Consultant for Market Assessment of Enterprise Development and Training

Female Consultant for Market Assessment of Enterprise Development and Training of Entrepreneurs women on Micro Enterprise Development    

1. General objectives of the assignment:

The overall objective of this assignment is to enhance the capacities of 200 women entrepreneur who are involved in the vocational skills including embroidery and  fruits’ processing business in project targeted districts (Upper & Lower Chitral) The main focus of the assignment will be to improve the  micro-enterprise development, to facilitate the selected women groups in business plans development with main focus of improving livelihood, in value addition of their existing enterprises, skills if needed and also guide to include their enterprises in the existing value chains, linking with  local, regional and national markets for getting maximum value – added benefits at their doorsteps  and contribute in their livelihood.

2.      Specific objectives of the assignment for consultant:

Conduct market assessment for microenterprises in the area, identifying the enterprises, possible value addition in the enterprises and options for enterprises development, training and capacity building of women and women groups in districts lower Chitral and Upper Chitral

•   Provide Micro-Enterprise development support to the targeted beneficiaries; by identifying their capacity enhancement and enterprise development needs and options for the individual women and women groups.
•   Initiate a market assessment at Lower Chitral and Upper Chitral regarding micro enterprise development options
•    Assessment of the markets, available enterprises, their modalities and how the women group could be the part and parcel of the enterprise development.
•    Assessment of the women groups, their existing skills, probable skills, their objectives and level of skills they have
•    Identify the relevant value addition options for women groups and how they could be the part of prescribed enterprise.
•   Develop and share the market assessment report with detail analysis and recommendations for capacity enhancement and enterprise development options.
•   Develop the capacity building agenda for micro-enterprise development to be carried out at both districts (Upper and Lower Chitral).
•   Design and conduct 4 Days Training of selected 200 women participants on micro-enterprise development as per the trades and identified needs of the selected beneficiaries.
•   The capacity building sessions will be conducted in groups for two days (6 Hrs). On day one the beneficiaries will be given chance to discuss the enterprise development options with solid solutions and trainings will be identified while on the second day the business plans will be developed for future actions. In the same connection, trainings sessions for two days will be conducted as well.
•   To design and develop training manual & material (including Participant’s Handbook, and IEC Material) covering topics promoting Micro-enterprise development 
•   Develop training completion report along with pre -test and post -test analysis
•   To support the entrepreneurs in initiating their business plans or improving their existing business with value addition,
•    Develop Joint business plans align with the need of beneficiaries and relevant departments (Agriculture, Livestock, Vocational, private sector etc.) with inclusion of joint future planning of the enterprises.
•    The joint business plans provide all information required for securing access to the market, finance, human resources and all other business inputs.  
•   Develop and share the linkages plan of 200 trained women with the relevant markets
•   To increase knowledge and skills of target trainees and to equip them with required tools and techniques to further execute this in their work places and communities through developing their learning and best practices on key concept of enterprise development
•   To prepare the target group through these trainings,
•   To enhance knowledge of target communities about existing

3.      SCOPE OF WORK: 3.1  Market assessment:

Comprehensive market assessment will be carried out by the consultant by identifying capacity enhancement and enterprise development options with value addition and enterprise development in vocational and agri-business for the individual women and women groups in districts of lower Chitral and upper Chitral.

The consultant will have assessments at field level with women groups to identify the local and important/ workable enterprises with existing skills through meetings and Focus Group Discussions.

The consultant will come up with a Market Assessment plan for:

•   Enterprises identified in the market and women groups
•   Triangulation of the enterprises (identify skills, gaps and solutions)
•   Identify the value addition in the existing enterprises
•   Identify the training options for the women groups for specific enterprises
•   Develop the business plans for the enterprises and women groups

3.2  Market assessment Report: 

Develop comprehensive Market assessment Report including recommendations based on the findings of the market assessment 

3.3  Manual Development:

•   A training agenda and manual will be developed by the consultant covering all above-mentioned training objectives
•   Identify the trainings and its Training/ Capacity Building Plans
•   Develop a Training/ Capacity Building Manual 

3.4  Training Delivery:

The selected consultant will deliver the training sessions according to the Manual and session plans approved by Muslim Aid Pakistan for women entrepreneurs. The training participants would be identified by Muslim Aid Pakistan.

3.5  Pre-post evaluation:

Evaluation and grading of entrepreneurs will be conducted in the start  and  end of training for assessing level and increase of knowledge 

3.6  Reporting:

The consultant must submit detailed Training report on following format.

§  Title page

§  Table of contents

§  Training session plan (with date, location, sessions)

§  List of participants

§  Attendance sheets with registration form

§  Results of pre- and post-test with analysis

§  A group photo and a few more photos of training activity

§  Participants’ feedback about training and trainer

§  Training proceedings (brief)

§  Action plans/Small group or individual projects submitted by the trainees for further practical implementation

4.      Training Duration and Participants:

There will be a total of 8 trainings, 4 in Lower Chitral and 4 in upper Chitral. The number of participants will vary between 25- 30. Daily training time will be at least 6 hours (0900 - 1600 Hours). The duration of each training will be 4 days, first two 2 days of the capacity building sessions will be conducted in groups for capacity need assessment and training identification (On day one the beneficiaries will be given chance to discuss the enterprise development options with solid solutions and trainings will be identified while on the second day the business plans will be developed for future actions.)  In the same connection, trainings sessions for two days will be conducted as well. 

5.      Qualification and experience:

The consultant shall have demonstrated capacity and capability to undertake similar assignment. The following criteria will form the basis for selection.

•   Only female consultant having Master degree (16 years of education) in social sciences/ Agr-Business or related discipline
•   She should have significant experience in leading and co-leading similar assignments 
•   Strong track record with at least 5 years of experience in Market Assessment Studies, with focus of enterprise development plans and value addition/ value chain management (of national/provincial scale) with national and/or international agencies
•   Strong track record with at least 5 years of experience in developing training modules, and in designing and rolling out training programmes (of national/provincial scale) with national and/or international agencies.
•   Demonstrated experience of successfully designing and conducting trainings specifically on themes of microenterprise development and having successfully completed at least 3,4 training programs on same/similar thematic areas.
•   Have adequate knowledge and understanding about local and regional gender dynamics as well as understanding of context related to culture, security, rural life, and training of women and diverse participants. 

6.      Content of the Proposal:

•   The consultant will be required to submit a detailed proposal for evaluation. The proposal should be divided into two parts, i.e. technical and financial. The technical part will contain the following sections
•   Experience in leading and co leading similar assignment 
•   Experience in relevant field (Demonstrated experience of successfully designing and conducting trainings specifically on themes of Micro-enterprise development and having successfully completed at least 3, 4 training programs on same/similar thematic areas)
•   Experience in developing of training modules, designing and rolling out of training programs in national and provincial level with national and international agencies
•   Qualification and experience of the staff along with CVs
•   Assignments completion reports prepared in past
•   Detailed methodology designed for designing and rolling out training
•   Detailed timeframe/ Work plan/ Training calendar (including dates for submission of the first draft and final report)
•   The financial part will describe the estimated cost for the evaluation in detail.

7.      Currency:

All currency in the proposal shall be quoted in Pakistan Rupees (PKR).

8.      Timeframe and duration of the assignment:

The suggested time frame is one month to begin by the 10th of April 2024. The final report must be submitted on or before 30th June 2024. However, the Individual Consultant will submit a proposed work plan with key milestones within a week of signing of the contract, which will be reviewed and approved by MAP. It is anticipated that the first draft of the DRR training report will be produced within 7 days of signing of the contract and the finding of the report will be presented to the MAP and in a scheduled meeting for finalization and approval of the training agenda.  The final reports should be submitted within 10 days on receiving feedback.  During the whole period follow up meeting will be held between the Individual Consultant and MAP.

9.      Supervision & reporting:

The final selected Individual Consultants will report to Muslim Aid Pakistan’s District Coordinators of Lower and Upper Chitral 

10.      Ethical considerations:

The Individual Consultant may adapt/customize material from other sources developed by international organizations, including but not limited to Oxfam, GIZ, IFAD, FAO and other UN agencies. However, the Individual Consultant will have to ensure adherence to the standard protocols of citation/referencing by seeking permission/acknowledgement of the sources from where training material/contents are to be adapted/customized for the proposed training. The onus of any liability/claim from any party regarding plagiarism or misuse of their material will be on the training Individual Consultant.

• The Individual Consultant will ensure use of National languages (Urdu and local languages of Chitral) in conducting all the training sessions with the Selected Beneficiaries in their respective Districts.
• All training agenda/agenda/material developed under this consultancy will be the property of Muslim Aid Pakistan, the Individual Consultant or any of their representative will not use part or whole of the training material and/or any associated materials for any other assignment either for or any other client without prior written permission from Muslim Aid Pakistan 

11.      Income tax, sales tax and other government duties:

All taxes, duties, Sales Taxes and other Govt. charges are responsibilities of the individual/institution. Offer price should be inclusive of all above said taxes.

12.      Acceptance of Proposals:

MAP reserves the right not to accept the lowest or any proposal and to annul the bidding process without assigning any reason whatsoever.

The acceptance criteria will be as follows:

• Individual Consultant must be technically complaint to initial screening criteria mentioned
• Individual Consultant must score at least 70% in the technical evaluation
• Individual Consultant must be the qualify the interview process
• Must have valid NTN number

Note: Failing to qualify on any of the above criteria will not be considered for further evaluation

13.      General Terms and Conditions:

The proposal and price shall remain valid for a period of not less than 90 days from the closing date of the submission of the proposal.

• The technical and financial proposals should be delivered in separate sealed envelopes. At the top left of the envelopes, it should be clearly stated “Proposal for enterprise development in Chitral”, and it should be clearly stated on the envelope, whether it contains the technical or the financial proposal.
• The Competent Authority reserves the right to accept or reject any or all RFP at any stage without assigning any reason thereof.
• In case of delay in the execution of the contract, MAP reserves the rights to impose penalty not exceeding 5 % of the total amount of the contract.
• If the progress of work is not to the satisfaction of the MAP, the work will be awarded to another party at the risk and cost of the consultant. In such an eventuality, if any excess amount is to be paid by MAP, it will be recovered from the consultant.
• MAP has the rights to add, enhance or remove any functionality not disturbing the major scope of work.
• MAP will not bear any expense incurred in the preparation of proposals in response to this RFP.
• All responses to this RFP shall become the property of MAP.
• Proposals sent to MAP by Fax or Email will not be accepted.
• Proposals submitted after due date and time will be rejected.
• Individual Consultant must fill and sign the Declaration of Conflict of Interest given at end of the TOR and must submit with technical proposal.
• An effort by any individual Consultant to influence MAP, “directly or indirectly through unfair means”, in MAP proposal evaluation, proposal comparison or contract award decisions, to meet or discuss with any MAP official unless desired by the MAP may result in the rejection of bidder’s proposal.

14.      Financial and Technical Proposal submission:

The potential candidates can drop technical and financial proposal only through courier, to the following addresses clearly marked as follows (The proposal delivered without courier will not be accepted):

NOT TO BE OPENED BY THE REGISTRY

(Technical proposal separate sealed envelopes for enterprise development) in Districts Lower Chitral and upper Chitral MUSLIM AID Ad (MAP)

Main Garam Chashma road, Balach Bazar, Near Government high school, Balach Chitral.

 All proposals must be received by Thursday 28th March 2024: 5:30 PM.

 LATE SUBMISSION OF PROPOSAL: Proposal received after the deadline for submission of Proposals will not be considered.