Consultancy Opportunity

Title:	Poultry production management training STTA – Tac Maz
Locations:	Chiradzulu, Malawi
Expected Assignment Period:	20 days (December 2024 -Jan 2025)

1. CASA PROGRAMME OVERVIEW

CASA is an FCDO – International Climate Finance (ICF) funded programme driving global investment for inclusive climate-resilient agri-food systems that increase smallholder incomes. CASA makes the case to impact and return-oriented investors for increased investment in agribusinesses that work with smallholder supply chains. The programme achieves this goal by:

• Demonstrating the commercial viability and investment-readiness of small and medium-sized (SME) agribusinesses with significant smallholder supply chains;
• Helping investors to increase the impact of their investments through the provision of inclusive technical assistance;
• Strengthening the socio-legal empowerment of smallholders within value chains; and
• Tackling the information and evidence gaps holding back investment

For demonstrating the commercial and development potential of smallholder sourcing models, CASA focuses on catalytic interventions in the agriculture sectors of Ethiopia, Malawi, Nepal and Rwanda that support agri-SMEs prepare for and secure investment while connecting smallholders to commercial markets.

CASA’s work on research and communications is structured around identifying constraints, opportunities and addressing evidence gaps through research; shaping the debate on smallholder agriculture to influence actions of investors, governments and donors; and creating networking opportunities through events and stakeholder engagement.

2. ASSIGNMENT BACKGROUND

2.1 Partnership with Tac Maz

CASA has partnered with Tac Maz Sustainable Ventures based in Chiradzulu district, in the southern region of Malawi to facilitate inclusive growth of the company through investment. Through this partnership, CASA is providing technical support to Taz Mac towards implementation of the Leveraging the Niche Market for Indigenous and Dual-Purpose Chicken Growing Through Low-Cost Improved Feeding project. This project is designed to pilot and demonstrate the commercial viability of a business model which seeks to increase the production and supply of indigenous and dual-purpose chickens through increased participation of smallholders as out-growers. The business model is predicated on enhancing profitable involvement of smallholders through adoption of a cost minimisation production system using a low-cost supplementary feed solution that is climate friendly and easily accessible. To this end, the project will support Tac Maz to engage 1,200 smallholder outgrowers and introduce them to the conceived feeding regime for indigenous and dual-purpose breeds which is also capable of improving the quality of meat to attract premium prices. The project will support Tac Maz conduct ToT poultry production training for its field staff and group leaders with the aim of ensuring good productivity for increased profitability and incomes for Tac Maz and the smallholders. To successfully deliver this task, CASA Malawi now intends to engage the services of a short-term poultry production management training expert to support Tac Maz to train the smallholders mobilised into its outgrower scheme.

2.2      Partner Brief Background

Tac Maz Sustainable Ventures (on LinkedIn and Facebook)  is an eco-inclusive enterprise, based in Malawi’s southern region district of Chiradzulu. The company was founded in 2018 with the aim of responding to food insecurity in the face of climate change. The focus of the company operations at the beginning was on horticultural products and piggery. In this regard, the enterprise started providing the surrounding communities with a variety of affordable and high-quality horticultural products and services for excellent health and sustainable living, including vegetables and pigs which are all produced at the farm. Tac Maz also makes organic fertiliser which is sold to smallholder farmers at an affordable price. Tac Maz has 15 permanent employees, of which seven are women.

The company formally registered as a sole proprietorship in 2020 and ventured into poultry production with a focus on hybrid broiler production. Due to an influx of broiler chickens from one of the dominant players in the market and a loss of 1,500 chicks batch deemed to have been of poor quality from the supplier, Tac Maz decided to change the type of poultry products. Through their internal market intelligence, the company established that there were institutional customers demanding indigenous and dual-purpose chicken breeds only because of the changing tastes and preferences of their downstream customers. This led Tac Maz to change its business model and venture into the production and supply of indigenous and dual-purpose breeds of chickens.

Meanwhile, the company supplies indigenous and dual-purpose chickens to these clients while continuing to support the economic empowerment needs of the surrounding communities. To this end, Tac Maz has a 3,300-egg incubator capacity and plans to procure a second one with an 1,800-egg capacity to meet the increasing demand for chicks. Tac Maz has its own breeding stock for egg production but also buys additional eggs to increase the volumes of chicks hatched per cycle. Currently Taz Maz supplies a minimum of 50 dressed chickens per week (200 per month) to institutional clients and over 300 live chickens weekly (1,200 per month) to local markets during the peak season spanning September through December.

The company has an identified and confirmed annual demand of 23,400 birds but only meets 3,600 of it. The targeted 1,200 smallholder outgrowers are expected to bridge the gap and allow Tac Maz to consistently meet its market requirements and continue benefiting from the premium prices currently offered for quality products, some of which would be passed on to the outgrowers.

3. OBJECTIVES OF THE ASSIGNMENT

The primary objective of this assignment is to provide technical support to Tac Maz towards setting up a sustainable and scalable extension service provision system for technical backstopping in chicken production for the business, as an offtaker, and it’s out growers in Chiradzulu district. The training and extension system set up is aimed at enhancing consistency of chicken products quality across the outgrower groups. The extension service expert will design an extension service delivery system, develop training materials in chicken production management and conduct the training. The STTA will train Tac Maz staff and selected group leaders in extension service delivery and monitoring. The expert is expected to include the following key aspects: feeding, biosecurity, disease control, costing/gross margin analysis among others. The expert will work closely with Tac Maz and CASA programme team to ensure that the established system has a well-defined guide, clearly stipulating all aspects of chicken production up to costing to ensure profitability.

The STTA is expected to mainstream elements of food and nutrition security; GESI and climate change adaptation during the trainings through allocation of slots for guest resource persons on these topics or incorporating the same in the training materials by getting input from CASA cross-cutting experts. The cross-cutting training sessions will be delivered through existing CASA engaged crosscut experts (or you from their input) or a local service provider that Tac Maz is linked to.

4. DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Under the overall oversight of the CASA Market Manager for Poultry and working closely with Tac Maz management, the STTA will support Tac Maz to develop an extension delivery plan and provide poultry management training.

The specific duties of the expert for the pilot phase include:

• Conduct a rapid technical capacity needs assessment, including evaluating the capacity needs towards housing, feeding, vaccinations, pests and disease management, and conducting gross margin analyses;
• Develop poultry/chicken production management extension/training materials, aligning them with the identified capacity needs for Tac Maz target farmers which must culminate into the production of comprehensive training materials for ToTs and leaders’ sessions;
• Conduct a ToT for Tac Maz’s field team and selected producer group leaders, ensuring representation by at least two group leaders per site/cluster;
• Supervise at least one training by the ToTs trained at the beginning to observe their understanding and guide the training
• Design a training delivery and monitoring plan for Tac Maz’s trainers and group leaders for further training of the rest of the group members. The plan will guide trainings for the rest of the group members and follow ups by field officers to provide technical backstopping to small-scale producers.
• Ensure all activities are done in collaboration with at least one of Tac Maz’s field staff for knowledge transfer and further technical training and backstopping

5. DELIVERABLES

The following are the required deliverables under this assignment:

1. Submission of the inception report outlining the assignment delivery methodology and approach and detailing the delivery schedule for all tasks planned under the assignment.
2. Delivery of a rapid capacity needs assessment report, clearly highlighting identified capacity needs including appropriate housing, feeding, vaccinations, capacity of the small-scale producers to identify and manage pests and diseases and gross margin analyses.
3. Delivery of the training manuals on quail production and management that include a translated version (preferably in Chichewa) to ensure ease of cascading the knowledge and skills to other beneficiary farmers of the project.
4. Submission of the backstopping training delivery and monitoring plan for ToTs;
5. Delivery of the Training of Trainers Report, including list of the trainers/staff and group leaders trained, and a section on supervision of trainers’ delivery of training and remedial actions proposed for improvement
7. Monthly timesheet after completion of every month, within 10 days of the following month.
8. Other deliverables as per the needs of the project partners as determined by CASA Country Team.

The indicative delivery timelines are summarised in the table below. The final allocation of days will be agreed between the consultant and CASA team, in liaison with the client.

Deliverable Timelines

No	Deliverable	Timeline
1	Inception Report,	Dec 6th, 2024
2	Training needs Assessment Report	Dec 13th, 2024
3	Submission of Training manuals	Dec 19th, 2024
4	Delivery of Trainer of Trainers (ToT) and leaders training	Jan 10th, 2025
5	Technical backstopping, and post-training follow-up plan submission	Jan 10th 2025
6	Draft report	Jan 17th 2025
7	Final report	Jan 24th, 2025

6. DURATION

The assignment is expected to take 20 workdays in Dec 2024-Jan 2025.

7. QUALITY ASSURANCE

CASA and Tac Maz management will be responsible for assuring the quality of the training materials to ensure that the information given is reliable and sufficient to guide technical backstopping to Tac Maz’s team and practical application in chicken production management among small-scale producers, and that any potential limitations of information given is clearly highlighted. The CASA Country team and Tac Maz will discuss and agree the expected criteria for quality with the successful applicant and will oversee the quality of each deliverable.

8. REQUIREMENTS and EXPERTISE

• Demonstrated track-record in providing training and capacity building activities to smallholder poultry farmers in production and management, practical knowledge and experience in vaccinations, pests and disease management,
• Experience in farmer organisation development, extension service provision, especially in agro-based businesses.
• Practical knowledge and ability to innovate and adapt production systems from purely subsistence to commercially oriented
• Excellent organizational and time management skills.
• Adeptness and practical application of CASA’s crosscutting themes of gender equality and social inclusion; climate change and environment; and food and nutrition security in training sessions
• Demonstrates strong oral and written communication skills in English, including excellent drafting and presentation skills
• Willingness to take on new assignments at short notice and to travel frequently to remote areas.
• Ability to exercise independent judgment within defined policies and practices.
• Readiness to travel to Chiradzulu district.

9. MODE OF APPLICATION

Applicants should send an EOI comprising the following:

1. An EOI submission letter outlining your suitability for the role and stating your preferred daily rate in GBP (maximum two pages)
2. A proposed methodology for the assignment (Maximum 4 pages)
3. Up to date CV suitably tailored to the TORs concentrating only on relevant experience. Emphasis will be placed on consultancy experience in the last 10 years (Maximum 3 pages)

Applications will be evaluated on a rolling basis and we will settle for the first suitable candidate we get even before the deadline.

Applications should be received before Monday 11^th November 2024. Send applications to rhch@niras.com Indicate the position being applied for in the subject line.