Invitation for Bids – Farming as a Business (FaaB) Trainer for the Community Farming Program (CFP)

Invitation for Bids – Farming as a Business (FaaB) Trainer for the Community Farming Program (CFP)

Terms of Reference (TOR) for Trainer/Facilitator

Proposed Start Date: April 1, 2024 Location: Unity State Region, South Sudan

A. Background

South Sudan’s Unity State experienced conflict between the central government of Sudan and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army-North (SPLM/A-N) from 2011 to 2016. The 2011 conflict gave way to a humanitarian crisis with large-scale internal displacement within Unity State, South Sudan. Since 2012, Samaritan’s Purse has provided emergency agricultural support in the program area, aimed at helping households cope with conflict-related disruptions to their agricultural livelihoods, and improving household food security. To date, the program has provided support through the General Seed Distribution (GSD) program which has provided seeds, tools, and training to farmers. In 2015, Samaritan’s Purse started a Community Farm Program (CFP) that helped farmers organize into groups to receive support in repairing community tractors, along with assistance in the form of fuel and seeds (for first-year beneficiaries), to facilitate mechanized plowing of beneficiaries’ plots. Currently, there are over 16 schemes across the program areas organized into farmer’ groups, each with over 500 farmers. The capacity building will target 150 participants who will be providing tractor services to farmers, including farmer groups/cooperative leadership committees (current beneficiaries of CFP tractors), and private tractor owners and individuals/groups providing mechanized plowing services to the community. The 150 participants will be distributed as follows: 50 commercial tractor owners (service providers) and 100 leaders from the groups running the community tractors. The CFP aimed at helping households increase their agricultural output, and achieving improved food security for conflict-affected households through mechanized farming. Through the years, the program has trained tractor operators and mechanics, organized farmers into small producer groups, and trained leadership committees in cooperative management and financial literacy, as one sustainability strategy.

B. Training Purpose and Objectives

Beginning in 2015, with the support provided to CFP beneficiaries, Samaritan’s Purse decided it would be appropriate to begin a three-year handover process to return the tractors to their community owners (individuals, farm groups, and cooperatives). In 2023, Samaritan’s Purse introduced a cost share in which farmers must contribute a percentage of the plowing cost, that goes towards meeting the repair services for the tractors. In 2023, Samaritan’s Purse piloted commercial tractor service providers through the voucher modality, which yielded promising results.

Samaritan’s Purse wishes to introduce farmer demand-driven plowing services for the community, given the support shown over the years. In preparation for handing over the community tractors to the beneficiaries, Samaritan’s Purse wishes to equip both commercial tractor owners (service providers) and the leadership of the groups running the community tractors with business skills.

The goal of consultancy/training services is to empower beneficiaries to practice farming as a business, imparting skills in the commercial business mindset, record keeping, enterprise budgeting, and marketing.

The overall goal is to see farmers make more money from farming, taking advantage of new opportunities, adapting their farming businesses to market changes, and improving efficiency and profitability. This is not a donor requirement; however, Samaritan’s Purse sees this approach as a path from direct emergency response to self-reliance.

The Specific Objectives Include:

• To impart skills to 150 participants in the commercial business mindset, record keeping, enterprise budgeting, and marketing.
• To help farmers learn and improve their business knowledge, attitude and skills.
• To prepare participants to take advantage of market opportunities to become better decision-makers and competitors in a new business environment.

C. Training Points/Scope of Work

The training content should address but not be limited to the following points:

Module 1. Creating a commercial farming mindset, (transitioning from subsistence farming to commercial farming) with emphasis on the following:

• What makes up a farming business?
• Changes in farming practices over the years in the implementation area.
• The farming business cycle, using CFP as an illustration.
• Characteristics of a business person or group.
• Important aspects of a farming business.

Module 2. Farm record keeping – this module should address the following points

• What is a record?
• Why keep records?
• Advantages of record keeping.
• Consequences of poor record keeping.
• Types of farming business records.

The content should prepare the participants to appreciate the importance of record keeping, know the various types of farm business records and use farm records in farming business management.

Module 3. Farm enterprise budgeting

• What is farm budgeting?
• Components of a farming budget.
• The process of budgeting, including examples of farm enterprise budgets.
• Determining the minimum price and yield for the enterprise.

The content should prepare the participants to:

i. Understand that budgeting is one of the critical planning tools/techniques.

ii. Understand the different types of budgets and their applicability in farm businesses.

iv. Demonstrate budgeting procedures and note budgetary components.

v. Develop and use the various farm budgets.

vi. Calculate the price per hour for the services offered.

Module 4. Marketing and markets

• Group businesses vs. individual businesses.
• Assessing group selling/buying.

Through capacity building tasks and a participatory approach, the consultant, together with the beneficiaries, will define the best marketing mix (4Ps) for selling the plowing services and reaching the target (potential) customers.

D. Methodology and Work Plan

The business consultant or trainer is expected to articulate a comprehensive approach for orchestrating the training sessions, tools and methodologies suitable for smallholder farmers’ learning. This involves integrating interactive methods to elevate the overall learning experience, particularly tailored to commercial tractor services. It should be noted that the participants may not have a high school education, and the few learned individuals speak and write Arabic.

The training will take a maximum of 20 days, including the submission of the training report. As such, prior to commencing the work, the consultant will be required to submit a training manual for review and approval.

Ideal start date for training: April 1, 2024

E. Stakeholder Engagement

In addition to CFP beneficiaries, other stakeholders include the following: private tractor service providers, the Secretariat of Agriculture (SoA), payam leaders and the business community.

F. Expected Deliverables

Training Content Outline: The consultant/trainer will provide a detailed outline of the training content (outlined in Section C above), ensuring its direct relevance to practical skills development for the participants.

Interactive Training Materials: The consultant/trainer will develop and supply engaging training materials that cater to the learning preferences of the CFP participants and commercial tractor service providers, promoting interactive learning experiences and mechanisms to measure the effectiveness of the training, such as pre/post-tests.

G. Evaluation Budget and Proposed Payment Schedule

Applicants will be required to submit a proposal including a detailed budget, specifying the number of days for the training and their rate per day. The budget will be reviewed as part of the approval process. Upon selection and approval of the consultant/trainer, Samaritan’s Purse will cover the cost of international airfare, in-country accommodation, meals, and in-country travel for a maximum of 20 working days, inclusive of the first travel date to South Sudan and submission of the final report. This is estimated based on deliverables under this TOR and previous experience working with consultants. The number of days, however, may be negotiated based on the number of days the consultants estimate to complete this assignment.

The proposed payment schedule details are as follows:

• 10% upon signing the contract and agreed plan of operations.
• 15% upon approval of training content and materials.
• 75% upon submitting the final training report and any other deliverables.

H. Data Ownership and Confidentiality

All intellectual property produced as part of this assessment will be owned by Samaritan’s Purse. All documents passed to the consultant remain the property of Samaritan’s Purse and are required to be considered strictly confidential. The documents will not be shared with a third party without the prior agreement and authorization of Samaritan’s Purse. The consultant will not be allowed, without prior authorization in writing, to present any of the results as his or her own work or to make use of the training results for private publication purposes or otherwise.

I. Consultant Profile

• Minimum of a university degree in microfinance, entrepreneurship, agricultural extension, agribusiness, agriculture economics, development studies, or other related subject area.
• Prior experience and/or training in conducting farming as a business training for smallholder farmers is strongly preferred.
• Verbal fluency and written proficiency in English is a must (fluency in Arabic is not a requirement, as Samaritan’s Purse will facilitate translation services if needed).
• Contextual awareness of the region to guide the training manual design will be an asset.
• Business training institutes or colleges highly encouraged to apply