Looking for Consultants for Need Assessment Food Estate Project!

Job Expired

Job Description

The main objective of the assignment is to conduct an assessment into the needs of 200 local farmers involved in the Food Estate in North Sumatra (Kabupaten Humbang Hasundutan) to provide insight into how their involvement, agricultural capacity, practices and income can be increased. The needs assessment will inform what model of organisation can address the needs of the farmers and increase their involvement in the Food Estate. It describes what further support will be needed to establish these organisations, and to cause that the 200 local farmers will have increased organisational, financial and business management capacity. This further support will therefore enable farmers to access and implement the technological expertise, knowledge and capacity development and business opportunities that are provided by the other Dutch companies and institutions in the Food Estate.

Guiding Questions

To provide insight into how the involvement, agricultural capacity, practices and income of local farmers in the Food Estate can be increased the guiding question for the need assessment is:
What are the needs of local farmers in the Food Estate in North Sumatra and how can their involvement, agricultural capacity, practices and income be improved?

With the following sub questions:

What is the social economic status (including income levels, education, previous profession, land ownership, and farming practices) of the 200 local farmers that are currently involved in the Food Estate programme?
What do the 200 local farmers need (in terms of knowledge, skills, services, finance, type of crops, market access & linkage etc.) to be able to improve their agricultural capacity, practices, and income?
What do the 200 local farmers identify as barriers to be fully involved in the Food Estate programme? And what do they identify as factors that can improve their level of involvement?
What do local community members (who are not yet involved as farmers on the food estate) identify as barriers and opportunities to become involved in the Food Estate programme?
What model of organisation could address the needs of the farmers and increase their involvement in the Food Estate?

Expected Results

The results of the needs assessment will be the following:

Routine briefs on key information relevant to the project
Documentation of meetings and project mission.
Data analysis of household survey, FGDs and interviews.
Initial organizational analysis.
Final report of the needs assessment including recommendations written in English.
Presentation of the report to different stakeholders such as the Dutch Embassy, Marves and FEM.

Job Requirements

The consultant or the team should have:

Proven experience in conducting needs assessments, particularly in the agricultural sector.
Sensitivity in working with government agencies and an embassy
Expertise in socio-economic analysis and organizational development.
Familiarity with the local context in North Sumatra and the Food Estate approach
Strong communication and reporting skills in both English and Indonesian.
Highly organized and able to work your way through multiple players of administration and stakeholders.

Potential Methodology & Timeline (can be discussed)

Date	Programme	Responsibility
Week 1-2	0. Team formation and instrument setup Hire an assessment team to conduct the needs assessment. Provide initial briefing to the team to ensure alignment and good communication. Preparatory information gathering to obtain the needed input and to seek lessons learned from similar programmes and studies. Develop and set up data collection instruments: surveys, focus group discussions (FGDs) & interview guides.	Cooperative Advisor (CA) of Agriterra and assessment team
Week 3-9	1. Surveys, FGDs and interviews Household Surveys: Conduct household surveys with the 200 local farmers to understand their socio-economic status and their needs. Focus Groups Discussions: Conduct 2 FGDs with a total of +/- 20 farmers to identify their needs and identify barriers and opportunities to be fully involved in the Food Estate programme? Conduct 1 FGD with about 10 community members (men, women and youth) identify barriers and opportunities to become involved in the Food Estate programme. Interviews: Conduct semi-structured interviews with about 15 farmers (that were not part of the FGDs) to be able to analyse their needs and barriers and opportunities to their full involvement in the Food Estate in more detail. Conduct semi-structured interviews with 5 community members (men, women and youth) to be able to analyse their needs and barriers and opportunities to become involved in the Food Estate programme. Conduct semi-structured intervies with a minimum of 3 representatives from companies & countries present with demoplots and other regional/local government stakeholders to get their view on the barriers and opportunities involvement of local farmers. Mid-term meeting: Conduct a meeting to update the main stakeholders about the progress of the needs assessment and to discuss any questions and challenges. Data Analysis: Analyse the collected data from the household survey to create a socio-economic profile of the farmers and prioritize the needs of the farmers. Compile and analyse the responses of the interviews and FDGs to identify the needs and significant barriers and opportunities for involvement.	Assessment team
Week 10- 11	2. Initial organisational analysis Initial analysis to identify what models of organisation could address the needs identified by the farmers and it can improve farmers’ agricultural capacity, practices and income. Draft a plan to set up the identified organisational structure, including governance, membership, and financial management. This plan will provide insight into how further support could be provided for the establishment and capacity building of the farmer organisations.	Assessment team and CA Agriterra
Week 12 – 13	3. Final report and presentation Compile the findings of the surveys, FDGs, interviews and initial organisational analysis into a comprehensive report to describe the needs of the local farmers in the Food Estate and provide recommendations about how their involvement, agricultural capacity, practices and income can be improved. Present the final report to stakeholders such as government officials and local community leaders.	Assessment team and CA Agriterra

How to Apply

Interested consultants (individuals or institutions) are required to submit a proposal that includes a CV, a detailed budget, a comprehensive plan outlining the methodology and timeline, and specific delivery requirements for each phase of the assessment. Proposals should show the consultant’s understanding of the project objectives and the local context, and their ability to execute the tasks within the stipulated timeframe. All submissions must be received by the 8th of September 2024 and sent to saptadjaja@agriterra.org. If you have any questions, please contact Aditya Saptadjaja at +62851-8687-8364 or saptadjaja@agriterra.org