SNV is a not-for-profit international development organisation that applies practical know-how to make a lasting difference in the lives of people living in poverty. We use our extensive and long-term in-country presence to apply and adapt our top-notch expertise in agriculture, energy and WASH to local contexts.
SNV has an annual turnover of €130 million, over 1,250 staff in more than 25 countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. We are proud to be a not-for-profit organisation that uses project financing to implement our mission. This requires us to work efficiently and to invest in operational excellence
SNV is aiming for structural change and scale in its programmes in the agriculture, energy, and WASH sectors, as well as bringing knowledge and initiatives from different programmes together at the country level to contribute to systems change.
SNV has gained relevant track-record in innovative financing through facilities like the Dutch Fund for Climate and Development (DFCD), the Innovations Against Poverty (IAP) fund and other facilities (global, regional and country-level) where SNV is involved in the provision of early-stage grants, results-based financing and technical assistance to catalyse private sector investment.
This is based on the urgent need for private sector financial resources, know-how and capabilities to complement public sector finance in achieving the Sustainable Development Goal (SDGs).
Engagement with the private sector towards development outcomes occur in two major ways:
1) engaging, primarily companies around their business activities to facilitate delivery of economic, social and environmental outcomes; and
2) mobilising private capital for development purposes, to complement public financing.
Job Description
Terms of Reference: Market Research for Green SMEs in the Ashanti and Western Region
Overview and background
The Boosting Green Employment and Enterprise Opportunities in Ghana (GrEEn) project is a four-year project implemented in the Ashanti and Western regions of Ghana. Primarily funded by the European Union through its Emergency Trust Fund (EUTF) for Africa, GrEEn is being implemented by SNV Netherlands Development Organisation and the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) with a combined budget of EUR 20,600,000.
With the overall objective of contributing to addressing the root causes of irregular migration by supporting sustainable and climate resilient local economies through the creation of green jobs and promoting development in regions of departure, transit and return for migrants, GrEEn is targeted at women, youth, returnees and Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs). The targeted sectors by SNV include agriculture, renewable energy and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH).
- To support the transition of local economies to green and climate resilient development.
- To improve the employability and entrepreneurship capabilities of selected people by matching them with market opportunities and mentoring into (self-)employment and enterprise development, with a focus on green and climate resilient local economies.
- To create and strengthen local ecosystems that support youth (self-)employment and the growth of Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs).
Visit https://snv.org/project/green-boosting-green-employment-and-enterprise-opportunities-ghana for more information
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- The assignment involves engagement with GrEEn’s SMEs to ascertain missing information gaps which can be addressed through market driven research. Some sectors of the green SMEs include: Cosmetics (using natural local products), Coconut products (biomass, oil, powder etc), Organic fertilizers, Rice farming, Pig farming, Fish farming, Solar enterprises, Bio-digesters, Recycling, Upcycling, Poultry, Climate Smart Agriculture, Food processing.
- The individual reports will be used by the GrEEn programme SMEs to improve their knowledge and business decision making and will be relevant even beyond the project implementation period.
Objectives of the assignment
The objectives of the assignment are the following:
- Support the GrEEn project and its beneficiary SMEs with relevant market data and intelligence to aid business decision making
- To provide information and insights that underpins the viability of their businesses and market positioning
- To identify gaps in information in the businesses of the SMEs and provide relevant information to help the SMEs address the gaps.
- Provide relevant industry information for GrEEn project SMEs and other green SMEs in the Renewable Energy, WASH and Agriculture sectors.
Tasks to be performed
The firm or consortium of experts or the individual consultant will be tasked with the delivery of the following:
- Conduct focus group discussions and/or surveys or interviews with the SMEs to assess the gaps in knowledge as far as their business, industry and sectors are concerned
- Recommend focus areas for a detailed market research to support the green SMEs (products, sector or industry specific)
- Undertake detailed market research/ analysis to address gaps in knowledge, provide information to support detailed forecasts to inform decision making
- Make recommendations for green SMEs to implement based on the research findings
- Prepare a final report on the exercise, covering the scope of work and recommendations for future market research exercises.
Timeline and estimated level of effort
The assignment is scheduled to start on 14th March 2022 and be completed by November 2022
The table below provides a summary of the key activities, as well as a tentative timeline and an estimated level of effort.
| Main activities | Estimated timeline | Estimated number of working days (up to) |
| Kickoff meeting with GrEEn | March, 2022 | 0.5 |
| Review of project documents | March 2022 | 0.5 |
| Inception report (draft and final versions) | March 2022 | 5 |
| Assessment of the market research gaps | April 2022 | 10 |
| Submission of at least 12 topics to be researched | April 2022 | 1 |
| Detailed market research | April – September 2022 | 60 |
| 12 Draft reports (2 to 3 per month) | May – September 2022 | 6 |
| 12 Final reports (2 to 3 per month) | May to October 2022 | 6 |
| Draft final summary report on assignment | November 2022 | 3 |
| Integrate comments of GrEEn team and deliver final summary report on assignment | November 2022 | 1 |
| TOTAL working days (up to) | 93 | |
Deliverables
The following deliverables are expected from the consultant:
- An inception report including an outline and agreed methodology for the assignment
- Assessment of the market research gaps for GrEEn SMEs
- At least 12 draft reports of market research (product, sector or industry specific) topics
- At least 12 final reports on market research topics
- A summary report of the assignment, including among others insights and recommendations from engagements with SME’s insights/recommendations from selected topics recommendations for the GrEEn project
Required Skills or Experience
The assignment can be undertaken by a research firm or a team of experts with complementary skills and qualifications. Female experts are encouraged to apply.
The company or team of experts must have the following qualifications, skills and experience:
- At least 7 years of experience in conducting sector/industry and product specific market research for SMEs
- Experience in working with SMEs in Ghana
- In-depth knowledge and understanding of local enterprises in Ghana particularly in small manufacturing businesses in the Agriculture, Renewable Energy and WASH sectors.
- In-depth understanding of local enterprises in the Ashanti and Western regions and the markets they serve.
- Experience is undertaking similar assignments previously
- Experience and working knowledge of the green and circular economy
HOW TO APPLY
Application and selection process
Proposals must be submitted via email to [email protected]
CLOSING DATE: By 23:59 GMT on 25th February 2022. Please include “GrEEn Market Research” in the subject line.
Applicants should submit separate technical and financial proposals, in Word, Excel or pdf.
The technical proposal must include:
- A summary of the firm/group’s understanding of the assignment, together with comments or suggestions on the Terms of Reference that reflect the consortiums’ or firm’s appreciation of the scope as well as potential challenges of the assignment
- A description of the methodology to be applied: an outline of a strategy/plan for how the assignment will be approached and how the listed goals and deliverables will be accomplished
- Description of the consortium or firm’s experience in conducting similar assignments
- A description of the resources to be assigned to this project (total number of experts, roles in the assignment, number of days per person, etc.)
- CVs of all experts to be involved in the assignment (including educational background, work experience and references)
- A tentative work plan
- At least 3 testimonials from previous clients
- Examples of previous research, studies or assignments
The financial proposal must include:
- Personnel costs
- Reimbursable costs including transportation, accommodation etc where relevant
Assessment Criteria
Proposals will be assessed using the following criteria
| Criteria | Weighting
in % |
Quality of technical proposal
|
40 |
Experience of the individual or group of experts
|
35 |
| Competitiveness of the financial proposal | 25 |
| Total | 100 |
Enquiries: More information on this tender / request for proposals, including the asking of questions, can be requested from [email protected]. Enquiries must be submitted before the 21st February, 2022.
Timeline for the request for proposals
The table below provides a summary of the timelines with tentative deadlines:
| Activity | Deadline |
| Publication of Terms of Reference (ToR) | 15th February 2022 |
| Deadline for request of additional information | 21st February 2022 |
| Deadline for submission of technical and financial proposals | 28th February 2022 |
| Notification of selected service provider | 7th March 2022 |
| Contracting of selected service provider | 14th March 2022 |
Budget:
Value for money is important to SNV and will be considered when analysing the proposals received. This means that we are looking for the most effective use of the budget offered.
Do refer to the annex for an overview of daily fee ranges for short-term experts, as stipulated by SNV Ghana.
Procedure
Contract terms and conditions will be negotiated upon selection of the winning bidder for this assignment.
Firms or consortia with strong proposals may be contacted for interviews before award of the contract.
SNV reserves the right to
- cancel this request for proposals at any time
- accept the whole or only part of any submission
- accept none of the proposals submitted and not issue any contract following this request for proposals
- republish this or an adapted request for proposals.
Annex
Indicative daily rates for short-term experts
The table below presents indicative ranges of fees for various categories and levels of technical experts, as stipulated by SNV Ghana:
| Category of technical experts |
Years of relevant experience | Daily rate/fee | |
| USD | GHS | ||
| Junior expert | 1 – 5 years | 50 – 200 | 275 – 1,100 |
| Regular expert | 4 – 10 years | 150 – 350 | 825 – 1,925 |
| Senior expert | 8 years and above | 300 – 500 | 1,650 – 2,750 |
Please note the following:
- “Relevant experience” refers to the experience required for the specific assignment that services are being sought for.
- Payment of national consultants and short-term experts will be made in Ghana Cedis.
- Fees indicated in the table above are net amounts.
- SNV will deduct any applicable taxes in accordance with Ghana’s tax laws from fees agreed in the contract.
- Fees in the table above are indicative. SNV Ghana will accept fees falling outside of the specified ranges in exceptional cases.