Consultant, Groundnut Sourcing Strategy for Emzor at Mercy Corps Nigeria (Lagos, Kano and Northeast)

Mercy Corps is a leading global organization powered by the belief that a better world is possible. In disaster, in hardship, in more than 40 countries around the world, we partner to put bold solutions into action helping people triumph over adversity and build stronger communities from within. Now, and for the future.

We invite applications for

Title: Consultant for Groundnut Sourcing Strategy for Emzor

Locations: Lagos, Kano and Northeast Nigeria
Employment Type: Contract
Contract Duration: 4 months (Aug–November 2023).

Background

• Emzor is a private indigenous pharma manufacturing group and a market leader in manufacturing pharmaceuticals, Ready-to-Use Foods (RUF), and other nutrition-enhanced foods.
• The company specializes in manufacturing nutritional foods to tackle malnutrition in vulnerable populations. Emzor, founded in 1984, has been dedicated to the fight against malnutrition. Currently, the firm is in the final stages of being certified to supply institutional customers with RUTF. The facility can also produce ready-to-use supplementary foods and commercial products for the mass market in Nigeria. About a 1.7million of Nigerian children suffer from severe acute malnutrition, and close to a third of the 10 million under-5-age children suffer from chronic malnutrition.
• Groundnuts (peanut paste) comprise up to 50% of the raw materials in manufacturing RUFs. The company imports most of its raw materials, making it a high-cost manufacturer. To reduce its production cost, Emzor is exploring a local groundnut sourcing alternative to complement the imported ones.
• Mercy Corps is a thought leader on resilience, systems thinking, and food security in fragile and conflict-affected markets. Mercy Corps and its consortium partners, International Fertilizer Development Centre and Save the Children, are implementing the Feed the Future Nigeria Rural Resilience Activity (RRA), a USAID-funded project in Northeast Nigeria. This 5-year project directly benefits more than 600,000 individuals.
• The project contributes to the economic recovery in the Northeast by stimulating inclusive, resilient market systems that consider the challenges and constraints of the Northeast; moving individuals and households out of chronic vulnerability can transform the Northeast’s economy.
• The project leverages a strategy of reducing hunger and improving nutrition, especially among mothers and children. It acknowledges that lasting change requires progress driven by private sector investment and robust market systems to achieve this. RRA works closely with the private sector to foster economic growth and establish well-functioning, connected markets.

Scope of Work

• Access to quality and affordable nutritionally enhanced foods can influence household food and nutrition security and increase household well-being and income. Access to locally sourced raw materials, especially groundnuts, is the most significant constraint to production.
• Emzor imports its groundnuts and other raw materials for manufacturing the RUTF locally from Argentina, India, etc.
• The company currently has an installed capacity of 1440MT per annum and hopes to use it optimally after the certification process. Emzor will start locally sourcing groundnuts to produce RUTF and other nutritional products. The company intends to source 700 MT per year of high-quality groundnuts locally (at least 80% of its groundnut requirement).
• The firm expects to grow this over time by 30% yearly until it fully replaces imported groundnuts with locally sourced products.
• In partnership with RRA, Emzor seeks a consultant to develop a grain sourcing strategy that guarantees quality, quantity, and competitive price points.

We hypothesize three models/groundnut sourcing options:

• Sourcing Option 1: Emzor works directly with existing producer groups to secure grain quality and quantity.
• Sourcing Option 2: Emzor partners with several medium-scale grain aggregators to source grains from farmers.
• Sourcing Option 3: Emzor contracts one or two large grain off-taker to source grains on their behalf.
• Given that quality must be guaranteed for the manufacturing of RUTF, the above grain sourcing models should yield quantity, quality, and price competitiveness. The overarching questions are: Which grain sourcing model guarantees Emzor the required quality and quantity of groundnuts? What could be the associated risks? The consultant shall provide for each model; the consultant will make a sensitivity analysis of the benefits, costs, and related risks.

Consultant Objectives
The study is expected to consist of three parts, which will include the following tasks:

Part 1: Inception phase (1 – 2 Weeks):

• Introduction to Emzor team: As part of the first phase, the consulting firm shall meet with the Emzor leadership team. The preliminary consultations/meetings aim to onboard the consultant and gain access to the existing raw materials sourcing models and information on products (space, time, and form) to understand the price points.
• Design analytical instruments: In cooperation with Emzor, the consultant will design analytical instruments to collect data and generate insights for analyzing each model. Where relevant, these instruments should draw on previously used tools from the company and other actors.
• Develop and discuss the set of assumptions that would inform the model analysis.

Part 2: Sensitivity Analysis (3 – 4 Weeks):

• The consultancy firm shall collect data to perform the actual analysis. The consultant is expected to conduct a sensitivity analysis for each model, determining how targeted models are projected to yield. For each model, the analysis output should predict the outcome of a decision given a specific range of variables.
• Develop financial models for each grain sourcing model to inform the analysis.
• For the model that yields the best returns to Emzor, the consultant shall develop a grain sourcing market strategy to articulate its value proposition to its suppliers.
• The consultant analysis shall consider risk profiles for the selected model and associated costs for quality management.
• As part of the strategy, the consultant shall analyze the preferred grain contracts, including suppliers' pricing, delivery, and contracting choices. The best option will depend on crop conditions, location, and how much risk Emzor is prepared to take.
• The consultant shall analyze a variety of financial and market variables that will influence whether Emzor should store grain and for how long. Some variables include commodity price fluctuations, basis trends, short- and long-term interest rates, storage facility costs, etc.

Part 3: Finalization of the grain sourcing strategy (Weeks 5 – 7)

• The consultant shall present the market strategy and financial model in a sense-making session to Emzor. The consultant will show the results of Part 3, in cooperation with the Emzor team, and identify the cost-efficient model, risk profile, and grain sourcing strategy.
• Finalize report, business model, and financials.

Consultant’s Deliverables
The Consultant will conduct the following tasks:

Timeframe / Schedule:

• The assignment timeframe will begin upon signing the contract for four (4) calendar months, starting from July 2023. Applicants shall adhere to this timeline while developing the work plan in the technical proposal.
• 4 months (Aug–November 2023).

The Consultant will report to:

• The consultant will report to Emzor’s Management and the Rural Resilience Activity on all aspects of processes and deliverables.

Qualifications, Skills, and Experience

• 10-15 years of experience in a relevant technical field (required)
• Master's degree in business, supply chain management, industrial engineering, or similar
• Experience in shaping a resilient supply chain aims to minimize the negative impacts of inevitable disruptions on customers, costs, and profits.
• Experience, first and foremost, all aspects of supply chain management.
• Management capability to identify the vital decisions and execute the resulting actions.
• Excellent communication skills are a prerequisite.
• Supply chains have people at their centers. Sorting out issues means being fully understood and listening to and comprehending the position of other parties.
• Skills are critical for quickly grasping the core issues of a situation. That covers business scenarios, knowing what numbers to look for, and extrapolating the correct inferences from a data set.
• Negotiating capability underpins much of a consultant’s work. The idea is to achieve outcomes that represent a win for all parties.
• IT expertise to assess how technology is being used to map processes and the capability to use existing client systems as a user.

Application Closing Date
3rd August, 2023.

Method of Application
Interested consultants, consulting teams, or consulting firms should send a technical and financial proposal to: ng-gmbprocurement@mercycorps.org using the position as the subject of the of the mail.

Note
Thus, financial proposals should focus more on the overall daily rates and other related cost:

In addition to the technical and financial proposal, expressions of interest should include the following:

• For consulting firms, company profiles demonstrating relevant qualifications, skills, and experience of similar assignments conducted by the firm, or CVs of individuals representing the consulting firm on this assignment. Please note that firms are allowed to collaborate with other firms to deliver this assignment, however, payments for any services will be to one firm and not multiple firms.
• For consulting teams and individual consultants, CVs of Consultant or members of the Consulting team demonstrating relevant qualifications, skills, and experience.
• Samples of evidence of previous experience in conducting similar assignments
• A work plan showing an indicative timeline for each part of the assignment.
• Daily rate/fees.

Payment Terms
Consultants(s) or firms will be engaged based on previous relevant experience and will be remunerated on a daily rate as approved in Mercy Corps procurement policy.