmers, and their households.
The programme also aims to engage business owners in the supply chain, and local government and state authorities on the importance of farmer/worker nutrition for greater resilience and productivity. Throughout the programme, GAIN will lead regular advocacy and engagement with business managers, and government officials on the importance of workforce nutrition for both workers and farmers.
SMEs handle most of the food that is produced, transported, marketed, and consumed in low-income countries such as Nigeria. These SMEs are however hindered by a lack of business knowledge and skills and often lack the resources to take advantage of the opportunities around them to innovate and secure higher value from their smallholder investments. Lack of awareness of food safety regulations, good practices and how to adhere to them, also means that many consumers are exposed to contaminated or otherwise unsafe foods.
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 nutrition 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 practice.
- Supporting technical innovations for supply chains through innovation challenges and innovation clinics.
One in three people globally experience vitamin and mineral deficiencies leading to severe health outcomes including premature and preventable death in infants and young children. Micronutrient deficiencies can also constrain work performance resulting in slower economic growth and widespread, intergenerational poverty.
Nearly two-thirds of Nigerian children are at risk of vitamin A deficiency due to inadequate amounts of vitamin A in their diets (NDHS 2018) and generally inadequate access to a diversity of food at household level due to rising levels of poverty. This “hidden hunger” is particularly acute in countries like Nigeria and among farming families who grow and eat their own food and diets are overly reliant on staple foods, lacking in the diversity of foods needed to meet multiple nutrient requirements.
The Biofortification Component aims to work with farmers and farming households to promote the adoption, cultivation, and utilization of these staples by farming households and other food processors. The workstream will promote Vitamin A Cassava, Vitamin A Maize, and Orange Fleshed Sweet Potato (OFSP) in Oyo, Kaduna, and Benue states, respectively.
(3) SCOPE OF WORK AND DELIVERABLES
(3.1) OBJECTIVES
GAIN Nigeria seeks an implementing partner who will work closely with GAIN and its partners on an annually renewable contract (from 2023 to 2025) to implement technical support to drive increased production and consumption of Maize biofortified with Vitamin A among smallholder farmers for the Strengthening Nutrition in Priority Staples (SNIPS) Project.
The Project is designed to; (1) Increase farmers’ transition to the production of biofortified Vitamin A Maize; (2) improve access to quality planting materials (seed); (3) improve knowledge and technologies on good agronomic practices; (4) create demand among producers and general public indirectly through SBCC on more biofortified Vitamin A – rich Maize(VAM); (5) develop a sustainable linkage among key actors in the value chain.
The implementing partner selected will support the implementation of the biofortification component of the Project: strengthen the Vitamin A Maize value chain in project locations to provide safe nutritious foods to farmers and consumers, encourage adoption, cultivation, and improved production of Vit-A Maize, farmers training and capacity building around good agronomical practices for improved production and harvest and post- harvest handling, encourage consumption of the staple by the farming households, developing & executing efficient and economically viable models for aggregation and offtake of Vitamin A Maize to food processors, ensure adequate follow-ups to measure adoption and output progress and to support community resilience and participation. The partner would also be expected to engage with relevant programme stakeholders and undertake advocacy activities for biofortification and relevant program objectives.
Building on this, the implementing partner will develop a work plan for the training, including strategy and proposed methodologies, as well as a quality assurance plan to improve both access to and demand for targeted nutritious foods among smallholder farmer families. The implementing partner is expected to:
- Work under the overall supervision of the GAIN representatives and direct supervision of the SNIPS Project Manager of the Biofortification Component.
Work with already identified (cooperatives/groups) onboarded for the Project.
- Farmers Management & capacity building – use the GAIN-developed Maize Training Manual for field training on, Good Agronomic Practices (GAP)
- Conduct onsite practical demonstration sessions using Field Training Workshop (FTW) approach i.e. demonstration plots.
- Conduct refreshers Training of Trainer (ToT) of Field and Extension Agents on Good Agronomic Practices
- Develop and strengthen the farmers-based organization to achieve project goals.
(4) SUBMISSION
Proposals should be in English and submitted in electronic copy to the following e-mail address nquotation@gainhealth.org. Please include STRENGTHENING NUTRITION IN PRIORITY STAPLES NIGERIA in the subject line.
(5)DEADLINE
Completed proposals should be submitted electronically to GAIN before 5:00 pm Central European Time on April 28, 2023.
