Deadline: 6-Mar-23
United Nations Development Programme, hereinafter referred to as UNDP, through “Emergency support for agri-producers in the context of the socio-economic, climate, and energy crisis” Project, hereby invites prospective proposers to submit a proposal for Provision of support to women agri-producers in implementation of renewable energy and energy-efficient technologies.
Scope of Work
- The strategy of the FAO-UNDP Joint Project – “Emergency support for agri-producers in the context of socio-economic, climate, and energy crisis” is to contribute to the food security and climate resilience by building the capacities of vulnerable groups in rural areas, promoting sustainable, inclusive and resilient communities, and empowering women from rural areas to practice alternative livelihoods in the context of the energy crisis, increased environmental degradation and vulnerability to extreme weather patterns..
- In this respect, UNDP Moldova within the Joint project is looking to engage a company/organization, or consortium of companies/organizations to support women agri-producers through a non-refundable non-cash support mechanism, which includes procurement of equipment/goods/works/services, coupled with on-hand consulting activities, to pilot renewable energy and energy-efficient technologies for women led-agribusinesses. This support will be provided based on clear methodology and action plan for this assignment.
- The key objective of this initiative is to provide comprehensive support (non-cash assistance) to women agri-producers in implementing renewable energy and energy-efficient agri-practices that would contribute to income growth, energy, and food security.
Funding Information
- The Budget shall stipulate the works/services/goods requested to be covered from the grant – i.e., up to 80% from the cost of the project, but not exceeding 18,000 USD per project for small and medium holder farms led by women and 6,000 USD per project for the micro agri-producers led by women, as well as the beneficiaries contribution of at least 20% from the requested grant amount.
- The estimated duration of services is up to 16 months. The expected time of commencement of contract is May 2024.
Activities
- The main activities to be covered under this assignment, cumulatively for all target districts and regions are as follows:
- Support women agri-producers in strengthening their energy resilience capacities – to address the local agricultural vulnerabilities to climate change and expand livelihood opportunities, by co-financing energy-efficient practices and initiatives (biomass boilers in greenhouses, photovoltaic panels, solar collectors, heat pumps, among others).
- This activity includes the following type of support to be offered during 2023-2024:
- Support potential grantees (women agri-producers and women-led households) in the preparation for grant applications – to enable a larger number of potential beneficiaries to submit competitive applications through extensive consulting and other supportive measures.
- Select and provide non-cash support to at least 10 small and medium sized farms led by women – women agri-producers (landowners of 2 ha and more) and postharvest producers in strengthening their energy resilience capacities up to 18,000 USD per business (up to 80% of the total project cost)2;
- Select and provide non-cash support to at least 20 micro agricultural producers led by women – support for strengthening their energy resilience capacities up to 6,000 USD per household (up to 80% of the total project cost).
- Ensure sustainability of the energy-efficient practices and initiatives by providing coaching and support to grant beneficiaries – to provide soft support to the selected women agriproducers.
- The women agri-producers are to be supported in building their long-term resilience and energy security through individual tailored coaching provided by the Contractor’s experts that shall be engaged in providing on-the ground support in process of the grant applications and in the form of mentoring and coaching the agricultural producers selected as grant beneficiaries.
Eligibility Criteria
- Qualifications for the company/organization, or consortium of companies/organizations:
- Officially registered legal entity with an age of 10 years at least. For consortium of companies/organizations, the cooperation agreement shall be enclosed;
- At least 3 (three) years of experience in implementing development programs, projects, capacity building activities in the areas of energy/environment/agriculture/climate change/local or rural development/economic development in Moldova;
- Minimum 2 (two) contracts, with a cumulative value of 300,000 US$, in local development/business support (funds/grant administration) envisaging both provision of trainings/coaching/mentoring and procurement of goods/services/works for the final beneficiaries (LPAs, start-ups, SMEs, social entrepreneurship, other relevant areas) during the last 10 years. List of contracts managed, and their value shall be included in the Proposal;
- Possesses technical and human resources for the successful implementation of the assignment and/or has capacities to subcontract external consultants/experts or NGOs/companies.
- The application should specify the exact key experts (including the Experts CV) which will be involved in the activities, with clear description of their experience in energy efficiency and renewable energy use practices, local development, and funds management, with clear description of their experience in Moldova, including in the Project’s target areas, where possible.
Reporting Requirements
- The Contractor will submit all reports according to the „Emergency support for agri-producers in the context of socio-economic, climate and energy crisis” Project requirements and guidelines. The format of reports shall be agreed at the first stage of the contract implementation. The „Emergency support for agri producers in the context of socio-economic, climate and energy crisis” Project reserves the right to make further improvements and clarifications in initially proposed templates.
- Types of reports:
- Inception report to be delivered after approval of deliverables under Milestone.
- Progress Reports to be submitted 5 days before the end of the reporting period.
- Monthly operational updates through email on current results, implementation, and issues of the non-cash support scheme.
- Brief reports periodically submitted upon request of the „Emergency support for agri-producers in the context of socio-economic, climate and energy crisis” Project in cases where it is required to get information on the progress of the project in between reporting periods.
- Financial statements, to be presented with the progress reports according to the payments calendar, that act as the basis for future instalments to the Contractor.
- Final narrative report including a summary of activities and results, lessons learned and conclusions, as well as the final financial report reflecting the whole period.
- The Contractor shall comply with the system of monitoring, evaluation and quality control introduced by the „Emergency support for agri-producers in the context of socio-economic, climate and energy crisis” Project and provide the necessary information, reports, and statistical data according to the predetermined schedule or as soon as possible (within a reasonable time).
- The progress and final reports shall follow the template agreed with the „Emergency support for agriproducers in the context of socio-economic, climate and energy crisis” Project team that includes both narrative and financial parts.
Note: The contractor will be requested to open a separate bank account under this assignment. UNDP may request at any time to provide real-time data on the account balance. Bank balance statements shall be enclosed to the Financial Reports as well.
For more information, visit UNDP.