Biovision Africa Trust : Consultancy Of The Development Of The African Union Ecological Organic Agriculture Initiative Strategy And Action Plan (2026-2036)

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1. INTRODUCTION

Biovision Africa Trust, through the AU EOA Initiative Secretariat, seeks to recruit a qualified and competent consultant to facilitate the development of the EOA-I Strategy and Action Plan for the period 2026-2036.

2. ABOUT BIOVISION AFRICA TRUST AND THE EOA INITIATIVE

Biovision Africa Trust (BvAT) is a not-for-profit organization established in Kenya in 2009 by the Biovision Foundation for ecological development in Switzerland and hosted by the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (icipe) in Nairobi. The Trust’s goal is to alleviate poverty and improve the livelihoods of smallholder farmers in Kenya and other African countries through supporting the dissemination of information and knowledge on appropriate technologies on human, animal, plant, and environmental health and building the capacity of farmers and partners for the ecological transformation of African agriculture and food systems.

BvAT currently has four main programmes through which the mission is undertaken. The Farmer Communication Programme (FCP), the Ecological Organic Agriculture Initiative (EOA-I), the Knowledge Centre for Organic Agriculture and Agroecology (KCOAA) with focus on the Eastern Africa Knowledge Hib and the Agroecology Promotion Programme. The FCP consists of five pathways through which ecological-based technologies and practices are disseminated to smallholder farmers, namely the Print (The Organic Farmer Magazine mainly for Kenya and Mkulima Mbunifu Magazine for Tanzania), the Radio (The Organic Farmer Radio), Online (Infonet-Biovision platform), dissemination of digitized content through digital platforms, and the Outreach.

The African Union Ecological Organic Agriculture Initiative (EOA-I) is a response to the implementation of the decision adopted in January 2011 (EX. Cl/ Dec.621 (xvii) by the African Union Heads of State and Government addressing the challenges facing the organic sub-sector. The overall goal of the initiative is to mainstream ecological organic agriculture into national agri-food systems by 2025 to improve the quality of life for all African citizens. In 2019, the African Union Specialized Technical Committee (STC) on Agriculture, Rural Development, Water and Environment endorsed Biovision Africa Trust (BvAT) to host its Africa Secretariat and BvAT signed an MOU with the AU in October 2022 to strengthen the collaboration.

Development Goal

The EOAI aims to transform and create sustainable food systems through promoting ecologically sound strategies and practices among diverse stakeholders in production, processing, marketing, and policy making, to safeguard the environment, improve livelihoods, alleviate poverty, and guarantee food security.

The initiative’s overall goal is to mainstream EOA into national agricultural production systems by 2025, improving agricultural productivity, food security, access to markets, and sustainable development in Africa.

Objectives of the EOA Initiative

1. Increase documentation of information and knowledge on organic agricultural products along the complete value chain and support relevant actors in translating it into practices and wide application.
2. To systematically inform producers about the EOA approaches and good practices and motivate their uptake through strengthening access to advisory and support services.
3. To substantially increase the share of quality organic products at the local, national, and regional markets; and
4. Strengthen inclusive stakeholder engagement in organic commodities value chain development by developing national, regional, and continental multi-stakeholder platforms to advocate for changes in public policy, plans, and practices.

The current pillars of the EOA Initiative are.

1. Research, Training, and Extension
2. Information and Communication
3. Value Chain and Market Development
4. Networking and Partnerships
5. Policy and Programme Development
6. Institutional Capacity Development

A review of the EOA Initiative Strategic Plan (2015-2025) has been conducted to inform the development and growth of the EOA Initiative in Africa. The review shows how much the strategy and action plan have contributed to resilient and vibrant Ecological Organic Agricultural (EOA) systems for enhanced food and nutrition security, as well as sustainable development in Africa. The report is published on the EOA-I website (Biovision Africa Trust – EOAI-AFRICA).
The next 10-year EOAI Strategy and Action Plan coincides with CAADP’s new strategic planning period (2025-2036) based on the Post Malabo strategy plan and endorsed during the Kampala Declaration in January 2025. The new EOAI strategy will also draw from the commitments of the Nairobi 2024 Declaration underpinning the Africa Fertilizer and Soil Health Summit (AFSHS), which put soil health as a key ingredient for resilient production systems in Africa, the AU Agenda 2063, SDGs among other national, continental and global commitments and declarations.

3. OBJECTIVE OF THE CONSULTANCY

The purpose of this consultancy is to facilitate the development of the 2026 – 2036 Strategy and Action Plan (SAP). The SAP will ensure management, coordination, accountability, tracking performance metrics, and improvement in food systems transformations, ensuring measurable and sustainable results.

SCOPE OF WORK
The task will involve the development of EOAI SAP for the period 2026 – 2036 and it considers cost structure, financial plans (immediate, medium, and long-term) and fundraising strategy, grant management, training, on-site mentorship, communication strategy, and monitoring and evaluation.
The main tasks of this consultancy are:

1. Synthesize findings and recommendations of the review report of the EOA 2015-2025 Strategic Plan and Action Plan to pull out elements for consideration in the 2026-2036 EOA-I SAP. Additionally, to review the vision, mission, implementation pillars and strategies based on research on evolving Member States’ needs, external and internal environment audits, Key Performance Indicator (KPI) analysis, and sustainability analysis.
2. Review the Theory of change (TOC) and the resource mobilization strategy for the previous strategic period.
3. Propose strategies for achieving strategic objectives and key results based on the food systems transformation agenda guided by global aspirations.
4. Develop a monitoring framework for the next 5 years to include a dashboard/tracker/scorecard for EOA/Agroecology activities.
5. Produce a draft EOA-I SAP and supportive documents capturing key elements for the subsequent operational strategy implementation, resource mobilization strategy, organizational management structure, and monitoring and evaluation.
6. Facilitate stakeholders’ validation workshops as guided by the Secretariat to validate the new Strategy and Action Plan.

Finalize the Strategy and Action Plan and submit it to BvAT. The successful consultant will be expected to propose other aspects that could be valuable for preparing the EOA-I and its Secretariat to perform better in its next strategic phase.

4. ASSIGNMENT IMPLEMENTATION

4.1 Methodology

The framework for undertaking the tasks should recognize the multiple dimensions of capacity needed to enable the EOA-I to achieve high-level results effectively, motivate national key stakeholders (farmers, public, private sector and civil society), safeguard donor resources, and positively impact its programmes and grantees, and partners. It should go beyond organizational capacity assessment (governance, structures, processes, among others) to include the broader context and environment within which the Initiative operates (i.e. political, economic, social contexts).
Specifically, the methodology should include:

1. A meta-synthesis of the review report of the EOAI current (2015 – 2025) Strategic Plan, Phase I and Phase II Pro-Doc, OCA report of 2020, EOA project annual reports, evaluation reports for Phase I and Phase II, study reports, and all other relevant documents.
2. Participatory and consultative assessment of the institutional capacity and performance, including governance, structural and programme management, systems, processes, and controls (Administration, HR, finance, procurement, etc.), and personnel capacity to effectively implement the next EOA-I SAP.
3. Engagement with selected partners working within the structures of the Initiative and other target populations or working on similar issues in different communities to understand needs and improvements in service delivery by the Initiative.
4. Workshops, Key Informant Interviews, Focused Group Discussions, and other one-on-one meetings
5. Any other methodology deemed appropriate for achieving task objectives.

4.2 Deliverables & Timelines:

The consultant will be expected to deliver the following:

1. Inception report
2. An EOA-I operational Strategy and Action Plan for the period 2026 – 2036, including a Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning framework.
3. Business Plan for implementing the EOA-I Strategic Plan 2026 – 2036.

The assignment will be output-based, and the contract is expected to run from July to September 2025.

4.3 Supervision

The work will be supervised by the Executive Director (ED), with support from the African Union EOA-I Secretariat Coordinator, and will be conducted in close consultation with the Chair of the African Union Continental Steering Committee (CSC), guided by the contract and deliverables.

4.4 Reporting

The Consultant will report to the Executive Director (ED) as per the agreed work plan and contract deliverables.

5. QUALIFICATIONS

This consultancy will be conducted by a consultant or team of consultants, with the team leader and partners having the following main qualifications and competencies:

• At least a master’s degree or equivalent with a major in a relevant field in strategic management and planning, public policy, organizational development, sustainable development studies (or related social sciences.
• Demonstrable experience of over 10 years in strategic planning and management, designing and successfully delivering technical and institutional capacity enhancement initiatives with public and civil society institutions and other recipients of donor-funded programmes.
• Demonstrated ability to assess complex situations, to analyze critical issues succinctly and clearly, and draw conclusions and recommendations.
• Proven in-depth understanding and consulting experiences on institutional set-up of organizations and complex development programmes.
• Substantive knowledge of participatory Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL) processes and experience with multistakeholder/community development interventions.
• The proposed team must demonstrate hands-on experience in carrying out similar assignments, preferably in all 5 political regions of Africa.
• Excellent English and French, writing, analytical, and communication skills.

6. HOW TO APPLY

Interested candidates should submit the following:

1. Technical proposal indicating your understanding of the assignment, a clear methodology, and a work plan demonstrating how you will handle all the tasks in a reasonable sequence leading to deliverables with detail and satisfactory completion.
2. Financial proposal showing the total cost of conducting the consultancy, including a breakdown of costs (by man-days for each team member), travel, and other expenses.
3. At least one report of a similar assignment conducted in the past five years.
4. Detailed curriculum vitae of the main consultant and key qualifications and strengths of other team members to be involved in the assignment.
5. Names and contacts of three referees (phone numbers and email).

A one-page write-up indicating why you consider yourself the most suitable for the consultancy. Electronic copies shall be sent to [email protected] with the subject: Consultancy for the African Union EOA-I 2026-2036 SAP development, by no later than June 24, 2025.

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