Job Description
Background
AGRA’s work in Malawi complements that of the government and its other partners in bringing about an agrifood trade system transformation. In addition to supporting the Government of Malawi in creating a policy environment that encourages private sector participation in food value chains, AGRA has made investments in systems that give farmers easy access to better inputs, extension and advisory services, more markets, and finance.
The Africa Food Trade and Resilience (AFTR) Programme is an initiative of the AGRA with funding from the Government of the United Kingdom’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) to increase food trade in sub-Saharan Africa to fulfil the anticipated increase and shifts in food demand.
The AGRA’s Food Trade work under the Southern Africa portfolio had a couple of investments including the Chinyanja Triangle Soybean Structured Trade project and the Malawi Smart regional food trade project. A consortium of Ministry of Trade, Ministry of Agriculture and the Malawi Confederation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (MCCCI) has been implementing the Malawi SMART project (Strengthening Malawi’s Regional Trade through Promotion of Transparent and Predictable Regulatory Frameworks) which aims at improving predictability and transparency of Malawi’s Regional Food Trade Policy Environment through strengthening and supporting the implementation of trade policy frameworks. The implementation period of the project which started in 2021 is expected to end in June 2024.
AGRA has noted that the implementation of this project has made significant progress since its inception. However there have been delays in completing some of the key milestones that are very critical for the realization of expected outcomes and impact of the project. Considering the limited time that the project has to complete the outstanding milestones, AGRA in consultation with the partners intends to recruit an individual consultant to support with the effective coordination of the project and capacitation of the 3 project grantee partners to complete the rest of the project deliverables swiftly.
Objectives of the Consultancy
The objective of the consultancy is to provide implementation and coordination support to the Malawi SMART project which specifically includes the following:
- Enhance the capacity and effectiveness of MCCI, the Ministry of Trade (MoT) and Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) in delivering outstanding project activities related to Malawi SMART project.
- Provide day to day coordination support to the project grantees (MCCI, MoT, and MoA) of Malawi SMART project to ensure swift completion of project activities and deliverables.
Scope of Work
The Consultant shall assist project grantee partners effective coordination and capacitation to perform the following activities:
- Open Export License Framework and COGA
- Support the Ministry of Trade with the timely recruitment of a consultant to develop the Export License Framework and provide continuous follow ups/supervision (with the Consultant and Ministry of Trade) to ensure that the consultancy is completed on time.
- Provide technical and coordination support to the Ministry of Trade to organize stakeholder consultation workshops to share outcomes of research and consultation on the Open Export License Framework to support COGA implementation.
- Provide technical support and follow ups with the Ministry of Trade to ensure efficient dissemination of COGA, STR and NTB reporting tools awareness materials through different mechanisms/platforms and devise mechanisms for tracking/monitoring distribution and reach of the awareness materials.
- Engage MoT to review and gazette Regulations for open export license
- STR Framework
- Provide technical and coordination support to the Ministry of Trade in organizing a validation workshop of the Common list of products for STR with Tanzania.
- Provide technical and coordination support in organizing technical meetings to finalize the STR Framework with Mozambique.
- Assist in organizing negotiation meetings with the Government of Tanzania on the STR Framework with Malawi.
- Awareness and Knowledge Materials and NTBs Monitoring and Reporting
- Support the Ministry of Trade with the timely recruitment of a consultant to undertake the NTB assessment study and provide continuous follow ups/supervision (with the Consultant and Ministry of Trade) to ensure that the consultancy is completed on time.
- Provide technical support to MCCCI, Ministry of Agriculture and related partners in the development of Policy Briefs.
- Support the Ministry of Trade to organize ministerial engagements between the Minister of Trade and key stakeholders (i.e. SMEs, regulators, MRA, MBS, MPS) in resolving reported NTBs affecting SMEs.
Key Qualifications and Experience Required
The consultant should possess the following qualifications and expertise:
- Post graduate qualifications in Agricultural Economics, Agribusiness Development or Rural Development. (Preferably at least an MBA).
- A minimum of 10 years of relevant experience in the agricultural food trade and policy advocacy related fields in the context of Malawi and/or Southern African region.
- Strong and effective coordination skills.
- Experienced in institutional capacity building to implement trade policy related assistance in the context of Malawi.
- Familiarity with political and economic environment, and marketing systems in Malawi.
- The consultant is expected to be fully familiar with the Project Management Cycle and required to be well-connected or experienced in working within the public agencies (MoT, and MoA) in Malawi.
- Demonstrated sound experience and knowledge in planning, implementation, follow-up, monitoring, and evaluation preferably in trade policy related projects implementation.
- Proven knowledge in coordination with multiple public agencies.
