Background
Agriculture continues to be an important sector in Indonesia in contributing to the national economic development. Between 2015-2019, the "Nawacita" policy has directed the agriculture development with the goal of ensuring the national food security. The agriculture sector also still employs the highest proportion of the national labor force in Indonesia at about 25.19% (2019 BPS data, estimated at 31.87 million out of 133.56 million workforce). In 2020, the Ministry of Agriculture released its new strategic plan for the period of 2020-2024. This new strategic plan policy takes on the outcomes of the previous period with the additional focus on three general objectives which is to achieve an advanced, independent and modern agriculture. The ministry's main strategies include 1) improving farmers' welfare, 2) achieving food security and 3) increasing the competitiveness of domestically produced agricultural commodities. However, in general the agricultural sector is still plagued by low productivity primarily caused by a gap in knowledge and skills as well as access to agricultural resources. This is especially true in Southwest Sumba, where William & Lily Foundation is currently working in Sumba island.
Established in 2007, Southwest Sumba is one of the poorest districts in Eastern Indonesia with a population of 313,127 (2020 estimate), the highest compared to other districts on the island. The Southwest Sumba district faces an increasing number of those living below the poverty line which was at 28.06% in 2019[1]. Although it is a slight decrease from 2016 (30.63%), the number is significantly higher than the national average (9.78%, as per BPS report released in March 2020). Agriculture is the main livelihood activities for the people in Southwest Sumba, either as the main source of income or main source of food consumption. Latest district statistic data stated that most livelihood activities and main source of income is from agricultural and forestry activities (75.9%). This sector holds 75.97% workforce (out of 155,953 eligible workforces in the district) and contribute to roughly 40.11% Gross Regional Domestic Product (GRDP). Recent assessment carried out by the William & Lily Foundation (WLF) provides insight on issues and challenges faced by farmer groups especially on the gap in agricultural knowledge and skills that impact productivity and organizational/managerial capacity. Reduced productivity in the long term will not only affect the family income, but also potentially affect the family's food security. One well-known challenge Southwest Sumba's agricultural sector faces is the short period of rainfall annually. The assessment that was carried out during the second half of 2020 highlighted additional characteristics and challenges of the agricultural sector and ecosystem in Southwest Sumba:
· The majority of farmers in Southwest Sumba practice subsistence agriculture and are over 40 years old farmers with low education background, i.e., incomplete elementary school or no schooling. Their lack of access to proper farming knowledge and skills as well as access to innovative technology for post-harvesting are reflected in the partial adoption of good agriculture practices (GAP) and good handling practices (GHP).
· While current practices have, in general, satisfied food security at the household level, there are gaps in knowledge and skills on crop selection, long-term planning, pest control and cultivation that have prevented the farmers to achieve higher productivity and higher quality harvest which leave them vulnerabilities to certain risks. These risks include nutrition insecurity at household level as well as unpredictable agriculture calendar due to climate change and natural disasters.
· Farmers in Southwest Sumba generally organize themselves into groups (Kelompok tani -- Poktan). There are clear needs for better organizational, managerial and business development capacity. The inability to carefully plan agricultural activities to produce higher-level outputs as well as a low level of trust among members add to the challenges of positioning these groups as a body that can access financial services and can negotiate fair prices.
· Access to financial services remain elusive to some farmers due to lack of information, while on the other hand the lack of collateral and lack of business planning by farmers' groups have prevented financial institutions from extending their services to these groups.
· Farmers have little access to market, typically having little options aside from selling to middlemen and have no negotiation power on prices.
· The district government has continuously supported the farmers through provision of seeds, subsidized fertilizers and some tools to improve productivity but does not have a systematic way to share knowledge on GAP and GHP.
On the other hand, the following are some characteristics identified through the assessment that could be advantageous or leveraged in improving the livelihood of agricultural households in Southwest Sumba:
· Average land ownership ranging from 500 to 1,000 square meters per farmer.
· Key commodities of corn and rice are known for drought resistance.
· 2,342 farmers groups registered in Southwest Sumba.
· Women farmers groups (Kelompok Tani Wanita) actively process key agricultural commodities into food products, e.g., corn tortillas, coffee powder, moringa chips and cashew nuts at a small scale. Constraints include limited business development capacity such as in marketing and packaging as well as access to market.
· Many villages have set up the village business unit (BUM Desa), but few are running optimally and there is often a gap in knowledge and skills within the community related to managing and operating the unit.
· The Governor of East Nusa Tenggara has rolled out the Tanam Jagung Panen Sapi (TJPS) program in 2018-2023 to intensify dry-land farming that focuses on increasing corn productivity and cattle population in two areas of implementation which include Sumba. Support in this program includes provision of seeds, fertilizer and agricultural equipment from the agricultural district office and monitoring, technical support as well as mentoring by the agricultural extension officer (petugas penyuluh lapangan).
About William & Lily Foundation
The William & Lily Foundation (WLF) is a Jakarta-based philanthropic organization established in 2009. Our mission is to empower vulnerable and marginalized communities by bridging learning with access to opportunities. As an active grant-making foundation, we work closely with local implementation partners on four focus areas: education, health, economic empowerment and enabling environment.
Project Description
William & Lily Foundation plans to develop a project to support agricultural livelihood in Southwest Sumba, focusing on: (i) capacity building of farmers groups on organizational structure, management and business development to better represent the needs of farmers and agricultural communities as a group and (ii) improved knowledge and skills on good agricultural practices including planning, crop selection and post-harvest processing to improve productivity. Additionally, WLF is also keen for the project to address vulnerabilities at the household and community level, particularly on food/nutrition insecurity and longer-term food needs. WLF envision the project to target existing farmers groups and other related stakeholders (mentioned above) as indirect beneficiaries. The project should also pay particular attention to advocacy and the enabling environment. The project will be implemented in selected villages in Southwest Sumba.
WLF therefore seeks a non-individual consultant (professional organization/team of individuals under a legal entity) to design and implement this project. WLF is looking for interested organizations to propose an innovative and adaptive design and approach with consideration to current pandemic challenges as well as the Southwest Sumba context and culture. Proposal design should not be limited to address issues during project lifetime, but also narrating opportunities for scalability and sustainability beyond project's lifetime.
Duration and Scope
This is foreseen as a two (2) year project with an optional one-year extension, with the first year focusing on finding a way for suitable methods and approaches to build the capacity of farmers groups and to develop platform for participatory learning and sharing. Building from the first year, the second year will be focused on extracting the best practices and developing the strategy for the possibility of scaling up.
Approaches
WLF does not provide funding for infrastructure support and instead focuses on leveraging existing assets and maximizing synergies. Hence, WLF believes in project interventions based on capacity building, establishing linkages and advocacy. The Foundation also believes that building ownership among local actors is one of key success of project intervention in order to ensure scalability and sustainability. The interested organizations are encouraged to develop their theory of change with the following thinking:
● Capacity Building through delivery of capacity building activities for farmers' groups and in building their knowledge and skills on good agricultural practices (adaptive solutions to climate change, post-harvest processing and product development), organizational management and business development while building access to market as well as to financial services, taking into account local wisdom and practices in Southwest Sumba.
● Establishing Linkages through an initial mapping and identification of roles of key stakeholders in selected villages followed by building commitment and dialogue with selected farmers' groups and other key stakeholders to address the challenges to quality and productivity of their agricultural outputs, including linkages for expanding access of farmers' groups to market and to financial services. The principle of sustainability is particularly important in establishing such enabling environment for the farmers to thrive. End-of-project results must be able to show these sustained commitments and linkages.
● Advocacy through a sustained engagement and collaboration with relevant stakeholders at village, district and provincial levels to address and advance the agenda of sustainable agricultural livelihood in Southwest Sumba and the need to improve household and community resilience to food/nutrition insecurity and climate change within existing regulatory framework. A clear and thorough strategy for such engagement to establish an enabling environment for these issues will be required.
Indicators of Successful Project
This project will directly contribute to the achievement of the Foundation's long-term outcome on economic empowerment to improve access to financial services and income generating opportunities. The project will be considered successful with the achievement of several of the following outcomes upon project completion:
● Demonstrated improved knowledge and practice on good agriculture practices (GAP, GHP), including planning for agricultural activities and outputs, and where appropriate, post-harvesting activities and product development.
● Demonstrated improved knowledge and practice on organizational management of farmers' groups as a body that represent farmers' interests and needs with the ability to develop strategic and longer-term business relations to negotiate fair prices, access adaptive agricultural knowledge and technology as well as access market information and access financial services.
● Demonstrated commitment and clear strategy and thorough action plan for project scalability and sustainability.
● Demonstrated commitment and/or changes in regulatory framework as part of establishing an enabling environment for sustainable agricultural livelihood with improved household and/or community resilience in food/nutrition insecurity and climate change.
Interested organizations must include proposed theory of change, results framework and other relevant indicators in their technical proposal. The selected organization will work under WLF advisement on the selection of villages for this project, which may involve site visits, in-depth interviews and proper due diligence. WLF is currently working at seven out of 11 sub-districts in Southwest Sumba.
Selection Criteria
WLF is looking for interested organizations with extensive knowledge on village development/governance area. Interested organizations should possess the following qualifications:
● A minimum of five years' experience in designing, managing and implementing capacity building project to farmers' groups and agricultural communities and advocating farmers' interests and needs in agriculture sector – knowledge and experience in Eastern Indonesia, particularly in Sumba is an advantage;
● Proven experience on delivering capacity building and mentoring farmers' groups within the framework of agricultural livelihood;
● Extensive knowledge on agriculture sector and issues (practices, regulatory framework, adaptive technology, product development, market, supply and value chains);
● Knowledge on issues of food insecurity and food systems at household and community level;
● Knowledge on the role of local governments and its planning and budgeting processes;
● Proven experience on project management, coordination, and liaison capabilities;
● Proven experience on developing strategies for advocacy and establishing multi-stakeholders; and
● Proven experience in monitoring and evaluation for development projects, particularly in capacity building and advocacy in agriculture sector.
Award Information
● Period of Performance: WLF expects the project to be commenced on or around the third quarter of 2021, with the duration of 24 months period and conditional (subject to approval) 12-month extension
● Type of Award: Contract-based, actual cost
● Funding: WLF adheres to the value for money principles. Interested organizations should carefully think about delivering the project implementation in an efficient and effective manner – in which the personnel and operational cost should not exceed 30% of the total funding requested
● Cost-sharing: Any proposed cost-sharing should be clearly noted in the narrative and budget proposal
The release of this Request for Proposal does not guarantee WLF to award the contract. Implementation of the project will depend on the Foundation's funding availability.
How to Apply
● Expression of Interest (EoI) – Applicants are required to submit Expression of Interest electronically which states:
a) why applicant is interested;
b) brief information on relevant experience and key personnel's qualification;
c) brief information on how the applicant will address the issues stated in the background and project description sections; and
d) point of contact (email address and phone numbers).
Expression of Interest must be no longer than 2 pages, either in Indonesian or English, and must be submitted to support@wlf.or.id with the subject line: Name of Organization EOI Agriculture Livelihood Project before Friday, 12 March 2021 at 5 pm Jakarta time.
● Bidders' Conference – After reviewing the submitted Letter of Interest, the shortlisted applicants will be invited to attend bidders' conference that will take place on/about Friday, 19 March 2021. Invitation will be distributed through email addresses registered on the Expression of Interest.
● Proposal Submission – Proposals (technical and financial) in Indonesian or English must be submitted before Friday, 16 April 2021 at 11:58 pm Jakarta time. The proposal should cover the following information:
o General description of demonstrated capabilities to meet the terms of this solicitation, your contact details (address and phone numbers), a short description of unique capabilities (skills, methodologies, or technical approach) typically employed for carrying out work as described in the "Project Description" section, and a brief description of past performance with contact details of previous clients;
o A comprehensive technical proposal focusing on delivering the above-mentioned key activities and deliverables in Southwest Sumba, including clear description of theory of change and the results framework design, selection method or criteria for villages and advocacy and engagement strategy with local government and non-government stakeholders;
o Most recent Curriculum Vitae of the organization and/or individual team members (key personnel involved) and details of staff composition with clear demonstration of previous experience in related project implementation;
o Proposed work plan including timeline for key activities, milestones, and deliverables for the duration of the project; and
o A comprehensive financial proposal in Indonesian rupiah (IDR), including daily rate for team members or external consultants, budget allocation for activities, travel and accommodation, monitoring and evaluation activities, dissemination activities, incidentals and other expenses, as well as proposed terms of payments/schedule.
[1] Sumba Barat Daya dalam Angka, 2020
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