Request for Proposal: Terms of Reference for a fisheries project management consultant in Lake Turkana Area – April 2025 Consultancy NEW

1. The Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund

The AECF, LLC (Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund) is a leading non-profit development organization that supports innovative enterprises in the agribusiness and renewable energy sectors with the aim of reducing rural poverty, promoting climate resilient communities, and creating jobs.

We catalyze the private sector by surfacing and commercializing new ideas, business models and technologies designed to increase agricultural productivity, improve farmer incomes, expand clean energy access, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and improve resilience to the effects of climate change. We finance high risk businesses that struggle to access commercial funding; we are committed to working in frontier markets, fragile contexts, and high-risk economies where few mainstream financing institutions dare to go.

To date, we have supported over 510 businesses in 26 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, impacted more than 33million lives and created over 35,000 direct jobs.

AECF is headquartered in Kenya and has offices in Côte d’Ivoire, Tanzania, Nigeria, South Sudan, Benin, and Somalia.

1. About Kakuma Kalobeyei Challenge Fund (KKCF)

Kakuma Kalobeyei Challenge Fund (KKCF) is a five-year Program of the International Finance Corporation (IFC), implemented with Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund (AECF), Turkana County Government, and UNHCR. KKCF originates from the market data from IFC’s “Kakuma as a Marketplace” study which quantified Kakuma’s economy and confirmed that it was a dynamic and potential market-place. This triggered a lot of interest that contributed to KKCF’s conceptualization and Program development.

KKCF is designed to support private sector investment and unlock the economic potential of refugees and their hosts in Kakuma Kalobeyei refugee hosting area in Turkana West District of Turkana County. KKCF aims to attract private companies and grow the local entrepreneurship potential to create job opportunities, present more consumption choices, and contribute to fair pricing of products and services. KKCF targets all sizes of companies from small to medium-size family businesses to social enterprises and large firms. For more information, visit https://kkcfke.org/

KKCF applies a competitive financing mechanism for disbursing donor funding to incentivize companies to start or scale existing operations in the Kakuma-Kalobeyei area. The process begins by advertising a call for proposals, applicants are then subjected to a competitive selection process leading to identification of companies that are best aligned to the Kakuma-Kalobeyei market dynamics to then deliver intended socio-economic impact to the host and refugee communities while also contributing to the development of Turkana County.

With the Kakuma-Kalobeyei area being a marginalized and fragile setting, KKCF supports these companies to manage business limitations prevalent in such challenging environments including limited access to financing, low availability of technically qualified and experienced staff, complex social and cultural conditions, slow and bureaucratic regulatory environment and fragmented, low income and remote markets with poor infrastructure. KKCF support includes provision of concessionally costed capital, technical assistance and policy advocacy to improve the business environment. This collaborative Program focuses on building commercially viable and sustainable businesses that can:

• Increase incomes for both refugees and host communities.
• Provide essential goods and services.
• Create jobs and stimulate economic growth.
• Improve living standards for those in the refugee camp and surrounding communities.

KKCF is currently working with 105 commercially viable and sustainable Micro enterprises and 19 Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the Kakuma-Kalobeyei area across diverse economic sectors. One of the 19 SMEs is implementing a fish cold chain distribution system that facilitates sourcing of fish from Lake Turkana for the Kakuma-Kalobeyei market. KKCF is in the process of rolling out its second phased support to this SME targeted at scaling its operations to incorporate a market systems driven product-to-market model that provides tailored solutions contributing to unlocking the economic potential of Lake Turkana.

The Lake Turkana basin is a marginal area characterized by a pastoral economy that has been on the decline largely because of drought. The community has therefore gradually been turning to the lake’s vast fisheries resources to improve its deteriorating livelihood. The Turkana community is however yet to significantly tap the lake’s potential and as such remains extremely vulnerable to the emerging social-economic dynamics potentially exposing the fisherfolks and pastoralists to region wide hunger, conditions for disease epidemics, conflict and poverty. Lake Turkana’s socio-economic opportunities have been curtailed by poorly developed fisheries supportive infrastructure, limited awareness and skills, lack of sustainable funding mechanisms, reliance on rudimentary fishing equipment and gears, limited support from the government and a limited market of the lake’s produce.

1. About the assignment
2. Purpose of the assignment

AECF is seeking the services of a consulting firm/team/individual (Consultant) to support this SME in ensuring project implementation as per the project agreement and workplan.

The Project Implementation Consultant will be responsible for overseeing the planning, coordination, and execution of the following key activities:

1. Operationalizing of two landing sites which are complete with necessary cold chain infrastructure.
2. Setting up and operationalization of a fish processing plant.
3. Increased fishing efficiency by equipping fisherfolks with improved boats and fishing gears.
4. Reduction in post-harvest losses through establishment of cold chain infrastructure from lake-to-market.
5. Increased fish market and value through value addition.

The purpose of these terms is to define the scope, responsibilities, expectations, and deliverables of the engagement between the AECF and the selected Consultant. The successful Consultant must demonstrate experience and understanding of the fish value chain.

1. Specific duties and responsibilities (the “Services”) of the Consultant

The Consultant will support the AECF investee company to deliver on the following scope of the assignment:

• Identify and coordinate the procurement and distribution of fishing boats, gear, and other necessary equipment to 100 local youth in the Lake Turkana region.
• Organize and facilitate training sessions for the selected youth on sustainable fishing practices, safety, and equipment handling.
• Operationalization of fish landing sites along lake beaches to improve fish handling and quality standards.
• Identification and coordination of the procurement and installation of cold chain infrastructure supporting the lake-to-market distribution and processing network.
• Acquisition of a refrigerated fish aggregation vessel and truck for logistical support.
• Design and implement training programs focused on quality management, fish handling, and post-harvest best practices for local fishers and related stakeholders.
• Build capacity for local stakeholders in monitoring and ensuring high-quality standards across the fishing value chain.
• Oversee the establishment of a fish processing facility in Lodwar town that meets industry’s quality standards.
• Work with local and regional market actors to identify new markets and promote increased fish sales and market penetration in existing markets.
• Enhance the product-to-market business model to incentivize all the fish value chain actors improving performance, productivity, and trade, and, ultimately, economic returns for Lake Turkana community.

1. Deliverables

The Consultant is expected to deliver the following:

• Business Development Services delivered to the 100 youth fisherfolks.
• Establishment of a Cooperative Society serving the fisherfolks and beach management unit members.
• Set up and operationalize the entire product-to-market fish value chain infrastructure co-created by AECF and the investee.
• Report on improved fish handling techniques, quality of fish and reduced post-harvest losses.
• Detailed report on market expansion and volumes of fish traded in line with projected quantities.
• Project impact report in line with AECF’s investee company deliverables.
  1. Duration of the assignment

The assignment is expected to commence in April 2025 and is expected to be completed in 12 months from the commencement date.

1. Qualifications and experience

The Consultant should possess the following skills and/or credentials:

• Minimum 5 years of experience in project management, or aquaculture development, or rural development projects, especially in resource-constrained environments.
• Strong project management skills with a proven track record of managing projects with multiple stakeholders and complex deliverables.
• Knowledge of the development sector and in particular working in marginalized areas.
• Ability to design and implement monitoring and evaluation systems to track project progress and impact.
• Ability to work with diverse stakeholders, ranging from local communities to government agencies, private sector actors, and international development agencies and translate technical concepts into practical recommendations.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including report writing and presentation skills.

1. Reporting

The Consultant will report to the Head of advisory at the AECF and KKCF Program Manager.

1. Proposal submission

Qualified consultants are invited to submit a proposal that includes the following:

1. Qualification and experience as indicated in the evaluation criteria.
2. Approach and methodology to undertake this assignment underpinned by a demonstration of value for money.
3. A detailed financial budget (in KES) and work plan.
4. The technical and financial proposals will need to be submitted as separate documents.

N/B: Submitting the financial and technical document as one document will automatically lead to disqualification of the applicant.

1. Pricing

The AECF is obliged by the Kenyan tax authorities to withhold taxes on service contract fees as well as ensure that VAT, is charged where applicable. Applicants are advised to ensure that they have a clear understanding of their tax position with regards to provisions of Kenya tax legislation when developing their proposals.

1. Evaluation Criteria

An evaluation committee will be formed by the AECF and may include employees of the businesses to be supported. All members will be bound by the same standards of confidentiality. The consultant should ensure that they fully respond to all criteria to be comprehensively evaluated.

The AECF may request and receive clarification from any consultant when evaluating a proposal. The evaluation committee may invite some or all the consultants to appear before the committee to clarify their proposals. In such event, the evaluation committee may consider such clarifications in evaluating proposals.

In deciding the final selection of qualified bidder, the technical quality of the proposal will be given a weighting of 80% based on the evaluation criteria. Only the financial proposal of those bidders who qualify technically will be opened. The financial proposal will be allocated a weighting of 20% and the proposals will be ranked in terms of total points scored.

The mandatory and desirable criteria against which proposals will be evaluated are identified in the table below.

Key Areas for Evaluation/ Assessment

Weighted Award

(A) TECHNICAL PROPOSAL

80

i) An understanding of the consultancy requirements;

10

ii) Methodology and work-plan that will deliver the best value on the assignment:

30

iii) Relevant services undertaken by the bidder in past engagements:

• Project management supporting SMEs in the fisheries sector or rural development projects exploring sustainable socio-economic solutions, especially in resource-constrained environments.
• Demonstrate knowledge of the development sector in context of working in a marginalized area.
• Spearheading private sector projects working with multiple stakeholders including local communities, government agencies, private sector actors, and international development agencies.
• Develop and implement monitoring and evaluation systems to track project progress and impact.

30

iv) Detailed reference list indicating the scope and magnitude of similar assignments and at least 2 Letters of reference from past customers or associates to the consultant**:**

10

(B) FINANCIAL PROPOSAL

20

• Clarity, relevance, reality to market value/ value for money of cost for the assignment (inclusive of any applicable tax)

1. Disclaimer

AECF reserves the right to determine the structure of the process, number of short-listed participants, the right to withdraw from the proposal process, the right to change this timetable at any time without notice and reserves the right to withdraw this tender at any time, without prior notice and without liability to compensate and/or reimburse any party.

: https://www.aecfafrica.org/careers/request-for-proposal-terms-of-reference-for-a-fisheries-project-management-consultant-in-lake-turkana-area-april-2025/

The AECF does not charge an application fee for participation in the tendering process and has not appointed any agents or intermediaries to facilitate applications. Applicants are advised to reach out directly to the AECF Procurement Department.

Tagged as: Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund, Kenya