Provision Of Subcontracted Partner Service on Technical Support And Capacity Building In Micronutrients, Nutrition and Food Fortification For the EU Lot 2 Food Fortification Project.

Terms of Reference

PROVISION OF SUBCONTRACTED PARTNER SERVICE ON TECHNICAL SUPPORT AND CAPACITY BUILDING IN MICRONUTRIENTS, NUTRITION AND FOOD FORTIFICATION FOR THE EU LOT 2 FOOD FORTIFICATION PROJECT.

(July 2025- June 2029)

1.     Background

Self Help Africa Malawi is an international non-governmental organisation working to create opportunities for lasting improvement in peoples’ lives. We work in partnership with others to support a range of livelihoods and food security, WASH and health, sustainable energy and gender equality programmes reaching over 1,000,000 people a year across Malawi. SHA currently operates in 17 districts in Malawi, supporting 24 on-going projects. Self Help Africa is committed to the safeguarding of all those who we work with through our work. We are committed to preventing any type of unwanted behaviour relating to our work including sexual harassment, exploitation and abuse, lack of integrity and financial misconduct; and we are committed to promoting the welfare of children and the people we aim to assist with whom Self Help Africa engages.

Self Help Africa and its partners have received funding from the European Union to implement the Fortifying for Our Communities Undernutrition Status through Strengthened Civil Society Organisation Capacity in Malawi (FOCUS) Action. The overall objective of action is strengthened local CSOs contribute to improved nutritional status, especially for children under five, in Malawi. The Action brings together the expertise of a Civil Society Organisation (CSO) network-research-technical implementation consortium to enhance the capacity of the local CSO sector to collaborate with smallholder farmers, seed companies, premix distributors, millers, and other private sector value chain players to develop commercially viable, nutrition-sensitive value chains supported by an improved enabling environment for food based micronutrient approaches, namely, food fortification and genetically biofortified food systems in Malawi.

The specific objectives are to:

1) Enhance CSO capacity to promote equity, innovation and access to micronutrient rich, fortified, and biofortified foods.

2) Strengthen CSO capacity to monitor and hold duty bearers to account for the consumption of quality, safe, nutritious and appropriately biofortified and fortified foods and infant food.

Self Help Africa will implement the action in collaboration with the Civil Society Organisation Nutrition Alliance (CSONA), building on the expertise to ensure that local CSOs are equipped to engage effectively with producers of fortified foods and fortificants and enforcement agencies in the country, in ensuring adherence to quality manufacturing processes; the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), with unrivalled international expertise in supporting food fortification in over 50 countries; and the Catholic Development Commission in Malawi (CADECOM) with 30+ years of diverse knowledge and experience in food security and nutrition security, market access and gender.

SHA will lead the implementation in Dedza and Mulanje districts, CADECOM will lead in Thyolo and Balaka districts, while CSONA and GAIN will operate at district and national levels.

It is against this background that SHA and its partners are seeking a sub-contractor to provide technical support and capacity building in micronutrients, nutrition and food fortification of the FOCUS project.

2. Objective of the assignment

The assignment aims to engage the services of the sub-contractor to provide technical support and capacity building in micronutrients, nutrition and food fortification of the FOCUS project. This requires extensive experience of fortification techniques and quality control to enhance CSO capacity in fortification processes as well as procedures.

Specifically, the sub-contractor will undertake the following tasks:

  1. Support premix distribution assessments and recommendations.
  2. Conduct feasibility tests and pilot of dosifiers with CSO’s
  3. Training and capacity building of millers.
  4. Adaptation and dissemination of operation and maintenance manuals for references
  5. Capacity building of millers on marketing, quality assurance and control in rapid testing, and create local supply models.
  6. Train CSOs on certification, FF laws and guidelines and infant foods
  7. Conduct mapping and assessment of premix value chain players.
  8. Support capacity building to millers on premix applications and utilising and maintain dosifiers.
  9. Support and participate in programme reviews, planning sessions, joint monitoring and reporting

3. Competencies of the sub-contractor

The sub-contractor is expected to have the following attributes to be considered:

  1. Extensive experience providing technical support and capacity building in micronutrients, nutrition and food fortification.
  2. Experience in development work particularly in the fields of food and nutrition security,
    a. including agriculture related programming and implementation, fortification, micronutrients, nutrition, human and institutional capacity building.
    b. working knowledge and experience in gender analysis and safeguarding will equally be of an added advantage.
  3. A sound understanding of the regulatory authorities in Malawi and their available legal mandate in enforcing food fortification
  4. A proven experience in participatory approaches for gathering data and professional reporting.
  5. A proven experience in capacity building of CSOs in Malawi.
  6. A demonstrated high level of professionalism and an ability to adaptive programming. High proficiency in written and spoken English (with Chichewa for field work).

4.     Duration of the Assignment

The contract is proposed to start on 1st July 2025 and for the whole project duration which runs to 30 June 2029.

5. Application process

Interested candidates will be expected to provide the following documentation:

  1. Detailed response to TORs, with specific focus on addressing the purpose and objectives of the assignment.
  2. Detailed budget breakdown and a work plan covering the first 8 months up to January 2026.
  3. Detailed profile of relevant work with at least 4 traceable referees.
  4. All eligible subcontractors who have valid business license with traceable offices and fulfill the requirements can send the bid documents by uploading the electronic documents in a link provided below.
  5. Bidders should submit their offers, which should include delivery terms and bid validity.
  6. The TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR CONTRACTS FOR PROCUREMENT OF SERVICES & WORKS – SELF HELP AFRICA (SHA)_JAN 2023 will be applicable. These terms and conditions will be shared with the successful bidder for their review and signature.
  7. Kindly utilize this provided box link to upload electronic copies of your bid application. https://gsha.box.com/s/5rhmsasw8ug1jvkjwa5wnujpy9q77gtr
  8. If you have any questions or need further clarification, please feel free to send an email to mw@selfhelpafrica.org

Alternatively, proposals may be submitted in sealed envelopes by hand, clearly labelled “TECHNICAL SUPPORT AND CAPACITY BUILDING IN MICRONUTRIENTS, NUTRITION AND FOOD FORTIFICATION SUBCONTRACTOR” and delivered no later than 30th May 2025 to the Self-Help Africa (SHA) Country Office in Lilongwe. Submissions should be addressed to: The Procurement and Logistics Manager, City Centre, Mwai House (Same building as Centenary Bank), Next to Anamwino House, Private Bag B-495, Lilongwe.

The closing date of receiving a bid submission is 3Oth May 2025.

Note: Self-Help Africa (SHA) is not bound to accept the lowest or any other bid. All bids will be evaluated in accordance with standard Procurement guidelines as well as the requirements for this Invitation to bids. Bids will be evaluated based on compliance with technical specifications, delivery period, price and discounts offered (if any). Self-Help Africa (SHA) takes the safety and well-being of all those we work with, very seriously. We have a zero-tolerance policy on abuse. Our recruitment is safe, meaning that we recruit contractors with the highest values and standards of ethical behavior.

Post expires at 11:59pm on Friday May 30th, 2025