1.    Introduction
We Effect is inviting consultancy companies or individual consultants to submit tenders for an assignment of  Business Development Consultancy for the  Women Economic Empowerment Project, the selected consultant will support the implementing District Development Women Area Associations with business and enterprise development.

We Effect is a development organization founded in 1958 by the cooperative movement in Sweden. We work in more than 20 countries in Asia, Eastern Europe, Latin America, Africa, and collaborate mainly with member-based organizations consisting of women and men who live in poverty. We Effect Southern Africa consists of four countries with programmes in Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Malawi. Our values are respect, transparency, and togetherness. We Effect works in the thematic fields of, sustainable rural development and adequate housing. We Effect applies a human rights-based approach in our programmes, assisting people living in poverty to secure their rights and entitlement to adequate living conditions and broad empowerment. We Effect targets women in partner organizations to secure them the same rights and entitlements as men, especially to have access to and have control over productive resources. Partner organizations include farmer organizations, housing cooperatives, and savings and credit association.

The We Effect Zambia Country Office is implementing a Women’s Economic Empowerment Project in selected districts of Zambia, in three provinces namely: Southern, Eastern and two districts in Western Province. The overall objective of the proposal is to; Advance women’s economic empowerment to ensure the capacity of women to participate in, contribute to and benefit from agricultural value chains and processes in ways that affirm the value of their contributions, respect their dignity, promote equality.

The project will be women-led and women-centered, which means it will complement other projects supported by We Effect. We Effect will be  working with Women for Change(WFC), Heifer International Zambia, Zambia Land Alliance (ZLA)and the District Women Associations (DWAs). The   project objectives include the following.

1.      Increase women’s agency and decision-making power at household and community levels to address barriers to women’s economic empowerment.

2.     Address institutional barriers that limit women’s economic advancement in agricultural value and market chains.

3.      Strengthen women’s voice and collective power at community level to increase access to, control of and ownership of productive (e.g. physical assets, land) and financial assets among women through women-led cooperatives, land tenure and financial inclusion.

The core strategy is to strengthen cooperatives of women and men living in poverty through membership-based democracy, long-term economic thinking, social responsibility and transparency.

The Assignment

The Women’s Economic Empowerment (WEE) project collaborates with women-led organizations, focusing on women farmers in groups, which later form Associations, constituting the District Women Development Association.

The Business Systems Development Consultant is tasked with providing process consultancy to assist women-led organizations, starting from the group level, through Associations, to the District level. The objective is to design and implement appropriate business management systems interventions within the project, aligning the roles of the group level, Association, and District levels. The goal is to develop the 8-District Women Associations (DWAs) businesses seamlessly fitting into agriculture value chains.

The WEE project seeks to transform District Women’s Associations’ enterprising arms into robust and profitable farmer business organizations. This involves capacity building in business planning, financial management, development of management structures, systems, and leadership.

The consultant will offer DIY tools for analysing suitable value chain financing models that fit women-led organizations’ roles in agriculture value chains. These tools assess advisory services, develop key marketing financial services, consider financial linkages, and expand businesses, input services, building strong delivery, and sustainable partnerships with public and private organizations.

The consultant will also support the DWDA in identifying impact investment opportunities and scaling up business models.

Objectives

1.     Empower District Women Development Associations (DWDAs) by transforming their existing businesses and ideas into robust business models, fortified by comprehensive business plans, strategic frameworks, and advanced financial and human resource management systems.

2.     Cultivate seamlessly integrated business management systems for DWDAs, Area Associations, groups, and members, aligning with their unique value propositions. This strategic alignment aims to capitalize on opportunities across production, processing, aggregation, and various value chain roles, optimizing the operational environment.

3.     Strengthen DWDAs by implementing efficient financial management and loss control systems. Enhance their capacity in all facets of business financial management to foster resilience and sustainable growth.

4.     Innovate user-friendly tools enabling DWDAs to evaluate the feasibility and profitability of financial and extended business support services. These tools will empower them to make informed decisions and strategically position themselves in the market.

Consultants Profile

Minimum Requirements

a) Degree in Agricultural Economics, Agricultural Business management, Rural Development, Animal production with post graduate diploma or experience in Business management or a related field is required

b) Experience implementing activities in large, complex projects in challenging environments.

c) Minimum 5 years field and technical experience working on agribusiness development projects.

d) Significant experience in building public/private partnerships, preferably in the dairy sector.

Most Critical Proficiencies:

a) Possesses robust business acumen, demonstrating adept and strategic thinking, and innovative problem-solving skills.

b) Exhibits strong communication proficiency in both English and the local languages of the areas.

c) Demonstrates expertise in mentoring and coaching for business skills development, strategic planning, and formulating plans for women or rural farmer business organizations.

d) Showcases knowledge of the latest advancements in implementing best practices for enterprising in value chain development, particularly focusing on empowering women, youth, the poor, and the underprivileged.

e) Displays creativity, systematic thinking, and a capacity to integrate innovative solutions, designing catalytic activities within the value chain, such as the concept of quality-based pricing, social and environmental sustainability-based branding.

f) Demonstrates the ability to design and implement strategies for providing institutional capacity building to key partner institutions, aiming for more efficient, competitive, and sustainable business management models. Emphasizes the need for built-in ‘exit strategies’ within the project to ensure self-sustaining businesses by project end.

g) Possesses knowledge and experience in advising on the establishment of Small to Medium Businesses for onward supply and accessing niche markets. Implements supply promotion/stimulation strategies within sub-sectors and for members.

h) Has experience in facilitating the establishment and assessment of strategic alliances and cooperative business management models.

i) Demonstrates knowledge and experience in strategic business planning and business analysis.

Expected Results

The following are the expected outcomes of this assignment.

• Preliminary report on the business enterprise development
• Capacity building, mentoring and coaching plans for the DWDAs business enterprises

Evaluation Criteria
For the evaluation of the expression of interest the following criteria will be applied.

a) General experience of the firm (20points)

b) Experience Related to the Assignment (25 points).

c) Technical approach and methodology (35 points)

d) Work plan (10 points)

e) Language (10 points).

Interested firms are requested to submit the following documents.

a). Technical proposal not exceeding  8 pages.

• Understanding and interpretation of the TOR.
• methodology to be used in undertaking the assignment.
• CVs of key personnel to be engaged on the assignment.
• Traceable references of work done for other organizations or individuals

b). Financial Proposal

• Flexible Consultant’s daily rate for the long-term assignment.
• Detailed budget for the proposed assignment

Timeframe and Payment
The timeframe of the frame consultancy agreement is for 6 months. The assignments will be requested and specified in a specific Task Call Off. The Task Call will include information on the scope of work, number of workdays and deliverables.

The payment shall be based on approved time sheets, including a narrative report of work carried out and invoice with attached approved time sheets.

Tenders
Tenders shall consist of:

• Company profile (clearly stating full contact details, physical address and telephone lines);
• Certificate of incorporation or registration for companies.
• VAT registration.
• Tax clearance certificates,
• Membership or affiliation to a relevant professional body;
• References/samples of three similar assignments completed working with communication for an NGO/INGO or similar within the past three years;
  CV of the proposed consultant(s);
• Fee rate per workday in ZMW; and
• Declaration of any business or personal relationships connected to We Effect.

Payment fees will be based on the delivery of outputs, as follows:

• 25% upon signing of the contract.
• 25% upon approval of the designed logo
• 50% submission of the final product and delivery of output 1 & 2

The selection of the successful consultant will be based on the qualification requirements and interviews of company representatives and candidates.

Send documents indicating in the subject line “CONSULTANCY  SERVICES FOR BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT” should be sent before close of business on 26th December, 2023 to procurement.zambia@weeffect.org. only electronic applications will be considered.

Important Note: Offers with requests for payment or fees should be treated with extreme caution, viewed as potentially fraudulent and reported immediately.