Establishment of 180 Open Drip-irrigation fitted Demos for the ACTING NOW for Food Security and Resilient Food
1.0 About Solidaridad
Solidaridad Network is an international solution-oriented civil society organization working through eight regional expertise centres to transform markets to make them more sustainable and inclusive. Our eight regional expertise centres include Asia, Eastern and Central Africa, Europe, Latin America, North America, Southern Africa, South America, West Africa and our global Secretariat in the Netherlands. Solidaridad Eastern and Central Africa, one of the regional centers, is headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya with country offices and programs in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Tanzania, and Uganda. We bring together supply chain players and engage them with innovative solutions to improve production, ensuring the transition to a sustainable and inclusive economy that maximizes the benefit for all. We facilitate the strengthening of local capacity in developing countries, support the creation of enabling environments for economies to thrive, and improve market access.
For more information, please refer to http://www.solidaridadnetwork.org
The Acting Now for Food Security Project
The ACTING NOW for Food Security and Resilient Food Systems program seeks to improve the resilience of smallholder farmers by integrating local agricultural production of food crops and products (vegetables, fruits, Pulses, Grains, and livestock) and agriculture businesses into their production systems. The main aim of the project is to achieve increased sustainable production volumes, better quality, increased incomes, reduced production costs, and improved market access The project targets 70,000 smallholder farmers, (60% women) and their co-operatives/producer hubs in three counties in Kenya (Makueni, Taita Taveta, and Kwale). This will be through the promotion of improved crop production technologies, regenerative farming practices, addressing challenges related to access to quality farm inputs and services, and market access initiatives.
2.1 Background
Globally, record-high food prices continue to impact citizens, disproportionately affecting people in low and middle-income nations. In the continent of Africa, the drastic rise in food prices continues to intensify food insecurity. The situation is further compounded by the sporadic conflict in Ukraine, the resultant agro-inputs and food supply chain disruptions, and the steep rise in commodity prices - fuel, staple foods like maize flour, and cooking oil in Kenya. The rising cost of agro-inputs and food has further widened the food insecurity/vulnerability gap for both rural and urban households in sub-Saharan African nations. The combined economic shocks of the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, increased incidences of pests and diseases and conflict also threaten to push some countries to acute food insecurity.
Assignment Objective:
The objective of the assignment includes:
The objective of this assignment is guided by the impacts of climate change that are already widespread and the consequences have been witnessed all around the world. Any fluctuations in temperature, rainfall, humidity, soil nutrients, moisture, sunlight, aeration, and soil temperature directly impact the growth and productivity of crops and plants. Hence, adaptation of mitigation strategies involving actions to reduce global warming is an important option to overcome the impact of climate variations on crop production. In this regard, the Acting Now project is promoting climate-smart technologies and seeks to construct and establish 180 drip irrigation demonstration sites each in a 1/4 of an acre, in Makueni, Taita Taveta, and Kwale Counties in order to showcase water-efficient use technologies for crop production and to realize the desired outcomes and impact from the project results framework.
2.5 Responsibilities of the Service Provider /Scope of Work:
The service provider will be primarily responsible for:
● Set up 180 open drip demos construction to the satisfaction of Solidaridad across the 3 counties (60 in Makueni, 60 in Taita Taveta, 60 in Kwale) in a period of 2 months and as per specifications and accessories provided in Annex A below.
● Train and support the beneficiaries on the use as well as management of drip demonstration sites during the establishment phase.
● Train the Project officers and lead farmers who will carry out follow-up and monitoring visits
● Provide a progress report after attaining 50% of the installation work
● Submit a final report compiled version of the report in electronic version in Word format to the project after incorporating the feedback and suggestions from Solidaridad.
Coordination and Cooperation
● The Contractor undertaking the assignment will work under the coordination of the Solidaridad (ECA) Project management team
2.7 Expert/Consultant’s
Develop a comprehensive expression of interest (E.O.I) outlining:
• A short profile of the firm/contractor, including photos of previous work.
• Firm/Contractors’ statement on the interpretation of the TOR, methodology of execution, detailed work plan, and budget.
• A detailed diagrammatic layout and designs for the open drip demonstration sites
• At least a reference to similar assignments undertaken in the last 2 years
• It is desirable if the contractors/firm has previous experience in setting up and managing drip irrigation systems.
How to apply
Submission deadline
The consultant is required to submit the E.O.I detailing the approach & methodology, budget, and work plan by the 5th of June 2023.
2.8 Installation Period:
The overall time frame of the activity installation will be 60 days (including Saturdays and Sundays), which will include the approach and methodology, construction, and establishment of the system and presentation of the final completion report.
Subject reference: Establishment of 180 drip-irrigation fitted demos for Acting Now for Food Security Project in 3 counties (Makueni, Taita Taveta and Kwale) in Kenya
Submissions are by email to procurement.eca@solidaridadnetwork.orgwhileaddressed to:
Regional Managing Director
Solidaridad Eastern and Central Africa Expertise Centre
Kilimani Business Centre, Kirichwa Road,
P.O. Box 42234 - 00100 GPO
Nairobi
ANNEX A: SPECIFICATIONS
1) Open Drip-irrigation fitted Demos
● 2,000-liter capacity plastic water tank
● Metallic raised stand 10 feet for the water tank
● Full drip irrigation kit for ¼ an acre farm fitted with water controls and drip lines
● Install a 1.2m3 submersible solar-powered water pump with a motor of 200 watts
● 250 watts solar panel