Grants to promote Community-Based Economic Empowerment in Khatlon Region (Tajikistan)

The LITACA project is a four-years initiative, financed by the Government of Japan through Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and implemented in Tajik – Afghan cross-border districts of Khatlon Region of the Republic of Tajikistan (Bokhtar, Kulob, Shahritus, Jayhun, Qubodiyon, Panj, Dusti, Farkhor, Hamadoni and Shamsiddin Shohin). The LITACA project is aimed to improve living standards, promote stability and security in cross-border districts of Tajikistan and Afghanistan, localize one-village-one-product (OVOP) movement for income generation and jobs creation.

The UNDPs LITACA project is a four-years initiative, financed by the Government of Japan through Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and implemented by UNDP Tajikistan aimed to improve living standards, develop value chain, introduce innovative approaches, strengthen local agribusiness, provide employment opportunities among the youth, women, people with disabilities.

LITACA is aimed to help start-ups by providing equipment and supporting marketing, labelling, design, and export. The beneficiaries are small and medium farmers, agro-processors, and handicraft workshops, both individuals and cooperatives and cooperatives, traders (wholesalers, retailers, small- and medium-sized enterprises) in Afghanistan and Tajikistan. The focus in on vulnerable women, unemployed youth, and people with disabilities.

The LITACA project has three outputs: (i) increased employment opportunities for communities living in border provinces of Afghanistan and Tajikistan; (ii) enhanced LITACA products’ access to market; and (iii) improved access to cross-border trade. It is implemented in 10 cities and districts of Khatlon Region of Tajikistan (Kulob, Bokhtar, Shaartus, Jayhun, Qubodiyon, Panj, Dusti, Farkhor, Hamadoni and Shamsiddin Shohin) and bordering districts of the Provinces of Badakhshan, Kunduz, Takhar, and Balkh of Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. UNDP through its LITACA project introduced the “One Village One Product” (OVOP) initiative in Khatlon region. The movement stands for using the competitive advantages of the local communities to produce competitive and staple products as a business to gain sales revenue to improve the standard of living for the residents.

Objectives

• The main objectives of this assignment are:
  • Assist in establishment of community-based economic infrastructure through improvement of productive infrastructure or services that benefit the communities in the selected area through stronger value chains for local small industries and agriculture (agro and non-agro production technologies, agri-processing facility, storage, etc.);
  • Assist in establishment of production/processing workshops and small enterprises owned by rural people (especially by youth, women, returned labour migrants, people with disabilities,) and/or expanding of existing small production workshops to create new permanent and seasonal jobs;
  • Support the implementation of local economic initiatives aimed at creating conditions for the development of income-generation linked with OVOP movement;
  • Promote cross-border trade and market (establishing the linkage with Afghan entrepreneurs), development of agriculture value-chain in the cross-border districts.
• Priority will be given to the proposals that has sufficient contribution to the community and indicated in the detailed budget. The proposal should envisage sustainability plan and has wide socio-economic impact for local communities, focusing on most vulnerable group of people, including women, youth and PWD.

Detailed Tasks

• Needs assessment of target communities
  • Develop a methodology with a specific timeframe for implementation of project activities. The methodology should cover need assessment of community-based workshops, agro and non-agro producers/processors, awareness raising campaign, mobilization approaches of these community-based economic infrastructure, capacity building measures of community-based workshops, agro and non-agro producers/processors (on production and processing techniques, business management, marketing, sales, logistics, cross-border trade, etc.), establishment/equipping/rehabilitation approaches of community-based workshops, agro and non-agro producers/processors, etc.
  • Develop a transparent and clear selection criterion for the community-based economic infrastructure with growth/development potential for further engagement in project activities and grant program, which should be approved by the UNDP. Awarding approach and methodology, evaluation panel composition, evaluation and selection criteria, etc. should be developed and agreed with UNDP.
• Awareness raising and training of the project beneficiaries
  • Develop educational materials on entrepreneurship that will be delivered to the selected beneficiaries (with details on durations, approaches, etc.). The curriculum should be based on modern business concepts, current trends, and market demand with a high degree of relevance with practical application for community-based economic infrastructure aiming to improve production/processing capacities, create new permanent and seasonal jobs at community level and contribute to cross-border trade. It is envisaged that the training will cover the following topics but not limited to:
    • Business management, logistics
    • Marketing, sales, and access to markets (including internet-based and social media enabled)
    • Quality check process of products/services
    • Product development/improvement
    • Financial management and bookkeeping
    • Supply chain optimization
    • Cross-border trade potential, etc.
  • Based on the conducted awareness raising campaign ensure gathering the requests of interest of at least 100 potential beneficiaries meeting the identified priority areas for further engagement in project activities. Identified beneficiaries should meet the developed selection criterion and undertake the capacity building activities.
  • Conduct business training as per agreed educational materials for selected beneficiaries. The capacity building training should consider specifics for community-based workshops, agro and non-agro producers/processors and conducted attracting industry experts with appropriate qualifications.
• Establishment of community-based economic infrastructure and creation of sustainable employment opportunities in the target communities
  • Conduct business events on cross-border trade/ export in Shon cross-border market of Sh.Shohin district for beneficiaries with a focus on signing sales contracts with Afghan entrepreneurs.
  • Using an appropriate digital payment mechanism that ensures transparency and accountability, provide at least 20 small business grants up to USD$ 30,000 to beneficiaries covered with training and mentorship programme, and selected as a result of competitive selection by the panel. The grant amount can be diversified based on the outcomes of need assessment and identified priority areas as well as the market analysis on cost of providing technical support to each priority area with coordination of UNDP. Each business grant should be used to support establishment of community-based workshops, agro and non-agro producers/processors, new permanent and seasonal job creation and promotion of cross-border trade.
  • Carry out effective monitoring and evaluation of the project activities reviewing quality, quantity, timelines, and budget constraints based on concrete indicators set in the proposal and finalized at the outset of the project and suggest improvements for course correction keeping in view the challenges faced and lessons learnt during the implementation.

Budget Size

• The estimated total funds allocated for the implementation of abovementioned tasks under the promotion of community-based economic empowerment in Khatlon region is projected for 9 months and amounts to 441,946.37 US dollars.

United Nations Development Programme

UNDP shall appoint a counterpart task team from the project for the implementation of the assessments. The main responsibilities of the team can be summarised as follows:

• Provide guidance to the responsible parties and their team of specialists on technical and operational aspects to ensure timely implementation.
• In line with UNDP’s operational procedures on results-based management, support responsible parties to monitor timely and quality implementation.
• Provide effective financial management support to responsible parties to ensure timely delivery.
• Facilitate and ensure gender equality issues are integrated in project design, project documents, monitoring and evaluation frameworks and implementation, and help responsible parties report gender disaggregated data.
• Supported responsible parties for project reporting (monthly and final) and provided Project Quality Assurance guidance.
• Ensure that responsible parties have developed plans related to Risk Mitigation Plan, Social and Environmental Safeguard, Occupational Health and Safety, and Grievance Redressal Mechanism, and implemented, reported and documented.
• Ensure effective coordination and communication among Responsible Parties, Project team including the organisation of regular working groups meeting (Communication, M&E) to discuss progress, challenges, and way forward.

Qualifications and Selection Criteria

• Qualification, capacity and experience of organization
  • A cover letter explaining why the applicant organization considers itself the most suitable candidate for the Work.
  • Copy of the Organization’s Registration Certificate
  • Organizational Profile, including a description of management, operational and financial capacities and comparative advantage of the organization, knowledge of the area, previous experience implementation of similar complex interventions.
• Qualification, capacity and experience of the staff
  • Team leader
    • Minimum 6 years’ experience managing economic empowerment and development projects.
    • 6 years’ experience in developing and/or implementing technical development in agriculture sector initiatives and projects.
    • Experience and knowledge of setting up and managing a national and regional partner to undertake community level development activities.
    • Khatlon region expertise on sustainable economic development.
    • Fluency in English, Tajik or Russian.
  • Community mobilization specialist
    • Minimum 5 years of experience in community mobilization and outreach.
    • 5 years’ experience at a mobilization and outreach in community level, development and implementation of similar plans and projects in the region, work with agriculture sector actors, and marginalized groups.
    • Khatlon region expertise on sustainable economic development.
    • Fluency in English, Tajik or Russian.
  • Business development specialist
    • Minimum 5 years overall relevant experience in business development and support especially in agriculture sector, arrangement of financial and procedural regalements of the business.
    • 5 years’ experience in the development of business plans and provision of consultations and mentorship.
    • Khatlon region expertise on sustainable economic development.
    • Fluency in English, Tajik or Russian.
  • Legislation and Taxation specialist
    • 5 years of experience in provision of consultation and capacity building in the field of law and tax.
    • 3 years’ experience in the conduction of legislative and tax services and legislative arrangement of private sector.
    • Khatlon region expertise on sustainable economic development.
    • Fluency in English, Tajik or Russian.
  • Agronomy and agricultural technology specialist
    • 3 years of experience related to building agriculture actors’ technical knowledge on agronomic and agriculture technology practices.
    • 3 years of experience related to farmer training and practical capacity building on development of agricultural production and processing technologies.
    • Academic background related to methodologies and approaches to build farmer technical knowledge and experience on agronomic agricultural technology practices.
    • Fluency in English, Tajik or Russian.
  • Marketing and sales specialist
    • 3 years of experience related to marketing and sales promotion in Khatlon region and/or cross-border region.
    • 3 years related to provision of consultations and capacity building on marketing and sales.
    • Fluency in English, Tajik or Russian.
  • Quality standards and production optimization specialist
    • Minimum 3 years overall relevant experience in the development of quality standards, arrangement of supply chain, elaboration of safety standards and production optimization.
    • 5 years’ experience in the monitoring of complex projects and programmes.
    • Fluency in English, Tajik or Russian.
  • Monitoring and evaluation specialist
    • Minimum 5 years overall relevant experience in the monitoring of community based economic empowerment and sustainable livelihood initiative.
    • 5 years’ experience in the monitoring of complex projects and programmes.
    • Fluency in English, Tajik or Russian.

For more information, visit UNDP.