Individual Consultant - Agriculture Expert (surveys and publication)

Location :
Riyadh, SAUDI ARABIA

Application Deadline : ‎04-Jul-‎22 (Midnight New York, USA)

Time left : 4d 7h 49m

Type of Contract : Individual Contract

Post Level : International Consultant

Languages Required :
English

Starting Date :
(date when the selected candidate is expected to start) ‎01-Jul-‎2022

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender,
nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups
and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All
applications will be treated with the strictest confidence.

UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment,
including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will,
therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

Background

Post Title:
Agriculture Expert (surveys and publication)

Starting Date:
‎01/‎07/‎2022

Duration:
‎90 working days

Location:
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Project:
‎100619 - Institutional Support to Statistics

National or International consultancy:
International Consultant

General background information relevant to the assignment:
Saudi Arabia has realised and sustained, for the last four decades, remarkable
progress along the socio-economic development path. As a result of this, the
Kingdom has been able to move to a high-income country. The GDP, for instance,
increased from SR ‎156 billion in ‎1969 to SR ‎2,631 billion in ‎2018, putting the
economy among the top ‎20 global economies in terms of size. Based on the
annual ranking of the Human Development Index (HDI) of the Human Development
Report, Saudi Arabia has steadily moved from the medium human development
category in the 1990s to the very high human development category in ‎2018 at
‎0.857 value of HDI.
The Saudi Vision ‎2030 represents an ambitious resolve with long-term goals and
expectations founded on the strengths and capabilities of the Kingdom. It
covers the three themes of a vibrant society, a thriving economy and an
ambitious nation. A thorough review of the three themes and their underlying
issues of national concern would reveal a holistic approach to development
that encompasses the three dimensions of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs):
the social, the economic and the environmental. Saudi Arabia recognises that
achieving the SDGs requires rigorous, real-time and continuous monitoring for
which quality statistics is a must. The General Authority for Statistics
(GaStat) has gone through a major revision of its corporate strategy and
vision in alignment with the Saudi Vision ‎2030 and the SDGs. The revised
strategy revolves around five pillars:
Usage of statistics and information
Production of statistics and information
Application of advanced technologies in collecting and analyzing datasets
Communications and awareness towards statistical knowledge
Governance of statistical sector
Under the framework of the Institutional Support to Statistics project, UNDP
provides technical support to the GaStat to strengthen the institutional and
human capacities of the national statistical system to support evidence-based
development planning and policy-making.
Within this context, UNDP is seeking to recruit an Economist to provide
technical and advisory support to GaStat to enhance the management of
financial accounts and support the improvement of the statistical business
registers in compliance with SNA ‎2008.

Duties and Responsibilities

Scope of Work:
In order to support GSTATs in the preparation of the next three-year
Agriculture Statistics plan, UNDP is seeking a Agriculture Expert to review
the current Agriculture statistical publications.

The scope of the assignment will be to carry out the following exercises with
the objectives to improve quality of current products and develop new ones
that would help decision makers as well as Agriculture -related organizations
make sense of all Agriculture -related activities.

The Consultant will be required to:
* Provide advise and methodology of implementation for improving (data/big data/alternative) intakes to better reflect agriculture reality within the country.
* Design and review the Supply-side agriculture statistics (surveys and publication templates) and advise on a plan for its indicators (Design, data collection, processing, analyzing, and dissemination)
* Design and review the demand-side agriculture statistics (surveys and publication templates) and advise on a plan for its indicators (Design, data collection, processing, analyzing, and dissemination).
Technical support
Harmonize country statistics in accordance with internationally accepted
definitions at all levels: national, regional and global.
Design Agriculture Statistics Database platform, support the implementation,
and advise on the application of methodologies to data analysis;
Determining the adequate size for the sample considering the financial
resources , timeframe and the objectives of the survey; Designing methods for
calculating weights for survey data and estimating sampling errors;
Prepare descriptions and complete documentation of methodologies and
procedures to produce data on Agriculture.
Assemble and examine original statistical material to ensure accuracy, clarity
and validity; makes appropriate adjustments.
Prepare charts, graphs and other outputs for reporting and presentation of
various data.
Respond to internal/external requests on questions related to Agriculture
statistics.
Assist in liaising with other entities to obtain necessary statistical and
other relevant information.
Prepare data sets upon request, respond to queries/requests and
maintains/updates web pages.
Perform any other relevant tasks requested by the supervisor.

Capacity Development

In addition to delivering the abovementioned technical support, the
Agriculture Statistics Expert will advise Agriculture Statistics Department on
principles and best practice in relation to Agriculture Statistics
methodologies and frameworks.
Delivering training to Agriculture Statistics Department staff in calculating
Agriculture and maintaining Agriculture databases.
Providing coaching and on-the-job-training for the Agriculture Statistics
Department staff as needed.

Expected Deliverables and Outputs

Deliverables
Breakdown with details
Time frame

Deliverable ‎1:
Submission of first draft report Provide “Advise and methodology of
implementation for improving (data/big data/alternative) intakes to better
reflect agriculture reality within the country.
‎10 Working Days

Deliverable ‎2:
Submission of first draft of “Design and of the demand side agriculture
statistics (surveys and publication templates) and advise on a plan for its
indicators (Design, data collection, processing, analysing, and
dissemination)”
‎10 Working Days

Deliverable ‎3:
Submission of first draft of “Design and of the supply-side agriculture
statistics (surveys and publication templates) and advise on a plan for its
indicators (Design, data collection, processing, analysing, and
dissemination)”
‎10 Working Days

Deliverable ‎4:
Submission of the first draft of “design the agriculture statistics in Saudi
Arabia and align them with Supply and Demand sides, and provide a plan to
disaggregate the above in a way that single out these special agriculture
activities’ impact on the overall agriculture in Saudi Arabia.”
‎10 Working Days

Deliverable ‎5:
Learn about the concepts and latest agricultural developments and Providing
support in developing methods for implementing agricultural surveys.
‎10 Working Days

Deliverable ‎6:
Providing advice on the sampling and developing administrative publication and
questionnaires.
‎10 Working Days

Deliverable ‎7:
Providing advice on the Food budget indicator.
‎10 Working Days

Deliverable ‎8:
Providing advice on the SDGs.
‎10 Working Days

Deliverable ‎9:
Submission of all final drafts.
‎10 Working Days
Total of Working Days
90Working Days

Institutional Arrangement:
The consultant will report to the CTA
The consultant is also required to comply with the UN security directives set
forth under http://dss.un.org
The consultant will be given access to relevant information necessary for
execution of the tasks under this assignment.
The consultant is responsible for providing their own laptop computers and
mobile phones for use during this assignment; the consultant must have access
to reliable internet connection.
Payments will be made upon submission of deliverable, and certification of
payment form, and acceptance and confirmation by the supervisor.

The duration of the assignment:
The expected duration of the assignment is expected to be up to ‎3 months from
July to October ‎2022.

The duty station and expected places of travel, if any:
The duty station for the Agriculture Expert(surveys and publication) is
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
. a) UNDP will cover the cost of business class travel, as well as their
return to their home upon completion of their services. Travel costs are
covered only in the event that the function will be undertaken physically in
the duty station and excludes working from home arrangements.
b) Include any official travel expected to be associated with performing the
functions.

Reporting requirements, milestones, and payments:
All proposals must be expressed in a lump sum amount. This amount must be
“all-inclusive”. Please note that the term “all-inclusive” implies that all
costs (professional fees, living allowances, communications, consumables,
etc.) that could possibly be incurred are already factored into the final
amounts submitted in the proposal.
Payments shall be made to the individual contractor upon successful completion
and certification by UNDP that services have been satisfactorily performed,
based upon the actual number of working days.
Payment shall be made as a deliverables-based lump sum payment, to be paid in
the following instalments. The schedule of payment will be distributed upon
satisfactory submission of the deliverables listed in the table hereunder:
Payment
Deliverables
Payment Percentage
1st Payment
Submission of the first draft of “design the agriculture statistics in Saudi
Arabia and align them with Supply and Demand sides, and provide a plan to
disaggregate the above in a way that single out these special agriculture
activities’ impact on the overall agriculture in Saudi Arabia.”
‎50 %
2nd Payment
Submission of all final drafts.
‎50 %

Competencies

Functional competencies:
Proven technical and intellectual skills in understanding and interpreting
regional, national, and local social science indices.
Ability to understand and analyze and political dynamics in the region.
Demonstrated ability for facilitation and coordination skills.
Demonstrated entrepreneurial abilities and demonstrated ability to work in an
independent manner.
Background knowledge about the SDGs, United Nations and UNDP.
Good teamwork and interpersonal skills.
Flexibility and ability to handle multiple tasks and work under pressure.
Excellent drafting and formulation skills.
Excellent computer skills especially Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.

Leadership:
Demonstrated ability to think strategically and to provide credible
leadership.
Demonstrated intellectual leadership and ability to integrate green finance
with broader strategic overview and corporate vision.
Demonstrated flexibility in leadership by performing and/or overseeing the
analysis/resolution of complex issues. Ability to conceptualize and convey
strategic vision from the spectrum of development experience.

Managing Relationships:
Demonstrated ability to develop and maintain strategic.

Partnerships:
Demonstrated well developed people management and organizational management
skills.
Excellent negotiating and networking skills with strong partnerships in
academia, technical
organizations and as a recognized expert in the practice area.

Managing Complexity:
Ability to address global development issues.
Demonstrated substantive leadership and ability to integrate knowledge with
broader strategic, policy and operational objectives.

Required Skills and Experience

Required Skills and Experience:
Min. Academic Education
Advanced university degree in economics, statistics, agriculture and
hospitality development, or any other relevant fields.
Min. years of relevant Work experience
At least ‎15 years of experience in providing consultancy services on
agriculture statistics;
Required skills and competencies
Ability to provide statistical technical advice on different sectors/theme.
Ability to work on own initiative as well as a member of a team and to work
under pressure.
Excellent interpersonal skills, including the ability to establish strong
cooperative relationships with senior government officials.
Ability to work on any of the statistical packages to analyze data.
Good understanding and practice of capacity development.
Desired additional skills and competencies
Previous experience in providing advisory support on agriculture development.
Experience working with international organizations like FAO.

Required Language(s) (at working level)
Excellent command of English, Arabic is a plus
Professional Certificates
Master Degree is the minimum requiremnt
Certification of Training courses / workshops related to the field of
Agriculture
Proof of experience

H.Recommended Presentation of Offer

For purposes of generating Offers whose contents are uniformly presented and
to facilitate their comparative analysis, it is best to recommend the
preferred contents and presentation of the Offer to be submitted, as well as
the format/sequencing of their presentation. The following documents may be
requested:

Duly accomplished Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability using
the template provided by UNDP;
Personal CV or P11 , indicating all past experience from similar projects, as
well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the Candidate and
at least three (‎3) professional references;
Brief description of why the individual considers him/herself as the most
suitable for the assignment, and a methodology, if applicable, on how they
will approach and complete the assignment. A methodology is recommended for
intellectual services, but maybe omitted for support services [Note: this is
optional for support services ];
Financial Proposal that indicates the all-inclusive total contract price,
supported by a breakdown of costs, as per the template provided. The terms
“all-inclusive” implies that all costs (professional fees, travel costs,
living allowances, communications, consumables, etc.) that could possibly be
incurred are already factored into the final amounts submitted in the
Proposal. If an Offeror is employed by an organization/company/institution,
and he/she expects his/her employer to charge a management fee in the process
of releasing him/her to UNDP under the Reimbursable Loan Agreement (RLA), the
Offeror must indicate at this point and ensure that all such costs are duly
incorporated in the financial Proposal submitted to UNDP.

I.Criteria for Selection of the Best Offer

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the following methodologies:

Step I: Screening and desk review:
Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the following methodology.
Technical Criteria (CV review and Desk Review/Interview optional) – maximum ‎70
points. Only candidates who obtained at least ‎70% of points from the CV desk
review (who will score at least ‎49 points) will be considered for the next
evaluation stage, i.e., financial evaluation.
Applications will be first screened, and only candidates meeting the following
minimum criteria will progress to the pool for shortlisting:

Advanced degree, preferably a master’s level in statistics or economics with
an emphasis on statistics.
At least eight years of relevant professional experience with national
statistics offices and international organisations, with proven experience in
applying statistical techniques to design NPI surveys, measuring volunteer
work, and compiling NPISA.
Relevant working and practical experience in industry or government agencies
regionally (GCC)
Demonstrate good knowledge of economic indicators for national and local
economic trends
Excellent command of English, working knowledge of Arabic would be considered
an asset.
Excellent presentation, communication, and organizational skills

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of ‎49 points (‎70% of the total technical
points) would be considered for the Financial Evaluation.
Weight Per Technical Competence
‎5 (outstanding): ‎96% - ‎100%
The individual consultant/contractor has demonstrated an OUTSTANDING capacity
for the analyzed competence.
‎4 (Very good): ‎86% - ‎95%
The individual consultant/contractor has demonstrated a VERY GOOD capacity for
the analyzed competence.
‎3 (Good): ‎76% - ‎85%
The individual consultant/contractor has demonstrated a GOOD capacity for the
analyzed competence.
‎2 (Satisfactory): ‎70% - ‎75%
The individual consultant/contractor has demonstrated a SATISFACTORY capacity
for the analyzed competence.
‎1 (Weak): Below ‎70%
The individual consultant/contractor has demonstrated a WEAK capacity for the
analyzed competence.

Step II: Financial Assessment:
Financial Proposal – Maximum ‎30 points
Duly accomplished Confirmation of Interest and Submission of Financial
Proposal Template using the template provided by UNDP (Annex II)
PRICE PROPOSAL AND SCHEDULE OF PAYMENTS

The contractor shall submit a price proposal as below:
The total professional fee shall be converted into a lump-sum contract and
payments under the contract shall be made on submission and acceptance of
deliverables under the contract in accordance with the schedule of payment
linked with deliverables. The financial Proposal should include all relevant
costs (consultancy fees, all envisaged travel costs, living allowances, etc.).

UNDP applies the “Best value for money approach” – the final selection will be
based on the combination of the applicants’ qualification and financial
proposal.
Financial proposal – Maximum ‎30 points
Duly accomplished Confirmation of Interest and Submission of Financial
Proposal Template using the template provided by UNDP (Annex II)
PRICE PROPOSAL AND SCHEDULE OF PAYMENTS

The contractor shall submit a price proposal as below:
The total professional fee shall be converted into a lump-sum contract and
payments under the contract shall be made on submission and acceptance of
deliverables under the contract in accordance with the schedule of payment
linked with deliverables. Financial proposal should include all relevant cost
(consultancy fees, all envisaged travel costs, living allowances, etc.).

Financial evaluation - Total ‎30% (‎30 points)
The following formula will be used to evaluate the financial proposal:
p = y (µ/z), where
p = points for the financial proposal being evaluated
y = maximum number of points for the financial proposal
µ = price of the lowest-priced proposal
z = price of the proposal being evaluated

Instructions for on-line submissions
Step ‎1: Please prepare all required documents electronically;
Step ‎2: Combine all documents in ONE SINGLE FILE (preferably in PDF;
however, Word format can also be accepted) and upload to the UNDP Jobs links
Step ‎3: After that, you will receive an auto-reply from the UNDP jobs if
your offer is received successfully.

Interested applicants are advised to carefully review this advertisement and
ensure that they meet the requirements and qualifications described.
Interested applicants are advised to carefully review this advertisement and
ensure that they meet the requirements and qualifications described.
Given the volume of applications that UNDP receives, only shortlisted offerors
will be notified.
UNDP reserves the right to reject any incomplete applications.
Please be informed that we don’t accept applications submitted via email.
Interested Offerors are required to submit an application via UNDP Jobsite
system as the application screening and evaluation will be done through UNDP
Jobsite system. Please note that UNDP Jobsite system allows only one uploading
of application documents, so please make sure that you merge all your
documents into a single file. Your online application submission will be
acknowledged where an email address has been provided. If you do not receive
an email acknowledgement within ‎24 hours of submission, your application may
not have been received. In such cases, please resubmit the application if
necessary. Please combine all your documents into one (‎1) single PDF document
as the system only allows to upload a maximum one document.
Any request for clarification/additional information on this procurement
notice shall be communicated in writing to UNDP office or sent to email
[email protected] with a copy to [email protected] While the
Procurement Unit would endeavour to provide information expeditiously, only
requests receiving at least ‎3 working days prior to the submission deadline
will be entertained. Any delay in providing such information will not be
considered as a reason for extending the submission deadline. UNDP's response
(including an explanation of the query but without identifying the source of
inquiry) will be posted in the Individual Consultant (IC) Procurement Notice
page as provided above. Therefore, all prospective Offerors are advised to
visit the page regularly to make obtain updates related to this Individual
Consultant (IC) Procurement Notice
UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender,
nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups
and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All
applications will be treated with the strictest confidence.
UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment,
including sexual harassment and discrimination. All selected candidates will,
therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks .

Interested applicants are advised to carefully review this advertisement and
ensure that they meet the requirements and qualifications described.

The interested offeror must read the Individual Consultant (IC) Procurement
Notice, which can be viewed at https://procurement-
notices.undp.org/view_notice.cfm?notice_id=‎92264 for more detailed information
about terms of references, instructions to the offeror, and to download the
documents to be submitted in the offer online.

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender,
nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups
and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All
applications will be treated with the strictest confidence.
UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment,
including sexual harassment and discrimination. All selected candidates will,
therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks .