THE FEDERAL DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF ETHIOPIA
FOOD SECURITY AND AGRICULTURE REHABILITATION MEASURES IN CONFLICT AFFECTED REGIONS OF ETHIOPIA (FARM) PROJECT
CONSULTING SERVICES
Request for Expressions of Interest
Organization: Agricultural Transformation Institute
IFB Title: Selection of Consulting Services for: Assessment of the Ethiopian seed value chain at national level with particular emphasis on the Amhara and Tigray regions.
Project ID: CET 1124 FARM Project
IFB Number: ATA-NCB-CON-2023-0014

The Ethiopian Agricultural Transformation Institute (ATI) has received a financing from Agence Française de Dévelopement ("AFD"), and intends to use part of the funds thereof for payments under the FARM project.
The services of the consultant shall consist of the Assessment of the Ethiopian seed value chain at national level with particular emphasis on the Amhara and Tigray regions. The study will include a synthesis of the reports already done regarding the formal seed value chain, in particular with regards to the 10 Agricultural Commercialization Clusters (ACC) priority commodities and other major foods including: cereal (wheat, maize, teff, barley, sorghum), pulses (faba bean, chickpeas, common bean, soya bean, lentils), vegetables (tomato, onion, potato, carrot, sweet potato), fruit trees (avocado, mango, banana). In a second step, it will describe the informal seed value chain in the targeted regions.. In the last step, the study should be accompany with an economical analysis of the feasibility of the extension of the formal system in the targeted rural area and describe the farming practices in place to develop the use of improved seeds in these area (access to market, farming practices, control authorities, etc.) including prerequisite (risk management, fertility management, access to technical and financial services, access to market). The study will initially focus on the Amhara, Tigray and Afar in detail and at national level on systemic and policy issues, before expanding to the other regions in the country. It will cover all of the formal, informal and mixed or intermidiate seed systems and will take advantage of existing studies and research conducted in Ethiopia.
The Ethiopian Agricultural Transformation Institute (ATI) hereby invites Applicants to show their interest in delivering the Services described above.
This Request for Expressions of Interest is open to:
Consulting firms
Eligibility criteria to AFD financing are specified in sub-clause 1.3 of the "Procurement Guidelines for AFD Financed Contracts in Foreign Countries", available online on AFD’s website: http://www.afd.fr.
In order to confirm eligibility for AFD financing, interested firms shall submit (as part of the expression of interest) a duly signed ‘statement of integrity’ which is appended to this REOI.
The Applicant shall submit only one application, either in its own name or as a member of a Joint Venture (JV). If an Applicant (including any JV member) submits or participates in more than one application, those applications shall be all rejected. However, the same Subconsultant may participate in several applications.
If the Applicant is a joint venture (JV), the expression of interest shall include:
- a copy of the JV Agreement entered into by all members,
or
- a letter of intent to execute a JV Agreement, signed by all members together with a copy of the Agreement proposal,
In the absence of this document, the other members will be considered as Subconsultants.
Experiences and qualifications of Subconsultants are not taken into account in the evaluation of the applications.
Interested Applicants must provide information evidencing that they are qualified and experienced to perform those Services. For that purpose, documented evidence of recent and similar services shall be submitted. Thèse inclue présentation of the Following, but not limited to: general presentation the Consultancy firm such as scope of services or activities, description of human resources, organigram, etc. Moreover, it is recommended to present the following:
• Support letter showing good track record on seed value chain analysis from three organizations working on Ethiopian seed system as indicated above.
• Familiar with the Ethiopian farming system and seed system very well
• Knowledge on Ethiopian indiginous seed excgange and conservation system
• Have good experience on Ethiopian seed system analysis and formulation of interventions
Determination of the similarity of the experiences will be based on:
- The contracts size: 50, 000 EURO and above.
- The nature of the services: Seed value chain study, seed value chain assesssments, analytical studies, provision of recommendations.
- The technical area and expertise: Agriculture sector, crop production and productivity, seed value chain, agro-ecology. It requires experience on similar study. Similar studies include seed value chain studes and analysis which should address the formal and the informal seed value chains. It also requires experience and expertise to make a synthesis from all existing documentation and review of the national legislation framework to come up with policy recomendations. During the analysis, the informal seed value chain analysis is expected to focus on family farms needs in the 3 conflict affected areas (Amhara, Tigray and Afar) with the aim of providing recommendation in order to improve local access to seeds and ensuring its alignment with agro-ecological practices.
- The location: Experience in Ethiopia or comparable agro-ecological context in the agriculture and seed value chain study and analysis. Internation competent should bring the work permit of Ethiopia
- Experience on donor funded projects.
The Client will also take into account for the evaluation of the applications the following items:
 Presence and availability of appropriate skills among staff for provision of technical back-up to the on-site experts. The Consultant will provide information for potential involvement of its staffs approperiate to the services bearing in mind that other individuals may be presented at bidding stage;
 Local representatives/partners: for an international consulting firm, there must be a local representatives/partners based in Addis Ababa or any other town in the country.
 Relevant quality assurance procedures and certifications of the applicant.
Due to the security risk in the areas where the services are to be performed, the evaluation of Expressions of Interest will verify that the applications meet the following criteria:
 The applicant has at least one experience providing services in an area with a similar security risk, for which it shall provide proof of implementation of security measures (invoice or contract with a security service provider, proof of security awareness training before departure on-site, etc.).
 The applicant has set up internal security management procedures: it shall provide a description of its monitoring system and crisis management system.
The Applicant shall describe its standard preparation process for departure on assignment in sensitive areas, and shall attach documents proving its implementation (service orders with related instructions, certificates of awareness-raising or training actions, etc.).
For a JV, its leader and any member that has its registered office outside the Client's country shall fulfil each of these criteria.
An application that does not meet any of the aformentioned requirements will be rejected.
Among the submitted applications, the Ethiopian Agricultural Transformation Institute (ATI) will shortlist a maximum of six (6) Applicants, to whom the request for proposals to carry out the services shall be sent.
The Expressions of Interest must be submitted to the address below no later than January 26, 2024 2:00pm.
ATI reserves the right to accept or reject any Application, and to cancel the procurement process and reject all Applications, at any time without thereby incurring any liability to the affected applicants or any obligation to inform the affected applicants of the ground for ATI’s action.
The Application must be submitted either by hand to ATI or by tender box or electronically with office address given below.
Ethiopian Agricultural Transformation Institute (ATI)
Senior Operation Director Office, 3rd floor
Bole, off Meskel Flower Road /Behind Mega Building – Across Commercial Graduates Association,
Tel. +251-115 -570678/85 or cell phone +251911-660518
Fax + 251-115 570668
E-mail : Damte.Mengistu@ata.gov.et; Copy: Yohannes.Tadesse@ata.gov.et
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
For International Consultants, the EOI documents should be preferably submitted in PDF electronic format (i.e., via email) to the address indicated below and electronic proposals exceeding the volume of 32-35MB cannot be accepted. If not possible due to technical or size constrains, the proposal can be submitted in hard copy (paper form or electronic media like DVD, memory stick). Whichever format is chosen by the consultant, the entire documentation shall be provided in one format only. Mixed submissions will not be considered. The consulting firms should request and receive an acknowledgment of receipt of the EOI document from the procurement department before the deadline of the submission date and time.
Interested Applicants may obtain further information at the address: Damte Mengistu , Damte.Mengistu@ata.gov.et or at the address mentioned above prior to January 26, 2024 during office hours 8:30 am ̶ 17:30 pm East African Time.