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Project Overview and Role
The USAID Financing Ghanaian Agriculture Project (USAID FinGAP) addresses a key constraint restricting the development of commercial agriculture and obtaining full food security in Ghana ? access to finance necessary to enable investment in agricultural value chains. USAID FinGAP uses a comprehensive approach to facilitate agriculture related investment, engaging a broad range of Ghanaian Financial Institutions (or FIs; including banks, private equity firms, leasing companies, investment funds, etc.) in providing agricultural oriented financing, in partnership with strategic investors and buyers of rice, maize and soya in Northern Ghana. USAID FinGAP also facilitates investment in the agriculture sector in Ghana that will complement other Government of Ghana (GOG) and donor programs aimed at expanding commercial agriculture.
USAID-FinGAP?s Agribusiness Opportunities Development (AOD) Unit, identifies, develops, and supports agribusinesses for investments through market linkages with investors that integrate SMEs and smallholders to promote equitable participation of farmers in their supply chains. A core component of this work is developing public-private partnerships (PPPs) with strategic anchor firms to create platforms for the deployment of financing solutions for smallholder farmers.
USAID FinGAP recently completed an internal performance assessment to quantify the impact of project activities on both direct beneficiaries (namely small, medium, and large enterprises (SMiLEs) who receive direct support from FIs and Business Advisory Service (BAS) providers) and indirect beneficiaries (the smallholder farmers linked to SMiLE recipients of financing). While the assessment found that the finance and investment facilitated by USAID FinGAP has had a significant impact on business growth, profitability, and livelihoods of both direct and indirect beneficiaries, it also identified a number of challenges faced by SMEs and smallholders that continue to limit their profitability and prevent the project from maximizing its impact. Farmers specifically noted challenges related to a lack of irrigation, high cost of inputs, access to machinery and tractor services, and inadequate options for affordable storage facilities. With respect to storage:
- Most SMiLEs (72%) and smallholder farmers (84%) store all crop produce in sacks and bags, which has not changed significantly since 2013. While overall production levels have increased, SMiLEs have experienced increased crop losses since 2013 (57% increase for rice and 2% increase for maize), as have smallholders (5% increase on average). Farmers primarily attribute crop loss to lack of modern storage facilities and their inability to mobilize both human and material resources to harvest crops on time. Farmers also noted that crop losses occur due to insects and bird attacks, as well as issues with handling, processing, weather, production practices, transportation, grading, and access to market.
- SMiLEs and smallholders have differentiated needs when it comes to storage. Smallholders, as well as small SMiLEs require access to on-farm hermetic storage facilities, while larger SMiLEs require warehouse facilities to aggregate products they are receiving from farmer suppliers.
USAID-FinGAP aims to tackle the challenges described above through the creation of strategic PPPs with technology providers and anchor SMiLEs, which include structured financing arrangements with partner FIs, to make these solutions accessible and affordable.
Responsibilities
Objective and Primary Duties
The objective of this STTA assignment is to support USAID FinGAP to design and implement PPPs that will increase access to storage solutions appropriate for both smallholder farmers and SMiLEs, and demonstrate the benefits of investing in these solutions. These benefits include reduced crop losses, increased profits, and potentially increased revenue, particularly for SMiLEs who will be able to expand raw material purchases. It is envisioned that multiple PPPs (3-4) could be created which provide solutions to the varied needs of SMiLEs and smallholders. The consultant will develop PPPs which offer storage solutions for smallholder farmers and small SMiLEs, as well as warehouses for larger firms. In addition, the consultant should evaluate prospects for working with the Ghana Grains Council, as well as with the Ghana Commodities Exchange (GCX) which requires certified and regulated warehouses to store grains for trading. If feasible, the latter would enable the establishment and operation of warehouses throughout the grain belt.
With the support of a CCN Partnerships Specialist, the Storage Partnerships Expert will identify PPP partners, advise on the structure of the PPPs and roles and responsibilities of key partners (including USAID FinGAP); determine the financing requirements and advise on appropriate financing products that can be developed by USAID FinGAP?s project team and BAS network, and rolled out through partner PFIs; facilitate discussions between PPP partners and obtain PPP agreements signed by partners; and develop PPP work plans with detailed action items, milestones, and timelines for implementation.
Specific Functions and Responsibilities
The Storage Partnerships Expert will complete the following tasks:
- Determine the storage needs of SMiLEs and smallholders, through review of existing project documents and research, and input from the USAID FinGAP team and key local stakeholders.
- Identify and select PPP partners for 3-4 PPPs, including lead firms willing to invest in new storage solutions (e.g. trading companies, aggregators), providers of storage solutions, the Government of Ghana (if the GoG is willing to contribute matching resources or support), and other sources of technical support (e.g. BAS providers, donor projects).
- Outline PPP structures for 3-4 PPPs which take into account potential risks associated with implementing the PPP, and integrates solutions that could increase the likelihood of success. For example, incorporating technical support services, support from other donor projects, required financial partners.
- Facilitate meetings between key PPP partners to develop an agreement detailing the roles, responsibilities, and contributions (e.g. financial, in kind) of each partner
- Model projected benefits for the SMiLEs and smallholder farmers, including but not limited to: reduced crop losses, increased profits and revenue, ROI.
- Determine financing requirements to make investing in storage solutions feasible. With the support of the USAID FinGAP team, provide guidance to pre-qualified BAS providers to facilitate finance for the PPPs, including developing a tailored financial product and identifying and securing a partner FI to provide the requisite financing.
- Develop a work plan for each PPP which outlines:
- Action items for each partner with specific milestones/timelines. For example, timelines associated with partnership structuring; PPP roll-out; financial product development; farmer outreach/demos.
- Expected results and impacts of the PPP, tied to expected timelines.
- A plan for measuring the success of each PPP with specific dates for measurement.
- Action plan for long-term sustainability and scale, including farmer outreach, communication of results, ideas for expanding proof of concept.
Deliverables
- 3-4 Signed PPP agreements between PPP partners, delineating agreed-upon roles and responsibilities
- PPP work plans, including elements described above
- Summary of financing requirements, recommended financing product(s)/FI partner(s), and projected benefits for the SMiLE and smallholder farmers for each PPP
- A final trip report on the STTA assignment, including the above elements.
- All deliverables must be completed in English.
Requirements
- Master?s degree in agricultural economics, business, international development, finance or a related field
- Minimum 12 years of relevant work experience
- Expertise and demonstrated experience in identifying and implementing post-harvest handling and storage solutions in developing countries, preferably in Sub-Saharan Africa
- Demonstrated experience structuring and implementing public private partnerships (PPPs)
- Ability to conduct financial modeling to determine projected benefits of PPPs established, as well as financing requirements to make investment in storage solutions feasible for smallholder farmers and SMEs.
Details
Experience: Senior Level
Sector: Location: Accra, Ghana, Ghana
Closing date: 30 September 2017
More Information
- Job City Accra
