Ogun State Government Recruitment for Consultants (Verification for Agriculture Clusters, Roads)

The Ogun State Government is requesting assistance from the World Bank to fund the Ogun State Economic Transformation Program (OGSTEP) through an Investment Project Financing instrument, The funds will support the Ogun State Development Plan (SDP) (2018-2030) with a focus on business environment, skills development and public sector governance.

The ministry of budget and planning has the responsibility for project implementation and ensuring that the project development objectives are met and coordinated by the Project Implementation Unit (PIU).

Below is a critical role / activities that are needed to be filled or carried out for the preparation and implementation of the program:

Job Title: Engagement of Consultant for Verification for Agriculture Clusters, Roads Etc.

Reference No: OG/CS/PPA/25/2020
Location: Abeokuta, Ogun
Project Title: Ogun State Economic Transformation Project (OGSTEP) – Agric Sector
Reports to: Project Manager OGSTEP – Agric & Honourable Commissioner for Agriculture
Duration of employment: Ten (10) Weeks

Project Development Objective

• The Project Development Objective is to increase agricultural production and stimulate private sector participation in the agricultural, industrial and skills sectors of the Ogun State economy.

The project consists of two main components. The project components include:
Component 1: Increasing Agricultural Production and Industrialization:

• Sub-Component 1.1: increasing Agricultural Production
• Sub-Component 1.2: Improving Business Environment.
• Sub-Component 1.3 Developing Skills.

Component 2: Technical Assistance to Strengthen Capacity to Implement the Program:

• Component 2.1 Agriculture
• Component 2.2 Business Environment
• Component 2.3 Skills
• Component 2.4 Public Sector Reform and PFM
• Component 2.5 Project Implementation support

Background Information

• The Ogun State Government through the Federal Government of Nigeria is applying for a USD 250 million credit from the International Development Association (hereinafter referred to as IDA)/ World Bank towards the financing of the Ogun State Economic Transformation Project (Ogstep). The Project Coordinating Office of OGSTEP intends to apply part of the proceeds of this credit to payments under contracts for the Consultancy Services.
• The OGSTEP is in line with the Ogun State Development Plan 2017-2030 (SDP) reform agenda to accelerate strategic reforms and foster public investment to enable greater private sector participation in the State’s economy which is organised around five cardinal programs covering agriculture production and industrialization, infrastructure and rural development, education, health, and affordable housing and urban renewal.
• Agriculture plays a major economic role in Ogun state, providing income and employment for about 70 percent of the labour force, while contributing 30 percent of the State GDP over the 2013-2017 period. Significant potential exists in the State to increase productivity and improve competitiveness to meet the growing demand of the agri-food industry. In order to grow the sector, multiple consultations with the private sector have confirmed the private sector’s high interest in investing in the agri-food sector.
• In conjunction with World Bank financed projects in Nigeria, OGSTEP Agriculture component seeks to help address the key constraints to increased private sector participation in Agriculture working closely with Ogun farmers.
• The Agriculture component will support three types of activities: First, support the development and implementation of the international best practice Framework for Responsible and Inclusive Land-Intensive Agricultural Investments (FRILIA) in Ogun State ; Second, foster the engagement of Value Chain Development Firms (VCDF), and finally, develop critical infrastructure to strengthen market linkages to production areas where value chain development alliances are being promoted.
• The idea is to support smallholder farmers at farming communities in Ogun State to participate in production effort in the following priority value chains: 1. Food crops ; 2. Horticulture and; 3. Livestock ; 4. Fiber
• In view of the above, the Ministry re-visited an appreciable number of farming communities to sensitise them about the project. These communities were duly informed to formally express their interest in the project (through writing) to the Ministry. Names of interested communities are currently collated.
• OGSTEP intends to apply part of the proceeds of this credit to payments under contracts for the Consultancy Services for an Agriculture Cluster Attributes Verification and Mapping Consultancy Firm to conduct Verification for Agric. Clusters, and locations for Agricultural Infrastructure relevant to/for Project Intervention. Including feeder roads (to be rehabilitated or constructed etc.) & to determine their eligibility and subsequently mapped, thus having a concise database.
• This Terms of Reference (TOR) therefore intends to set the minimum requirements and the scope of the exercise.

Objective:

• The consulting firm will be responsible for the verification of locations for suitability for various proposed infrastructure of roads, reservoirs, etc, outlined in the value chain activities and for relevant Agricultural clusters including mapping and site identification and selection in line with Ministry and OGSTEP requirements as well as project preparation and implementation needs.

Scope of Work
The consulting firm will provide technical assistance to the Ministry of Agriculture, Ogun State through OGSTEP Sector Technical Team:

• Using available data; Identification of potential areas on their suitability for proposed road infrastructure and other Agricultural infrastructure in relation to the targeted value chains
• Verification of locations and update of data in relation to claims of existing infrastructure and other information on proposed or previously identified sites
• Collection of baseline information from all identified and verified farming communities, including GPS coordinates, land availability, suitability and access to information
• Identification of existing or potential key infrastructure, for instance roads, dams, warehouses and structures in relation to project objectives;
• Determination of relevant parameters in identified infrastructure, e.g.: length of access/ feeder roads, size of dams, dimensions of warehouses etc;
• Design and graphical/pictorial representation (mapping) of individual communities’ potentials, eligibility, strength, weakness and focus of key actions prior to implementation.
• Integrate GPS data and field sampling information into Geographic Information Systems (GIS) data formats for inclusion in map products;
• Production of high-quality cartographic map products and ArcGIS or AutoCAD drawings of all communities with their respective infrastructures;
• Provision of the high-quality cartographic map products within a GIS environment for update, query, analyses and reporting as required;
• Perform other duties that may be required by Honourable Commissioner.

Profile of the Consultant / Consultancy Firm
Lead Consultant:

• Minimum MSc degree in economics, agricultural economics, agriculture, rural development economics, sociology, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) , Surveying or related fields and minimum 10 years’ (post-grad) experience working in related field.

The Lead Consultant is expected to have:

• Excellent knowledge of social-economic data, relationships and attribute data;
• Excellent knowledge of Geospatial database systems technology;
• Experience in development of workplan and implementation plan to take cognizance of Agro-Ecological, Agronomic / Soil, Geo-physical, Hydrological, Social / Infrastructure features of an area or location;
• Excellent working knowledge of leading GIS (ArcGIS/QGIS), Cartographic and Image processing software;
• Experienced in the design and administering of robust data gathering tools;
• Excellent working knowledge of spatial data infrastructure and protocols, conventions and standards ;
• Knowledge of relevant Quality assurance and Quality control measures for delivery of activities such as these;
• Compelling (verbal and written) communication skills including ability to prepare reports, formulate and defend sound recommendations and articulate opinions concisely conveying maximum necessary information;
• Outstanding oral and written communication and presentation skills in English.
• The lead consultant is expected to show evidence of providing similar services for other national and international value chain development exercise

He / she will be expected to perform the following core responsibilities among others:

• Lead, assign and supervise activities of other consultants / technical resources involved in the project.
• Be the primary interface between the firm and Ogun State Government;
• Develop work plan and resource plans for project activities along with the required financials :
• Review all relevant primary and secondary sources of data and any relevant information to the study.
• Participate in training of research assistants/data collectors, where necessary;
• Conduct both quantitative and qualitative data collection using acceptable methodologies;

Experience:

• The Consulting firm will be required to have Minimum ten (10) years of relevant, demonstrable and verifiable experience in the socio-economic studies, mapping, geospatial field data gathering and knowledge of geographic data utilisation and management Nigeria

Others:

• Experience in socio-economic studies, infrastructure baseline studies;
• Experience in spatial data acquisition and manipulation. Good knowledge of geographic standards and coordinate systems;
• Experience in primary data and attribute data validation:
• Experience in spatial data analysis techniques;
• Demonstrated skills in the effective use and operation of one or two GIS software programmes such as ArcGIS/QGIS on project and code in multiple languages;
• Proven experience in computer science, IT, engineering or urban and physical planning may be helpful;
• Demonstrated cartographic knowledge/map production and design concepts;
• Involvement in environmental management and experience in a similar role;
• Experience in data collection;
• Excellent verbal and written communication
• Proven ability to work in a cross-cultural and multidisciplinary environment;
• Mandatory evidence of successful completion of similar exercise(s) in the past.

Other Consultants / Technical Resources:

• Minimum MSc degree in economics, agricultural economics, agriculture, rural development economics, sociology, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) , Surveying or related fields. and a minimum of 5 years’ (post-grad) experience working in a related field.

The consultant / technical resources to be engaged are expected to have:

• Demonstrable knowledge of baseline data gathering, utilisation of spatial data and analysis;
• Experience data capture and geographic representation of features and objects ;
• Experience in developing attributes database;
• Good working knowledge of leading GIS (ArcGIS/QGIS), Cartographic and Image processing software;
• Advanced knowledge of data gathering tools and equipment’s, e.g. GPS, Drones etc.
• Experience in ground-truthing and error checking;
• Experience in the design and implementation programmes that relates to stakeholders such as farmers, community-based associations ;
• Good oral and written communication and presentation skills in English.

Language Requirements:

• Proficiency in both written and spoken English and ability to communicate in Yoruba

Institutional and Organization Arrangements

• The consulting firm will liaise with the Project Manager OGSTEP Agric, work closely with the relevant stakeholders, in particular the technical team composed by the Sector lead, and report to the Project Manager OGSTEP and Honourable Commissioner who is the sector lead.

Report and Schedule of Deliveries:

• The consulting firm will work directly with the Technical Team in the Ministry of Agriculture constituted by the sector lead to deliver on the following: reports, documents, maps and deliverables in hard copy and soft copy as required by the project in the appropriate and agreed format.
• Sequence and schedule is as stated in the payment schedule

Services To Be Provided By The Client:

• The Ogun State Ministry of Agriculture shall provide all relevant documents available to the consultant. It will also provide necessary institutional support for operations of the consultant. It is the sole responsibility of the consultant to search for and collect all the required information.
• The consultant will organize all necessary travel and other resources, subject to reimbursement as stipulated in the contract. Reimbursable expenses must be included in the consultant’s submission

Payment Schedule:
The payment of the consultant will be based on sign off, of deliverables by the Technical Team within the Ogun State Ministry of Agriculture as appointed by the Honorable Commissioner / Sector lead, with the final sign off by the Sector lead and following the payment schedule below:

• Progress Target – Payment Percentage
• Contract Signature (mobilisation) – 10
• Inception Report Incl. front end activities – 10:
  • Work plan showing focus of key actions prior to implementation
  • Design and graphical/pictorial representation (mapping) of individual communities’
  • Potentials, eligibility, strength, weakness matrix
• Field Work, data gathering, Verification, Mapping Etc. (mobilisation) – 40
• Initial activity Report – 10:
  • With Integration of GPS data and field sampling information into Geographic Information Systems (GIS) data formats for inclusion in map products;
  • Production of high-quality cartographic map products and ArcGIS / QGIS or AutoCAD drawings of all communities with their respective infrastructures
• Draft final documents including Report(s) to include – 20:
  • Provision of the high-quality cartographic map products within a GIS environment for update, query, analyses and reporting as required.
• Submission and Approval of Report(s) – 10
• Total – 100

The potential firm is expected to submit a financial proposal clearly indicating the time, daily rates and detailed schedule for the study.

Application Closing Date
16th September, 2020.

Method of Application
Interested and qualified candidates should send their Applications clearly labelled “Verification Of Agriculture Clusters, Roads & Site’S etc” to: ogstep@ogunstate.gov.ng
And
Three (3) Hard Copies, delivered along with soft copy at the address below during office hours 10:00am – 4:00pm (Mondays – Fridays).
The Project Coordinator (PC),
Project Implementation Unit (PIU),
Ogun State Economic Transformation Project (OGSTEP),
C/o Permanent Secretary’s Office,
Ogun State Ministry of Budget & Planning,
State Secretariat, Oke Mosan,
Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria.

Click Here to Download Term of Reference

Applications should include:

• Brief proposal outlining your methodology, timetable and budget.
• Copies of certificate of registration/ incorporation (for firms).
• Company profile with names and contacts of Directors (for firms).
• Curriculum Vitae of project team members and contact details of three referees.
• Profile of previous work done related to this project.
• Certificates of completion of previous work.
• Contact details (office address, telephone numbers and e-mail addresses).

Note: Application materials are non-returnable, and we thank you in advance for understanding that only short-listed candidates (firms) will be contacted for the next step in the application process.