Background:
SWEDO is a Swedish non-profit, non-political, non-religious development aid organization that was founded
in 1991 in Stockholm, Sweden. Having continuously operated in the Kurdistan Region ever since, SWEDO’s
main priorities of work are construction and infrastructure activities, refugee and IDP initiatives, health, water,
sanitation and hygiene, and capacity building.
In 2021 SWEDO entered a partnership with the ILO to implement a program on “Entrepreneurship and Skills
Development in agriculture for youth, women and men in Iraq”, in Basra and Dohuk Governorates
Approximately 22 percent (9.5 million ha) of Iraq is suitable for agriculture production, yet only about 5
million ha are currently cultivated. Crop production is the major source of income for the majority of farmers
(about 75 percent), while the rest depend on livestock or mixed crop and livestock production systems. Smallscale
farming systems dominate the sector and are typically characterized by traditional methods and
minimal capital investments, resulting in low productivity. There is also limited social capital and positive
outcomes from group interactions, causing poor integration along the supply chain

SWEDO identified value chains through a participative assessment and consultation of key informants from
farmers’ associations, Ministry of Agriculture and Department of Water and Irrigation in the target
Governorates. Supply chain activities and actors have been compared to the food sector flows of goods
and services

Such exercise identified the agricultural hubs, where primary production or raw materials may be
consolidated and processed. Improving connectivity of these hubs can create job opportunities, and
improving the food system within them can create a more sustainable and resilient environment for farmers
and farmers’ associations.
The tomato value chain is affected by the lack of physical infrastructure and weak enabling environment.
Government support is lacking, although MoA extension services promote greenhouse production and provide support to control nematodes. A certain level of investment is evident as interviewed farmers
reported purchasing greenhouses, wells and irrigation systems; however, tomato farming is still mostly a
family business and access to financial services is limited. Farmers lack knowledge about Good Agricultural
Practices (GAPs), negatively affecting both yield and quality. Post-harvest management, such as sorting and
grading, is practically absent and the lack of proper packaging, cold chain infrastructure, storage facilities
and processing plants increases losses, issues that also apply to other perishable commodities. Beyond losses,
the lack of a cold chain forces farmers to sell immediately, negatively impacting prices and limiting the
season of locally available product. In the peak season, 10 kg of local tomatoes costs IQD 1 000, while a
one kg of Iranian tomatoes is sold in the off-season for the same price

Dates are a major cash and food crop in Iraq. Access to good practices, technologies, and markets are key
factors to accelerate the recovery of the date sector that, prior to the Gulf War, was booming and produced
three-quarters of the dates consumed globally. Date palm orchards are often inter-cropped with fruit trees,
with 300 000 ha permanently cultivated with fruit trees. Small-scale farming continues to dominate the sector,
and these farmers have limited access to financial credit and knowledge required to introduce modern
agricultural practices, introduce irrigation and fertilization systems, apply improved pest management
approaches and adopt mechanized systems. Acute shortages of skilled labour and increasing minimum wage
requirements have incentivized farmers to streamline their production and, if granted access to financial
resources, could promote mechanisation. The government is making a concerted effort to rehabilitate the
date value chain and support farmers. For example, they are investing in thousands of new, commercial palm
trees varieties. Increasing the number of producing palms by planning new plants and replacing mature
palms, particularly with economically profitable varieties such as Mejdool and Barhi, will bolster the sector.
Beyond production, there is also room to upgrade date packaging and value-added processing. A marketoriented
strategy for the sector would boost the rehabilitation of the date processing industry, with the
possibility to revitalize exports. Thus, cooperation between farmers, processors, and distributors is required,
in addition to government support and facilitation.

Project Objective and outcomes
Project Goal

- To strengthen the entrepreneurship and Skills Development in agriculture for youth, women and men
in Iraq

Outcome

- 2275 farmers and agriculture workers in the Governorates of Basra and Dohuk did access better knowledge, techniques and opportunities in the value chain of high yield and resilient dates and tomato production, with 500 female participants (50% between 18-35 years old and 25% women) experienced an improved access to agricultural services

Outputs

- Three employment services training packages
- 2275 agricultural workers awareness on employment services (1750 in Basra and 525 in Dohuk)
- 10 employment services officers’ capacities strengthened
- 1240 workers’ skills improved and farms productivity enhanced (955 in Basra, 285 in Dohuk)
- 500 female agriculture workers have access to decent agriculture work (386 in Basra, 114 in Dohuk)
- 1236 farmers and cooperatives members’ organizational capacity and access to trade opportunities enhanced (955 in Basra, 279 in Dohuk)

Scope of Work
The consultant will be responsible for the following:

- Identify and compile a document depository of relevant and available assessment and identify gaps for data collection,
- Review available literature and conduct cross-sectional stakeholder consultations to determine agribased commodities requirements of the local market, including quality and quantity of production
- Determine market opportunities and gaps for suppliers in the district, relative to existing national, regional, and international economic opportunities per commodity to help and trigger the development of the local value chains,
- Review capacity of existing and potential smallholder farmers, suppliers, and market activities relative to the project objective, with emphasis on issues specific to women and youth activities to assist modelling of support requirements and opportunities to trigger development of the sector for local markets
- Carry out technological needs assessment for promoting value chains including stocktaking of available digital and green technologies to aid development of the sector at community level to support and value chains development
- Model a supplier development programme to be implemented in the district, considering the market and development constraints identified

- Define needs to improve quality standards of products and improve productivity to meet market demands, improve the ability of local buyers to store and where possible add value as well as actively link to regional market opportunities to sell

Expected Outputs
Working with the national partners, the consultant will be expected to deliver the following:

- Contributing to the Inception report with other experts and SWEDO team.
- Draft/design of the training packages for the proposed trainings above
- Draft assessment of the GAP requirements and capacities for local farmers including the following elements:
o Capacity building programme for identified farmers
o Value chain mapping analysis
o Land suitability analysis
o Income, gaps, barriers analysis
- Provide technical expertise and advisory to the technical team to deliver high quality analysis, reports and technical briefs on project activities
- Regular visits to Basra and Dohuk to ensure compliance with the project targets

Institutional Arrangement
- The contractor will be engaged by the SWEDO and becomes directly responsible to the SWEDO Representative. However, s/he will liaise with the relevant Programme team for implementation of this assignment.
- SWEDO Programme Team will provide day to day supervision on the assignment, working in collaboration with project partners to ensure delivery of quality results and objectives as set out in these terms of reference.

Duration of the Work and duty station
- The assignment is expected to take 45 days to full completion, with start date in February 2022, and planned to be completed by July 2022.
- All partners will have at least 5 days to review and feedback on written outputs.
- The assignment will be delivered both from home and on site. The contractor will submit to SWEDO a schedule of activities and site visits as maybe relevant to the project.

Successful candidate must be experts in private sector development comprising 3 members, including team lead and private sector specialist, Agri value chains expert and training/business development services practitioner, with the following attributes:
1. Team leader (Private sector development and Business Development Practitioner)
- Qualification: A Master’s degree in Economics, Business Management or any related field, with at least 10 – 15 years of relevant experience.
- The team lead must have at least 10 years in private sector development
- More than 5yrs experience facilitating capacity needs assessments and designing capacity building programmes and facilitating trainings,
- Demonstrate knowledge of the local development landscape and issues affecting private sector development in Lesotho
- Strong knowledge of trade and development issues in Lesotho – awareness of development opportunity
- Ability to engage stakeholders in different capacities
- Experience in supporting public/private extension services
- Strong knowledge of factors affecting agribusiness development in developing countries or
- countries severely affected by climate change
- Must have ability to engage stakeholders in different capacities
- Must have knowledge in value chain and supply chain management

2. Agri-value chains expert
- Qualification: Graduate degree in Agriculture, Agronomy, Agricultural Economics , Food Systems and any other related qualification.
- At least seven years relevant10 years’ experience in related activities
- Relevant experience in value chain development, agribusiness, rural business development and agricultural marketing, food systems, and/or digital technologies for value chain development,
- Familiarity with post-harvest handling of a broad spectrum of perishable commodities and post-harvest handling and management
- Experience in management and/or technical assistance to projects related to rural value chains
- Demonstrate knowledge of the local development landscape and issues affecting private sector development in agriculture/agribusiness in Lesotho

3. Production expert/Extension field service technician/expert
- A minimum of Master’s degree in food security, agriculture, climate Smart agriculture, or related fields,
- At least ten years of relevant experience working in the agriculture sector and knowledge of best practices in agro-production (crop and livestock) and Climate Smart Agriculture,
- At least ten years of relevant experience in providing extensions services to diverse audiences including farmers and extension staff through workshops, trainings, meetings, and participatory methods,
- Demonstrated experience in mainstreaming youth and gender equity in agriculture/food security programming,
- Demonstrated ability to lead and work effectively with Government, NGOs, private sector, academics, communities, and farmers,

Interested applicants must send their most recent CV to erifaat@swedoaid.org , Subject line must
read: 01/VA/ ILO/SW/22, Expert on Agriculture Value Chain, Duhok & Basrah.

Note: Applications not meeting the specified minimum requirements or received after closing date may not be considered. Shortlisted candidates will be contacted for an interview.