Tenders are invited for Connecting Farmer Organizations (FOS) to IT Innovative Solutions to Enhance Agriculture Production and Sustainability Location: Kigali Deadline: Friday, 11/04/2025 15:00 TERMS OF REFERANCE Connecting Farmer organizations (FOs) to IT innovative solutions to enhance agriculture production and sustainability 1. Background Promoting Smallholder Agro-Export Competitiveness (PSAC) Project is an initiative funded by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), with co-financing from the Government of Rwanda, the Government of Spain, Cordaid and Heifer International. The project is implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources (MINAGRI), led by the National Agricultural Export Development Board (NAEB). It aims to improve the income and livelihoods of rural communities through inclusive and sustainable agro-export value chains. The project primarily targets smallholder farmers, enhancing their participation in export-oriented value chains such as coffee, tea, and horticulture. It focuses on increasing climate-resilient production and facilitating market access while addressing cross-cutting issues such as gender equality, youth employment, and climate adaptation. Cordaid is involved in capacity building for cooperatives and farmer groups in the above-mentioned value chains by strengthening their ability to farm as a business integrated to Farmer Field Schools (FFS), financial literacy programs, precision farming and resilience-building initiatives. The project also promotes the adoption of innovative technologies such as farm mechanization, climate-smart practices, and agribusiness connections. In line with the above, Cordaid seeks to engage a service provider to enhance and strengthen farmer organizations connection with IT-driven innovative solutions that facilitate the real-time delivery of capacity-building messages through digital training. The training will cover topics such as farming as a business, precision farming, climate smart practices and more. The objective is to digitize and customize training content and deliver training sessions to 108 cooperatives and 47 community groups in three value chains across 14 districts: Ruhango, Nyanza, Huye, Nyaruguru, Nyamagabe, Rusizi, Nyamasheke, Karongi, Rutsiro, Nyabihu, Musanze, Rulindo, Bugesera, and Rwamagana. 2. Objectives of the assignment The objective of this assignment is to develop and implement a digital training campaign to strengthen the capacity of cooperatives and farmer groups in the PSAC Project area. This initiative aims to enhance the adoption of farming as a business (FaaB), climate-smart practices, precision farming etc. and to achieve this, the training modules will be adapted to the specific needs of agricultural cooperatives and farmer groups, translated and recorded in Kinyarwanda, and delivered through voice-based and interactive mobile communication tools, reaching approximately 3287 farmers. The specific objectives are as follows: Develop and deliver customized Farming as a Business (FaaB) digital training for master trainers from cooperatives, cooperatives leaders and members of farmer fields schools from cooperatives ensuring consistency in knowledge transfer. Develop and provide tailored training in leadership for cooperative and farmer group leaders under the project area targeting three leaders from each entity. Enhance precision farming practices delivering specialized training on water management, pest control, and fertilization for horticulture, coffee, and tea cooperatives and farmer groups. Develop and deliver training on climate-smart practices in agriculture, focusing on soil conservation, agroforestry, water harvesting techniques, and sustainable land management to enhance adaptation and mitigation strategies within cooperatives and farmer groups. Strengthen cooperatives and farmer group knowledge of export standards and regulations through provision of training on export standards, quality control and certification requirements for cooperatives and farmer groups engaged in coffee, tea, and horticulture value chains, enabling them to understand global market. In addition to the aforementioned tasks, the service providers system will include monitoring, evaluation, real-time feedback, and analysis & reporting capabilities. It will track and provide disaggregated data on training participation (Names, ID, ages etc..) by value chains and cooperatives/FGs, mandatory gender and youth desegregation, location, user engagement, completion rates, knowledge retention and avail raw data access further usage. This will help assess the effectiveness of the training and ensure continuous improvement through timely reporting 3. Scope of Work and deliverables The selected service provider will be responsible for the following: Tasks Description of the task Targeted participant Deliverables Timeline Propose a customized approach and methodology Provide a detailed methodology and approach, outlining a clear roadmap for execution Inception Report 5 days after the contract is signed Content Customization, digitization & translation Adapt the training modules to fit the local context, digitize them, and translate into Kinyarwanda The content target (1) Master trainers (263), (2) Cooperative leaders (324) and FFS members from cooperatives (2700) Training content development: Adapted and translated training modules in Kinyarwanda. 20 days after contract signature Project Staff training on the digital tool Train project staff at Cordaid to familiarize them with the digital tool to be used for training delivery. Selected project staff Training report of staff In 20 days after contract signature Piloting Session Conduct a pilot session with a sample of farmers to test the training content, IVR functionality, and effectiveness. Selected number of farmers Pilot Test Report: Findings from the piloting phase, including participant feedback, challenges, and recommendations for improvement. 25 days after contract signature Digital training delivery and implementation Execute the training campaign using the mobile-based communication system, including IVR, for real-time delivery. The content target (1) Master trainers (263), (2) Cooperative leaders (324) and FFS members from cooperatives (2700) totaling 3287. Cordaid will provide the list Training implementation reports: Successful implementation of the training across all targeted cooperatives and farmer groups Immediately after piloting activities Feedback Collection Gather real-time feedback from participants and assess the effectiveness of the training. Participants Real-time feedback report: A detailed analysis of participant engagement, knowledge retention, and feedback collected Immediately after piloting activities Monitoring, reporting and analysis Analyzing the data collected and providing disaggregated reports on the metrics highlighted above The target (1) Master trainers (263), (2) Cooperative leaders (324) and FFS members from cooperatives (2700) A comprehensive report outlining the trainings implementation process, challenges faced, lessons learned, and actionable recommendations for future initiatives. Every week starting from training implementation 5. Methodology The service provider is required to propose a customized approach and methodology for each task, ensuring alignment with the project desired outcomes. Each proposed methodology will be evaluated based on its feasibility, potential impact, and alignment with the projects strategic goals and expectations. The methodology should ensure that participating farmers and cooperatives can easily access clear and comprehensible messages through appropriately timed digital training sessions. These customized modules should provide structured training tailored to the specific needs of cooperatives and farmer groups in the intervention area, integrating relevant topics and data as outlined above. Additionally, the approach should include two-way communication to monitor engagement and collect feedback, as well as performance tracking to assess participation rates, knowledge improvement, and the overall impact of the training on farming practices. 6. Preferred service provider qualifications The ideal service provider should possess the following expertise, supported by relevant certificates: Proven experience of 5 years in digital training solutions and mobile content delivery Expertise in agricultural training, precision farming, leadership and climate-smart practices Previous experience working with rural farming communities in Rwanda Strong monitoring, evaluation, and reporting capabilities. Capacity to deliver training in Kinyarwanda 7. Team composition The proposed key experts to deliver to the assignment are detailed in the table below SN ROLE QUALIFICATION AND EXPERIENCE 1 Team Lead Qualifications: Masters degree in agriculture, education, ICT, Project Management, or a related field. At least 7 years of experience managing large-scale training and capacity-building programs, preferably in agriculture and digital learning solutions 2 Content Development Specialist (Agriculture & Training Expert) Qualifications: Masters degree in Agricultural extension, agribusiness, Rural development, education, or a related field. Proven 5 years of experience in curriculum development, training content customization, and adult learning methodologies. 3 Language and Translation Specialist (Kinyarwanda Expert) Qualifications: Bachelors degree in Linguistics, Education, or Communication. Proven 3 years in professional translation and localization, preferably in agriculture or development projects. 4 Audio Production Specialist Qualifications: Bachelor Tender Link : https://www.jobinrwanda.com/job/terms-reference-connecting-farmer-organizations-fos-it-innovative-solutions-enhance-agriculture
