Global Alliance For Improved Nutrition (GAIN)- Request For Proposals For Agribusiness Innovation Challenge In Nigeria

DEADLINE: 15TH JUNE, 2023
GLOBAL ALLIANCE FOR IMPROVED NUTRITION (GAIN)
REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS FOR AGRIBUSINESS INNOVATION CHALLENGE IN NIGERIA

(I) PROJECT BACKGROUND AND SCOPE OF WORK

(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 improve the consumption of healthier diets for all, especially the most vulnerable, by improving the availability, affordability, desirability, and sustainability of nutritious and safe foods, and reducing the consumption of unhealthy and unsafe foods.

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.

(2) BACKGROUND
The Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) is issuing this Request for Proposal (RFP) and will be the administrative lead organization for this RFP. The purpose of this RFP is to engage the services of an Innovation Hub or Enterprise Support Organisation on an annually renewable contract (from 2023 to 2025) to co-design and implement a nationwide Agribusiness Innovation Challenge.

This activity is part of the business support workstream to be implemented in the focal states for the next three years under the Strengthening Nutrition in Priority Staples project currently being 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, farmworkers, 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, and prevent foodborne illnesses, as well as food and social insecurity. This workstream will increase women and youth involvement in value-added agriculture and entrepreneurship, directly addressing the specific challenges that women and rural youth face in the four focal states of 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 nutritious 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 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 practices.
• Supporting technical innovations for supply chains through innovation challenges and innovation clinics.

(2.1) AGRIBUSINESSES IN NIGERIA
The agricultural sector remains the largest employer in Nigeria, employing more than 36% of the labour force and accounting for 22.35% of the Gross Domestic Product in Q1 2021. With 82 million hectares of arable land, only 34 million hectares cultivated, and the country’s large and growing population, agriculture is increasingly becoming important as a source of consumer and industrial demand.

Nigeria, one of the most populous countries in Africa with a rapidly growing population and a high demand for food, faces a major challenge in food safety due to a lack of effective regulatory mechanisms, inadequate infrastructure, and poor hygiene practices at various stages of the food supply chain. These issues have resulted in high rates of foodborne illnesses, economic losses, and reduced consumer confidence in the safety and quality of locally produced food. To address this problem, innovative solutions are needed that are cost-effective, scalable, and sustainable, leveraging modern technologies and best practices to improve food safety and quality across the entire food supply chain.

Furthermore, climate change poses a significant threat to Nigeria’s agricultural sector, which contributes significantly to the country’s economy and food security. With changing rainfall patterns, temperature

increases, and frequent extreme weather events, Nigerian agribusinesses face challenges in adapting to the changing climate. Climate-smart agriculture practices are necessary to increase agricultural productivity, resilience, and sustainability in Nigeria, but there is a need for innovative solutions to address the challenges faced by Nigerian agribusinesses in adopting these practices. Therefore, promoting climate-smart agriculture practices that can help increase agricultural productivity, resilience, and sustainability in Nigeria is critical. Innovative solutions that can facilitate the adoption of these practices by local farmers, producers, processors, distributors, and retailers are necessary to ensure a sustainable future for Nigeria’s agricultural sector.

Considering this, GAIN is seeking proposals from an Innovation Hub or Enterprise Support Organisation to co-implement an innovation challenge focused on identifying climate and food safety tech-driven solutions to supply chain efficiency in Nigeria.

(3) OBJECTIVES
The main objective is to co-design and implement an Agribusiness Innovation Challenge; provide business-centric technical assistance support to youth-led start-ups to strengthen their capacity, improve their access to financial services, and develop their business concepts leveraging technology to improve supply chain efficiency.

The specific objectives are to:

• Co-design and implement a nationwide Agribusiness Innovation Challenge for early-stage start­ups with minimum viable product and measurable traction.
• Implement a 3-day Pitch Readiness Bootcamp for selected start-ups.
• Provide 2-week technical assistance support on Value Proposition, Business Model Innovation, Customer Development, Go-to-Market & Scale to Agribusinesses.
• Support customer validation and market research in real-time.
• Implement a Deal-Day session for selected start-ups to pitch to a closed group of angel investors, Angel Networks and Venture Capital firms in Africa.

(4) SCOPE OF WORK AND DELIVERABLES

(5) SCOPE OF WORK
The successful applicant shall provide the following services:

• Design a detailed Agribusiness Innovation Challenge work plan.
• Identify subject matter experts, mentors and/or judges for the agribusiness Innovation Challenge.
• Develop an online application platform.
• Conduct a lean selection process with a two-step screening process, document review and online interview.
• Implement a Pitch Readiness Bootcamp.
• Provide specialized business-focused technical assistance to agribusinesses.
• Support customer validation and market research in real-time
• Implement a Deal-Day with 5-10 venture capitalists/investors.
• Select three winning innovations.

(6) DELIVERABLES AND TIMELINE
The timeline for completion of all aspects of the Scope of Work and submission of deliverables is outlined in the table below:

(7) QUALIFICATIONS
The Service Provider shall be an Innovation Hub, Acceleration Hub, or Enterprise Support Organization with a minimum of three (5) years of experience in start-up management, hackathons, and the incubation of Agritech Start-ups. The organization must be legally registered in Nigeria and have a complete audited financial statement/annual report for the last three years.

The organization should also have demonstrated experience in start-up acceleration and deal-making activities with Venture Capital firms within and outside the African continent and success working with international development organizations. The Service Provider should have an excellent knowledge of green businesses, start-up life cycle, Series A, B, and C Funding, an in-depth understanding of the activities of green businesses and agribusinesses and proven expertise in successfully delivering a similar activity.

(II) INSTRUCTIONS FOR RESPONDING
This section addresses the process for responding to this solicitation. Applicants are encouraged to review this before completing their responses.

(1) CONTACT
Key programme and technical staff from GAIN are part of the selection team of the organization and will review the proposals. They will be available via email to respond to clarifications on this solicitation. Please direct all inquiries and other communications to nquotation@gainhealth.org , and rfp@gainhealth.org  with ipilaku@gainhealth.org in copy. Responses will not be confidential except in cases where proprietary information is involved.

(2) BUDGET
Applicants are required to provide an illustrative budget in Nigerian Naira in a separate document. The final budget will be elaborated as the scope of the assessment is clarified and as part of the contracting process.

The budget submitted with this proposal should include (i) a justification of overall value for money, (ii) a comprehensive budget justification which should be presented for each category of costs including, personnel, cost of travel, including subsistence allowances, consultants, meeting/workshop, overhead if applicable, and miscellaneous expenses. All prices/rates quoted must be inclusive of all taxes/VAT as required.

(3) FORMAT FOR PROPOSAL
The proposal needs to be formatted as two separate documents:

• Technical proposal:

(1)     Description of previous relevant work (maximum 1 page)

(2) Composition of the team with names and brief biographies of all key staff (maximum 3 pages)

(3) Detailed proposal explaining how the areas of work mentioned in objectives and Scope of Work will be addressed, including risk and mitigation strategy, sustainability, and timeline (maximum 10 pages)

(4) References

• Financial proposal:

(1) Budget

(2) Detailed budget justification

(3) Offer of services

(4) SUBMISSION
Complete proposals should be submitted in electronic copy to nquotation@gainhealth.org, and rfp@gainhealth.org with ipilaku@gainhealth.org in copy.

(5) DEADLINE
Completed proposals should be submitted by 5:00 pm WAT on 16 June 2023