REQUEST FOR EXPRESSION OF INTEREST: CONSULTANCY TO DEVELOP STRATEGIC PLAN FOR THE NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL SEEDS COUNCIL (NASC)

1.0       BACKGROUND

The National Agricultural Seeds Council (NASC), located at KM 29, Abuja-Lokoja Highway, Sheda, Abuja, Federal Capital Territory, is the agency of government established by the Act 72 of 1992, saddled with the responsibility to coordinate and regulate the production, marketing, trade and use of seeds in Nigeria. The Council has a vision of creating a seed industry in Nigeria that is market-driven and capable of producing and distributing high quality and improved planting materials that are accessible and affordable to farmers. This is with a view to transforming the Nigerian seed system into a leading seed industry in Sub-Saharan Africa and worthy of generating foreign exchange, become a key employer of labour and contributing positively to the country’s economy and key into the Green Alternative strategy of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

The Council’s specific functions include, certification and quality control of seeds, Seed industry development & technical support services, coordination and monitoring of Breeder, Foundation & Certified seeds production and utilization, information, planning and data management, collaboration in the registration, release and publication of new varieties approved for commercialization in Nigeria, assistance in the development of private sector participation in seed production, receipt and processing of applications for seed import and export, seed law enforcement, capacity building and training of stakeholders in the seed industry.

Pursuant to the highlighted brief above, NASC with support from Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) is seeking the services of an experienced consultant to develop a strategic plan to strengthen and reposition the Council for efficient delivery of its responsibility in developing the Nigerian seed industry.

2.0       OBJECTIVES OF THE STRATEGY

The overall objective of the assignment is to develop the institutional strategic and regulatory plan  aimed at providing the strategic direction 2020-2025 for the seed sector in Nigeria as well as strengthen the capacity of NASC in the discharge of her responsibility in coordinating and regulating the Nigerian seed industry.

3.0       SCOPE OF WORK

Working closely with the NASC Team and the relevant stakeholder in the Nigerian seed industry, the consultant’s key tasks will include:

  1. Develop a 5 years Strategic Plan for the Seed Sector in Nigeria
  2. Identify key strategic issues with global best practices and clear vision for the seed sector in Nigeria in the
    short, medium and long term.
  3. Determine strength, weaknesses and constraints to the development of the Nigerian agricultural seed sector, and elaborate on measures/actions needed to achieve a viable seed sector in Nigeria.
  4. Determine and develop key performance indicators and an image of success for the seed sector in Nigeria over the next 5 years.
  5. Identify and characterize and select specific practical solutions/technologies/practices that can be promoted, adopted with the potential to increase the availability and accessibility of quality seeds to farmer.
  6. Based on the vision of success over the next five years, identify the cost centres and develop evidence-based investment/funding strategy implement the vision.
  7. Conduct a detailed Capacity Needs Assessment for the Council and suggest possible solutions to enhance performance.
  8. Develop a two year implementation for sustainable and practical approaches for effective seed industry regulation and harmonisation with international seed industry best practices.
  9. Produce a robust strategic plan document that would guide the Council in executing its responsibility through efficient service delivery.

4.0       OUTPUT AND REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.

The consultant will be expected to deliver the following outputs:

  1. A short inception report submitted within 25 calendar days of the start of this assignment with methodology and approach, including timings and any initial observations or issues that will affect implementation;
  2. Two technical reports – a confidential analytical report on the performance of NASC as an organisation answering the questions on relevance, effectiveness and impact and a broader report covering the consolidated analysis of the entire Council and the Nigerian seed industry.
  3. A detail NASC strategic plan document that will be subjected to stakeholder’s validation

4.1       Key Deliverables

  1. Report of strategic plan development process.
    1. Fully developed strategic plan validated with stakeholders
    1. Roadmap for Implementation of Key Activities identified in the plan

5.0 NASC invites applications from eligible consultants or consultancy firms interested in providing these services. The consultants must provide information indicating that they are qualified to perform the services (brochures, description of similar assignments, experience in similar conditions, general qualifications of key staff, and so forth). Consultants may co-bid to enhance their qualifications. A maximum of six (6) qualified consultants/firms will be shortlisted to provide detailed technical and financial proposals.

5.1       DURATION OF SERVICE

The assignment will be undertaken within (25) twenty five days from date of commencement. The consultancy is expected to commence First week of April 2019.[AD1] 


6.0       PROPOSAL SUBMISSION

Interested and qualified consultants (individual or institutional) are invited to submit the proposal which include the following:

a) Qualification and experience of the individual/institutional consultant.

b) Approach and methodology to undertake this assignment.

c) Previous experience in similar assignment(s).

d) Detailed financial proposal and realistic work plan.

7.0       QUALIFICATIONS.
The Consultant is expected to provide different skills but the minimum competencies to be
provided by the team together must include:

  1. Significant (at least 15 years’) experience in the seed sector policy development and regulation in the Nigeria context, with demonstrable competence in improving access for smallholder farmers to improved varieties;
  2. Clear understanding and experience in the role of the private sector in the seed industry development and access to quality seeds by smallholders across Nigeria and Sub Saharan Africa;
  3.  Seed market dynamics and development of transboundary market linkages
  4. Fluency in written and spoken English. Preferably a strong academic background in seed sector research.

The expression of interest shall not exceed 30 pages. Interested consultants may obtain further information at the email address provided below.

7.1       Evaluation criteria

  1. General qualifications 🙁 general education, training, and experience): [20%]
  2. Adequacy for the Assignment 🙁 experience in the sector/similar assignments): [70%]
  3. Relevant experience in the region 🙁 working level fluency in local language(s)/knowledge of local culture or administrative system, government organization, etc.):[10%]

Total weight: 100%

Expressions of interest must be sent to: [email protected] by close of business on March 29, 2019 at 1700 Hours) clearly marked “Consultancy for development of strategic Plan for NASC”.

 [AD1]You need to check the number of days again think I saw something like 30 days somewhere else in the document. In your proposal it is 25 work days.

Hon. Minister of Agriculture

Audu Innocent Ogbeh was born in Otukpo on July 28, 1947 to the family of late Pa Ogbeh Ejembi and Madam Egbi Ogbeh (nee Odinya), both of Efugo-Otukpa in the present day Ogbadibo Local Government Area of Benue State.

His late father was a renowned farmer, community leader and disciplinarian while his mother was a commodities trader who travelled through all major markets of the central and south-eastern states of Nigeria in the course of her business.

In the following year, he gained admission at the elite Kings College in Lagos, continuing his studies for the Higher School Certificate (HSC). He obtained the HSC at the end of 1968 and proceeded the following year to Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. Between 1969 and 1972, Mr Ogbeh studied for his undergraduate certificate, which he obtained at the end of his time there. Armed with a Bachelor of Arts degree in French, he proceeded in 1973 to the University of Toulouse in France. He graduated in 1974 with a Masters of Letters degree in French literature.

Olanrewaju Howells

Olanrewaju Howells is the Group Managing Director of VARDEN with over 15 years experience as an entrepreneur. His wealth of experience spans Hospitality, Entertainment, Real Estate, Agriculture and Mass Media. He ventured into agriculture in 2014, setting up Varden Farms Scheme 1, and in 2016 Varden Farms and Resort pioneered the developing trend of commercial luxury Farm Houses in Nigeria. In 2015, he established Beyond Building Investment Limited, a premium real estate company, redefining Asset Management, Real Estate Investment Culture. Lanre seat on the board of several profit and Non Profit organizations both within and outside Nigeria. He is a result driven, self-motivated and resourceful entrepreneur with a proven ability to develop, strengthen businesses and management team in order to maximize company profitability and efficiency. The Company has grown exponentially into a group within 4 years of operation, consisting of Varden Farms, Varden Park & Resort, Varden Foods and VCAMS (The Agro Cooperative Society). Varden group today, has over one hundred employees  and still evolving with the crusade for organic and affordable food for Nigerians.

Michael Keller

Michael Keller was appointed Secretary General of the International Seed Federation in June 2014.

Michael, a German national, lived and worked in Paris for 18 years before relocating to Switzerland to join the International Seed Federation in Nyon.

Having graduated from the Universities of Manheim and Bonn where he completed a Law State examination, Michael pursued post-graduate studies at the Paris-Sorbonne University.


In 1999 Michael joined the French Senate in Paris as a Parliamentary Advisor and moved to the Mayor’s Association of France where, as Head of European and International Affairs, he represented his constituents’ interests at European level.


Between 2008 and 2014 Michael held the post of Director of Regulatory and Public Affairs at DuPont Pioneer in France. During the same period Michael was a member of the Board of Directors and Executive Committee at the Union Française des Semenciers (UFS) and Chairman of the UFS Regulation and Innovation Commission.

Andreas Wais

Secretary General at ISTA

In 2006 he was appointed to deputy head of Business Unit Agro. 2007 the Business Units Agro and Chemicals were combined into one under his leadership making use of the risk assessment experience in Agro for the upcoming REACH. Beginning of 2008 a new Business Unit structure was implemented due to the acquisition of SPL by Harlan/RCC. Dr. Wais was then promoted to Global Director Business Unit AgroChemicals and Biocides. From June 2011 he changed his reponsibility to the position of General Manager of Global Registration and Strategic Consulting.
In March 2012 Dr. Wais left Harlan with most of the Agro regulatory team and became Managing Director of Eurofins Regulatory AG in Switzerland.
From June 2017 appointed Secretary General of ISTA.

INDIA High Commissioner

Mr. B.N. Reddy joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1993, and has served in Indian Missions in Indonesia (1995-98), Lao PDR (1998-2001), New York (Permanent Mission of India) (2005-2008), Malaysia (2008-2011) and Geneva (as the DPR in Permanent Mission of India) (2013-16). He has served in the Ministry of External Affairs in the Administration Division and subsequently as the Director/Joint Secretary to the External Affairs Minister.

Mr. Reddy has learnt Bahasa Indonesia at the University of Indonesia (UI) during his posting to Indonesia in 1995. Mr. Reddy has Master’s Degree in Technology from IIT, Bombay and Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering from Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS), Pilani. Prior to joining the Ministry of External Affairs, Mr. Reddy also served with TELCO (now Tata Motors) and also in the Indian Engineering Service (IES).

Ido Verhagen

Ido Verhagen is the executive director of the Access to Seeds Index. Since its start in 2013, the Index has grown out to a unique resource for information on how the seed industry is supporting smallholder farmer productivity, one of the main targets on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals Agenda. The 2019 Index includes an evaluation of 60 seed companies across 65 countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Prior to starting up the Access to Seeds Index, Ido worked as a sustainability advisor for Dutch multinationals like Philips, Heineken and KLM.

NGUYEN THANH MINH

Mr. Minh was appointed Director of Plant Variety Protection Office on December 1, 2015, having previously held the role of Examiner on PVP since 2004.

From 1983 to 2004 he worked for National Center for Plant Variety Evaluation and Seed Certification (NCVESC) just after graduated from Agriculture University No2 in Vietnam. In 2004 he moved to Plant Variety Protection Office of Vietnam (PVPO) when PVPO is established and has been working there as Examiner until became Vice – Director from June 2015 then Director of PVPO on 1st December, 2015.

In the period of 2004 to 2011, he used to attend the training courses on Plant Variety Protection under UPOV Convention in Japan (2004), the Netherlands (2007), United State of America (2005 and 2008) and in UPOV (2011).

He received MS Degree in 1998 then PhD degree in 2004 on Plant Breeding and Selection of tomato at Vietnam Agriculture Academy Science (VAAS). 

Csaba Gaspar

Programme manager – OECD Seed Schemes & the OECD Forest Seed and Plant Scheme

Csaba Gaspar studied Horticulture and Biotechnology at the Corvinus University of Budapest in Hungary. He started his career as a food and phytosanitary inspector in the Hungarian Food-Chain Safety Office where he did certification inspections and quality control of fruit and vegetables for 5 years. He was also responsible for international relations and represented Hungary at OECD, UN and EU meetings.

He moved to the OECD in 2006 where he first worked as an Agricultural Policy Analyst at the OECD Codes and Schemes Unit for 8 years. He was responsible for the coordination of the OECD certification systems for fruit and vegetables and forest reproductive materials. He is currently the Programme Manager of the OECD Seed Schemes and the OECD Forest Seed and Plant Scheme since 2015.

Csaba served as Chair of the Specialized Section on Dry and Dried Products and Vice-Chair of the Working Party 7 on Agricultural Standards at the United Nations Economic Cooperation for Europe (UNECE) between 2004-2006.