Introduction:

Tanzania Horticultural Association, http://taha.or.tz/ is an apex private sector member-based organization mandated to develop and promote the horticultural industry in Tanzania. TAHA's goal is to improve the growth and competitiveness of horticultural industry in the country for social and economic gains by being a strong voicing platform, representing farmers at all levels, processors, exporters and service providers in the horticultural industry in Tanzania.

Background

TAHA is currently spearheading the design of the Tanzania Horticulture Market Access Strategy which will focus on identifying potential markets for Tanzania horticulture projects, identifying existing barriers within the sector, private sector competitiveness constraints and inefficiencies in market support infrastructure related to transport and logistics. In addition, the strategy will map out existing players and programmes and their potential role of the implementation of the strategy.

The programme supports the increase of market access of targeted horticulture products for both regional and international markets. Based on lessons from other country programmes export capability programming, the intervention is being implemented as a pilot project for the Tanzania export capability portfolio and will be initiated through strategic design to inform potential areas of support.

The Programme is many ways leverages existing programmes implemented in the sector by TAHA in partnership with other development partners and support the implementation of interventions around building export capacities (standards’ compliance and other support services), addressing priority regulatory constraints, facilitating access to targeted market support infrastructure (cold chain, warehousing and aggregation), strengthening market linkages and access to market information.

Objectives of the Assignment

Food safety is a rising concern in Tanzania, especially so in the horticulture sector. Traceability system in food safety is key in reduction of misuse of pesticides by smallholder farmers. Thus, a farm to market tracking of the flow of the product from the production process to the customer table is mandatory in order to improve on the safety of the food. Global GAP is a voluntary market standard that seeks to establish the operations that are geared towards achieving both environmental sustainability and reduction of misuse of harsh pesticides that will otherwise harm food production.

Hence the programme has a component aiming to enhance farmer’s compliance capacity for market access shelved by the below objectives:

·       Increased awareness among the horticultural producers to be able to adopt horticultural technologies.

·       Development of the capacity for market access beyond Tanzania that targets regional and international markets.

Scope of the Assignment

The scope of work will include, but not necessarily be limited to, the following activities:

1)     Development of a proper food traceability system in line with Global Gap version 5.2 for fruits and vegetables in the formed Apex Farmer Groups in Northern Zone and the Southern Highlands of Tanzania.

2)     Undertake all the key mandatory required trainings as per Global gap version 5 Fruits and vegetables Sub scope for the farmers groups in selected areas of Northern and Southern Highlands Zone.

3)     Build the capacity of the farmer groups to carry on with proper Record Keeping.

4)     Development of the Quality Management System for the mobilized Farmer Groups.

5)     Identify the Equipment that are necessary towards the attainment of the Global GAP certification.

6)     Train the selected farms on Risk assessments, sampling of water, soil and MRL testing as prerequisite to undertake Global gap certification

7)     Ensure that the 3 selected farms have in place structures that meet Global gap food safety standard

8)     Undertake the role of doing internal audits, and finally participate in external audits.

9)     Close off all Non conformities as may arise from external audits and hand over the final report.

Deliverables

The following will be outputs expected in the course of the assignment;

1. Detailed training program.
2. Detailed report on the gaps identified during evaluation of these farmers
3. Internal audits report and closure of all non-conformities identified
4. A full Quality Management System for farmer groups.
5. Sample Water and Soil for Analysis
6. Implement a documentation System and Procedures necessary for attainment of Global GAP

Qualification of the Consultant.

Ideal candidates for the assignment should possess the following attributes;

• A Bachelor’s degree in agriculture, Crop Protection, Agriculture Education and Extension, agronomy, environmental science or related and relevant field.
• Relevant professional training in Global GAP implementation from a recognized institution is mandatory.
• At least 5 years’ working experience Global GAP implementation especially in the small and medium scale farmers’ context.
• Good knowledge in undertaking of Global GAP of processed tomatoes in the region
• Demonstrated experience in having undertaken similar exercises elsewhere
• Excellent interpersonal and adult training skills.
• Excellent communication skills, including fluency in English & Kiswahili.

REQUIREMENTS TO THE PROPOSAL:

The proposal, is to be submitted in English, shall include:

·       A technical proposal incorporating;

·    A short description of deliverables, clear work plan (days and activities) with the proposed methodology and which shall include full justification for implementation approach to be used;

·    A detailed CV including experience relevant to this assignment;

·    At least three referees for similar or related work done.

·     A financial proposal indicating fees for the consultancy, including all costs to conduct this assignment (this should indicate man-days and fees including VAT).