REOI: Individual Consultant to Conduct Baseline for Developing the IRC Strategy and Operational Plan

Consulting Services:  Conducting Baseline Studies including a Situation Analysis and Scenario Mapping /

Foresight Analysis towards to the development of the IRC Strategy and Operational Plan   

Name of Project:  CEA-FIRST 
Grant Agreement n°: 

Project duration:             

101136771 

48 months 

Procurement Ref:         FARA/CEA-FIRST/CS/IC/2024/01 
Issue Date:                               Thursday, May 23, 2024 
Extended submission Deadline:  Monday, June 24, 2024 

1. After half a century of relations between Africa and Europe, the Lisbon 2007 AU-EU Summit consolidated this relationship in a Joint Africa-EU Strategy (JAES) to represent the overarching long-term framework of cooperation between the European Union (EU) and the African Union (AU), associated with an institutional architecture and specific funding for the implementation of its key actions. Since then, cooperation has become increasingly important, ranging from governance to regional integration, from energy to climate change and from migration to science and technology in a rapidly changing political and global contexts. A number of strategic directions have been adopted on both the African and European levels including; adoption of the Agenda 2063, Comprehensive Africa Agricultural Development Programme (CAADP) Malabo Agenda, the Africa continental Free trade Area (AfCTA) the EU Global Strategy, EU’s foreign and security policy, the European Green Deal, the Farm-to- Fork strategy etc. 

The High-Level Political Dialogue (HLPD) that was put in place to operate between Summits has strengthened the implementation of the JAES and provided the basis for three priority areas in the implementation of the STI component of the JAES, namely, the FNSSA, CCSE, and the Innovation Agenda. The associated Roadmaps of these priority areas have been developed with the changing global contexts.  

Under the FNSSA priority area over 500 AU-EU projects have been implemented and define the aspirations of the partnership towards the establishment of a sustainable platform for research and innovation. In September 2022, the International Research Consortium was launched (IRC) in the context of transitions in the agri-food systems, climate change, population trends and related drivers of economic development. The IRC is therefore expected to contribute to an equitable and sustainable research and innovation partnership between Africa and Europe. 

The Consortium Europe Africa on Research and Innovation for Food Systems Transformation (CEA-FIRST) consists of 21 partners from Africa and Europe. The CEA-FIRST project will operationalise the AU-EU IRC in line with the FNSSA Roadmap and under the aegis of the AU-EU High-Level Policy Dialogue (HLPD) as the long-term platform on food and nutrition security and sustainable agriculture (FNSSA). The final output of the CEA-FIRST project will be a fully functional IRC, including governance bodies. CEA-FIRST will also support its liaison with the High-Level Policy Dialogue (HLPD).  

The development of the IRC Strategy and Operational Plan will be led by FARA and WUR with support from CIRAD, Agrinatura, ARC, ACU and ASARECA. The Foresight for Food (F4F) network was foreseen under the Grant Agreement to undertake Activity 1.2.2 to support the final crafting of the IRC Strategy and Operational Plan. 

2. This request for expression of interest aims at engaging a consultant to carry out the following functions: 

a. Preparatory Phase: 

The preparatory phase involves understanding IRC goals through desk research, horizon reviews, trend analysis, and interviews, culminating in a Slide Deck summarizing major trends. 

b. Stakeholder Consultation: 

Live/online interviews will gauge stakeholder agreement with the IRC Strategy and Operational Plan, resulting in an inception report. 

c. Identification of Focus Issues: 

Workshops and scenario analysis will explore IRC goals, producing a report and Slide Deck on key issues. 

d. Scenario Storylines: 

Workshops will refine scenario storylines, resulting in a Slide Deck with key scenario logics. 

e. Analysis of Implications: 

Scenario analysis will strengthen the IRC strategy, producing a report with strategic recommendations. 

f. Crafting the Strategy and Operational Plan: 

A detailed document and summary report will be developed. 

g. Review and Validation: 

The plan will be reviewed and validated, with final approval by the IRC Council and GA. 

 

3. The Executive Director of FARA invites interested consultants to express interest in carrying out this assignment. 

 

4. Consultants interested in this call must provide a description of the approach and tools that will be used to do the assignment, the budget (in person-month) for the expert team, the contact details of the consultant (name, email, phone number), a description of the team of experts that will conduct the study including clear roles, experience, and competency, and ensure the bid proposal does not exceed 4,000 words. 

 

5. The anticipated period of performance for this consultancy is 80 man-days spread over three months (July 2024 to September 2024). 

 

6. The individual consultant shall be selected based on procedures defined in the Procurement Guidelines of FARA. 

 

7. Interested consultants may obtain further information from the CEA-FIRST Coordinator, Dr. Irene Annor-Frempong [[email protected]], and copy [[email protected]] and [[email protected]], during the following hours: 9h00 to 16h00 GMT. 

 

Please download the Terms of Reference below, for further information on this opportunity. 

 https://faraafrica.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/ToR-Baseline-study-and-foresight-analysis-for-IRC-Strategy-Operational-Plan.docx

8. Expressions of Interest should be submitted electronically to [[email protected]] and addressed to Dr. Aggrey Agumya, Executive Director of FARA, No 7 Flower Avenue, New Achimota, Mile 7, Accra, Ghana, no later than Monday, June 24, 2024, at 16h00 GMT. Tel: +233 302 772823/744888. 

 

9. FARA Affirmative Action Statement on Recruitment: there is no discrimination based on gender race, religion, ethnic orientation, disability, or health status. 

 

Executive Director of FARA 

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