Asian Development Bank - Fighting Poverty in Asia and the Pacific
What's New  |   e-Notification  |   Sitemap  |   Contact Us  |   Help

Business Opportunities

Home : Opportunities : Business Opportunities : Other Notices : NEP: Commercial Agriculture Development Project

Procurement
Consulting Services
New Projects
Proposed Projects
Removed Projects
Advance Action
Procurement Notices
Consulting Services Recruitment Notices
Contracts Awarded
Prequalified Contractors
Shortlisted Firms
Other Notices
Procurement Plans


Grant 0063-NEP: Commercial Agriculture Development Project

Invitation for Expressions of Interest (EOIs) fron Local NGOs

The Government of Nepal has received grant assistance from the Asian Development Bank towards the cost of Commercial Agriculture Development Project (the Project) and, intends to apply portion of this grant to eligible payments under the contract packages. The Project is in operation since August 2007 and will continue until December 2012. The Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives (MOAC) is the Executing Agency and the Department of Agriculture (DOA) is the Implementing Agency.

The Project is being implemented in 11 districts of the Eastern Development Region (EDR) - Saptari, Siraha, Sunsari, Morang, Jhapa, Udayapur, Terhathum, Dhankuta, Ilam, Panchthar and Taplejung. The overall goal of the Project is to reduce poverty by increasing (i) employment opportunities in rural areas, (ii) value added of agriculture products, and (iii) rural income. The expected outcome of the project is improved efficiency in marketing and processing of high value crops, especially vegetables, fruits, tea and spices in the EDR. The scope of the Project includes (i) commercial agriculture investment and management through (a) community based market infrastructure, and (b) non-infrastructure investments; (ii) inclusive development of stakeholders by (a) developing subsistence agricultural stakeholders, (b) enhancing semi-commercial agricultural stakeholders, and (c) promoting social inclusiveness among commercial agricultural stakeholders; (iii) market information dissemination; (iv) capacity enhancement of project partners; and (v) project implementation support. The Commercial Agriculture Alliance (CAA) will implement the project's first component, i.e. commercial agriculture investment and management, and other four components will be implemented by the DOA.

The Project will require the services of local nongovernment organizations (NGOs) to assist subsistence and semi-commercial stakeholders to take a more active role in commercial agriculture activities. Among the services that NGOs are expected to deliver to stakeholders include community mobilization, social inclusion activities, farmer group formation and strengthening, and monitoring and evaluation. The indicative terms of reference and EOI format can be obtained either from website www.cadp.gov.np or PMU, Biratnagar. However, the types of services will be further specified in the agreements that will be signed with the NGOs reflecting the needs of the target groups, capacity of the NGO, and commercial agricultural focus of the Project.

MOAC will engage NGOs under the Project to assist (i) subsistence stakeholders and (ii) semi-commercial stakeholders. Local based NGOs (registered in the same district) alone or in joint venture (JV) or association with other local based NGO(s) will be engaged to assist subsistence stakeholders. Similarly, NGO registered in one of the project districts (local NGO) alone; or in JV/association with other local based or local or national NGOs will be engaged to assist semi-commercial stakeholders. The NGOs should preferably have experience working in more than one district. Depending upon the existing skill mix of NGOs and type of support needed in the district, more than one NGO may be engaged in the same district but in separate locations or on different tasks.

MOAC now invites interested local based NGO, local and/or national NGOs to submit EOIs to provide services for: (i) subsistence agricultural stakeholders, and (ii) semi-commercial agricultural stakeholders. Interested NGOs can apply for one of the two services, or both depending on their capacity. For services to semi-commercial stakeholders, if NGOs wish to apply for more than one district, they should apply separately for each project district. To be eligible the NGO must, at a minimum:

  1. be appropriately registered and have legal status;
  2. have operated continuously for at least 2 years, preferably in the project districts;
  3. have a track record of community mobilization and social inclusion with similar target groups and in similar areas for agriculture development;
  4. have experience or demonstrable competence of working with locally based counterpart NGOs and acceptance of the communities;
  5. demonstrate the quality of their work, commitment to programs, and relationships with the community;
  6. have produced annual audited reports and accounts for the last 2 years;
  7. have basic capability in management and accounting; and
  8. expressed willingness to participate in the Project and to adopt its cross-cutting values of equity, partnership, participation, gender, and transparency
NGOs will be selected and engaged under Consultants' Qualification Selection (CQS) procedures in accordance with the Guidelines on the Use of Consultants by Asian Development Bank and its Borrowers. NGOs will be evaluated based on their management competence, financial competence, technical competence, and geographical competence. NGOs, along with other general information, should include the following information in their EOIs:

  1. General and overall experience.
  2. Experience in the required area of expertise.
  3. Personnel and key officers with their qualification.
  4. Annual turnover for last two years
  5. Physical and communication facilities.
  6. Memberships in related associations/organizations.
  7. Commitment for adherence to anti-corruption policy
  8. Work in hand
  9. If submitting EOI in joint venture or association with locally based NGOs, describe these NGOs and the criteria that have been applied in selecting these NGOs to work with
  10. State activities proposed to be undertaken under the Project to help develop socially inclusive commercial agriculture.
  11. Describe identified shortcomings (organizational or technical) to undertake the project assignment, and specific project assistance or support (technical training, materials, or any other support) required to become an effective project partner;
Only the first-ranked NGOs for each project district or location and for each type of service will be invited to submit bio-data technical and financial proposals.

Interested NGOs may obtain detailed EOI preparation guidelines and further information at the address below, or from the Liaison Office, Harihar Bhawan, Lalitpur (Tel. 01-5010184), or at www.cadp.gov.np.

EOIs must be submitted to the address below within 31 (thirty-one) days, till 12:00 Noon from the first date of publication of this notice. EOIs will be opened at 12:00 Noon on the same day at the same place. If the last date of submission of the EOI happens to be a declared government holiday, same time of the next working day will be the last date for submission and opening of the EOI. MOAC reserves the right to shortlist or not shortlist any or all the applicant(s) without assigning any reason whatsoever.

Project Manager
CADP/PMU
Biratnagar (Tel. 021-440107)