Request for Proposal (RFP) at the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA)


The Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) invites interested / eligible consultant(s) to indicate interest by tendering RFP documents for the following works:

The Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) is an African-led, African-based, not-for-profit organization. It works with African governments, development partners, civil society, private sector, and African farmers for an inclusive agricultural transformation (IAT) to increase incomes and improve food and nutrition security of at least 30 million smallholder farming households.

Applications are invited for:

Title: Request for Proposal (RFP) – Consultancy for AGRF 2022 Summit Program Planning and Management, Content Development and Facilitation Services

Preamble

The AGRF is the world’s premier forum for African agriculture, bringing together stakeholders in the agricultural landscape to take practical actions and share lessons that will move African agriculture forward. The AGRF is a multi-sector platform comprising of 26 partners leading in African agriculture all focused on putting farmers at the center of the continent’s growing economies.

The AGRF 2022 Summit will be hosted in Kigali, Rwanda from 6-9 Sept 2022 with a pre-summit event scheduled for 5, Sept 2022. This year’s summit theme is Grow. Nourish. Reward. Bold Actions for resilient Food Systems.

Building on the commitments made at the AGRF 2021 Summit and the Common African Position for food systems, the Summit will showcase leadership from African countries that taking these [pathways] to the next level. Recognizing the urgent need for action; the AGRF 2022 summit will call upon leaders from the private sector, national and local governments, youth, and other organizations to put forward bold actions that can play a key role in transforming how Africa produces and consumes food.

The Summit aims to deliver the following outcomes:

  • An Inclusive voice: Shape an inclusive African Voice on food systems transformation in the global context by ensuring participatory reporting and active advocacy of key summit outcomes
  • Innovations Spotlight innovations in food systems and showcase a diversity of voices and stakeholders contributing to the transformation of Africa’s food system.
  • Shared priorities: Identify priorities and gaps in Africa’s transformation and provide a platform for alignment on shared continental priorities and progress towards building food systems that deliver for people, planet, and prosperity
  • Resources: Mobilise resources and catalyze solutions building on innovation in science, and technology to support country transformation pathways.
  • Climate Action: Elevate the coordinated African voice on climate action by outlining the challenges and identifying country-led solutions and pathways
  • Country Leadership: Provide a platform for countries to showcase leadership and share best practices in progressing pathways to actionable strategies

The AGRF would like to engage a qualified consultant to support the upcoming AGRF 2022 Summit the consultant will support the secretariat in AGRF Program Planning and Management, Content Development, and Facilitation Services that will ensure AGRF convenes African and global stakeholders including leadership around the key priorities and commitments as per the 2022 theme and clearly articulate the contribution of the AGRF as a platform to COP 27.

The AGRF 2022 Summit will be a fully physical event with a broadcast element on key sessions.

Scope of Work
The consultancy will include but not be limited to the following tasks:

Pre-summit:

  • Support the AGRF Secretariat to design and develop the overall program of the AGRF 2022 Summit, to deliver a strong and compelling program for a physical summit in line with the theme of the Summit as well as inform the priorities of AGRF Partners.
  • Conduct a program workshop to design the program strategy, outline key sessions and messages with stakeholders including the Government of Rwanda and the AGRF thematic platforms
  • Align programming in such a way that it will articulate the contribution of the AGRF as a platform to COP 27.
  • Guide and advise on engagement and alignment with the COP27 agenda to ensure that we build a program that allows for reflection on climate action
  • Work closely with the Global Events Manager to ensure effective audience engagement and delivery of content during the AGRF Summit.
  • Identify and provide support to session leads, and resource persons identified for the expected sessions as shall be discussed and agreed upon during the Summit Week.
  • Engage with the AGRF’s ten thematic platforms during the year and work with their Co-Chairs and members to draw out priority sessions, knowledge products, speakers, participants that should be incorporated into the Summit program, and develop a bi-monthly progress report of these platforms.
  • Support the Co-chairs in the coordination of AGRF thematic platforms I this will include convening the thematic platforms twice to consult during the pre-summit phase and gather their input into the AGRF 2022 Summit program
  • Liaise with the Agribusiness Deal Room coordinator and its program committee to ensure alignment on the program and speakers
  • Lead on the call for side events and overall coordination of all side events on Day 1 of the program and follow-on post-event reporting. Recommend AGRF Speakers for AGRF 2022 Summit to the AGRF Secretariat and manage a database of speakers and moderators that will take part in the AGRF Summit.
  • Develop a diverse and dynamic speaker portfolio that provides a balance in terms of inclusivity (youth & gender), francophone, and anglophone speakers and is geographically balanced based on the defined metrics.
  • Lead on invitations and confirmations with all speakers at the Summit in alignment with agreements of the AGRF Secretariat and the VIP invitation subcommittee
  • Work with session leads and resource persons identified for all AGRF 2022 Summit sessions to ensure quality session briefs are prepared and posted online by end of July 2022 and set up briefing sessions for speakers in August 2022 before the Summit Week.
  • Participate and provide weekly briefs to the Local Organizing Committee, AGRA Steering Committee meetings, and as shall be required.

During the Summit:

  • Manage the flow of the Program together with the Global Events Manager during the AGRF Summit ensuring sessions start and end on time and with good facilitation and clear outcomes that can be distilled and discussed at plenary and closing out sessions.
  • Track commitments to action in the context of the COP27.
  • Provide speaking briefs for the AGRF Chair, AGRA president, and AGRF MD on the key sessions they will be engaged in.
  • Provide qualified and bilingual rapporteurs to coordinate the documentation of sessions & plenaries and provide notes for each session at the end of the summit that can be posted online (in English for all sessions and in French).
  • Conduct daily content-based session polls aligned to the AGRF results framework and share the results with the Secretariat.
  • Conduct full analytics on the event engagement of participants and speakers (polls, surveys, deep-dive interviews) and provide findings to the secretariat as input for the program design for 2023.
  • Provide a daily report on the outcomes and recommendations of each session from the summit.

Post-Summit:

  • Ensure thank you notes are sent to all speakers in September 2022 in alignment with the AGRF Secretariat
  • Prepare the AGRF 2022 Summit Communique, to be ready before the last day of the Summit
  • Generate Communique that aligns with stakeholder’s contribution to COP 27
  • Prepare and submit sub-reports for at least two thematic platforms (i.e., Deal Room and on other as shall be agreed upon with the Secretariat)
  • Prepare a final technical Summit report by end of September for partners that captures the highlights of the program throughout the week, the summit outcomes, and recommendations from all the sessions.
  • Conduct a program evaluation with relevant stakeholders on the program structure and content including the AGRF partners, thematic platforms and the Government of Rwanda
  • Prepare a final summit report to be broadcast and released externally by October 30th, 2022.

Deliverables with Tentative Timelines

  • The consultancy will be expected to deliver, the following outputs:
  • Conduct a program strategy workshop and deliver a high-level program outline incorporating key sessions and speakers by 16th May 2022
  • A high-quality detailed program structure, considering the broadcast element and incorporating all sessions and speakers as agreed upon by May 30, 2022.
  • Issue a call for side events by June 1st, 2022
  • A high-quality speaker management database that tracks and ensures all speakers are invited, confirmed, receive their briefs, and ultimately receive thank you notes after the summit.
  • Full speaker profiles for all lead speakers for online and external publication
  • Session briefs and presentations, for all sessions to be posted in an online database accessible by all speakers by July 15, 2022
  • Rapporteur notes from all sessions by the end of July 2022
  • A summit declaration and communique by 9 September 2022
  • Program evaluation survey by 20th Sep 2022
  • Summit proceedings for high-level sessions by 30 September 2022
  • A final Summit Report with the summary of key sessions and outlining key outcomes by October 10, 2022
  • A publication capturing key voices at AGRF 2022 on climate action by Oct 14, 2022
  • Initial Theme draft for AGRF 2023 by end of November 2022

Key Qualifications and Experience Required
Lead Consultant/Team Leader:

  • A Master’s or Bachelor’s degree in agricultural economics, knowledge management, rural development, international development, communication or closely related fields.
  • Proven, diverse experience in documentation of agricultural transformation in Africa and an understanding of the agricultural ecosystem in Africa
  • Experience in knowledge management strategy/framework design and approaches.
  • Exemplary analytical, writing and editing skills
  • Proven ability to conceptualize, plan and execute ideas as well as transfer knowledge and skills.
  • Excellent written, oral and comprehension command of English. Knowledge of French is an added advantage.
  • Demonstrable ability to work independently, managing a diverse team, managing multiple projects and deadlines simultaneously with a sense of urgency.
  • Proven ability to organize, manage and facilitate stakeholder engagements,
  • Previous experience in managing speaker invitation process in a conference set-up
  • The firm shall provide the profile of the additional experts to support on the assignment.

Additional experts:Application Closing Date
17:00 (GMT+3), 6th May, 2022.

Submission of Documents

The proposals SHALL be submitted to [email protected] Please include the subject line “RFP/062/AGRF/2022” of the email.

Note

  • The Proposals shall be prepared in English Language.
  • The technical proposal shall not exceed 20 pages.
  • The proposal and ALL Attachments submitted via email SHALL NOT exceed 10MB.
  • VALIDITY of the proposal shall be for a period of 90 days from the date of bid closure.
  • Financial proposal shall be sent as a separate attachment and MUST be password protected. The password shall be requested from the best technically qualified firm (s).

Click Here (Ms Word) for a detailed description of the RFP.