Job Expired

TOR: Food Safety
Lot1; Policy and advocacy training for young people to equip them with skills to participate in decision making processes and influence the food system of the future.
Lot2; Food safety training with more emphasis on inclusive local food distribution platforms that bring sustainable food producers together with local market actors.
Lot3; Specific training program for young entrepreneurs in the field of organic waste management in particular adding value to food waste around public markets.
1.0 Introduction. This term of reference is looking for 3 business service providers (BSP) for Lot 1 ,2 and 3 as indicated above. The supplier (see section 7 for the qualifications required) will carry out the assignment with Rikolto administering and managing the overall contract implementation. Rikolto is an international network organisation with more than 40 years of experience in partnering with farmer organisations and food chain stakeholders across Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America. The question that guides our work is: What will we eat tomorrow? How can we guarantee that future generations retain access to affordable quality food, knowing that climate change, low prices and poverty are forcing more and more farmers from the land? Rikolto firmly believes that small scale farmers, who produce 70% of our food worldwide, are a big part of the solution. One of Rikolto’s global initiatives is the Good Food for Cities Programme where Rikolto Uganda collaborates and works with city authorities like the city of Kampala to contribute to sustainable food systems. This with the overall objective of contributing to making urban food environments and food supply chains more inclusive, resilient, and enabling healthy, sustainable & nutritious diets (HSN) for all citizens, especially women, youth and vulnerable groups. For Rikolto, Good Food for Cities promotes cities that are actively addressing the challenge of ensuring sufficient, safe, healthy food for their citizens, while ensuring that the environment is safeguarded and that all actors involved in the food supply, from producers to vendors, make a decent living out of it.

Background to the project. In Uganda 78% of the population is below 30 years old, making it the country with the highest percentage of youth in the world. 21% of the youth are between 15 and 24 years old; 64-70% of them are estimated to be unemployed (Kilimo trust, 2018). Currently, approximately 400.000 youths are released annually into the job market to compete for approximately 9.000 formally available jobs. By 2060, according to the World Bank 1.2 million youths will be released annually in the job market. To provide the necessary jobs for these young talents will be an enormous challenge.

Uganda’s agriculture sector plays a critical role in providing occupation to many Ugandan youth. Even using the stricter employment definition, thus excluding subsistence agriculture, the sector absorbs 54%of the 18 to 30-year-olds compared to 31%for those aged 31 to 64, followed by manufacturing (mostly agro-processing), wholesale and retail trade and other services (MGLSD, 2018). Outside agriculture, youth mostly work as welders, crafts makers, brickmakers, tailoring, fishmongers, butchers, food and beverage vendors, street vendors, boda (motorcycle taxi) riders and carpenters. This reflects the limited structured transformation of the economy and the low capacity of the private sector to generate gainful and decent jobs.

Young people often lack the necessary skills to start their own agribusiness such as business planning, financial management, accounting, strategic planning, and linkages with other chain actors. They struggle to access critical resources for their potential business, including capital, knowledge, land and a network. Furthermore, young people often lack exposure to successful businesses and entrepreneurs, preventing them from learning from more experienced peers. They have a need for coaching, mentoring and feedback on their business plans and ideas. Equal opportunities are needed for both young women and men. While the SME start-up ecosystem in Kampala appears to be booming, the support to develop new business ideas and initiating businesses in cities like Gulu or Mbale is still rather limited. Especially regarding food. For example, according to research of the Innovation Village only 9% of respondents in Gulu have ever received any support from entrepreneurship support organisations.

2.0 Project Goal.
Through the Generation Food Program, the SHONA and Rikolto partnership aims to come up with opportunities through an array of tools e.g. adapted training, networking and funding to elevate the chance of developing a successful food business. All these tools inspire and support young entrepreneurs to impact local food environments with the goal of working towards decent work and safe and affordable food for all. This methodology is based on and incorporates learnings from previously organized Generation Food programmes in and outside of East Africa, including the 2020 Arusha program supported by DOEN Foundation.

3.0 Purpose of the Assignment.
Rikolto is therefore looking for 3 local individual service providers or firms to carry out a short-term assignment from March to April 2024 to fulfil the LOTS below:
Lot1; Policy and advocacy training for young people to equip them with skills to participate in decision making processes and influence the food system of the future.
Lot2; Food safety training with more emphasis on inclusive local food distribution platforms that bring sustainable food producers together with local market actors.
Lot3; Specific training program for young entrepreneurs in the field of organic waste management in particular adding value to food waste around public markets.

4.0 Expected Deliverables
The assignment will result in the following deliverables.
Inception report; * Submit training materials & methodologies;
* Conduct a 4-day-training;
* Provide training reports, highlight key areas of focus when it comes to Food safety, circular economy, and policy & advocacy of young people in the agri-food sector.

Duration: 3 weeks from the signing of the contract.

5.0 Qualification, Experience and Competencies
The service provider for this assignment should have:
* Degree/master’s in food science, social science, agriculture, economics or other relevant development field is required.
* Extensive expertise, knowledge and experience in the field of food safety, policy & advocacy circular economy and youth engagements.
* At least 5 years of experience in working with international organizations and donors. * Experience in training of young people.
* Excellent analytical and report writing skills.
* Excellent interpersonal and communication skills including ability to facilitate and work in a multi-disciplinary team.
* Experience in facilitating youth training sessions, promotional campaigns, advocacy and lobbying.

6.0 Submission Modalities.
An interested and qualified service provider is requested to submit a proposal by 22nd March 2024 to eastafrica@rikolto.org mentioning the specific Lot of interest in the subject line and detailing in the proposal the following:
* i. Description of how the service provider will address the trainings.
* ii. Personal CVs for individual consultants highlighting qualifications and experience.
* iii. Similar assignments carried out in the recent past with reference addresses.
* iv. Confirmation of the ability to complete the assignment within 10 working days after contract signing.
* v. Financial proposal of the professional & administration fees.
* vi. Both technical and financial proposals shall not exceed five pages.