Overview
| Title: | Ecosystem mapping for selected Agricultural commodities in Mizoram |
| End Date: | 11-03-2023 |
| Timeline: | 3 months |
| Email and website: | procurement@selcofoundation.org |
| Call for proposal: | Research and Documentation |
| Preferred Geography: | Mizoram |
Goal: Detailed analysis of Agriculture value chain emphasising the SDGs
- Understand current scenario in Mizoram on production, productivity and processing within Agriculture value chain
- Map Ecosystem, stakeholders (Govt/CBOs/NGOs/MFIs/FIs), their ongoing interventions aligned with Agriculture and allied activities as priority areas.
- Estimate demand and potential impact of DRE technologies on select commodities
- Map synergies with government and FI programmes / schemes for strengthening the sectors and livelihoods within the value chains in Mizoram.
Expected Timeline: 3 months - Mar 15th 2023 to May 15th 2023
Context for the project:
“Around 65% of the population of Mizoram depended on the Primary Sector comprising agriculture & allied activities agriculture which contributed to only 31.72% (2016-17) to the GSVA.”
Jhum cultivation, the main method of cultivation in Mizoram, is a primitive practice of cultivation in the States of North Eastern Hill Region and tribal areas of India. The practice involves first clearing of vegetation/forest cover, drying, burning it before onset of monsoon, and growing crops on it. After harvest, this land is left fallow and vegetative regeneration is allowed on it till the land becomes reusable. Initially, the Jhumcycle was long (15-25 years), but it was reduced to 5-6 years which pose the problem of land degradation and threat to ecology.
Supported by the wide agro- climatic variation of Mizoram and good genetic diversity, there is good scope for an alternative farming system based on horticultural crops such as fruits, orange, banana, passion fruit, pineapple, and areca, turmeric, and bird’s eye chilli etc. In Spite of the effort taken by the state government as well the farmers there is still a huge gap between effort and the outcome of the agri and allied cultivation. As per the state government (Planning & Programme Implementation Department) study , it is known that of the total state population which is 1.27 million, around 65% depends on the Primary Sector comprising agriculture & allied activities agriculture which contributed to only 31.72% (2016- 17) to the GSVA.”
The main factors contributing to this huge gap in the entire agriculture value chain are as follows:
- Involvement of a middle man: The farmers are highly dependent on the middlemen during the time of harvest and post-harvest. The reason being, farmers lack a proper storage system or cold storage to stock their surplus commodities during the time of harvest. So, the only option they have is to sell it to the middleman while their commodities are in good condition. The unfortunate situation of the farmers provides the upper hand to the middleman in deciding the price of the commodities. During the time of off season, the middlemen again sell the same commodities to the state with a higher price.
- Lack of processing unit for value addition: Mizoram has a vast opportunity for processing units (small or large scale) proving more than half of the population engage in agri and allied activities. There are a couple of processing units such as Zoram Mega Food Park and others which are primarily concentrated in Aizawl, the state capital. Considering the hilly terrain and poor road conditions, it is a challenge for the farmers (most reside in rural parts of the state) to have access to such facilities. This is one way or the other leads to dependency of farmers to the middlemen as the middlemen collect the agriculture crops from the agriculture field itself.
This study would help us understand the gap of input and output of the farmers as mentioned above, keeping the rural farmers at the centre piece how should various stakeholders (including the state government, Financial Institution , NGOs, entrepreneurs and individual champion) plays role in building a comprehensive ecosystem of agricultural value chain in Mizoram which specific focus on sustainable energy driven Agri-livelihoods.
Goal
The project seeks to identify the potential for sustainable energy driven Agri-livelihoods in Mizoram. It intends to derive the scope for technology innovation specific to Agriculture value chains in order to enable access to more sustainable, reliable and affordable local infrastructure to the community needs.
Scope of work for Ecosystem mapping:
- Conduct a Primary and secondary scoping of the value chains present in Mizoram, on the basis of which, prioritization of 3-4 value chains needs to be done for a deep dive understanding;
- undertake a desk review of relevant activities conducted by government or other development partners on the selected commodity value chains;
- undertake a desk review of public-private engagement platforms for market-based value chain strategic planning;
- Conduct value chain analysis for the selected commodities. The value chain assessments will entail: the agronomic production profiles (e.g. agricultural products, flow of funds and information, etc.); functional analysis of each value chain (profiling of industry structure, adoption of skills, technology and innovation); climate change implications; economic analysis of potential opportunities to add value along the chain; and policy and institutional conditions necessary to create suitable enabling environment for value chain development;
- Conduct assessments of demand and market conditions for products within selected value chains including analysis of input and output markets, their structure and dynamics between actors, procurement processes, related standards, existence of monopolies, identification of lead firms, etc.
- Based on the above tasks, identify constraints and barriers (financial, technology, infrastructure, human resources/skills, marketing, regulatory, policy, institutional) that must be addressed to enable the development of the value chains;
- Develop suitable agribusiness financing models that also address climate related risks;
- consolidate the outcome of the above tasks and prepare document of strategies and action plans;
Key Activities:
- Conduct secondary desk research on the commodity
- Conduct primary research doing site visits, case analysis, meeting key stakeholders
- Develop baseline questionnaires/ templates of aspects to be covered (End user level, Value chain level etc.)
- Choosing sample size (min. 20 in each value chain) and identifying sites for baseline assessment in partnership with local partners and key stakeholders
- Data collection and analysis from baseline sites to arrive at demand estimates & potential SDG7 interventions.
- Mapping local stakeholders that enable specific livelihood Institutional Linkages and their ongoing work that is relevant to integration of decentralized RE solutions
- Collation of learnings, results from research, visits, baseline and ecosystem mapping for review and feedback.
- Identify and mapping of both solar and agri technology providers
Indicative methodology:
Combination of primary and secondary research, Surveys/ questionnaires, key informant interviews, consultation & analysis.
Expected Deliverables:
1. Report and slide deck on Agriculture Value chain analysis: including
- Levels/ process and activities in each phase, Key challenges faced- climate related, energy related and non-energy
- Energy needs, infrastructure and cooling needs if any; + Potential solutions (Testing/ pilot/ replication/ scale)
- Nodal points, Prominent schemes for that value chain within the district, Key ecosystem stakeholders for that value chain across:
- End-user facilitation groups: Agri cooperatives, SHGs, Federation, Producer Groups, Village Organizations FPOs/ FPCs, NGOs,
- Technology: Energy Entrepreneurs, Tech Enterprises,
- Skill development institutions: KVKs, ITIs, Local NGOs, DATC
- Government Departments and schemes (Credit linked schemes + other department schemes)
- Financial Inclusion stakeholders (Bankers, SFAC, NABARD)
- NGOs and CBOs: facilitating input-market linkages
2. Slide deck compilation of sample end-user profiles
- Location, Climate risks, Livelihood, Socio-economic vulnerability
- Typical end-user typologies (eg: individual farmer, SHG, Farmer group etc.) for each sub sectors/ priority value chains
- Income levels, activities undertaken, Production, Business model and cash flow
- Energy infrastructure: current and needs (including cooling); Sources and usage, Energy expenditures
- Individual ecosystem: access to Financing, Market linkages + inputs, Entrepreneurial ability,
3. Report/ Deck summarizing baseline scenario and demand estimation for SDG7 interventions for key nodal points within each priority value chain (building on above two)
4. Associated data sheets and interview summaries from Baseline
5. Participation and presentation of,
- Initial study plans and feedback
- Draft sector level baselines and ecosystem to be presented and reviewed
- Final reports
PROCESS
Agencies are requested to submit separate PDF documents for all of the above and name the file –Proposal SF Ecosystem mapping Agricultural commodities in Mizoram (Agency Name) _DD/MM/YYYY. We request you to submit your proposal by 11/03/2023 to Procurement@selcofoundation.org
The proposal needs to include CVs of key personnel, organizational credentials, data collection capabilities in specified geographies, and detailed costing. Please include a Gantt chart showing timelines and dependencies as well. The proposal should include the following elements:
- A Cover page
- B Technical Proposal
- a Agency profile
- b Evaluation approach, methodology
- c Team and person-days
- d Tentative timeline of activities
- e Resumes of team leader and team members
- f Short descriptions of other relevant projects done
- g Sample reports of previous work with relevant scope
- C Financial Proposal
The agency is requested to send a proposal with a break up of activities as per each objective