Consultant, Ghana Fertilizer Platform - IFDC

Over the past decade or so Ghana has embarked on an agenda to develop its fertilizer sector. Different initiatives have sought to improve fertilizer consumption and use through several subsidy programs for farmers and the formulation of a fertilizer policy to guide fertilizer production, marketing and quality control. The realization of a need to harmonize all these efforts has led to the formation of a Team tasked to develop a Fertilizer Expansion Program for the country. This program will focus on developing the fertilizer industrial sector, developing and optimizing the value chain and creating demand for fertilizers. Currently a 5-year development Plan is being finalized for execution.It has been proposed that to drive this Expansion program, the current Task team should be constituted into a National Fertilizer Platform with the commitment and participation of government, private sector, research and all relevant stakeholders in the fertilizer value chain.However, how it can be organized or structured, who the stakeholders will be and their roles, how to ensure representativeness, how to coordinate and fund its activities and how to govern such a platform are issues that remain unanswered.In Africa such Multi-stakeholder and Public-Private dialogue Platforms do exist and are operational (e.g. the Kenya Fertilizer Platform, AMOFERT in Mozambique).Thus, Ghana can study and learn from these examples in order to draw useful lessons on what could work and how. It is also important to analyze whether the necessary conditions for success are in place or what may be required to make such a platform achieve its objectives.ObjectivesThe proposed study will seek to:

• Describe the current situation existing in the fertilizer sector, (challenges, constraints and opportunities for developing the industry; the goals and functioning of the current fertilizer task force and other relevant bodies, groups, associations, platforms active in this sector; how actors discuss/align their activities).
• Identify and compare different formats used by other fertilizer Platforms in the sub region and analyze possible formats of platforms that could be used in the case of Ghana;

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• Conduct a desk review of other successful platforms, associations, beyond the fertilizer sector (e.g. agricultural commodity platforms; interbranch organizations; alliances); conduct interviews when useful.
• Identify all the relevant stakeholders required for the effective functioning of such a Platform, their interests in participating and determine the possible goals for such a platform to pursue.
• Bring all identified stakeholders together in a roundtable for open discussions and brainstorming on their perceptions about how this platform could function. This could be facilitated by some persons with skills and experience in designing Multi-stakeholder platforms. This should result in agreements between stakeholders on the goal and format for the Platform including other importance aspects such how to ensure inclusiveness, transparency, accountability etc.
• Produce a report describing how a National Fertilizer Platform could be designed and developed for the Ghanaian context.

The following methods will be used for achieving the objectives of the study:Objective (i): Desk review of relevant policy documents, reports, Ghana country studies on the fertilizer sector.Objectives (ii) (iii): Literature review and Desk reviews of fertilizer and other multi-stakeholder platforms existing in the sub-region and globally.Objective (iv): Key informant interviews of members of Fertilizer Task Team and other relevant actors in the Fertilizer value chain. Focus Group Interviews in cases where needed.Objective (v): Workshop/meeting with Facilitators, brain storming sessions.
Support and supervisionThe consultant will collaborate with the following projects

• FERARI
• EnGRAIS
• AfricaFertilizer.org (https://africafertilizer.org/)

The consultant will be co-supervised by the program coordinators of FERARI and EnGRAIS and staff from the University of Ghana.
Deliverables:The consultant will be expected to produce the following deliverables capturing objectives i-iv:

• A mid-term report to capture progress following the format of the final report whenever possible.
• A final report that
  • Systematically presents the outcomes of the reviews
  • Includes the questionnaires and synthesized responses from the informants
• Presents the outcomes of the workshop discussions
• A proposed action plan for development of the NFP
• The preparation of the Ghana Fertilizer roundtable to be held in (second half) of 2020

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Timing, Duration and Place of Work:The duration of this consultancy is 6 months (from Middle of January 2020 onwards). The consultant will operate in Accra, Ghana, and may be expected to travel to other regions of the country.

Closing Date of Application:January 5, 2020

Required Skills

• Master’s degree or higher in Agriculture, Ag Economics, Ag Policy, Soil Science or a related field.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills in English; French is a plus (3/5+)
• Excellent interpersonal and diplomatic skills
• Ability to work and manage the study independently
• The candidate should be a Ghanaian national

Required Experience

• At least 10 years of relevant work experience
• Proven network with stakeholders involved in the study is a plus.