Lutheran World Relief (LWR) is recruiting a consultant

001-RFP/FY25_LWR-PROFIT

TERMS OF REFERENCE

A SPECIAL MARKET STUDY ON EXPORT & REGIONAL TRADE FACILITATION INCLUDING ASSESS INTERNATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES OF THE OKRA, CHILLI AND CASSAVA SECTORS.

June 2025

Background: The PROFIT project in Togo is a five-year project implemented by Lutheran World Relief (LWR) with funding from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food for Progress (FFPr) to increase horticultural production and expand the marketing for chili, okra and cassava in the regions of Savanes, Kara and Plateaux of Togo. This a five-year project, called the “PROmotion des FIlières horticoles au Togo” or PROFIT project to improve the capacity of the Ministry of Agriculture in its efforts to improve and modernize agricultural systems.

The project will work with an estimated 25,000 direct beneficiaries and 1,000 cooperatives which include all stakeholders in the selected value chains ranging from producers, producer groups and cooperatives, processors, transporters, traders, to private sector companies and research in the intervention areas in the regions of Savanes, Kara and Plateaux.

PROFIT will implement the following 4 overarching activities designed to span everything from individual farmer and farmer group trainings and capacity building to agricultural processing and post-harvest loss reduction:

• Training on Improved agricultural production techniques post-harvest processing, and cooperative capacity development.
• Facilitate buyer-seller relationships to facilitate access to vegetable markets and marketing by fostering buyer-seller education and connection, establish Producer Enterprise Agents (PEAs) selected among the cooperatives who will serve as agricultural brokers by identifying and addressing seller and buyer needs to facilitate effective and efficient market linkages. Also strengthen food safety and will share recommendations for technology/practice improvements with the small and medium size Enterprises (SME) and other market actors ranging across production, transport, warehousing, processing, packing, and distribution through training on handling and good hygiene and processing practices according to market requirement and demand. PROFIT will also initiate exploratory options to develop exports markets for Togolese cassava and pepper to the US market.
• Capacity Building of Government institutions. PROFIT will strengthen the public sector capacity to expand current findings on the variety development and support agricultural producers introducing improved varieties throughout the approved distributors and network nursery managers in the zones. PROFIT will build capacity of research and government institutions to address critical horticulture priorities including through research; developing revenue; strengthening policies affecting horticulture.
• Facilitate agricultural lending from two forms of agricultural lending- village Savings and Internal Lending Communities (SILC) and microfinance institutions (MFIs)/banks. PROFIT will also provide matching grants to support MFIs partnering directly with cooperatives and horticulture producers to increase their production and/or processing capacity to small and medium enterprises (SMEs). In the first year FY24 of the project, PROFIT conducted a market study of the okra, chilli and cassava sectors. This market study revealed big market opportunities for the different products fresh or processed at national, regional and international level.

1. Scope of Work:

These terms of reference have been prepared to solicit offers from consultant and firms to carry out special market study for this program. The purpose of this RFP is to outline LWR’s needs and guide applicants who are drafting proposals in response to the RFP.LWR on PROFIT program is looking for a strong consultant or firm who will work to carry out a special market study for fresh and/or processed chilli, cassava and okra, based on a rigorous analytical approach leading to relevant and sustained strategic recommendations to orientate the products market at regional and international level. The study is in line with the objective of improving quality to meet regional and  international market standards. This study is part of Activity 2 “Market access: facilitating seller-buyer relations” of the project.

2. Market research objectives

The objectives of this study are:

• Study the USA and international food product and market standards related to importing fresh sector including pepper, okra and cassava from Togo.
• Assess the size of the market and analyze demand and supply (opportunities, quantities or volumes) for fresh products or products derived from chillies, okra and cassava on regional and international markets, for both end consumers and industries.
• Get a better understanding of quality management practices and compliance with standards in the Togo horticulture industry, as well as the legislative aspects of standards in the horticulture industry, and in the export destination and potential for the pepper, okra and cassava to US and European markets, as well as elsewhere.
• Provide the definition of potential socioeconomic, technical and environmental impacts linked to the application or non-application of trade and sanitary and phytosanitary standards and norms in the Togo horticulture industry.
• Identify which market actors (processors, exporters, traders, associations) are successfully exporting pepper, okra and cassava, and understand and document the challenges and successes they encounter. Formulate practical and reasonable guidelines and recommendations for the PROFIT team to carry out over the life of the project that will improve the marketing of cassava, chilli and okra in Togo, regionally, and possibly internationally.

3. The expected results

A well written report in English and French including the elements required for the study (see objectives above) and final recommendations for the project’s intervention strategy.

In addition to the description above in the summary, the consultant or firm will also carry out a detailed analysis of market opportunities at regional and international (USA, Europe and elsewhere) level, in order to assess preferences and market potential for fresh and processed plant products, with particular reference to the three targeted value chains. In general, the consultant or firm will analyse:

• Supply and demand on the regional and international market including USA, Europe and 1-3 prominent market options that are realistic for Togolese producers and traders to enter: Provide World imports and main exporting countries by each of the three food products.
• Norms and standards on international markets for pepper, cassava and okra products : describe the private sector plays categories, Government and public institutions, Microbiological contamination, Pesticides and other contaminations for each
• Togo supply and matching demand: Existing norms and standards in Togo, production, supply, processing and quality management in Togo, sanitary and phytosanitary standards (SPS) for food products authorized and used in Togo.
• Challenges and prospects for the Togo pepper, okra and cassava industry in relation to international norms and standards: Provide detailed guidance that will position the Togo horticulture sector/ industry on the regional and international market (inclusive of USA and Europe and 1-3 other countries with potential) and outlook for outlets, objectives, opportunities, internal constraints (constraints on the creation of a shared reference system, constraints on the implementation of post-harvest best practices, constraints on improving the edge-of-field offer champ, constraints on structuring the sector)
• Areas for action for various stakeholders in country.
• An overview of what impact can the sector expect to have to the country economics.

4. Methodology and duration of the survey

The consultant or firm will propose and be evaluated on their response to this scope of work how they will conduct the market assessment. LWR expects the assessment to include qualitative and quantitative survey data collection, key informant interviews, and focus group discussions.  LWR also expects the consultant or firm to propose to carry out a documentary/literature review, that is no older than 5-7 years (i.e. 2018 onwards). The consultant or firm will conduct interviews with stakeholders to gather the information needed to answer the study’s questions and hypotheses. At the start of the study, a scoping meeting will be organized to enable the consultant and the PROFIT team to agree on the methodological approach, the tools to be used and the quality of the study deliverables. At the end, a workshop to validate the results and recommendations of the study.

The consultant/firm will conduct the survey within 45 working days from the signature to the final report including a national presentation of the survey results in country.

5. Deliverables

The consultant will deliver the following:

6. Selection of consultants

• Consultant profile

Individual consultants or firms can submit application. A team of consultants or individual consultant with complementary profiles is required for this assignment, for a period of 45 working days.

• Selecting the team of consultant

Any consultant or firm interested in this TOR is requested to submit an application of no more than 12 pages that covers:

• 2-3 pages for each curriculum vitae for the proposed consultant(s).
• No more than 1 page summary of consultant or firm previous assignments highlighting the skills and expertise the consultant or firm has to conduct this TOR.
• No more than 3-5 pages summary of the applicant’s understanding of the TOR assignment, including its proposed research methodology, proposed timeline, illustrative list of 5-8 relevant desktop studies identified that will serve as background documentation and desktop review, and describe a plan for adding other desktop research upon initiating the assignment.
• A financial / budget offer, presenting a complete estimate, including consultant fees and all ancillary costs, e.g., transport, communication, accommodation, printing (if applicable), participation in the validation workshop, etc.

The proposal must be sent electronically to the following address: ProFiTachatTogo@corusinternational.org

LWR will arrange for a committee to analyze the technical and financial bids in accordance with the established evaluation criteria.

• Criteria for evaluating technical and financial bids