TERMS OF REFERENCE: DEVELOPMENT OF E-LEARNING COURSES FOR FAIRTRADE AFRICA

Introduction

Fairtrade Africa (FTA), a member of the wider Fairtrade International movement represents Fairtrade certified producers in Africa and the Middle East. We operate four regional networks: Eastern and Central Africa Network (ECAN) based in Nairobi, Kenya; West Africa Network (WAN) based in Accra, Ghana, Southern Africa Network (SAN) based in Blantyre – Malawi, South Africa and the Middle East and North Africa Network (MENA). The Fairtrade Africa secretariat is in Nairobi, Kenya.

Fairtrade Africa is owned by its members, who are African producer organizations certified against Fairtrade International Standards producing traditional export commodities such as coffee, cocoa, tea, flowers, cotton, bananas, cane sugar, wine, fresh fruits, and non-traditional commodities including shea butter and rooibos tea. Currently, the organization represents over 1,180,000 producers across 33 countries in Africa.

2. Objectives and Scope of the Assignment.

With more than 600 Fairtrade Certified Producer Organizations (PO) spread across the four regional networks, FTA producer support staff deliver capacity building services to POs to ensure continued compliance with Fairtrade standards requirements and understanding of Fairtrade thematic topics. To deliver effective support, we have developed training manuals/guidelines that consist of work plans, activities, templates, data collection mechanisms, methodologies of work and monitoring tools.

The overall objective of the assignment is to improve the capacity of FTA staff through an online learning program that is based on the 22 training manuals/ guidelines that we have already developed. In support of this objective, FTA seeks the development of 22 compelling and interactive online learning modules.

These courses are meant for FTA staff and external stakeholders; designed to be carried out through a series of modules delivered in a self-paced format. Each module should be designed to be housed on the existing FTA eLearning platform and the online learning modules will address the following: –

Course

**

1: Effective Management for Producer Organizations

Modules

1.1 Organizational Development, Leadership & Governance.

1.2 Risk assessment & management.

1.3 Budgeting, Financial Management & reporting.

1.4 Record Keeping.

1.5 Project management

2: Fairtrade Standards

2.1 Fairtrade Hired Labor (HL) Standard.

2.2 Fairtrade Premium Committees (FPC), Principles & Processes

2.3 Fairtrade Premium Use & Management.

2.4 Fairtrade Small-scale Producer Organization (SPO) Standard

3: Fairtrade Thematic topics

3.1 Gender awareness and equality.

3.2 Inclusion of youth, women & people living with disabilities.

3.3 Living income and Living wage.

3.4 Workers’ rights.

3.5 Child labor and protection of children and vulnerable adults.

4: Product Development

4.1 Idea Generation & Idea Screening for new product development

4.2 Concept Development and Testing

4.3 Business Analysis

4.4 Developing the Product

4.5 Test Marketing

4.6 Commercialization

4.7 Product Performance Management & Review

4.8 Product Extensions

Key Points to note:

• The purpose of this initiative is to deliver this training to a large number of learners (Producer organization members) who are geographically dispersed in the various countries in Africa and to the Fairtrade Africa staff.

• The consultant firm is expected to work with the FTA subject matter experts, to get an understanding of the content material and organizational context.

• The assignment will involve the creation of defined storylines or scenarios and will need to be interspersed with quizzes, information nuggets, and case studies to enhance the learning experience.

SCOPE OF WORK

The consultant firm will be responsible for the following: –

• Instructionally design e-modules based on existing FTA content and interviews with the FTA matter expert(s).

• Designing and developing a functional prototype of the online learning modules for review and validation.

• Completing the development of the self-paced and interactive learning modules.

• Integrating the learning modules into the FTA eLearning platform.

Specifically, the consultant will perform the following tasks:

Project Management

a) Participate in an initial kick-off meeting to meet with the FTA project team, to discuss the assignment, validate critical objectives, agree on learning objectives, and develop a project plan to guide the project through completion

b) Continuous updates to the FTA project team on the progress of the assignment

c) Collaborate with FTA to manage content reviews.

Content Design and Development

a) Work with the FTA project team to understand existing content and to instructional design the content into storyboards to meet the agreed learning objectives.

b) In consultation with FTA the consultant should present three (3) distinct sample user interface designs for the module(s), each including an example of a welcome/ main menu screen and a page of sample content. These designs should include colour palettes, header and footer sections, navigational and menu buttons, and follow FTA and donor branding guidelines. FTA will work with the consultant to refine the designs and select a final interface.

c) FTA project team and the consultants will validate the selected design. This will ensure that the final product will have:

• An overall design plan and architecture.

• A consistent look and feel.

• A common and apparent navigation strategy.

• Interactive exercises.

• Required visuals – flow charts/decision trees/sketches/interactive image maps/videos, etc.

d) Any identified deficiencies in the selected design identified during the validation process will be corrected by the consultant and approved and accepted by FTA.

e) This existing FTA course content is currently developed in MS word & MS PowerPoint formats, with short video animations also produced for 14 out of the 22 modules. The consultants need to ensure the following points while developing the eLearning modules: –

• The expected workload for each module is detailed in the table below. However, it is expected that each module will be composed of topics that take a shorter time to complete. These can be revised based on recommendations from the consultant after a review of the existing training manuals/ guidelines.

Course

Modules vs Expected workload

**

1: Effective Management for Producer Organizations

1.1 Organizational Development, Leadership & Governance.

1.5 hours

1.2 Risk assessment & management.

1.0 hours

1.3 Budgeting, Financial Management & reporting.

1.5 hours

1.4 Record Keeping.

1.0 hours

1.5 Project management

2.0 hours

2: Fairtrade Standards

2.1 Fairtrade Hired Labor (HL) Standard. (To be divided into 5 chapters)

3.0 hours

2.2 Fairtrade Premium Committees (FPC), Principles & Processes

1.5 hours

2.3 Fairtrade Premium Use & Management.

2.0 hours

2.4 Fairtrade Small-scale Producer Organization (SPO) Standard (to be further divided into 4 chapters)

3.0 hours

3: Fairtrade Thematic topics

3.1 Gender awareness and equality.

2.0 hours

3.2 Inclusion of youth, women & people living with disabilities.

2.0 hours

3.3 Living income and Living wage.

1.5 hours

3.4 Workers’ rights.

3.5 Child labor and protection of children and vulnerable adults.

1.5 hours

4: Product Development

4.1 Idea Generation & Idea Screening for new product development (to be divided into 4 chapters)

2.0 hours

4.2 Concept Development and Testing (to be divided into 3 chapters)

1.5 hours

4.3 Business Analysis

1.0 hours

4.4 Developing the Product (to be divided into 5 chapters)

2.0 hours

4.5 Test Marketing

0.5 hours

4.6 Commercialization

1.0 hours

4.7 Product Performance Management & Review (to be divided into 2 chapters)

1.0 hours

4.8 Product Extensions

0.5 hours

• The e-learning course/modules/chapters should also direct the learners to links for additional reading resources.

• A case study with closed-ended questions will be part of the overall training modules.

• Number of assessment questions “check-for-understanding” embedded in each module in form of multiple-choice based or True/False questions and answers.

• The consultant should be aware of the cultural contexts of the learners.

• Images and references should be culturally appropriate.

DELIVERABLES/SPECIFIC OUTPUTS EXPECTED FROM CONSULTANT

• Activity: Project Kick-Off Meeting-TBD
• User Interface Treatments
• Instructional Design and Delivery of Storyboards
• Functional Prototype Delivery
• Completion and Review of Storyboards (if required)
• Delivery and Review of the first draft of Modules
• Delivery of itemized list of revisions
• Validation of the second draft of Modules
• Delivery of Completed Modules
• Sign-Off and Delivery of Training Materials to FTA

The dates in the table above will be negotiated between FTA and the selected vendor at the project kick-off meeting. However, we project that the assignment should take no longer than 2 months after contracting.

The work is expected to start once the contract is signed by both FTA and the Consultant.

FTA will own copyright for all materials developed or included in the online learning program. All source materials for the developed products must be delivered to FTA upon completion of the project.

CONFIDENTIALITY STATEMENT

All data and information received from FTA for the purpose of this assignment are to be treated confidentially and are only to be used in connection with the execution of these Terms of Reference. All intellectual property rights arising from the execution of these Terms of Reference are assigned to FTA. The contents of written materials obtained and used in this assignment may not be disclosed to any third parties without the expressed advance written authorization of FTA.

EXPERIENCE

a) The consultant firm’s team must be comprised of qualified experts, with a demonstrated track record in developing quality online learning. The overall experience of the firm should be more than 5+ years.

b) It is expected that the team have experience developing online learning in low-bandwidth environments and have knowledge of delivering online learning in developing countries, preferably in Africa.

c) The firm should have strong project management ability and excellent communication skills.

d) References and examples of past work are required and should be included in the proposal.

Proposal Guidelines

Proposals from consultants should include the following elements:

• A cover letter introducing the submission.

• An overview of the consultant outlining the relevant skills and experience.

• Two or more references from organizations with whom similar assignments have been undertaken outlining the consultant’s role, performance, and project deliverables.

• An overview of the consultant’s understanding of this assignment.

• Overview of the consultant’s proposed consultancy plan, methodology, deliverables, and implementation timelines.

• Proposed budget for the provision entire assignment. All proposals must include itemized costs (in USD) to complete the tasks described in the project scope and must include all relevant fees, taxes, and costs.

• Consultant(s) are encouraged to include any additional information they believe demonstrates added value for FTA within the scope of this assignment