DAI seeks a short-term consultant to serve as a Cold Storage and Vegetable Packing Expert for the USAID Liberia Food and Enterprise Development (FED) project.
FED is a USAID-funded project that aims to increase productivity, profitability, and access within the rice, cassava, vegetable, and goat value chains; improve nutrition; and strengthen food security. FED is focused on four priority counties (Grand Bassa, Bong, Nimba and Lofa) and two secondary counties, (Magribi and Montserrado). FED works with partners throughout the value chain, improving productivity, strengthening access to inputs and services, and creating market linkages, with a particular focus on women and youth. The FED project is implemented across the following component objectives:
Objective:
With the recovery of the Liberian economy, the influx of concessioners’ business, and the increasing return of the diaspora from the United States, demand for fresh vegetables, especially exotic vegetables (those typically consumed by the expat community) have increased over the last couple of years. Vegetables most in demand by hotels, restaurants, supermarkets, and UNMIL include lettuce, cabbage, cucumber, and tomatoes. Local Liberians and concessioners that employ Liberians continue to demand local vegetables such as pepper, eggplant, butterball, kale, and okra. With the exception of tomatoes, all of these vegetables grow well in Liberia, but supply is inconsistent and quality often very poor when compared to imports.
There are two types of cold stores currently operating for profit in Liberia: frozen storage for fish, chicken, and meat and cooling boxes for packaged water. There is virtually no cold chain or storage for fresh vegetables sourced from the counties and traders do not have access to appropriate packaging solutions. First-buyer traders who engage with farmers to buy produce at the farm gate, are utilizing small service transport (taxis or small trucks) that are ill-equipped to transport large quantities of produce properly. There is also no storage whatsoever at major market outlets throughout the city. The only exceptions to this are major supermarkets that have their own cold stores and vehicles, but these are not made available for use by the farmers or the system of traders. All of this leads to high losses, poor quality of produce, and ultimately low sales. Major constraints to developing a cold chain for vegetables include high cost and limited access to land for cold storage facilities in urban areas, lack of low cost energy sources, and lack of proper packaging options sourced within Liberia. Therefore, there is an immediate need for low cost, low tech, semi-mobile and transport cold chain systems to be introduced into the system.
In Year 3, FED will begin to build the cold chain for delivery of fresh produce in Liberia on a small scale. Towards that end, FED will begin to work with up to 7 entrepreneurs and 2 transport companies to establish cold stores at strategic collection and market locations and to establish vehicles with cold store capability. FED will work with local entrepreneurs on a cost-sharing basis to construct and operate the cold store systems, which could be made available on a fee-for-service basis for local traders. FED will support the entrepreneurs in seeking credit for the investment in the new technology, if needed. The average total investment not expected to exceed more than $10-$15K per cold store solution. The use of alternative sources of energy such as solar and bio-energy generators should be explored. In addition, FED will be facilitating the establishment of simple community collection centers in the counties that will utilize low cost cooling storage, sorting and grading, packing, packaging.
Tasks:
Deliverables:
Reporting:
Cold Storage and Packaging Expert for the Vegetable Value Chain will report to the FED Chief of Party and work closely with Vegetable Value Chain team.
Requirements:
This assignment is expected to begin in December 2013/January 2014. Interested applicants are encouraged to apply immediately for consideration for this opportunity.
DAI is an employee-owned global development company. For 40 years, we have worked on the frontlines of international development, tackling fundamental social and economic development problems caused by inefficient markets, ineffective governments, and instability. Currently, DAI is delivering results that matter in some 60 countries. Our integrated development solutions turn ideas into impact by bringing together fresh combinations of expertise and innovation across multiple disciplines—crisis mitigation and stability operations, democratic governance and public sector management, agriculture and agribusiness, private sector development and financial services, economics and trade, HIV/AIDS and disease control, water and natural resources management, and energy and climate change. Our clients include international development agencies, international lending institutions, private corporations and philanthropies, and national governments.