The Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) has secured credit from the International Development Association (IDA) toward the cost of the Transforming Irrigation Management in Nigeria (TRIMING) Project, and it intends to apply half of the credit proceeds to consultancy services in the form of individual consultants.

Consultancy Vacancy: Workshop and Equipment Manager

Reference No: FMWR / TRIMING / 2020 / INDV / CS / 02
Location options: Kano / Jigawa / Zamfara / Sokoto
Project title: Transforming Irrigation Management in Nigeria
Project ID No: P123112

Assignment Background

  • TRIMING is seeking individual Professional Experts (Consultants) in the above field, with expertise in financing operations connected with running Farmers Management and Service Delivery Centers at its project sites. These are the Kano River Irrigation Scheme (KRIS) at Kadawa in Kano State; the Hadejia Valley Irrigation Scheme (HVIS) at Auyo in Jigawa State; the Bakalori Irrigation Scheme (BIS) at Talata Mafara in Zamfara State; and the Middle Rima Valley Irrigation Scheme (MRVIS) at Goronyo in Sokoto State.
  • Working as a team under their respective FMC Boards of Trustees (BoTs), the individual consultants will mainly support the TRIMING Project Management Unit (PMU) in managing the Farmers Management and Service Delivery Centers at each project site.
  • The four Farmer Management and Service Delivery Centers (FMCs) were registered as companies limited by shares under Nigeria’s Companies and Allied Matters Act of 1990 (CAMA).

Purpose and Duration

  • The FMCs are meant to tackle problems facing small-scale farmers in the four irrigation schemes: BIS, HVIS, KRIS and MRIS. The constraints identified include, but are not limited to, access to quality inputs, mechanization services, advisory services and credit.
  • The FMCs are also expected to serve as catalysts that strengthen the managerial capacity of cooperatives of smallholder farmers and apex cooperatives, which hold the majority of shares in the FMCs.
  • Their goal is to make irrigation agriculture a commercially viable investment, leading to higher productivity, fewer post-harvest losses, better commodity quality and a marketing system that is more efficient and easier to predict.
  • The FMCs are further expected to widen farmers’ access to financial services.
  • Individual subject matter consultants on this project will be engaged for an initial period of two (2) years. The engagement may be renewed annually for the project’s duration, provided work requirements are met and performance is satisfactory.

What the FMCs Will Do

Working with the National Project Coordinator (NPC), the FMCs will perform the following functions, among others:

  • Develop warehouses and pack houses for tomatoes to attract strong off-taker interest and to support cleaning, grading, insurance, farmers’ access to credit through the warehouse receipt system, long-term storage and better quality of onward supply. Warehousing is also expected to help cushion prices for paddy farmers.
  • Facilitate input supply and support the growth of agro-dealers.
  • Facilitate mechanization services.
  • Facilitate finance for scheme value chains.
  • Facilitate markets in support of long-term offtake contracts and to help build market systems that are more competitive, inclusive and resilient.
  • Provide technical and advisory services—extension services, business development, accounting and bookkeeping—to cooperatives and others.

Duties and Responsibilities

The post holder will assist the overall supervisor with the development and administration of infrastructure for intensive commercial farming and with making relevant inputs and mechanization services easier to obtain. The Workshop and Equipment Manager will:

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  • Establish and maintain an inventory of FMC assets.
  • Monitor and facilitate maintenance of existing infrastructure, including pack houses, warehouses and other facilities, as well as equipment, to support efficient and profitable estate management.
  • Work closely with other managers to plan infrastructure and facility development for the scheme so that its economic and social viability is sustained.
  • Support sector-level cooperatives in managing land preparation and procuring suitable equipment, services and other supplies.
  • Identify facility needs and, with the overall supervisor, help provide them by exploring various public-private partnership models.
  • Manage regular and systematic procurement of agricultural inputs, including equipment, tools and agrochemicals.
  • Oversee equipment and ensure it is maintained.
  • Facilitate the establishment of demonstration plots in partnership with input suppliers and technology suppliers.

Qualifications Required

  • A first degree or diploma in Mechanical Engineering or Agriculture, plus five years’ experience in an agricultural mechanization firm or a commercial agriculture enterprise.

Expression of Interest and Shortlisting

  • Interested individual consultants should submit a Curriculum Vitae (CV) with all required documents attached, including copies of engagement letters and other supporting information showing that they have the qualifications and relevant experience needed for the assignment.

The shortlisting criteria are:

  • Evidence of the consultant’s general qualifications (education, training and work experience).
  • Suitability for the assignment: evidence of basic expertise in the areas listed above.
  • Evidence of specific expertise in the relevant field—generally administration, workshop/equipment administration and administration/finance or related fields—as applicable to the area of expertise.
  • Proven expertise in project management, administration and financing, particularly in Nigeria’s private sector.

Remuneration Package

Negotiable.

Application Deadline

2:00 p.m. (Nigerian local time) on 7 August 2020.

How to Submit an Application

Interested and qualified candidates should submit an expression of interest by email or hard copy, with all relevant documents, to the address below, depending on their location:

ATTN: National Project Coordinator,
Transforming Irrigation Management in Nigeria Project,
Federal Ministry of Water Resources,
Plot 1402, Abba Kyari Street, Off Adesoji Aderemi Street,
Apo – Abuja, Nigeria.
Tel: +2348038391469, +2348052048706.

Important Information for Applicants

  • Consultants’ attention is drawn to paragraph 1.9 of the World Bank’s Guidelines: Selection and Employment of Consultants (under IBRD Loans and IDA Credit and Grants) by World Bank Borrowers, January 2011 version and revised in July 2014 (Consultants Guidelines), which sets out the World Bank Policy on Conflict of Interest.
  • Interested consultants may obtain further information from the address above during office hours, 08:00 to 17:00 (local time, Monday to Friday), and/or send an email to the National Project Coordinator at [email protected].
  • The detailed Terms of Reference (ToR) for the position can be found at www.triming.org.
  • Each successful candidate must arrange for his or her personal security while carrying out official duties.