| Name of Signature Program: | Naija Unlock |
| Agresso Work order: | NG1001 |
| Country: | Nigeria |
| RFP No. |
| RFP Release Date: | April 16th 2025 |
| Question/ Inquiry Submission Deadline: | May 5th 2025 |
| Proposal Submission Deadline: | May 9th 2025 |
| Performance Period: | June 2nd – June 6th 2025 |
| Electronic submission to the attention of: | Procurement-ng@heifer.org |
| Contact information for inquiries about this RFP: | Procurement-ng@heifer.org |
Terms of Reference
I. General Information
This document is a call for applications from consultants (individuals or firms) with expertise in market systems development and food systems strategy. The selected consultant will provide in-depth training and capacity building. Applications must show proven experience and expertise in facilitating training and strategy development using market systems approaches and sub-contracting is allowed but Heifer must be informed of it in the bid. Bidders may seek clarifications on deliverables and payment is based on deliverable submission and approval within a 15-business day processing time.
II. Background
About Heifer International
Heifer International (Heifer) is a global non-profit working to end hunger and poverty while caring for the Earth by using sustainable practices and engaging smallholder farmers in agricultural development and sustainability. Since 1944, Heifer International through its work in 19 countries (in Africa, Asia, and the Americas) has, supported a total of 52.6 million households towards ending hunger and poverty in a sustainable way. Working with rural communities across Africa for the past 50 years, Heifer International supports farmers and local food producers to strengthen local economies and build secured livelihoods that provide a sustainable living income through access to Values Based Holistic Community Development (VBHCD) training, appropriate technologies, and agricultural resources, which enable communities to lift themselves out of poverty and hunger on to a path of self-reliance and economic prosperity. Heifer’s foundation was built on the belief that ending hunger and poverty begins with giving people the means to feed themselves, generate income and achieve sustainable livelihoods for their households.
Heifer’s global vision for 2020 – 2030 is to close the living income gap for 10 million families. This vision is a focused approach for the African continent to support at least 6 million smallholder farmers in Africa reach sustainable living income. As a part of this commitment, Heifer has expanded its presence in Africa to include Nigeria, with a goal of supporting at least two million farming households to achieve sustainable living income through (a) strategic private and public sector partnerships, (b) unlocking demand and market opportunities, (c) investing in priority value chains, and (d) leveraging innovation and emerging agricultural technologies to reach transformational scale. More information about Heifer is available at: www.heifer.org
Heifer International Nigeria Country Program
Heifer International’s “Naija Unlock” program in Nigeria, launched in 2021, aims to boost food self-sufficiency by focusing on key value chains: Rice, tomato, and poultry, with plans to expand to cattle, sheep, and goats.
Supporting smallholder farmers, Increasing productivity and connecting them to value chains to close the living income gap.
Achieving five key outcomes:
- Food Security & Nutrition: Diversifying farm production and increasing productivity.
- Income and Asset Building: Providing resources and connecting farmers to competitive value chains.
- Environment: Promoting Climate Smart Agricultural (CSA) practices and sustainable resource management.
- Women’s Empowerment: Encouraging leadership roles, providing access to resources, and offering literacy and savings programs.
- Social Capital: Building community development through the Values-Based Holistic Community Development (VBHCD) model and providing training in entrepreneurship, group formation, and financial literacy.
Overview of Naija Unlock Signature Program
Naija Unlock is a program aiming to achieve food self-sufficiency in Nigeria by 2030, targeting two million smallholder farmers (with a focus on women and youth). The goal is to support smallholder farmers to achieve sustainable living income with a focus on priority value chains in Rice, Tomato, Poultry and cattle with planned expansion. The program works with strategic partners in the public and private sectors to build social capital, improve access to finance, markets, mechanization and climate -smart practices with direct implementation in Edo, Nasarawa, benue, Lagos and Ogun states and through private sector partners in additional 12 states. The program uses the market systems approach to address underlying issues and create lasting impact with high potential for growth and scale-up.
- Objectives of the Assignment
Heifer Nigeria seeks to hire an individual or consulting firm to conduct a market systems development training for its country program staff who are implementing the Naija unlock signature program in Nigeria. This training will establish country staff in the principles of market systems and food systems approaches to supporting the program in reaching its goals. Specifically, the assignment will
- provide Heifer Nigeria Country staff with the requisite skills and capacity to understand when and how to apply the systems approach in project design, set up and ensure sustainability and scalability is at the forefront of program delivery.
- have the knowledge of the core purpose of the making market systems work for the poor training program which focuses on how to make development more effective, achieving greater impact, inclusiveness, scale, and sustainability.
- provide the attendees with practical emphasis on operationalizing different aspects of the market systems development approach in different contexts and achieve wider socio-economic objectives, such as reducing poverty and inequality, improving, or increasing jobs and incomes.
- Improve capacity in understanding and assessing systems, sustainability and exit strategies, complementary roles of public and private organizations, supply-side and demand-side intervention approaches, monitoring, evaluation & learning.
- Understand the principles of the market systems development approach, developed key knowledge of and skills in the required frameworks and tools to research, design and manage interventions and the diverse and innovative ways in which the approach can be applied to different market systems and contexts.
Heifer Nigeria’s strategy adopts the market/food system approaches in the implementation of its projects and therefore works with the market actors to address the underlying causes of poor performance in the agricultural sector where the smallholder farmers are working to create lasting changes that have a large-scale impact. The training will focus on inclusive market systems thinking and practice and explore the strategic and practical implications for Heifer as we deepen this approach.
- Scope of Work and Key responsibilities of the Consultant/Consulting Firm
The Consultant will be responsible for the quality and timely submission of specific deliverables, as specified below. All documents should be well written (reader friendly and communicative), inclusive and have a clear analysis process. Based on these Terms of Reference, key responsibilities of the Consultant include:
- Conduct a training pre-assessment to understand staff learning needs and tailor the training accordingly.
- Develop a training module tailored to program value chains and project with contextual analogies
- Ensure that the training module covers key topics which include:
- Strategy development – understanding where market systems fit into economic development and poverty reduction, offering
- Diagnosis – understanding systems, the impediments to better functioning and analysis as a basis for action, incentives and capacities of key actors, role of the private sector, government and the not-for-profit sector
- Vision – the vital importance of sustainability and how to design interventions for lasting impact.
- Intervention and measurement – designing and implementing interventions to stimulate sustainable change in market systems, and practical approaches to assessing intervention progress and impact
- Understanding market systems development and resilience and how it is different & useful
- Market selection, intervention models, Partner selection, facilitation, deal-making, learning & scale-up
- Develop an agenda for a three-day intensive training sessions for staff with structured approach for delivery that would infuse applicable case studies and learning aids including session plans, assessment tools and training materials needed.
- Conduct a post assessment to evaluate the effectiveness of training and ascertain knowledge transfer
- Present certificates to attendees who were part of the training.
- Write a completion report and submit to Heifer Nigeria highlighting the successes of the training and providing recommendations on areas where further future training and capacity building may be needed by the team
- Consultant Tasks and Deliverables
Consultant tasks and key deliverables are the following:
| S/N | TASK/ACTIVITY | EXPECTED DELIVERABLE/OUTPUT |
| 1. | Develop and finalise training modules covering the expected sessions and addressing the training needs identified after the pre-test assessment done | Training modules including detailed titles and expected outcomes from the sessions |
| 2. | Conduct a three day intensive training on Market systems Development and resilience for Heifer Nigeria staff | Heifer Nigeria staff have deeper knowledge and understanding of market systems development approach and can apply it in achieving Heifer’s goals sustainably |
| 3. | Conduct Post Assessment test to ascertain knowledge transfer | Knowledge transfer verified |
| 4 | Provide certificates to attendees | Attendees issued with certificates |
| 5 | Submit Report | Training report submitted including recommendations |
- Competencies of the Lead consultant/Consulting Firm
- A minimum of a master’s degree in social sciences preferably in rural development studies, Economics, Agricultural economics or related field (lead consultant).
- Prior experience conducting similar assignment for a similar organization having various project and value chain activities.
- Extensive practical and on-field knowledge and experience utilizing the market systems approach in implementing interventions to address poverty and hunger especially in fragile and conflict affected situations.
- At least 5-7 years of demonstrated experience at progressively senior levels in the design, planning and implementation of large-scale quantitative and qualitative trainings.
- Excellent communication skills: – Fluency in English are essential.
- Evidence of success in completing similar evaluations in terms of size, design and rigor (at least 1 recommendation/completion letters).
- Strong knowledge of the Nigerian development context, especially in the development sector.
- Time of delivery
This assignment is conditional, and timeline for conducting the training is for 4 business days. Actual dates to be confirmed after signing of ICA.
- Proposal Requirement
Consulting Firm Submission Requirements: All interested individuals or firms will submit their organization’s profile with the following information:
Technical Proposal (not to exceed 12 pages)
Technical proposal:
The Consultant should incorporate the following in the technical proposal:
- Evaluation title, methodology (state detail about the approach, training techniques/methods, key parameters, modules and course content ensuring the capture topics as outlined in the RFP and identified training needs), understanding the tasks, expected deliverables and timelines.
- Team composition in the technical proposal (proposed position/expertise, key tasks, allocated amount of time in percentage, name, brief education and experiences.
- Recent curriculum vitae of the lead consultant and team members as annexure.
- Recent training or evidence of similar assignment conducted by the Consultant or Firm must be indicated.
General information
- Organization or highly experienced individuals overview highlighting related assignment completed with client name, contact person and mobile number.
- Capacity statement
- Legal registration to work within Nigeria.
Financial Proposal (in Naira)
- Itemized budget
- Narrative explanations of line items
Interested firms legally eligible to implement this assignment in Nigeria are requested to submit a proposal. Please include the name of the person in your organization who will be negotiating the contract, as well as your telephone and email contact information. Submissions must be in English and typed single-spaced using Times New Roman font size 12, with a complete set of appendices/attachments as applicable. All pages must be numbered and include the SOW reference number on the cover page and the name of the organization at the bottom of each page.
The successful consulting firm will be required to produce the following documents before entering into an Independent Contractor Agreement (ICA) with Heifer:
- Certificate of Incorporation or Business Registration Certificate.
- A Partnership Deed if you are running a partnership business.
- Audited account for the past 3 years.
- Tax Compliance Certificate.
- Physical location, including town, building, room number, and postal address.
- Trade reference and clientele list of similar work done, including their respective contacts.
The technical and financial proposals should be submitted separately in PDF format, both clearly marked with the RFP Reference Number above. “Please note that late submissions and proposals not submitted via the link will not be considered.’’
Proposals (both technical and financial) must be submitted by email to procurement-ng@heifer.org. with clear subject line: “MSD Training for Signature Program.” and submitted byFriday 9th May 2025 by 5:00pm WAT.
Heifer retains the right to terminate this RFP or modify the requirements upon notification to the Offerors.
- Selection Criteria
Submitted proposals must clearly demonstrate alignment with the scope of work outlined above and with the appropriate level of detail. Heifer’s goal is to ultimately sign on with the Offeror whose proposal best follows the instructions in this RFP, includes the strong evaluation team, and is most cost-effective. Proposals will be evaluated according to the following criteria:
| Proposal Evaluation Focus | Percentage (%) | |
| Specific experience of the Consultant/firm | Demonstrated good understanding of the scope of work | 5 |
| Demonstrated knowledge, previous exposure, and technical experience in training organizations on MSD approaches and strategy. | 10 | |
| Previous experience working with development projects financed by the Government of Nigeria or International organizations. | 10 | |
| Proven experience in conducting similar assignments. | 10 | |
| Quality of Team | Quality of the facilitator: demonstration of knowledge and experience at least 5 years and the quality of the CV. | 10 |
| Quality of the facilitator/proposed team: The team must demonstrate knowledge and experience in the different areas highlighted in the scope of work. | 10 | |
| Methodology & Approach | Quality of proposed approach and flow of the approaches | 10 |
| Quality of work plan and project management provisions proposed to mitigate risks. | 10 | |
| Creativity of the approach to deliver a quality work within the timelines specified | 5 | |
| Total for Technical | 80% | |
| Budget justification and costs realism | 20% | |
The selection committee will evaluate the technical proposal based upon the criteria listed above, and they will evaluate the financial proposal based on cost reasonableness and cost-effectiveness in the budget.
- Validity of Proposals
Proposals submitted shall remain open for acceptance for 60 days from the last date specified for receipt of the proposal. This includes, but is not limited to pricing, terms and conditions, service levels, and all other information. If your organization is selected, all information in this document and the negotiation process are contractually binding.
Award Process and Contract Mechanism
| No. | Activity | Due date |
| 1. | Proposal reception | May 9th 2025 |
| 2. | Selection Committee review | May 14th 2025 |
| 3. | Notification of award | May 19th 2025 |
| 4. | Award agreement negotiation | May 19th 2025 |
| 5. | Signing award | May 26th 2025 |
Heifer will issue a fixed award agreement based on the submission and Heifer’s acceptance of deliverables. Once an award is issued, it will include the payment schedule with the deliverables specified above.
X. Limitations
This Request for Proposal does not represent a commitment to award a contract, to pay any costs incurred in the preparation of a response to this RFP, or to procure or contract for services or supplies. Heifer reserves the right to fund any or none of the applications submitted and reserves the right to accept or reject in its entirety and absolute discretion any proposal received in response to the RFP.
XI. Intellectual Property
- Ownership Generally.
Any intellectual property (including but not limited to copyrights, trademarks, service marks, and patents), intellectual property rights, deliverables, manuals, works, ideas, discoveries, inventions, products, writings, photographs, videos, drawings, lists, data, strategies, materials, processes, procedures, systems, programs, devices, operations, or information developed in whole or in part by or on behalf of Contractor or its employees or agents in connection with the Services and/or Goods (collectively, the “Work Product”) shall be the exclusive property of Heifer International. Upon request, the Contractor shall sign all documents and take any actions necessary to confirm or perfect Heifer’s exclusive ownership of the Work Product.
- Prior-Owned Intellectual Property.
Any intellectual property owned by a Party before the Effective Date (“Prior-Owned IP”) shall remain that Party’s sole and exclusive property. Regarding any of Contractor’s Prior-Owned IP included in the Work Product, the Contractor shall retain ownership and hereby grants Heifer a permanent, nonexclusive, royalty-free, worldwide, irrevocable right and license to use, copy, reproduce, publicly display, edit, revise, perform, and distribute said intellectual property, in any format or any medium, as part of the Work Product.