Title: National Consultant/ Special Service Agreement for Technical Support for the piloting of the Farm2Go Digital Application.
Duration: 6 months maximum
Location: Rwanda- Kigali
Unit: Smallholder Farmer Unit
This consultancy position is based in WFP Rwanda Country Office, Kigali and the consultant will work under direct supervision of the Head of Smallholder Farmer (SHF) Unit.
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The main objective of the consultant is to support the successful implementation of the second phase of the pilot. His/her main tasks are detailed under the deliverables section but primarily focus on supporting the capacity building of technicians (app facilitators) at cooperative level including the development of appropriate training tools.
The Farm2Go application (App) is a digital tool developed for farmer cooperatives to collect digital, real-time data from smallholder farmers and their respective cooperatives. The app has multiple functionalities amongst which most importantly a function for input ordering, access to finance and data aggregation. Once live, the app can be freely accessed via the app-store.
The app was first piloted in Rwanda during agricultural season 2018C from November 2018 until March 2019 in 4 cooperatives with a total membership of around 6000 farmers. An evaluation of the first phase informed on a number of critical updates of the application in order to increase performance, update functionalities and enhance user-friendliness.
In the second phase of the pilot, the application will also mainly be used for the real-time collection of aggregation data from SHF level. We are selecting a sample of between 15 and 20 cooperatives for the second phase of which at least 3 cooperatives will have been involved in the first phase of the pilot. The second phase will target aggregation in agricultural season 2019C and 2020A. A more detailed timeline of the intervention with the expected results is provide below.
The following general approach will be applied during the second pilot phase of the Farm2Go application.
The success of the pilot mainly relies on the capacity and willingness of the cooperatives to adopt the app and adapt the digital data collection technique. WFP encourages a participative approach whereby all key stakeholders are involved, yet with a strong emphasis on the capacity development of cooperatives.
- PREPERATION PHASE (Oct – Nov ’19)
During the preparation phase, appropriate tools for the transfer of knowledge and to build the capacity of cooperative leadership and app facilitators on the Farm2Go application will be developed. A test run of the tools is advised in close collaboration with the WFP developers’ team in Nairobi.
The application will be prepared for launch, including alignment of admin rights and user rights, as well as data population including pre-compiled membership data of the respective cooperatives.
2. IMPLEMENTATION PHASE (Dec ’19 – Mar ’20)
During the implementation phase the cooperatives will be using the Farm2Go app to collect and monitor aggregation data. Stand-by technical support has to be availed to the cooperatives, with more close support to technical field staff of WFP and its implementing partners, all in close collaboration with the developer’s team in the WFP Nairobi office.
3. EVALUATION PHASE (Mar ’20 – May ‘20)
A joint review of the second pilot phase will be organized at two main levels (A) cooperative level, with technical app facilitators and leadership and (B) at the level of implementing partners, including the technical service providers, and WFP Rwanda and Nairobi (developers).
The duration of the assignment will be until the completion of the app evaluation planned for May 2020.
The main deliverable of the assignment are:
- Development of an interactive training tool for app facilitators and cooperative leadership;
- Interactive training of app facilitators and cooperative leadership;
- Stand-by technical support during implementation to various stakeholders, but primarily to app facilitators;
- Participation in the evaluation of the pilot.
- Has deepened technical knowledge through exposure to technical teams.
- Has taken leadership of implementing programmes.
- Demonstrated ability to provide a consistent and timely client service to meet the changing needs and expectations of clients, allowing clients to actively participate in and contribute to decisions that are relevant to their needs. Makes adjustments to services as required.
- Ability to work in a team and establish effective working relations with results-oriented private sector partners as well as internal WFP clients.
- Good analytical skills; resourcefulness, initiative, maturity of judgment, tact, and negotiating skills.
- Excellent communication skills both orally and in writing and in multiple contexts.
- Ability to frequently travel within the country
Eligibility:
This position is open to Rwandan National only and all candidates are required to send online applications
How to apply:
Interested consultants are requested to define their workplan, with detailed methodology in order to clearly and profoundly respond to the objectives of the study laid out above. The candidates will provide a clear and detailed budget specifying the estimated working days per proposed activity based on a lump sum daily rate and submit applications to WFP Rwanda recruiting team, via e-ercruitment, by 23 October 2019.