In a bid to further enhance the seed sector in Nigeria and West Africa, a letter of intent between NASC and mPedigree, the technology giant behind the success of Goldkeys platform globally, was signed. This will mean that in the next few months, NASC will just like in the pharmaceutical industry introduce a turnkey electronic seed certification system with scratch card authentication and enhance security features that will make it impossible for the faking of any seed certified by the NASC.

The Goldkeys technology, will enable quality and genuineness verification by farmers and the public through SMS, smartphone apps (with GS1 barcoding support) and web. It is also equipped with its own integrated call center desk software. Farmers and the public can use any of the aforementioned channels to confirm within a few seconds if a tag on any seed purchased by them was genuinely issued by NASC or not.

The technology will give NASC complete control over every certification tag and batch of seeds right from its production and movement throughout the entire seeds value chain. This innovation is supported by AGRA and USAID/Nigeria.

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”.

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 [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.

SCORE-CARD PROGRAMME with DG NASC will be aired tomorrow 22nd of September, 2018 from 12:30pm to 1:00pm on Network Service of Radio Nigeria (FRCN). Thank you.

The National Agricultural Seeds Council (NASC) had a one-day Agricultural Seeds Media Dialogue at the Sheraton Hotel, Abuja on May 31^st, 2018. The aim of the dialogue is to forge a strong and formidable partnership with the media in the renewed campaign of the Council to establish a market-driven seed industry for the production and distribution of high quality seeds and improved planting materials, accessible and affordable to farmers in Nigeria.

Speaking at the meeting, organized by Partnership to Engage, Reform and Learn (PERL-DFID), in collaboration with the National Agricultural Seeds Council (NASC), in Abuja, the Director General, Dr. Phillip Olusegun Ojo, represented by Mr. Khalid Ishiak (Director, Seed Certification and Quality Control), reiterated that partnering with the media to ensure not only the availability, but also of accessibility and affordability of  quality seeds to farmers in the country, had become absolutely necessary to grow the sector and move the Nigerian economy forward.

While expressing delight about the maiden edition of the Agricultural Seeds Media Dialogue, the Director General remarked that “NASC as the agency responsible for the regulation of the Nigeria seed industry, is empowered by the Seeds Act of 1992 with the main objective of ensuring the availability of quality seeds to farmers through effective regulation of players in the seed sector”.

He stressed the importance of quality seeds delivery, disclosing that “seed contributes about 60% to the productivity index of any crop, meaning that planting poor quality seeds is a recipe to failure, no matter the quantity of other inputs”

The Director General praised the efforts of PERL-DFID specifically for strategically advocating for small holder farmers’ increased access to improved inputs and quality seeds, a move which he said is in consonance with the drive of  NASC to reach out to the rural and urban farmers.