Terms of Reference For Consultant Title: Feasibility Assessment for the Establishment of Solarised Cold Rooms at Marketplaces
Consultancy, Research Jobs
- Mercy Corps
- Expires 13 Nov 2023
- Harare
- Full Time
Job Description
Project Tittle: Catalyzing Economic Development in the Informal Sector (CEDIS)
Title/Name of Activity: Feasibility studies for cold rooms
Activity area: Manicaland and Matabeleland
Period of the Activity: November 2023
Background
With funding from the Embassy of Sweden, Mercy Corps is implementing the Catalyzing
Economic Development through the Informal Sector (CEDIS) programme in the urban and
surrounding rural areas of Bulawayo, Mutare, and Harare. The 4-year programme aims to
improve incomes, working conditions and resilience to shocks and stresses of 30,000 vulnerable
young women (70% aged 18-35) through sustainable informal and micro-enterprise livelihoods.
The CEDIS programme takes a human-centered design approach, tackling the challenges faced
by women engaging in the informal economy, while strengthening urban and rural relations in
target regions, with an emphasis on improving the quality of work and increasing women’s access
to better jobs. Using a systems approach, the CEDIS programme works with market actors to
facilitate improvements in job quality for women, their access to the market, market services,
and women-led enterprises, and an improved enabling environment for women in the informal
economy.
Urban open marketplaces play a vital role in the storage and distribution of perishable goods.
These are council-owned, and vendors obtain licenses or pay daily fee to access selling spaces
to avoid running battles with Council officials. Many of the vendors sell perishable goods, such
as horticulture and dairy products. However, the marketplaces are not equipped with any
suitable and efficient storage facilities, such as cold rooms, leading to increased spoilage and
financial losses for these vendors. The establishment of solarised cold rooms by renewable
energy service providers at marketplaces can be a potential solution to address this challenge.
Therefore, there is a need to conduct a feasibility assessment to ascertain the need and
potential demand of cold rooms from the market vendors, as well as the cost benefit analysis of
supplying and operationalizing cold rooms for relevant market actors (local councils and
renewable energy providers).
Duties and Responsibilities
Objectives
The primary objectives of this feasibility assessment are as follows:
1. Assess the needs and demand for solarised cold rooms by fruit and vegetable vendors, and
other relevant types of vendors (i.e., volume of demand, willingness to pay, number of
potential customers)
2. Identify potential suppliers of solarized cold rooms in the area (i.e., number of potential
suppliers, equipment availability)
3. Assess the operational feasibility of solarized cold rooms for the marketplace (i.e., size
requirement, infrastructure requirement, investment requirement, human resource
requirement)
4. Assess the financial feasibility of operationalizing the cold rooms (i.e., revenue models,
payment modalities, and return on investment for both vendors and cold room suppliers).
5.To check if there are any supporting facilities at the marketplaces like clean water, sanitation
and hygiene facilities
Scope of Work (Consultant Activities)
The scope of work of the consultant will include, but not be limited to, the following tasks:
a) Literature Review:
- Conduct a comprehensive review of existing literature and studies related to solarised cold
rooms, their implementation, and their impact on marketplaces.
- Analyze successful case studies of similar initiatives, highlighting best practices for
sustainability and lessons learned.
b) Vendor Needs and Demand Assessment:
Survey and conduct interviews with vendors at various marketplaces to determine:
- Current challenges faced in terms of financial losses and market relationship losses (i.e.,
customers have less trust) from the perishable goods from not having proper storage
- Current awareness of the need for proper storage to extend the shelf life of their products
- Identify the main types of perishable goods sold and quantify potential losses of each type due
to lack of cold storage at marketplaces.
- The volume of perishable goods per vendor, to determine the volume requirements of the
cold room for the whole marketplace, and identify their storage requirements.
- Willingness to pay for cold room usage, and preferred payment terms (pay per use, monthly
subscription, etc.)
- Potential additional revenue for vendors from having a longer shelf life for the perishable
good, and identify other benefits of having cold rooms, for example, increased marketing
opportunities (possibility of having the product on the market for a longer period or even
throughout the year for the seasonal ones), and reduced food waste.
- Number of potential vendors who are willing to use and pay for the cold rooms
c) Suppliers Assessment:
Survey and conduct interviews with local councils and renewable energy service providers in
the research area to determine:
- Local council’s willingness and financial ability to invest in cold rooms
- The number of potential suppliers of cold rooms
- Renewable energy service providers' willingness and ability to establish cold rooms in the
marketplace and provide the service to vendors
- Challenges that may hinder renewable energy service providers’ willingness to establish cold
rooms
d) Operational feasibility assessment:
Survey and conduct interviews with renewable energy service providers in the research area to
determine:
- The appropriate sizes of cold rooms required for different types of perishable goods and
vendors
- The required physical infrastructure and equipment to establish and maintain cold rooms
- The required human resources to manage and maintain cold rooms
e) Financial feasibility assessment:
Survey and conduct interviews with renewable energy service providers in the research area to
determine:
- The required investment to install and maintain the operations of the cold rooms
- The overhead costs to maintain the operations of the cold rooms, and the minimum revenue
per month to achieve the break-even point
- The most optimum payment modalities (pay per use, monthly subscription, etc.) to maintain a
positive cashflow for the providers
- Return on investment and the rate of return for the service providers
- Quantify the potential economic of implementing such cold rooms at marketplaces.
Deliverables
The expected deliverables from the consultant are as follows:
- An inception report detailing the plans for the feasibility assessment, including sample size,
research plans, and research timeline (2 weeks after initial engagement).
- Approved research plan and tools, i.e., questionnaires and analysis tools (1 week after
inception report).
- Detailed report of the feasibility assessment, including findings and analysis of each task
mentioned in the scope of work (4 weeks after research plan is approved).
- Recommendations on the implementation of solarised cold rooms at marketplaces, including
the optimal size(s) and location(s), considering vendor needs and affordability (4 weeks after
research plan is approved).
- Recommendations on sustainable business model opportunities that enables the cold rooms
to be financially sustainable for the relevant market actors (vendors, local councils, and
renewable energy providers) (4 weeks after research plan is approved).
- Presentation of the report to relevant stakeholders and interested parties, highlighting key
findings and recommendations (1 week after the final report is reviewed and finalized).
Timeline
The consultant is expected to complete the feasibility assessment and deliver the final report
within 3 months.
Reporting
The consultant will work closely and report directly to Mercy Corps MEL Coordinator and
Intervention Lead . Regular progress reports will be required to ensure that the assessment is
aligned with expectations.
Budget
The consultant is expected to submit a proposed research plan and budget for approval prior to
commencing the feasibility assessment. The budget should include all costs associated withdata collection, analysis, report writing, and presentation.
Qualifications and Experience
Required Experience, Skills and Qualifications
The consultant should possess the following qualifications:
- Proven experience in conducting feasibility assessments and related studies.
- Strong business acumen, with ability to identify business opportunities and recommend
sustainable revenue models for new products/services.
- Strong analytical and research skills, with the ability to synthesize complex information.
- Knowledge of solar energy systems, cold storage technologies, and marketplaces is desirable.
- Excellent communication and report writing abilities.
- Demonstrated ability to work collaboratively with stakeholders and deliver high-quality results
within agreed timelines.
How to Apply
Application Instructions
Send a Cover Letter, Resume and a detailed proposal to conduct the baseline study outlining
the consultant(s) understanding of this task, proposed methodology, work plan and budget before
application deadline 13 November 2023 via zw-procurement@mercycorps.org . In the case of
applicants being a group or a consulting firm, kindly include CVs of the individuals that will be involved in thebaseline study clearly stating their roles in the proposal and registration documents (including
tax clearance certificate). While submitting your application, be sure your email subject line is
CEDIS Feasibility Study for Cold Rooms (Your Name)
Note: The consultant's proposals should include information on their relevant experience,
proposed methodology, timeline, and budget.
