Consultant - Commercial Optimization of the Livestock247 Digital Platform for Trade and Value Chain Management at Mercy Corps Nigeria

Mercy Corps is a leading global organization powered by the belief that a better world is possible. In disaster, in hardship, in more than 40 countries around the world, we partner to put bold solutions into action - helping people triumph over adversity and build stronger communities from within, now, and for the future.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Consultant - Commercial Optimization of the Livestock247 Digital Platform for Trade and Value Chain Management

Location: North East, Nigeria
Employment Type: Contract

Background

• In Nigeria, livestock production is considered the second largest agricultural sub-sector and reportedly contributes 5% of the agricultural GDP. Whereas the livestock population is estimated to be about 535.78 million, production has remained at small scale and the trade of livestock have been largely informal and inefficient marred by lack of transparency, skewed negotiation power with the small holders at disadvantage, information asymmetry and exploitation.
• Livestock is mainly produced for consumption – for its meat, milk, and other food products, with a much smaller animal hide market. With factors like the ban on the importation of poultry products, the growing middle class, and dependence on livestock as a source of protein, the demand for livestock is expected to grow, and the FAO predicts that by 2030, the consumption of animal protein will increase by 73%: demand for small ruminants and poultry alone is expected to increase by about 215% of its current value and supply lagging at 159%. The obvious shortfall in supply requires a more proactive effort to improve local production and productivity, as the annual production growth rate is said to be less than 2%[i] compared to the 6.5% reported by the CBN in 2009. Moreover, unlocking the potential of the sector and catalysing sustainable growth requires identifying the barriers to livestock production and value chain development.
• The Feed the Future Rural Resilience Activity partners Livestock247 to leverage the company’s digital platform to streamline livestock trade operations, enhance efficiency, and deliver livestock products or services in a way that benefits smallholder farmers and support their productivity. By harnessing the power of the Livestock247 digital platform, livestock businesses can achieve scalability and adaptability, making them well-equipped to respond to market changes swiftly.

Project Description

• The Feed the Future Rural Resilience Activity is a five-year, $45 million initiative funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) within the states of Adamawa, Borno, Gombe, and Yobe in Northeastern Nigeria.
• The goal of the Activity is to facilitate economic recovery and growth in vulnerable, conflict-affected areas. The purpose of the Activity is to sustainably move people out of chronic vulnerability and poverty in NEN. This will be accomplished through expanded economic opportunities. Its overarching approach involves strengthening resilience capacities at household, community, and market-systems levels to ensure the sustainability of poverty reduction and economic recovery efforts.
• Although Nigeria is home to one of Africa’s largest livestock herds, the country remains a net importer of meat, and its meat trade deficit is growing. Factors like inadequate finance, high cost of animal feeds, animal diseases, lack of infrastructure, cost of important resources such as water, and other factors militating against animal production. Prioritizing investments in areas that improve return on assets through livestock business advisory consultancy that provides guidance and recommendations for the development and enhancement of livestock-related activities in Nigeria, leveraging technology to make the value chain more efficient, especially as a route to market. The consultancy will focus on various aspects of the livestock industry, including farming, trading, haulage, butchery, and consumption.
• Additionally, the consultant will explore the use of technology for animal identification and e-commerce. The goal is to enhance the efficiency, profitability, and sustainability of the livestock business while promoting best practices and compliance with applicable regulations.

Objectives
The broad objective of the consulting assignment is to appraise the current market performance of the Livestock247 digital platform and provide evidence based advisory on the route to commercial optimization and utilization of the platform for animal identification, tracking, traceability and e-commerce by smallholder livestock farmers and other livestock value chain actors. The consulting assignment would target 2 specific objectives:

• Specific Objective 1: Identify barriers, opportunities, peculiarities, market trends and drivers of technology adoption for livestock products and services in Northeast Nigeria. This should cover insights on how technology supports haulage logistics, livestock transportation optimization, and efficient movement of livestock products.
• Specific Objective 2: Following detailed appraisal of the Livestock247 digital platform in meeting livestock market needs and building on the current performance of the platform, provide implementable recommendations and ideas for the optimal use of the platform for commercially driven livestock identification, tracking and e-commerce. This includes recommendations for deployment of market friendly system and interface for the use of the technology platform.

Specific Objective 1 Activities:
The Consultant will:

• Conduct market analysis around use of technology to support demand and supply of livestock product and services in the livestock industry in Northeast Nigeria
• Identify constraints to technology use and actions to address the constraints that are realistic and actionable focusing on the peculiarities of the Nigerian livestock market.
• Highlight component of the livestock value chain that is fit for deployment of digital technology in a commercially driven manner.

Specific Objective 2 Activities:
The Consultant will:

• Analyse the strength and gaps in the livestock247 digital platform in addressing the technology needs identified in the livestock market around livestock production systems, identification, tracking and trade.
• Develop a financial and investment model for the most promising option to deploy the Livestock247 digital platform in a way that is user friendly in the livestock industry.
• Make recommendations on needed improvements in the content of the platform and deployment strategy/approach.
• Together with Livestock247, pilot pitch the Livestock247 digital platform to livestock value chain actors following necessary upgrades and modifications.

Consultant Deliverables

Timeframe / Schedule:

• 20 days in 3 months (September - November2023).

The Consultant will report to:

• The Consultant will report to the Deputy Chief of Party and Chief of Party.

The Consultant will work closely with:

• The Consultant will work closely with the Senior Intervention Officer Transaction Advice, Intervention Officer Livestock and Deputy Chief of Party who will be providing oversight support functions throughout the duration of this assignment.

Qualifications, Skills, and Experience

• University Graduate in Social Sciences, Information Technology, Agricultural Economics, Economics, Law or a related field (PhD preferred)
• 10+ years of relevant policy reform and/or agribusiness work experience in Nigeria.
• Work experience with USAID and/or other donor-funded projects is strongly preferred.
• Experience working collaboratively with institutional and private‐sector partners and stakeholders in Nigeria, preferably on government policy matters.
• Demonstrated knowledge of agricultural value chains and an understanding of the agribusiness enabling environment
• Excellent analytical, written, and oral communications skills in English is a top priority.
• Ability to work well in diverse teams but also able to work productively as an individual with minimum supervision.
• Well organized, strong analytical skills, creative thinker, innovative, demonstrated personal initiative, with unquestionable integrity and ethics.
• Ability to communicate in other Nigerian languages is a plus particularly Hausa.
• A relevant network of policy related influencers and decision makers in Nigeria.

Evaluation Criteria

Application Closing Date
5th September, 2023 (5:30PM).

Method of Application
Interested and qualified consultants, consulting teams, or consulting firms should send a technical and financial proposal to: [email protected] using the Job Title as the subject of your application.

Note

• Related to financial proposals, Mercy Corps will directly cover the costs of travel, accommodation, meals, and incidentals for a maximum of two people per consulting team or firm. Other costs such as halls where needed and associated logistics and refreshment costs will be covered by Mercy Corps.
• Thus, financial proposals should focus more on the overall daily rates while providing an indication of other costs which will be covered by Mercy Corps.
• In addition to the technical and financial proposal, expressions of interest should include the following:
  • For consulting firms, company profile demonstrating relevant qualifications, skills, and experience of similar assignments conducted by the firm, or CVs of individuals representing the consulting firm on this assignment. Please note that firms are allowed to collaborate with other firms to deliver this assignment, however, payments for any services will be to one firm and not multiple firms.
  • For consulting teams and individual consultants, CVs of Consultant or members of the Consulting team demonstrating relevant qualifications, skills, and experience.
  • Samples of evidence of previous experience in conducting similar assignments
  • A work plan showing an indicative timeline for each part of the assignment.