The Livelihood Enhancement and Association of the Poor (LEAP) project are being implemented by the Ministry of Interior (MoI) in association with the Ministry of Agriculture, Fishery and Forestry (MAFF). The project development objectives (PDO) are to improve the access of poor, the poorest and vulnerable households in the selected communities to financial services, opportunities for generating incomes, and small-scale infrastructure. This would be achieved through the: (a) establishment of self-help groups (SHGs), savings and credit groups, producer groups, agricultural cooperatives and Commune level federations; (b) provision of capacity building and training to beneficiaries to improve their income generation activities; (c) establishment of private sector linkages to improve and expand market opportunities; and (d) identification and provision of community-based social and economic infrastructure to help improve livelihood and economic productivity of the poor (e) enhancing skills and employment opportunities for the rural poor.

Siem Reap Province (SRP) will aims to address the needs of the ID-Poor1, ID-Poor2 and other vulnerable households within 9 districts/Krong, 47 communes/Sangkats, and 390 villages in Siem Reap Province through a demand driven approach. As the predominant sources of income for these rural poor households are from agriculture, livestock and fisheries, the project will leverage the technical support of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (MAFF) and other technical service providers.

The project is divided into three main components. These are:

• Component 1: Improving Livelihoods for Rural Poor and Vulnerable Households
• Component 2: Improving Livelihoods for Urban Poor and Vulnerable Household
• Component 3: Project Management, Coordination, and Monitoring & Evaluation

The organizational structure of the project involves government implementing agencies oversight by a Project Coordination Office (PCO) located in the Ministry of Interior (MoI), and two Sub-Management Teams (SMTs) located at Siem Reap and Phnom Penh Capital Hall with District/Khan and Commune/Sangkat level facilitators.  MAFF’s General Department of Agriculture (GDA) will be the technical Implementing Agency (IA) responsible for the agriculture livelihood support for beneficiaries in Siem Reap Province.

The Project Coordination Office (PCO) will support and facilitate the executing agencies in their component implementation, and is responsible for project management, coordination, procurement and finance, reporting and communicating with the World Bank and key stakeholders.

Detailed Task:

The Consultant is expected to undertake the following tasks listed below :

1. Meeting with staffs of SRP SMT, MAFF, PDAFF, NGOs, District and Commune Staffs at project level and PGs & ACs at community level to collect relevant information with regard to study
2. Access the project MIS to collect relevant updated data relevant to study
3. Prepare a list of potential stakeholders to conduct meetings with regard to study
4. Prepare a list of different markets (small, medium and big) at different levels, exist in the Siem Reap Province and nearby Provinces and travel to these markets to carry out the study
5. Prepare a list of potential buyers in the project targeted areas (Hostels, Training Centres, Hotel & Restaurants, Corporate Offices, Wholesalers, Retailers, large buyers and any other institutions) and conduct meetings to understand the buying process, price, terms and conditions, etc.
6. Prepare a list of input markets or shops in different markets and facilitate negotiation to get inputs in lower price for the aggregated demands of PGs and ACs
7. Prepare a transport route input purchase and output selling in different months / seasons to reduce expenditure and increase profits
8. Prepare a list of buyers, who buys organic produce and offer premium price to producers
9. Prepare the process requirement such as Participatory Guarantee System (PGS) or any other for PG and AC members to get organic certification, while selling to buyers of organic produce
10. Facilitate and negotiate payment processes for institutional buyers and sellers with regard to output and input
11. Facilitate organizing buyers and sellers meet periodically before the start of livelihood activities / seasons in agriculture, livestock and handicraft; and fix the deal i.e., price negotiation as well as confirm or contract negotiation / signing for future market (means price after harvest of crop or price of livestock after reaching eligible weights / age) and specification of demanded products or contract farming as appropriate
12. Prepare a final list of potential buyers of outputs and sellers of inputs i.e., Name, Name of entity / company, Contact No., Email Id, Detail postal address once in a year for 3 year
13. Coordinate MAFF/PDAFF in development and delivery of workshop and support to ACs on business development strategies/roadmaps;
14. Identify the challenges and opportunities of products produced by PGs and ACs;
15. Provided recommendations on finding;
16. Carry out additional tasks as suggested by the project management team.

Minimum Key Qualification:

1. At least master degree in Agriculture /Rural and Community Development / Agri-Business / Business Administration / relevant field with regard to marketing.
2. At least 10 years professional experience in leading and conducting research study on market linkages, market value chain or assessment, agribusiness, business development, and public private partnership (PPP)
3. Demonstrated entrepreneurship experiences and/or business running experiences (This is too much demanding, may be kept optional)
4. Good interpersonal and communication skills and teamwork abilities
5. Has knowledge and experience in working with poor & vulnerable households.
6. Has experience in conducting studies, workshops, seminars, review meetings, annual planning exercises, etc.
7. Has experience in supporting livelihoods-based community institutions such as Agriculture Cooperatives, Producers Groups, SHGs, Farmers Clubs and local authorities.
8. Working knowledge in MS Word, MS Excel and MS Power-point, SPSS, and STATA
9. Good at in reporting & presenting both Khmer and English.