Business Consultants - Food Systems Grant Facility

Lebanon has been facing multiple crises growing in intensity since 2019: economic, financial, health, humanitarian, which slowed and continue to slow down the economy and productivity of the country. As a result, the national currency has lost around 90% of its value, 55% of Lebanese live below the poverty line of 3.84USD a day and unemployment rate stands at 39%. Before the crisis, the median salary was 630USD, while it has reached currently less than 50USD.

Prior to the financial and economic crisis, Lebanon’s agricultural sector was already beset with series of challenges such as productivity constraints, limited access to finance in rural areas, insufficient agricultural technologies, weak post-harvest systems, and limited market access specifically to non-traditional markets such as Europe.

The crisis added further pressure on the sector, putting food security at risk given the increase in food prices of which 85% if imported. WFP’s assessments conducted in 2020 indicated that deteriorated purchasing power is one of the main reasons why food security in Lebanon is at risk. Lebanese and refugees are increasingly struggling to buy food, pay rent and access health care, with high inflation and stark currency devaluation worsening the situation.

Building a resilient agri-food sector in Lebanon is key in overcoming these challenges and establishing sustainable solutions based on local resources and productions. A resilient food system in Lebanon relies on supporting farmers with credit facilitations, strengthening the linkages between the different segments of the agri-food production, and developing the capacities of SMEs working in the agri-food production in business investment in order to ensure better production that may satisfy a large part of the local market. There is a need to shift from a traditional and conventional food culture to a smarter more efficient one where technology, innovation, sustainability and optimization take an active role.

Within this framework, World Food Programme (WFP), in line with its Country Strategic Plan, has recently launched a cooperation with Berytech to implement Food Systems Grant Facility programme with the aim of improving food security and resilience of food system actors to economic shocks and stresses.

Berytech is a leading organization in the Entrepreneurial Eco-system in Lebanon that has been working on the Agrifood sector mainly through the Agrytech program and the establishment of the QOOT Cluster which aims to support innovation in the Agri-food sector, improve its competitiveness and expand employment opportunities. Since then, several programs have been developed and implemented targeting the sector and SMEs resilience and growth.

Spread over 18 months, the programme aims to enhance competitiveness, efficiency and resilience of cooperatives and SMEs working across different streams of the food, supporting around 30 Cooperatives and SMEs with financial, technical, and in-kind support to improve performance and inclusiveness of food systems.

Berytech has launched recently the call for applications. Twenty SMEs and cooperatives are expected to be shortlisted.

These shortlisted entities will be requested to submit a full proposal where they will justify their path to growth and how they intend to use the grant to achieve the needed impact.

Berytech seeks external business consultants to support the SMEs and cooperatives in developing the proposals and ensuring it covers all details. This will provide equal chances to all applicants and will allow the less experienced SMEs and Cooperatives to build their capacities in terms of application submission process.

A jury will then select ten beneficiaries to constitute the first batch of the programme.

The consultants will work under the overall direct guidance of the Program Director, in close coordination with Agri-Food Specialists. The key activities should include:   

• Provide advices and counsels to the SMEs and cooperatives regarding the application process
• Identify areas of weaknesses in the applications (business analysis, business plan, etc) and support the SMEs and cooperatives in fixing them and developing a full and comprehensive application.
• Assist the SMEs and cooperatives in writing the applications, where needed

Applicants must fulfill the following requirements:

• Be able to comply with national fiscal context and rules for receipt of international funds.
• BSc/BA diploma in management or a relevant field; MSc/MA is a plus
• 3 to 5 years of experience in the business consultancy field
• Proven experience in working on similar projects preferably within the Agri-Food
• Excellent moderation skills
• Excellent English writing skills

Work will start on October 18, 2021 and deliverables should be submitted by October   29 at most. Total budget per submitted application is 300$.

Candidates should submit the following documents:

• Technical (maximum 2 pages) describing the methodology to conduct the work based on the content suggested in section: “Objectives and key activities”, elaborating it further.
• Profile and project references (maximum 2 pages): the consultant(s) should submit a brief explanation of the candidate (CVs shall be included as annex) and project references on the topic.

Important :

The header of the offer must clearly note the candidate data (Name, address, country, telephone, email and fiscal identity number or other official number).