Technical Assistance in conceptualizing and operationalizing a collective marketing place for horticultural crops in SDP project area Agha Khan Foundation Aga Khan Foundation Job Location: Skardu, Baltistan Country: Pakistan Department / Job Category: Consultancy Last Date: 04 January, 2015 The Aga Khan Foundation (AKF), an agency of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN), is a private, non-denominational, international development agency established in 1967. It seeks sustainable solutions to long-term problems of poverty, hunger, illiteracy and ill-health with special emphasis on the needs of rural communities in mountainous and other resource poor regions, primarily in Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Its main areas of focus are education, health, rural development, environment and strengthening civil society. The Aga Khan Foundation (Pakistan) [AKF(P)] is seeking high caliber professional for the following consultancy services The location of the consultancy will be Satpara Development Project (SDP) Skardu, Baltistan: “Technical Assistance in conceptualizing and operationalizing a collective marketing place for horticultural crops in SDP project area” Introduction: Background: USAID has provided $26 million funding to the Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) for construction of the Satpara Dam (storage capacity of 93,310 acre feet) to augment water supply for irrigation and drinking round the year in the command area of Satpara Dam. It will ultimately generate 17 MW power and the annual energy output is estimated to be 106 GWh. The major components of the project are an earth fills dam, four Power houses and two irrigation canals. It will provide 30 cusecs of water for drinking purpose, which is now available only for half of the population. On the average water availability for irrigation would increase by about 50,000 AF. USAID also contributed $7 million to help construct two main water canals, i.e. Left Bank Canal (LBC) and Right Bank Canal (RBC) with a capacity of irrigating approximately 15,500 acres of land. RBC will irrigate approximately 5,000 acres of land whereas LBC will irrigate 10,500 acres of land. Satpara Development Project (SDP): The Cooperative Agreement for US$ 19.75 million Satpara Development Project (SDP) was signed between USAID and the Aga Khan Foundation on March 12, 2012. The project aims to boost productivity and bring in value addition to agriculture in the command area of Satpara Dam. Specifically, the project seeks to establish a private/community managed on-farm irrigation system that ensures efficient use of water, introduces modern practices to boost farm productivity, encourages private sector to enhance processing and marketing of value added agricultural products, and creates an overall enabling environment to support the functioning of water infrastructure and agriculture enterprises. These efforts will ultimately lead to increases in income and employment of the people living in the command area. In line with the project goal, relevant objectives have been framed for each of the four proposed project components, contributing to USAID Pakistan‘s overall Agriculture Sector Strategy goal of increasing agricultural GDP growth by two-thirds (assuming a baseline annual growth rate of 3 per cent), increasing employment and reducing rural poverty by 20 per cent over the next 5 years. The project is being implemented within the command area of Left Bank Canal (LBC) and Right Bank Canal (RBC) of the Satpara Dam in Skardu town in between the villages of Hoto in the West and Thorgo Bala in the East with Skardu town in the middle. SDP has four components, namely: (1) Increasing Efficient Use of On-Farm Water; (2) Enhancing Productivity of High - Value Horticulture and Dairy Products; (3) Enhancing Processing and Marketing Capacity of the Area; and (4) Creating an Enabling Environment for the Agriculture Sector to Grow. SDP intends to carry out a feasibility study under the component II of the project for establishment of an Agri Business Park in Skardu. The main functions of an Agri-Business Park as conceived in the project document are; A.Clustering and Aggregation of the fresh produce and semi processed products and value addition. The main functions of Agribusiness Park will be the provision a facility for clustering of different activities in the fresh production chains as well as clustering among different production chains to; Increasing production and processing efficiency. Promote value addition/agro- processing services of horticulture products. Promote shared investments. Share common services/facilities for efficient provision of services Create economies of scale in service provision. Improve access to technical support and information and management services. Improve access to infrastructure. Improved agri-business linkages between & within value-chains. Promote agri-business enterprises. B.Provision of Key Facilities/services The second key function of Agribusiness Park will be the provision of the following services under one roof; Provision of infrastructure for agro-processing/value addition Provision of agri-business service centres – e.g. horticulturists, food technologists, ICT services, certification services. Provision of common services; –warehouses, cold stores, quality control labs, transport services, packaging materials, waste disposal services. Retailer linkages hub (marketing linkages). Technology incubation/ demonstration centre. Basic Research Study The consultant will collect basic information with the following objectives; Identify existing Agri-products with potential for value addition at Agribusiness Park. Assess volumes of potential crops, fruits and vegetables. Estimate the possible inflows of raw material/produce. Estimate the possible outflows of processed/ value added products. Estimate the possible wastages during processing and their disposal. Estimate the human resource required for managing the entire system. Identify services/ providers to support activities in Agribusiness Park. Identify a suitable Location for Agribusiness Park. Space requirement Based on the finding of basic research study, the consultant would determine the need of space and related infrastructure. This will include; Total land requirement for the Agribusiness park Total built area required for each of the following categories; Common spaces (parking area, product collection area, visitors are etc) Common facilities (warehouse, cold store etc) Individual business/service facilities (seed store, packaging services, fertilizer store, marketing services, certification services etc) Additional common facilities (i.e. ICT facilities) Economic model of Agribusiness Park Based on the finding of product inflow/ out flow data and costing on space requirement, the consultant will work out the following costs. Total investment required on the project. Business modal/Project partners/shareholders. Options for the financing of the project. Project expenditures and revenues. Cash flows, Breakeven, IRR. Management model of Agribusiness Park The consultant will suggest the management model for the Agribusiness Park for efficient operations. Integration of Value Chain Actors The Agribusiness Park will provide a common place for; Effective network between primary producers, markets/ traders/retailers, agro-processing – strengthen agribusiness linkages between the chain actors. Enhance competitiveness in the chain actors through demonstrating improved efficiency and reduced operational costs. Synergize agro-processing units to work together. provide a platform for diagonal linkages. Agricultural commercialization through market oriented production. Agro-industrial development by enhancing access to raw materials and marketing facilities and other support services. Deliverables: The consultant will submit the report which should include but not limited to following; A comprehensive feasibility of establishing Agri-Business Park at Skardu. An operational and business Plan for the Agri business park. Details of space and built area. Duration The duration of the consultancy will be three (3) months starting from January 2015. Qualification and Experience Master Degree in Business Administration or related fields with at least fifteen (15) year experience of Enterprise Development/ Market Development with Business Planning and value chain development/ Business Plan Development/ Pre-feasibility study of Agri-Business Park. Note: AKF(P) offers a competitive remuneration package and conducive working environment. We are an equal opportunity employer - females are encouraged to apply. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted for assessment/interview. Interested candidate/firms should forward their applications by January 04, 2015. Please note that only online applications will be entertained. For more information about AKDN, please visit akdn.org
Posted on: Sun, 14 Dec 2014 17:42:02 +0000
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