Background and justification

As part of the operationalisation of its Regional Agricultural Policy adopted by the ECOWAP in 2005, the ECOWAS Commission has undertaken the implementation of two major programmes with the objective of enhancing the contribution of young people to more efficient food systems:

The regional offensive to promote local milk value chains in West Africa, launched by ECOWAS in 2016, provides an opportunity for structured action to improve the situation and protect the local milk market. The vision of this strategy is "A West Africa that emerges among the dairy basins of the African continent and progressively increases its contribution to regional trade in dairy products of Community origin".

The regional strategy to support the employability of young people in the agro-sylvo-pastoral and fisheries sectors. The overall aim of this strategy is to "facilitate the retention and socio-professional integration of young people (men and women) in the agro-sylvo-pastoral, fisheries and agri-food value chains" in order to: (i) reduce underemployment and unemployment among the working population and (iii) minimise rural exodus and uncontrolled migration .

The third phase of the Regional Support Programme for Farmers' Organisations (PRAOP 3) is part of the combined implementation of the two priority investment programmes drawn up to operationalise the regional strategies described above. It aims to contribute to a substantial increase in investment in local milk value chains in order to increase job creation opportunities for unemployed or underemployed young people, with a view to decelerating the rural exodus and uncontrolled emigration in West Africa.

The overall objective is to help reduce the rural exodus and uncontrolled emigration of young people through their professional integration in the agroforestry and fisheries sector and in agri-food value chains in West Africa and Chad.

The specific objective is to improve young people's (men's and women's) access to decent and remunerative jobs in the local milk value chains in the target areas, through initiatives led by ECOWAS, the States, agricultural socio-professional organisations and the private sector.

The main results expected are

• Opportunities for decent, well-paid jobs for young people (men and women) in the local milk sector have been increased thanks to the pilot projects;
• The technical and economic performance of local milk value chains is improved by increasing the productivity and milk production of farming systems, increasing the volumes of milk collected and processed and improving access to the market for local dairy products;
• The conditions for the emergence of efficient local milk value chains that provide jobs for young people are improved;
• The funding of programmes that mobilise PROs to promote the employability of young people has been strengthened;
• Technical and economic models for strengthening the employabilitý of young people in the local milk value chain are being developed;
• Young people's ability to fit into the technical and economic models of local milk value chains is strengthened and ;
• ECOWAS/DADR's organisational capacities have been strengthened: strategic steering, resource mobilisation, project implementation.

The operational implementation of the project will be based on three components:

• Component 1. Promotion of technical-economic models to strengthen the employabilitý of young people in the local milk value chain.
• Component 2. Creating a favourable environment for the development of local milk value chains
• Component 3. Strengthening ECOWAP's operational and strategic steering capacities.

To ensure proper implementation of the activities, the RAAA plans to strengthen the project team by recruiting a procurement/administration specialist..

Roles/Responsibilities

The  specialist in project procurement will be responsible for preparing and conducting the project's procurement processes, including monitoring the execution of contracts and payments to service providers and suppliers in accordance with the procedures of the donor and the RAAA.

He/she will be expected to carry out his/her work in a manner consistent with existing procurement arrangements and under the responsibility of , the RAAA's senior procurement specialist.

He/she will carry out his/her work in coherence with the existing procurement system and under the responsibility of the Senior Procurement specialist of the RAAF.:

• Planning procurement activities/operations on the project budget and proposing a Procurement Plan (PPM) for the project;
• Preparing tender documents and calls for proposals in accordance with RAAA and project donor procedures;
• Conduct the procurement process for goods and services in accordance with the procurement procedures of the RAAA and the project donor;
• To monitor the progress of procurement operations and report regularly to the Project Manager and the RAA's RAF;
• Contribute to the preparation of contracts with selected consultants, suppliers and service providers;
• Monitoring the performance and management of contracts concluded;
• Ensuring the proper physical storage of procurement files and filing and archiving all procurement documents and files;
• Periodically produce the contract situation and contribute to the contracting aspects of the RAAA's financial monitoring report;
• To contribute to the drafting of periodic reports by providing information on the implementation of the MPP.

Qualifications, experience, skills

 Qualifications

• Hold at least a 4-year higher degree in Engineering, Management, Administration, Procurement, Law, Finance, Commerce, Economics or any related field;
• Proof of experience in procurement for development projects and programmes.

Skills

• Have a good command of the procurement rules and procedures of ECOWAS and its main donors;
• Monitoring the implementation of contracts for international cooperation projects;
• Ability to work under pressure, initiative and a sense of responsibility;
• Excellent computer skills and the ability to use standard software (Word, Excel , Power Point, OneDrive, Dropbox, etc…) and the Internet
• Have a perfect command of at least one of the ECOWAS working languages and good working skills in a second language.

Experiments

• At least five (5) years' experience in procurement for projects and programmes financed by technical and financial partners, preferably experience with regional projects or programmes,
• Experience in implementing the procurement procedures of ECOWAS and its technical and financial partners,
• Good knowledge of the rural development sector in the West African region.

General conditions for the position

• Location, duration and start of assignment
• The procurement/administration specialist will be based in Lomé at the Agence Régionale pour l'Agriculture et l'Alimentation (ARAA);
• The duration of the contract is one (1) year subject to a probationary period of six (6) months. The contract may be renewed for the duration of the project depending on the consultant's performance and the availability of funds ;
• The mission is scheduled to begin in November 2024;
• The position is full-time;
• The Consultant is asked to refrain from any situation which might place him/her in a conflict of interest in the context of the assignment assigned to him/her.

1.  
2. Application file

Applications must include :

§ The Procurement/Administration Specialist will be based in Lomé at the Agence Régionale pour l'Agriculture et l'Alimentation (ARAA) ;

§ The duration of the contract is one (1) year, subject to a probationary period of six (6) months. The contract may be renewed for the duration of the project, depending on the consultant's performance and the availability of funds;

§ The start of the assignment is envisaged for November 2024;

§ The position is full-time;

§ The Consultant is requested to refrain from any situation that could place him/her in a conflict of interest with regard to the assignment.

         Submitting applications

Applications must be received no later than 28 September 2024 at 17:00 GMT, via an upload to Dropbox: https://www.dropbox.com/request/BTqByP0saKjT1hDgOvTo

The application must be submitted as a single PDF file. The RAAA reserves the right not to consider applications that do not comply with the above conditions for submission.

Interested consultants can obtain further information by writing to the following e-mail addresses: procurement@araa.org cc : ctienon@araa.org , mnakorba@araa.org , lbarnabo@araa.org with the subject line: " SCI 028-SPM PRAOP 3 " .

1.  
2. Selection method

Consultants will be selected according to the "Selection of Individual Consultants" method as defined in the ECOWAS Public Procurement Code. A written test and/or an interview session may be organised with a shortlist of shortlisted candidates. Only the short-listed candidates will be contacted s

Female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. The ARAA reserves the right not to follow up this call for applications.