INDIVIDUAL CONSULTANT - FARA Multi-Donor Trust Fund

FACILITATION OF FARA’S PROGRAMME PROCESS MANUAL DEVELOPMENT

Name of project: FARA Multi-Donor Trust Fund (FARA-MDTF)

Grant No: FARA-MDTF TF095129

Project ID No.: P112684

Assignment Ref. No.: Reference: DRI 1.1.4                                                  Date: June 19, 2017

This request for expressions of interest follows the general procurement notice for this project that
appeared in dg Market, issue no. 4577029 of November 10, 2009

The Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) is an apex organization forming and bringing
together coalitions of major stakeholders in agricultural research for development (AR4D) in Africa. It
is the technical arm of the African Union with the mandate of developing and coordinating
Agricultural Research for Development in Africa.
FARA operates within the framework of a continental body with linkages across continental and
regional organizations in Agricultural Research for development. It intervenes with Sub regional
Organisations and National Agricultural Research Institutions; building capacities, sharing
experiences, forming partnerships and undertaking mega studies and development of continental
initiatives.

FACILITATION OF FARA’S PROGRAMME PROCESS MANUAL DEVELOPMENT

FARA’s extended revised Medium Term Operational Plan (2014-2018) reflects the key opportunities
and priorities necessitated by the launch of the AU Science, Technology and Innovation Strategy for
Africa (STISA 2024), and the endorsement by African Heads of State and Government of the Science
Agenda for Agriculture in Africa (S3A) that was developed by FARA. These revisions reflect the need
for repositioning of FARA to respond and take advantage of new initiatives to enhance relevance,
efficiency and impact. This is particularly important especially with regards, technical leadership for
development, implementation, review and continued reflection and learning of the Science Agenda
for Agriculture in Africa (S3A).

The Core Programmes of FARA include: 1) Knowledge and Decision Support, 2) Capacity Development
Initiatives and 3) Innovation and Strategic Partnerships. The Core Programmes are supported by; (i.)
the Office of the Executive Director where Internal Audit is located, (ii.) the Office of Director of
Research and Innovation (within which are Planning and M&E), (iii.) Directorate of Corporate
Communications and Partnerships, (iv) Finance, (v) Human Resources and Administration – (within
which are Procurement, Legal, IT, Logistics, Protocol etc..

Currently, the main source of funding for FARA is the Multi Donor Trust Fund (MDTF), which pools a
group of funding partners managed by the World Bank. Beside the MDTF, FARA’s interventions are
also funded through specific Programme and Project designed to deliver the targets set in the MTOP
and Annual Work Plans and Budget. The current projects in FARA include; PARI, Biomass Web, AHCSTAFF,
TAAT, AARP, S3A Proposal Development etc. These projects are funded by different donors
including; (German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and the German Federal
Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), African Development Bank, IFAD etc and
implemented across the continent through different partnerships.
From the Annual Work Plan and Budget 2017, FARA intends to use part of the proceeds for the
following consultant services

FACILITATION OF FARA’S PROGRAMME PROCESS MANUAL DEVELOPMENT

B. JUSTIFICATION
As an apex body responsible for the coordination of Agricultural Research for Development in Africa,
a key function of FARA resides in developing processes for building partnership, managing research,
grants and contracts management, strategy development etc for effective implementation of
programmes and projects delivery. There are several processes that are used in the execution of
these programmes and projects, within FARA secretariat, its partners within the wider Forum in and
outside Africa and as well as during project/programme life cycle. The processes and procedures are
not yet clearly defined, described, written or harmonized, often resulting to inefficiencies.
The development of clearly streamlined, consistent and efficient processes and procedures will
enhance FARA comparative advantage, efficiency, accountability, credibility and impact.
The Programme Process Manual will spell out the key processes, procedures, steps, documentation
required, approval processes and turnaround time for developing, key management actions and
evaluating programmes and project activities within FARA. The articulation of these processes will
clearly show FARA mandate, operation and value add. The Programme Process Manual will also
provide criteria for securing/evaluating partnerships and funding. It will complement the FARA
Operations Manual with emphasis on programme quality facilitation and delivery.

C. VALUE PROPOSITION OF A PROGRAMME PROCESS MANUAL
Specifically, The Programme Process Manual will;
 Ensure clearly mapped out procedures of FARA work and engagement with partners
(programme/project initiation, design, funding, publications, BTOR, management, contract
management, workshop evaluations, and evaluation, etc.)
 Define procedures and processes constituting; facilitation, convening, Annual Work Plan
development, strategy development, fiduciary oversight, reporting etc
 Ensure quality assurance
 Enhance quick turnaround for decisions and actions
 Ensure transparency and accountability of funds and processes managed by FARA
 Increase Efficiency
 Support orientation of new Staff and new partners
 Build credibility
The Programme Process Manual will complement FARA’s Operational Manual.

D. SCOPE OF WORK
The Facilitator will be responsible for facilitating the development of the Programme Process Manual.
The Process amongst other things, will seek to clarify the various procedures including but not limited
to,
 Partnership and programme/project initiation (Criteria Assessment),

 Procurement of services, Facilitators, facilitators
 Fraud or fund misapplication by partners
 Documentation and filing
 Handing Over and BTORs,
 Activities for Project Closure and upscaling
 Conflict of Rules (Funding agency Vs FARA),
 Organizing and evaluating Meetings, Conferences, travels,
 Approval processes
 Reporting (format and time),
 Fiduciary management
 Quality assurance
 Work Plan and Budget and Strategy development

The development process of the manual will entail discussion with staff and key partners establishing
the areas for clarity and uniformity of processes within FARA and its engagement with partners. The
Facilitator will detail all the activities that FARA does and streamline how the activities/tasks are done
and can be improved for accountability, credibility and efficiency.

The Facilitator will also review Process Manuals of similar organizations and describe key
organizational risk and appropriate mitigations in the procedures with FARA and its engagement with
partners.
The Facilitator will employ a mix of the following processes
 Literature Review on best practices/best fits.
 Review of current processes and procedures (eg; quality assurance, facilitation, convening,
project development, annual work plan and budget, strategy development, reporting etc)
 Discussion with FARA management and staff
 Define roles of key staff/units within FARA
 Define key procedures and processes, approval, documentation etc.
 Discussion with key partners

E. OUTPUTS/ DELIVERABLES
From the consultations and literature review, the Facilitator will produce work in progress reports on
the milestones below,
1. Report on literature review and consultations with FARA and with partners
2. An inception report detailing the methodology and timelines for developing the Programme
Process Manual
3. Develop a Programme Process Manual, incorporating all the key tasks of units of FARA and
Processes for developing projects, partnerships and implementation
4. Present draft Programme Process Manual to FARA staff for validation. This should
incorporate all the key tasks of units of FARA and Processes for developing projects,
partnerships and implementation.
5. Submit final Programme Process Manual

F. DURATION
The Facilitation will be for 8 days from July 2017. This is broken into;
- 1 days of literature review, instrumentation and brief inception report writing
- 4 days of consultations within FARA (Consulting with key staff and units)
- 1 days of report writing
- 1 day validation in FARA secretariat and final report submission
- I day of final report writing

G. LOCATION OF THE ASSIGNMENT
The location of the assignment is the FARA Secretariat, Accra and consultant’s base.

H. REPORTING
The Facilitator will report directly to the Director, Research and Innovation in FARA.

I. FACILITIES TO BE PROVIDED BY FARA
FARA will provide the following to the Facilitators:
• Travel and accommodation (where necessary)
• Any other logistical support, as may be mutually agreed, to ensure success of the
assignment

J. QUALIFICATION AND EXPERIENCE
The person to undertake this assignment must:
 Have a MSc or PhD degree in Administration/Management, Law, Agricultural Economics or
any other relevant social sciences.
 Have over 15 years professional or post-graduation experience.
 Proven experience in developing and promoting organization processes.
 Have demonstrable ability to write concise technical reports and process manuals.
 Have bilingual competency (i.e. English & French or English and Portuguese).

The attention of interested consultants is drawn to Paragraph 1.9 of World Bank’s Guidelines: Selection
and Employment of Consultants under IBRD Loans and IDA Credits and Grants by World Bank
Borrowers – January 2011, Revised July 2014 setting forth the World Bank’s Policy on conflict of
interest.

Further information can be obtained at the address below during office hours between 0930 and
1600 GMT.
Email: ifrempong@faraafrica.org

Written and sealed expression of interest must be send (via e-mail) with a comprehensive curriculum
vitae to the address below on or before 1600 GMT July 3, 2017:

Dr. Yemi Akinbamijo
Executive Director
Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA)
PMB CT 173, Cantonments, Accra, Ghana
Telephone: +233 302 772823/779421
Email: recruitment@faraafrica.org