Hiring the Services of Third Party Monitoring Agent — Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, South Sudan

Republic of South Sudan

Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security (MAFS)

Single Project Coordination Unit (SPCU)

Request for Expression of Interest (REOI)

COUNTRY: Republic of South Sudan

PROJECTS: MAFS Donor funded Projects

CONSULTING SERVICES: Hiring the Services of Third-Party Monitoring (TPM) Agent

DUTY STATION: MAFS Project Building, Juba- South Sudan

Ref No: SS-MOAF-300026-CS-QCBS

The Government of South Sudan (GoSS) has received financing from the World Bank towards the cost of the implementation of Resilient Agricultural Livelihoods Project (RALP) and South Sudan Emergence Livelihood Resilient Project (ELRP). Based on aforementioned, MAFS is seeking to use a portion of the proceed of the funds to finance the hiring of a Third-Party Monitoring Agent (TPMA) who will be responsible to provide third party monitoring and verification services to ensure successful delivery of the projects

The project development objective of the South Sudan Resilient Agricultural Livelihoods Project is to strengthen capacity of farmers and their organizations and improve agricultural production. Whereas the South Sudan ELRP development objective (PDO) is to respond to the threat posed by the desert locust outbreak, protect and restore livelihoods and food security, and strengthen systems for preparedness

The RALP comprises of four components: (i) Capacity Building in Good Agricultural Practices; (ii) Investment Support for Improved Agricultural Production; (iii) Project Management and Technical Assistance; and (iv) Contingent Emergency Response. Whereas ELRP comprises of four components: (i) Surveillance and Control Measures; (ii) Livelihoods Protection and Rehabilitation; (iii) Strengthening National Preparedness Systems; (iv) Project Management, Monitoring, and Communication and (v) Improving Regional Coordination Through IGAD Information Platform.

RALP will be implemented in two phases in the total of 13 counties as follows:

• Phase 1 – Upper Nile State (Renk County), Jonglei State (Bor South County), Eastern Equatoria State (Magwi, Torit Counties), Northern Bahr el Ghazal State (Aweil East, Aweil South Counties), Western Bahr el Ghazal State (Wau, Jur River Counties)
• Phase 2 - Upper Nile State (Melut County), Jonglei State (Akobo, Twic East Counties), Central Equatoria (Yei County), and Western Equatoria (Maridi County)

Whereas ELRP will be implemented in the following 10 counties: Central Equatoria (Juba County), Eastern Equatoria (Magwi, Lafon, Torit, Kapoeta East counties), Jonglei (Pibor, Bor counties), Northern Bahr el Ghazal (Aweil North County), and Upper Nile (Renk, Melut counties).

Although RALP will be implemented in 13 counties and ELRP in 10 counties, the TPMA should note that there is overlap in five counties, meaning the TPMA will cover only 18 counties.

In order to successfully execute this service, the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security intends to apply part of the proceeds of this credit to contract Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs)/Consulting Firms as Third-Party Monitoring Agent directly through a competitive bidding process. The successful TPMA will be provided with the details of activities in the TOR in order to help in adjusting their financial proposal.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security (MAFS) will directly contract a TPMA. The Single Project Coordination Unit (SPCU) will directly coordinate and oversee the assignment to be undertaken by the selected TPMA. The TPMA will be “the Consultant” for the assignment and solely responsible for all deliverables and successful completion.

Duration of the assignment is two years from start date.

The SPCU of the MAFS now invites eligible NGOs/Consulting Firms (“Consultant”) 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. The short-listing criteria are as follows:

• At least 8 years of general experience in project monitoring and evaluation with field experience in data collection, analysis and presentation.
• Specific experience: At least 2 similar assignments completed within the last 8 years providing third party monitoring in project implementation in a post conflict country similar to South Sudan environment. Working experience in the use of geo-spatial database facilities in project monitoring of project activities will be an added advantage.
• The technical and managerial organization of the Consultant. (Provide only the structure of the organization, general qualifications, and number of key staff (Do not provide CV of staff). Key experts will not be evaluated at the shortlisting stage.

The attention of interested consultancy is drawn to Section III, paragraphs 3.14, 3.16 and 3.17 of the World Bank’s ‘Procurement Regulations for IPF Borrowers’ July 2016 revised November 2017, August 2018 and November 2020 [Procurement in investment Project Financing; Goods, Works, Non-Consulting and Consulting Services], setting forth the World Bank’s policy on conflict of interest.

Consultants may associate with other consultants in the form of a joint venture or a sub consultancy to enhance their qualifications. The nature of association, whether it is a joint venture or a sub consultancy, should clearly be stated. In case of joint venture, the Consultant leading the joint venture should be mentioned.

A Consultant will be selected in accordance with the Quality and Cost Based Selection (QCBS) set out in the Consultant Guidelines. Interested Consultant may obtain further information at the address below during office hours from 10:00 to 16:00 hours South Sudan on all working days.

Expressions of interest (EOI) should be delivered in a written form to the address below (in person, or by mail, or by e-mail) by 8th March 2023 at 5.00 P.M (South Sudan Time) marked clearly as – “Expression of Interest for Third Party Monitoring”

Attention: Program Director

Single Project Coordination Unit (SPCU)

Ministry of Agriculture (MAFS),

Ministries Complex, Juab- South Sudan,

E-mail: [email protected] with a copy to [email protected]