The Government of Republic of Moldova has received financing from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) towards the cost of Talent Retention for Rural Transformation Project (TRTP) and intends to apply part of the proceeds for the recruitment of consulting services provided by an individual consultant.
The use of any IFAD financing shall be subject to IFAD’s approval, pursuant to the terms and conditions of the financing agreement, as well as IFAD’s rules, policies and procedures. IFAD and its officials, agents and employees shall be held harmless from and against all suits, proceedings, claims, demands, losses and liability of any kind or nature brought by any party in connection with TRTP.
The TRTP project will strengthen the capacity of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry by providing it technical specialist for economic and policy analysis. This will help to identify any policy implications and modify and refine policy as required. The project will also organize opportunities for learning and experience sharing for the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry staff.
The consulting services (“the services”) assignment is to contract an individual consultant to strengthen technical capacity of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry, as following:
1. Consultant in Agriculture Economy and Policy.
This request for expressions of interest (REOI) follows the general procurement notice that appeared on UN Development Business website on 1 February 2022, on the CPIU IFAD website on 31 Jan 2022, on MAFI website on 1 February 2022, on Economic magazine Logos Press no. 5 (1411) from 11 Feb 2022 and on Facebook and Instagram on 31 Jan 2022.
The attention of interested consultants is drawn to IFAD’s Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism Policy[1] and the Revised IFAD Policy on Preventing Fraud and Corruption its Activities and Operations[2]. The latter sets forth IFAD’s provisions on prohibited practices. IFAD further strives to ensure a safe working environment free of harassment, including sexual harassment, and free of sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA) in its activities and operations as detailed in its IFAD Policy to Preventing and Responding to Sexual Harassment, Sexual Exploitation and Abuse.[3]
Interested consultants shall not have any actual, potential or reasonably perceived conflict of interest. Consultants with an actual, potential or reasonably perceived conflict of interest shall be disqualified unless otherwise explicitly approved by the Fund. Consultants are considered to have a conflict of interest if they a) have a relationship that provides them with undue or undisclosed information about or influence over the selection process and the execution of the contract, or b) have a business or family relationship with a member of the client’s board of directors or its personnel, the Fund or its personnel, or any other individual that was, has been or might reasonably be directly or indirectly involved in any part of (i) the preparation of the REOI, (ii) the selection process for this procurement, or (iii) execution of the contract. Consultants have an ongoing obligation to disclose any situation of actual, potential or reasonably perceived conflict of interest during preparation of the EOI, the selection process or the contract execution. Failure to properly disclose any of said situations may lead to appropriate actions, including the disqualification of the consultant, the termination of the contract and any other as appropriate under the IFAD Policy on Preventing Fraud and Corruption in its Projects and Operations.
The Consolidated IFAD Programme Implementation Unit (CPIU IFAD) now invites eligible Individual consultants (“consultants”) to indicate their interest in providing the services. Interested consultants should provide information demonstrating that they have the required qualifications and relevant experience to perform the services in the form of a curriculum vitae (CV), a Cover Letter (CL), Self-certification form (IFAD template) and 2-3 professional references from the previous employers. A consultant will be selected in accordance with the individual consultant selection (ICS) method set out in IFAD’ Project Procurement Handbook that can be accessed via the IFAD website at www.ifad.org/project-procurement. Interviews will be conducted as part of the selection process.
Consultant in Agriculture Economy and Policy will support the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry in the following main activities, but not limited to these:
- conducting economic analysis of agriculture subsector on main macroeconomic indicators, including statistical data related to the agricultural sector;
- identifying administrative and commercial trade barriers and suggesting a road map on how to overcome them and to raise competitiveness of the Moldovan agricultural producers on both external and local markets.
- identifying policy gaps that compromise the competitiveness of the local agricultural producers and suggesting a road map on how to eliminate those gaps;
- developing recommendations on macro level on how to improve competitiveness of the Moldovan producers;
- developing and/or assisting the Beneficiary in relevant developing policy papers and consulting the Beneficiary on budgetary policy issues;
- delivering trainings/consulting to representatives of local state institutions and authorities;
The key criteria for shortlisting of Consultant in Agriculture Economy and Policy are the following:
| Criterion | Weight |
| 1. General qualifications: | |
| · A minimum of a bachelor degree in economics, finance, agriculture or a related field | 10 |
| · Participation in specialized international training courses on policy analysis and development with respect to agriculture is an advantage | 5 |
| 2. Specific previous experience in the field for vacant position: | |
| · At least 5 years of hands-on experience in economic and policy analysis in agricultural sector | 25 |
| · At least 3 years of hands-on experience in policy paper development, preferably in agricultural sector | 10 |
| · At least one project experience in interacting with national and local stakeholders concerned with agriculture and preferably including government and administration, private sector, civil society and international development partner agencies; | 10 |
| 3. Language skills: Fluency in Romanian and English; good in Russian | 5 |
| 4. Computer management skills especially office productivity tools | 5 |
| 5. Competencies (through Interview for candidates that score at least 49 points on the above criteria): | |
| · Highest standards of professionalism and integrity | 10 |
| · Excellent problem solving and analytical skills using creativity and innovation | 10 |
| · Excellent communication (especially written communications; group facilitation skills), networking and coordination skills with various stakeholders | 5 |
| · Excellent planning and organizational abilities and attention to detail | 5 |
|
TOTAL |
100 |
Any request for clarification on this REOI should be sent via e-mail to the address below procurement@ucipifad.md no later than 23 March 2022. The client will provide responses to all clarification requests by 24 March 2022.
Expressions of interest in the form of curriculum vitae (CV) and Cover Letter must be delivered signed and in a written form to the address below by 25 March 2022, relaunched 4th April 2022, 17 AM.
More detailed information relating to this assignment is HERE
Attn: Nadejda Russu, Senior Procurement Specialist
Ștefan cel Mare și Sfînt bd. 162, Chișinău, MD-2004
E-mail: procurement@ucipifad.md
Tel. (022) 22 – 18 – 80
[1] The policy is accessible at https://www.ifad.org/en/document-detail/asset/41942012.
[2] The policy is accessible at www.ifad.org/anticorruption_policy.
[3] The policy is accessible at https://www.ifad.org/en/document-detail/asset/40738506.