La Banque Africaine de Développement recherche un consultant économiste agricole, Côte d’Ivoire

La Banque Africaine de Développement recherche un consultant économiste agricole, Côte d’Ivoire

REQUEST FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST

TAAT II PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT INDIVIDUAL CONSULTANT

AGRICULTURE AND AGRO-INDUSTRY DEPARTMENT

Rue Joseph Anoma, 01 BP 1387 Abidjan 01, Cote d’Ivoire

BACKGROUND :

The African Development Bank (AfDB) wants to recruit an agricultural economist consultant to support the teams in the Agriculture Research, Production and Sustainability (AHAI.2) Division in agricultural projects preparation and portfolio management :

• The Feed Africa strategy aims to end hunger and rural poverty in the next decade through self-sufficiency in 18 priority commodity value chains specific to the continent’s agro-ecological zones. A key factor of Africa’s food security challenge is the low productivity of major staple crops making African agriculture uncompetitive leading to a third of calories consumed on the continent being imported from outside of the continent, leading to increased food system vulnerabilities and dependency risks on external food supply chains. To address low agricultural productivity and make African agriculture competitive requires better access to relevant agricultural technologies and innovations by smallholder farmers, including women and the youth, and increased investments in food systems by entrepreneurs ;
• These objectives will be achieved through seven (7) mutually reinforcing enablers: increased productivity; value addition; increased investment in hard and soft infrastructure; an enabling agribusiness environment; expanded agricultural finance; and inclusivity, sustainability and effective nutrition in the Bank’s Regional Member Countries (RMCs). The Department comprises the Agribusiness Development (AHAI.1) and the Agriculture Research, Production and Sustainability (AHAI.2) Divisions ;
• The primary role of the Bank’s Agriculture and Agro-industry Department (AHAI) is to contribute to the Bank’s vision of poverty reduction through increased agricultural production, productivity, marketing and trade in its regional Member Countries (RMCs), thereby increasing farm incomes, and the welfare of rural populations in general. The principal lending activities of the Department centre on the identification, preparation and appraisal of programs and projects and their subsequent monitoring and supervision including project completion reviews to ascertain development outcomes. The principal non-lending activities of the Department involve economic and sector work to foster a greater understanding of the constraints, challenges and opportunities that obtain in the agricultural and rural development milieu of the respective Regional Member Countries (RMCs) and/or region(s).

PURPOSE / OBJECTIVES OF ASSIGNMENT :

• The main objective of the agricultural economist is to support the Agricultural Research, Production and Sustainability (AHAI.2) Division in implementing the work program 2022 – 2023. He/she will specifically provide support to project portfolio management, project designs and implementation, monitoring and evaluation of operations, providing capacity support to project teams, addressing operation bottlenecks, and reviewing procurement and disbursement plans and issues. He/she will support the various flagship programs of the Division such as Climate Smart Agriculture, and Technologies for African Agriculture Transformation (TAAT), among other AHAI flagships. He/she will support the resource mobilization drive for in-country programs/projects. The Consultant will be responsible for financial and economic analysis, and project costing using COSTAB ;
• The Consultant may also be required to join Bank missions outside Cote d’Ivoire, as may be required from time to time.

The agro-economist consultant will undertake the following activities :

• Lead technical aspects in the coordination and design of the programs in close collaboration with the AfDB team, management, and participating countries ;
• Provide technical leadership in the design and implementation of key priority programs such as the Sahel, Zambezi and the Horn of Africa, and the Programme for Strengthening Resilience to Food and Nutrition Insecurity in the Sahel (P2-P2RS) Multinational programs led by the Division ;
• Support the delivery of lending projects from identification, preparation, appraisal and launching, effectiveness and implementation ;
• He/she will lead in the design and formulating of the logical frameworks, budget and costing using COSTAB, economic and financial analysis, monitoring and evaluation ;
• Review the rationale of the projects and programs to assess the conformity with the regional and country development policies and strategies, review the scope of the Project including areas of intervention and target beneficiaries, outline the implementation arrangement and institutional frameworks for the management of infrastructures and other program-related activities ;
• Support the Department and Division in organizing meetings and workshops regarding resource mobilization through concept notes as well as identifying viable partners and logistics support ;
• Provide effective professional support to Task Team Leaders on the program missions to the project countries that include but are not limited to the following activities:
• Liaise, coordinate, and support the preparation and implementation of program missions by interfacing effectively with all the stakeholders, including other partnering institutions and the governments ;

1. Participate in the Missions for the program and project design across the various countries including technical contributions to the preparation of Aide Memoires and other reports and/or any other required documents in the design of the projects ;
2. Lead the drafting of reports and the pertinent issues especially those enumerated in the country’s expression of interest to be able to respond efficiently to the demands of each country ;
3. Assist the Task Team Leaders in all activities of the project preparation and appraisal missions.

• Advise and update Government officials, AfDB and partner MDBs on the technical issues and thematic areas required in the preparation of the various projects ;
• Review technical reports of the projects and guide improvement ;
• Perform other activities as deemed necessary by AHAI department.

The consultant will be required to :

1. Coordinate stakeholder meetings in the effective portfolio management for various operations in the design or implementation stages ;
2. Participate in all project cycle missions as deemed necessary by management and draft all reports upon mission completion such as back to office reports and aide memoires ;
3. Carry out financial and economic analysis, and project costing using COSTAB.

3. In this regard, the Agriculture Research, Production & Sustainability Division (AHAI.2) invites Individual Consultants to indicate their interest in providing the above-described services. Interested Consultants shall provide information on their qualifications and experience demonstrating their ability to undertake this Assignment (CVs, reference to similar services, experience in similar assignments, etc.) ; 

4. The eligibility criteria, the establishment of a shortlist and the selection procedure shall conform with the Bank’s Rules and Procedure for the Use of Consultants under projects financed by the Bank Group, available on the Bank Website at http://www.afdb.org. Please, note that interest expressed by a Consultant does not imply any obligation on the part of the African Development Bank to include him/her in the final shortlist ; 

5. Duration of the Assignment : This consultancy is for an initial period of six (06) months subject to renewal.

6. Desired Qualifications : 

1. Hold at least a master’s degree in Agricultural Economics, Agricultural Science, Agri-finance, Agronomy, Agribusiness Management, Project Management, or related fields accompanied by at least ten years of relevant experience in project management, policy analysis, project costing and budgeting, monitoring and evaluation, as well as extensive relevant work experience in Africa ;
2. At least 10 years of working experience in the design and supervision of agriculture projects, five of which must be in Africa ;
3. Strong experience in economic and financial analysis and costing of projects using COSTAB is compulsory ;
4. Strong experience in the Bank’s project cycle activities including Project Identification, Project Preparation, PCN preparation, Project Appraisal, Negotiations, and Board approval ;
5. Experience in agriculture portfolio management, research, supervision, reporting, and results management framework ;
6. Have considerable knowledge and experience working with Development Financial Institutions (DFIs) like AfDB or similar institutions ;
7. Ability to work as part of a team, good interpersonal communication and project management skills, resourcefulness, and attention to detail ;
8. Working experience within multicultural teams and international organizations or companies and good knowledge of Africa’s social, agricultural, and rural development and economic development issues, questions, and challenges ;
9. Experience in conducting economic and financial analysis of agriculture projects ;
10. Solid verbal and written communication skills ;
11. Ability to find and communicate accurate information concerning the process, policies, and procedures of the Bank ;
12. Ability to prepare board documents, and management briefs and communicate effectively in English and/ or French ;
13. proficiency in the use of software and applications commonly used at the African Development Bank, such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, SAP, COSTAB, etc.

7. Selection criteria : The consultant will be selected based on i) qualifications, ii) years of experience and iii) experience of working in developing countries.

Expressions of interest must be received no later than May 11, 2022 at 5pm Abidjan, Cote D’Ivoire time and sent to n.korie@afdb.org and copy f.kondo@afdb.org