Aflatoxin, a highly toxic compound produced by Aspergillus fungi, naturally contaminates crops especially maize, groundnut, and sorghum. It’s a major food safety concern for consumers worldwide. People are exposed to the toxins when they consume contaminated grains or foods prepared with such grains or through consumption of milk or meat of livestock that have been fed with contaminated feeds. The toxins suppress the immune system, retard growth, cause liver cancer, and may cause death in both humans and domestic animals. Aflatoxin is a barrier to trade, limits access to premium grain markets, leading to loss of income for the farmer & traders, disrupting food & industrial raw material supply systems.
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IITA and partners through the Aflasafe Technology Transfer and Commercialization (ATTC) initiative laid the foundation for scaling the production and distribution of Aflasafe to farmers across countries. The approach involves developing country-specific commercialization strategies, competitively selecting investment partners, and supporting those investors to scale out the production, distribution, and use of Aflasafe in the country. In Uganda, and with support from aBi Development Ltd, IITA works closely with the National Crop Resources Research Institute (NaCRRI), to develop and test various Aflasafe products across different Agro-ecological zones with and achieved great results. As such, IITA and NaCRRI are now looking to commercialize Aflasafe in the Ugandan market. This is particularly important given that Uganda produces significant amounts of maize, groundnuts and sorghum for local consumption and trade with neighboring countries, especially Kenya, which has often rejected grain consignments due to high levels of aflatoxin. Therefore, we are seeking applications from competent and experienced consultancy entity to develop the Aflasafe Commercialization Strategy for Uganda.
Working collaboratively with the Aflasafe team at IITA & NaCRRI, the Consultants will develop a robust Aflasafe Commercialization Strategy to address at a minimum, and by no means exhaustive, the following:
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- How significant is the challenge of aflatoxin for the grain sector in Uganda?
- Document available evidence that points to the impact of aflatoxin on local and regional
- trade, human and livestock health and food security in Uganda?
- Which specific crops are most affected by aflatoxin?
- Where are they grown, specific districts and Hectares of farmed land last 3 yrs/season.
- Number of seasons per year/ Annual cropping calendar
- Focus commodity market price trends last three years.
- What alternative solutions currently exist to mitigate the aflatoxin challenge in Uganda?
- Why does the challenge of aflatoxin persist?
2) Grain value chain and its sensitivity to aflatoxin:
- How are the commodity value chains organised?
- How is the food sector regulated in Uganda.?
- Are there food standards? Are they specific about aflatoxin levels in Maize, groundnuts and sorghum and their derived products?
- Who is responsible for ensuring compliance to food standards and how do they do it?
- Are there explicit aflatoxin standards for food and animal feeds?
- Who are the key producers, aggregators, traders, suppliers, buyers, processors, and consumers in the maize, groundnut and sorghum value chains?
- What volume of grain does each value chain player segment handle annually?
- Which of these value chain players are keen on/or check aflatoxin levels in grains before purchase/ or demand suppliers to adhere to set quality parameters that include aflatoxin levels? What quantities of grain do they require per year?
- How is checking/testing for aflatoxin done and where?
- What is the estimated level of contamination for grains delivered at factory gate for processors (Alternatively – what is the frequency of rejection due to aflatoxin levels)
3) Farm input access:
- How do farmers in Uganda access farm inputs e.g., seeds, fertilisers etc?
- Who are the key players in the input distribution system?
- What are the current profit margins for retailers, distributors, and manufacturers?
- What other incentives exist in the marketplace e.g., credit trading terms, bulk discounts,
free demonstrations, free samples etc to stimulate off take of given inputs?
- What would be the most ideal route to market for new products such as Aflasafe?
- Who would be the best collaborators in the Aflasafe market development?
- What opportunities exist to leverage government, NGOs and development partners projects that are either crop specific or food safety aligned?
4) Policy and regulatory environment
- Are there explicit Aflatoxin standards in Uganda.
- How is the adherence and enforcement of aflatoxin standards?
- What is the aflatoxin testing scenario across the value chain?
- Who are the major aflatoxin testing service providers?
- What policies and regulations frameworks exist to guide matters of aflatoxin?
- Which institutions are responsible for ensuring compliance to aflatoxin standards?
- What laws, regulations, and/or enforcement mechanisms could hinder the uptake of Aflasafe?
- What is the state of consumer voice on this matter? Is it heard?
5) Business financial analysis
- What is the potential demand for Aflasafe in Uganda (Hectares to be treated per year)?
- What is the addressable demand for Aflasafe in Uganda over the next 5 years?
- Investment costs required for Aflasafe production – the factory sizing, equipment required (capacity, cost & source), raw materials, staffing and how the process works
- White Sorghum is a core raw material in Aflasafe, what is the average cost of sorghum/kg. How is the sorghum value chain organized, who are the key players i.e., producers and buyers?
- What is the projected unit cost of Aflasafe manufactured in Uganda?
- Compute the Gross margin analysis for Aflasafe in Uganda.
- Tabulate the Cost build-ups & margins factor (from sourcing to distribution)
- Analyze the Profitability of the Aflasafe business.
- Calculate the benefit-cost ratios, NPV, payback period for different business models
- Work out the Profit margin differences in Aflatoxin treated & untreated grain produce
6) Potential Aflasafe manufacturers:
- Which companies are involved in manufacturing and distribution of inputs?
- Which companies are involved in aggregation and trade in produce, specifically maize, groundnuts and sorghum?
- What is their mission in relation to our vison for Aflasafe?
- What is their experience in marketing innovative/ new- to market products/ solutions?
- How much influence do these companies have to influence practices in the value chain?
- Are these potential companies looking to expand their business lines?
- Do they have extra capacity to manufacture, distribute and market Aflasafe in Uganda?
- Are they willing to invest in Aflasafe market development?
- What existing resources, infrastructure can they leverage?
- What are the incentives required by the investor, potential users, and other stakeholders for the successful scale out of Aflasafe in Uganda?
7) Aflasafe operationalisation model
- What Licensing options can IITA consider?
- Proposed models of operationalization – Solely public, PPP, pure private etc
- Potential partners (private, public, or social business) to lead and operationalize the Aflasafe Commercialization Strategy
The following are the deliverables of this assignment:
See all deliverables
The successful Consultant shall prepare and submit the following:
- Plan of work to be undertaken for this assignment complete with timelines.
- List of key stakeholders including government, private sector, etc., to be engaged.
- High-level synthesis of country-specific and project specific materials.
Deliverable No. 2: Draft Aflasafe Commercialization Strategy
The successful Consultant shall prepare a draft Aflasafe Commercialization Strategy that will include the following:
- Analysis of the significance and magnitude of the aflatoxin challenge in Uganda including the aflatoxin testing arena.
- Synthesis of current production trend for maize, sorghum, and groundnuts.
- Synthesis of the core market segments for aflatoxin-safe grains, their size, actors, and potential points of entry for Aflasafe.
- Estimate the Potential and Addressable demand for Aflasafe in Uganda.
- Estimate the operating costs for Aflasafe manufacturing and distribution
- Estimate Aflasafe pricing per kilo under low, average, and high demand scenarios.
- Assess enterprise profitability over 5 years, and gross margin analysis for the farmers
- Exploration of different options for commercial delivery of Aflasafe in Uganda.
- Detailed profiling of potential investors or partners present in Uganda.
- Exploration of current levels of adoption of alternatives to Aflasafe in Uganda
- Examination of the barriers to uptake.
- Review of relevant policy and regulatory issues and the business environment.
- Assessment of the non-market-based incentives e.g., health demographics, that can be leveraged to promote and support Aflasafe utilization.
- Profiling potential partnership opportunities for different commercialization options, and particularly the opportunity to leverage government subsidies.
Note: IITA has significant information and models relating to Aflasafe manufacturing plant and product costing which will be shared with the consultants.
Deliverable No. 3: Final Aflasafe Commercialization Strategy
The successful Consultant shall also do the following:
- Organize a Aflasafe Commercialization Strategy validation forum with selected project
stakeholders in Uganda.
- Submit a comprehensive Aflasafe Commercialization Strategy for Uganda, incorporating comments and feedback from the stakeholders’ forum.
The successful Consultant will perform the entire work needed to complete this deliverable with the period of 12 weeks from the contracting date.
The following documents are required for this application:
4.1 Application
a. Cover Letter
A cover letter on the organization’s letterhead expressing the interest and stating the name, designation, and address of the key contact person (organization’s legally authorized negotiator), the organization’s full address, location, telephone, and email address.
b. Corporate Capabilities, Experience and Past Performance
Consultants shall include a brief narrative summarizing the resources (human, financial, equipment, IT hardware and software, etc.) at their disposal and describe their capability to perform the work. Each Consultant must submit its complete name, address, contact information and precise location of main office. The Consultant must also present a profile of the company, with appropriate reference to any parent company and subsidiaries, and in addition provide 3 referees.
The narrative should demonstrate an understanding of the requirements associated with implementation of the TOR, illustrate the Consultant’s technical experience implementing similar projects, meeting tight deadlines, experience coordinating and working with local stakeholders. Consultants must confirm availability of qualified and competent human resources to perform the assignment including quality control checks, anticipated risks, and mitigation strategies. In addition, each Consultant should include a description of the plan to manage the work in addition to its other ongoing and anticipated projects.
c. Technical Approach and Detailed Work plan
The successful Consultant should provide detailed description of how they plan to implement activities subject to this ToR, e.g., description of proposed methodology as well as an action plan, with the timeframe and schedule for realization of each planned activity and sub-activity, with the division of responsibilities for proposed team members.
d. Required Certifications and audited accounts
Consultants shall include the registration certificate of the organization or company to undertake this assignment alongside the last year audited financial accounts.
e. Presentation of key proposed staff
Including their qualification, experience, and areas of expertise.
f. Budget
The Consultant must submit a detailed budget in US$ in an Excel sheet along with narrative and explanatory notes.
4.2 Submission
- Validity of proposal
Proposals should have a 90-day validity period from the proposal submission date. Within the proposal’s validity term, IITA reserves the right to i) accept the Offeror’s proposal in full or in part, ii) conduct negotiations and/or request clarifications prior to award and iii) re-open or cancel the whole procurement procedure for this consultancy opportunity.
- Conflict of Interest
Offerors and its proposed personnel shall disclose any factors that could limit the organization’s ability to independently perform the services such as relationship with counterpart employees, past employment, or any other material reason.
This opportunity is open to pre-selected Offerors that are deemed capable of implementing the scope of work, that have a solid record of integrity and business ethics, and that meet the eligibility requirements stated in this Section. All Offerors must certify that the organization or firm, and the firms’ principals, are not debarred, suspended, or proposed for debarment. IITA will not award a subcontract to any firm that is debarred, suspended, or proposed for debarment, or who proposes to do business with firms or firms’ principals who are debarred, suspended, or proposed for debarment, in the performance of the requirement of this activity. Offerors that submit proposals in response to this consultancy opportunity must meet the following requirements:
IITA will make award(s) to an eligible, responsive (one that complies with all the terms and conditions in the ToR without material deviation) and responsible Offeror(s) that presents the best value (as determined by the technical/cost trade-off analysis) to IITA. Offerors may not modify non-responsive offers after the proposal deadline in order to make them responsive. However, IITA may request an Offeror to clarify its offer as long as no material deviation exists.
IITA will evaluate proposals in accordance to the following criteria:
- Qualifications, experiences, and expertise of key personnel to be involved in this assignment.
- Past experience in conceptualizing and implementing similar works.
- Ability to work in a multi-institutional and complex environment.
- Timeliness and ability to meet proposed timeline.
- Institutional financial strength and assignment costing structure.
- Clarity of documentation and clear plans to achieve the desired results.
IITA decision is final.
Questions & clarifications
Consultants are advised to send questions or seek clarifications regarding this assignment via email to J.W.Kamau@cgiar.org not later than 16th December 2022
