Job Details

Job Description

JUSTIFICATION

Non-timber forest products (NTFP) and services represent a significant source of natural capital for Zambia, as articulated in the Ministry of Finance ‘Natural Capital Accounts for the Forest Sector’ (2023). Forests are (and have always been) an informal ‘social safety net’ for rural communities and for marginalized and disadvantaged sections of society; women play a central role in collecting and trading them. In Zambia, the consumption of non-timber forest products (NTFPs) is deeply rooted in local consumption habits, both in rural and urban areas (e.g., honey, mushrooms, caterpillars, wild fruits, etc.). However, NTFP value chains are largely informal and highly seasonal, with limited added value for local collectors and producers, and little to no processing to reduce seasonality in supply. Moreover, Zambian forests have been experiencing significant degradation through unclear tenure arrangements, energy demand (predominantly charcoal), agricultural expansion (both crops and livestock) and climate change. These challenges are driving forest degradation, thereby reducing the long-term potential for forests to provide opportunities and benefits for local communities, and the wider environmental services and benefits at local, national, regional and global scales. Presently, rural communities living in or around forest ecosystems are vulnerable and insecure and often pursue short term (but unsustainable) livelihood opportunities from degrading such forests than from protecting high integrity ecosystems. This is further exacerbated by external actors, sometimes well organized (such as for charcoal) that provide the local communities with illegal economic and job opportunities, which returns can be very high relative to local earnings.

Sustainable value chains often face organizational, managerial, logistical and financial challenges resulting in limited value added at the community level. Off-takers for NTFPs exist in Zambia but typically these off-takers buy raw products from communities, aggregate the products, and manage all processing steps, while there are few opportunities for communities to add value to products before selling them.

AFD launched a value chain study in 2024 in different landscapes in Zambia, to design a project funded by the EU in which AFD contributed with a FEXTE funding. While the EU fund was cancelled, AFD decided to maintain its contribution with the FEXTE which will be launched in July 2025 and will focus on a single landscape in North Luangwa (Mpika and Lavushimanda districts).

In this area, the pre-identified forest value chains are:

• Honey and bee-keeping by-products: Coordinated deployment of hives, harvesting and collection of honey (processing and packaging?).
• Wild mushrooms: Harvesting, collecting, processing (e.g. drying, picklying, preserving), and aggregation for onward sale to retailers in urban centres.
• Wild fruits: Harvesting fresh wild fruits for aggregate processing (e.g. juicing or drying) for onward sale to retailers in urban centres.
• Caterpillars: Harvesting, cleaning and drying for sale within local communities and urban centres.
• Tourism: Job creation from training as safari guides, and from the development of community campsites and community game ranches.
• Game meat and game ranching: Formal harvesting of game meat, aligned with sustainable quota systems, ensuring food-chain standards are met; potential to create products from animal hides for local and international markets.
• Crafts: Timber and non-timber resources harvested and used to produce baskets and similar crafts products primarily for export market, with some local demand.
• Other high-value products to be investigated (usable for cosmetics for example)

The aim will be to understand the complexity of each sector and to develop tools and strategies to better structure some of the NTFPs value chains that have the most assests to produce added value at the local level (e.g. community level) and to access to local, regional or French markets.

II. OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

1.       GENERAL OBJECTIVE

The objective of the study is to analyze non-timber forest products value-chains from North Luangwa landscape to better value them and develop commercially viable socio-economic activities aimed at a better and sustainable integration of communities into this market system.

2.      SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES

Specific objectives of the value chain analysis:

Products and processes:

1.       Identify the constraints and opportunities in the exploitation and enhancement of each product, both on the local, national and international (French especially) market: types of products, quality levels, possible certifications, distribution networks, marketing, prices.

2.      Analyze practices in the exploitation and development of NTFPs (e.g. collection, transport, sale, etc.) as well as the problems, technical, economic and logistical challenges, opportunities and risks related to each function.

3.      Describe and determine the collection, storage, processing and marketing practices and capacities of the various NTFPs products (actors involved, location and production capacity of sites per type of products, systems, collection rules, seasonality of collection, processing techniques, sustainable packaging of finished products and current distribution channels).

4.      Identify possibilities for value addition at community level (i.e. early processing steps etc.).

Value chain actors, from production to marketing:

5.      Identify and characterize the actors in the value chain of non-timber forest products (producers/collectors, processors, distributors, consumers, cooperatives, etc.), including socio-economic profile of producers/collectors.

6.     Examine the role played by community groups such as Community Forest Management Groups, Community Resource Boards, Village Action Groups and their respective role in collection regulation and resource management.

7.       Describe and determine the collection, storage, processing and marketing practices and capacities of the various NTFPs species (location and production capacity of sites per type of products, systems, collection rules, seasonality of collection, processing techniques, sustainable packaging of finished products and current distribution channels).

Markets:

8.      Develop a mapping of the different NTFP markets at the local, national and international levels (especially in France).

9.      Analyze practices in the exploitation and development of NTFPs (e.g. collection, transport, sale, etc.) as well as the problems, technical, economic and logistical challenges, opportunities and risks related to each function.

10.    For at least 3 NTFP, analyze marketing capacities in different markets (local, national and international) and matchmaking processes.

11.     Commercial viability and potential: Determine the different production costs according to the target markets and analyze the financial profitability of non-timber forest products.

12.     Identify priority products and propose recommendations for better valorization and marketing of the various targeted products. Recommendation will have to consider the specificity of NTFP (seasonality, threshold of harvest to ensure the regeneration of natural resources and sustainability of harvests, harvesting rules etc.)

3.      EXPECTED RESULTS

The expected results of the study are:

1.      The actors in the value chain of non-timber forest products are identified and characterized.

2.       The collection, storage, processing and marketing practices and capacities of the various NTFPs species are presented.

3.       The practices in terms of exploitation and development of NTFPs as well as the problems, challenges, opportunities and risks relating to each function are analyzed,

4.      The different markets (local, national and international especially French) for NTFPs are mapped.

5.      Marketing capacities in the different markets (local, national and international) and matchmaking processes are analyzed.

6.      The different production costs according to the target markets are determined.

7.      The financial profitability of NTFPs is analyzed.

8.      Solutions related to the constraints and opportunities for exploiting and enhancing the value of each type of product in different markets are recommended.

9.      Recommendations for better development and marketing of various targeted products are issued.

4.     METHODOLOGY

The methodological approach that will be adopted to carry out this study is essentially based on six (06) phases. It considers a participatory approach with the effective involvement of all stakeholders throughout the study process.

1.                 Working session with the current “team” (Program officer of AVSF, the French Technical Assistant placed at the Forestry Department and the Consultant in charge of the NTFP platform setup and financial sustainability).

2.                Research of information and bibliographic data.

3.                Field phase (interviews with all relevant actors at local, regional, sub-regional and international levels especially France).

4.                Drafting of the document.

5.                Organization of a workshop to validate the provisional report of the study through the organization of restitution workshops with the above-mentioned current “team”.

6.                Finalization of the report incorporating the elements of discussion highlighted by the workshops.

5.      PROFILE AND COMMITMENTS OF THE CONSULTING TEAM

The team will have to demonstrate skills that make it possible to reconcile the two perspectives of the study, namely the challenges related to the marketing of quality products on the national and international market as well as the operational vocation in terms of strengthening the commercial capacities of the actors in the sector with a particular attention to identifying viable opportunities to add value at community level.

To do this, it will have to demonstrate proven skills both in the NFTP sector in general and particularly in the Southern Africa region, the value chain approach in rural production systems and the strengthening of producer organizations.

The team could draw on any expertise deemed necessary to achieve the expected results of this study.

The team should present an alliance between French and Zambian experts.

In its technical offer, the team will propose a detailed work program and a working methodology with possibly tools.

6.     DURATION AND LOCATIONS OF THE STUDY

The Consultant’s mandate will be spread over a total period of 30 days covering both the document review, the fieldwork and the writing of the results.

• Start date: July- early August 2025
• Mission end date: Beginning of September at the latest

Execution locations: the mission is expected to take place in Lusaka and North Luangwa landscape (Mpika and Lavushimanda districts).

The final program will depend on the relevance and justification of the successful Consulting Team’s offer.

7.      REPORTS AND DOCUMENTS

The mission will provide a comprehensive report that meets these terms of reference. The draft report will be provided in electronic format to AVSF for assessment of compliance with these Terms of Reference. After validation, the Final Report of the study will be submitted in triplicate and an electronic version to AVSF.

8.     CONTENT OF THE TECHNICAL AND FINANCIAL TENDER

The consultants will submit a technical offer and a financial offer.

The technical proposal will include:

1.                 any observations and comments on these terms of reference.

2.                an execution methodology.

3.                a schedule for carrying out the study.

4.                the composition of the proposed team, as well as the distribution of roles, CVs and copies of diplomas of the staff planned to carry out the study.

5.                references to similar studies already carried out by the office.

6.                Any other document that may contribute to the qualification of the application file.

The financial offer will present the details of the costs to be incurred, in the range of 20 000 to 24 000 euros.