Background

HarvestPlus Solutions (HPS), a not-for-profit organization, with principal offices in Washington DC, seeks the services of an Independent Contractor on a 4-month Save For Seed assignment in Malawi, covering four- five (5) districts, tentatively Mulanje, Salima, Balaka, Mchinji and Kasungu. Save for Seed is an instalment-based scheme that allows farmers to put away small amounts of deposits to purchase a bag of seed before the planting season. HarvestPlus Solutions is a facilitator of this scheme which is implemented independently by commercial banks and seed companies. The project’s overall objective shall be to enable existent Village Savings & Lending Associations (VSLAs), comprising mainly women, rural and marginalized areas to become financially included and financially literate so as to save ahead of the 2025 wet season, through formalized banking systems, for biofortified Vitamin A maize seed. The assignment if completed successfully may lead to a longer-term arrangement to cover a full implementation of the Save for Seed pilot in 2025.

In the execution of their duties, in the initial stage the Independent Contractor shall ensure the design and finalization of banking, government and social partnerships in Malawi aimed at successfully executing the Save For Seed Project across the five (5) study districts focusing mainly on women, youth and the disabled in these rural and marginalized areas. The consultant will directly report to both the Thematic Lead, HPS and Head of Innovative Financing, HarvestPlus for this assignment.

Deliverables

To achieve the above overall objective, the Independent Contractor shall be required to carry out the following between December 2024 and April 2025:

1. Working consultatively with HarvestPlus Malawi country teams and project team lead, engage New Building Society (NBS Bank), Ministry of Gender and Community Development & Social Welfare, and a strategic social partner for project partnerships finalization. The Independent Contractor shall ensure Partnership Agreements are fully executed by all parties prior to project commencement. Key Output 1: Executed agreements from partners.
2. Coordinate and lead product meetings to update the Bank and Survey Company and support their understanding of the implementation modalities. Key Output 2: Final selection of districts, draft high level workplan including strawman mapping with existent data.
3. Working with HarvestPlus Malawi country and project team lead, in conjuction with Ministry of Community Development, NBS, Bank and Social Partner, initiate and survey company to conclude the mapping exercise of Village Banking Savings & Lending Associations (VSLAs), agrodealers, and bank branches in study areas. This will involve outreach and coordination with broader stakeholders and in field random verification of data. Key Output 3: FInalized mapping of Village Banking Savings & Lending Associations (VSLAs), agrodealers, and bank branches in study areas.
4. In conjuction with the HarvestPlus Malawi country team, complete a full and detailed multi-stakeholder implementation plan, work-plans with roles and responsibilities clearly articulated and develop comprehensive GANTT Charts ahead of project roll-out. Key Output 4: Detailed final implementation plan signed off by all relevant stakeholders.
5. Refine existent Financial Inclusion, Financial Literacy and Training modules, with the inclusion of biofortification modules on Vitamin A Orange maize, working with the HarvestPlus Malawi Country and Project Lead teams, and finalize these training modules ahead of project roll-out. Consultative inputs from bank and social partners will be the responsibility of the contractor. Key Input 5: Finalized refined modules submitted and shared with all stakeholders.
6. Draw up detailed project budgets for each district (for example marketing, SMS for banks and group training for social partners) for approval by the HarvestPlus country teams and project team lead. Key Output 6: Budgets submitted for approval. Budget guidance will be taken from project leads beforehand.
7. Train bank and social partner staff through training of trainers and develop a field plan for training of groups to be completed in 6 months (May-October 2025) before the planting season, so that deposit installments can start ahead of time. This should culminate in the actual kick off of a test roll-out in a randomly selected area in each district and quickly followed by main implementation. Key output 7: Training completed with high satisfaction scored from partner staff and implementation planning finalized. Test roll outs kick started in all districts.

   Preferred Qualifications

8. MBA or Masters in other quantitative discipline, such as finance, economics, CA, or commerce; significant work experience may be considered in lieu of a Masters degree
9. Retail banking background and experience with savings group implementation
10. Product development experience
11. Financial literacy training experience
12. In-country experience in Malawi
13. Detail-oriented, self-driven, ability to work independently
14. Ability to manage and work with multiple stakeholders

    To Apply

    In your application, please include:

15. Capability statement, stating experience with similar products and responsibilities
16. Two-page description of approach to roll-out phase and understanding of key outputs
17. Bid, with detailed budget
18. Proposed timeline
19. CV
20. Two references, or one if you are a previous contractor of IFPRI

    Kindly submit all documents via the IFPRI website: