National Consultant to Conduct the Needs Assessment of Rwanda Wood Value Chain Association’s Members

The RWANDA WOOD VALUE CHAIN ASSOCIATION (RWVCA) in Rwanda from African region had released this tender for Tenders are invited for National Consultant to Conduct the Needs Assessment of Rwanda Wood Value Chain Association’s Members Deadline: Friday, 12/05/2023 23:59 The Rwanda Wood Value Chain Association (RWVCA) is a member-based organization that is dedicated to supporting the development of a wood value chain and representing the interest of the wood sector operators in Rwanda. The wood value chain has five clusters that are tree nursery, forest Management, 1st processing, 2nd processing, 3rd processing and sales distribution. RWVCA has 85 members along the whole wood value chain. It is among the associations working under the Private Sector Federation (PSF) in the industry cluster. PSF is an umbrella organization dedicated to promoting and representing the interests of the Rwandan business community. The wood sector is playing a vital role in the Rwandan economy. Most Rwandan households rely on wood for cooking energy and wood is mostly used in construction and furniture production which are the growing sectors in Rwanda. The wood sector is also providing job opportunities to many Rwandans along the wood value chain. However, there is a deficit in supplying the high demand for wood and wooden products in Rwanda, which heavily results in the importation of wooden products. The mission of RWVCA is to develop and improve the wood sector by capacitating the wood operators through providing business development services and advocating professionally for solving the issues facing the wood sector so that the members could contribute significantly to the vision and aspirations of the Rwandan government of having a medium and high-income country by 2035 and 2050, respectively led by the private sector. The strategies used by the association to achieve its mission is improving the competitiveness of members through technical and managerial training so that they can compete in national and regional markets, sharing information on available opportunities, conducting research on issues facing the wood value chain, and make advocacy by initiating the dialogues with the public institutions and organizations to resolve the challenges. Additionally, the association organizes networking events that help the members to exchange ideas and experiences and can encourage collective investment. These strategies are resulting in having competent wood operators who promote the made-in-Rwanda products and create job opportunities. The association needs to fulfill its mandate of representing and capacitating its members. The association mainly represents the interests of members through advocacy. To achieve the mandates, the association needs to develop a strategic plan for serving its members based on their needs and make evidence-based advocacy. In this way, the association needs first to assess the challenges hindering the development of businesses along the whole value chain from seeds and tree nurseries to manufacturing and selling wooden products and explore the available opportunities for wood operators. Thus, this assessment will help the association to know the needs of members and develop the services or products that will provide the solutions to the challenges facing the sector and solutions to grasp the available opportunities for the wood operators which will result in more profitable businesses. OBJECTIVE OF ASSIGNMENT RWVCA is looking for a national consultant who will help the association to assess members’ needs based on the challenges they are facing and the available opportunities they have. The consultant will develop the products and services the association should provide its members to respond to the identified needs. Tasks and responsibilities of the consultant: Assessing the existing products and services provided by the association and the members’ satisfaction. The consultant must assess the needs of members of RWVCA, their challenges, and the available opportunities they have. The consultant must develop the methodologies for collecting the data including the digital data on the needs of members. The consultant will have to collect primary and secondary data. Thus, the consultant will visit the members in their field of operations at least 5 or more companies/wood operators that represent each cluster and size of businesses. The companies or wood operators to be visited should be a good representative sample. The consultant must analyze the data and customize the services or products that the association could develop to respond to the identified needs of members. The consultant will organize the validation of findings with the support of RWVCA. The consultant will write a final report and a paper that will summarize the whole report. The consultant will present the findings to the members of the association and different partners. DELIVERABLES OF THE CONSULTANT The consultant will submit and present the inception report detailing the understanding of the assignment and methodologies that will be used to conduct a successful assessment. The methodologies to be used should be agreed upon before the data collection. The consultant will provide a detailed implementation plan, The consultant will give reports to the RWVCA on the progress of the assignment The consultant will submit the preliminary results or findings before organizing the validation of findings. The consultant will organize the validation of the findings with the support of the association. The consultant will provide a final report on the identified needs of members and the services or products customized to each cluster, challenge, and opportunity that the association will develop to respond to the needs of members. The consultant will submit the final report to the RWVCA and present it in the event prepared by the association with their members or other partners. REQUIRED EXPERIENCE AND QUALIFICATION Required experience The consultant must meet the following minimum eligibility criteriaꓽ Master’s or bachelor’s degree in agroforestry, forestry, wood technology, carpentry, business management, or related qualification. Proven experience in conducting needs assessment studies. Have proven experience in research methodologies including using updated data collection and data analysis tools and methods. At least 5 years of working experience in developing the private sector or working in wood or forest companies. The consultant should have executed at least one similar task The consultant should be fluent in English and Kinyarwanda 3.2 Competencies and Skills Significant knowledge and understanding of the wood value chain in Rwanda, Extensive knowledge of techniques used in surveys Ability to conduct online surveys would be an added value Excellent organization and time management skills, Strong communication skills including active listening, effective questioning, and awareness of non-verbal communication Ability to manage group interactions and engage with a variety of people from different backgrounds. Impeccable writing skills Punctual with a high degree of professionalism Confident public speaker; energetic, positive, and enthusiastic Understand very well the business environment in Rwanda Ability to analyze the business environment of the wood sector APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS AND PROCESS 4.1. Submission The interested consultants will submit: Technical proposal detailing how he/she will accomplish the assignment by using the proposed methodologies and achieving the deliverables within the available timeframe. CVs and relevant experience of the consultant (s) with at least 3 reference contacts Financial proposal Possession of the EBM invoice will provide an added advantage. Interested candidates should submit their applications by hand delivering the proposal at the RWVCA office located at Zinia Kicukiro Opposite Zinia Market or send the application documents to the email: rwvca2018@ail.com with a copy to dushimirimanamarthe@gmail.com 4.2 Contact In case of questions regarding this assignment, please send an email to rwvca2018@gmail.com with a copy to dushimirimanamarthe@gmail.com by May 12th, 2023. Reporting The consultant will report to the Project Coordinator of RWVCA. The assignment will be done by collaborating closely with the association and its members. Thus, the consultant will share the progress of the activities under this contract anytime it is needed to ensure effective collaboration. Timeframe The entire work is expected to be completed in an estimated duration of 17 working days. This assignment will be done starting from the signing of the contract expected in May and ending in Mid-July. Deadline for submission Not later than Friday, 19th May 2023 before the end of the business day (5 PM). Kigali, May 5th ,2023 published on 09 May 2023. The tender expired on 12 May 2023. This tender is sourced from Official Website and is eligible for suppliers interested in consultancy services. Interested bidders can obtain further information including complete bid documents or ways to participate by registering on Tender Impulse and referencing via Tender Impulse ID 3104503.