Request for Expression of Interest - Partnership with solar-powered water pumps distributors to establish and strengthen supply and distribution of quality solar-powered water pumps for farming in Laikipia County

The project will seek to achieve the following specific objectives:

1. Increase access and use of SWPs for crop irrigation and animal farming for smallholder farmers
2. Value chain actors ensure sustainable supply and distribution of SWPs at the local / county level.
3. Improve productivity and income streams for the smallholder farmers irrigating with SWPs.
4. Improved marketing and distribution channels for the suppliers of SWPs.
5. Deepened awareness of the benefits of clean energy products to enhance productivity in agricultural value chains.

Project target

• 500 smallholder farmers using SWPs for crop irrigation and animal farming
• 50% of smallholder farmers reporting improved productivity and revenues
• 30% annual growth in sales performance for the supported distribution network
• 50 jobs created along the value chain      

Eligible technologies/products

The project will promote access to solar-powered water pumps for crop irrigation and animal farming for smallholder farmers. These will be appropriate SWPs that are already locally available in the Kenyan market. Priority will be given to quality products and suppliers who will provide after-sales support including product warranties. The project will therefore include measures to vet products to ensure relevance/appropriateness to the market.

Support provided by the project

Through a market-based approach, the project will focus on interventions on both the supply and demand sides to address key barriers constraining the distribution and adoption of SWPs in Laikipia county. On the supply side, the project will focus on capacity development for SWP companies and their rural distributors to ensure adequate availability and distribution in rural and remote areas. On the demand side, the project will focus on demand creation to enhance uptake of SWP technologies but will also enhance the capacity of the smallholder farmers to facilitate appropriate selection, use and maintenance of the SWPs. This will involve a mix of technical assistance and financial support to facilitate market development activities.

More specifically, eligible companies will be able to access:

Technical assistance - will involve needs-based support to enhance the supply and distribution of solar-powered water pumps.

Financial facilitation – the project will provide financial facilitation towards pre-agreed activities in line with the project intervention areas. Financial facilitation can either be:

• Where SNV directly procures product or service providers on behalf of beneficiary and therefore make direct payments to these service providers. 
• Where the beneficiary proceeds to pre-finance and implement against pre-approved proposals (activities and budgets) and get re-imbursements from the project (project’s contribution) upon presenting proof of successful implementation/completion and verifiable proof of expenditure. SNV will allow this option on condition that planning, and implementation will be a joint process with the project team

The support will be structured in a performance-based approach in line with the achievement of the expected or agreed-upon results/outcomes. Any financial facilitation is provided on a co-financing basis.

Examples of eligible activities

Based on the intervention areas mentioned above, the project will facilitate the implementation of activities to overcome market development barriers to increase uptake and use of SWPs. The activities to address market barriers may include but are not limited to the following:

• Promotion and awareness creation (e.g.  market activations, product exhibitions, end-user education, behavioural change campaigns and marketing materials, etc.);
• Technical training and knowledge development for smallholder farmers on the use of SWPs for farming (e.g.  recruitment and training of distribution partners, stockiest, retailers, sales agents and/or group-based promoters, farmers, etc.);
• Enhancing technical capacities, quality assurance and after-sales support (e.g. capacity building of technicians, provision of technical sales support to small scale businesses acquiring the products/energy solutions, enhancement of call centre services, etc.);
• Business to business linkages (e.g. activities to promote and facilitate distribution partnership development and implementation);
• Facilitating financial linkages (e.g. activities to promote and facilitate end-user credit models).

The companies will identify and prioritize their specific support needs in collaboration with SNV.

Download the complete Terms of Reference here for more information.

Qualifications

The project seeks to support organisations with the following characteristics:

• Companies registered and operating in Kenya.
• Companies distributing or planning to distribute solar-powered water pumps for farming in Laikipia County.
• Companies with quality assurance mechanisms in place including after-sales support. Companies providing product warranties will have an added advantage.
• Companies applying to receive performance based financial re-imbursements, must have the financial capacity to implement pre-agreed activities before receiving refunds from the project.
• Willingness to sign an MOU and report to the project. The companies will be required to report sales data and provide periodic progress reports to the extent supported by the project.

Additional Information

Application and Submission: Through the "I'M INTERESTED" tab on this page, interested applicants should Download the application template here, fill it in and submit by clicking the I'm Interested tab at the bottom of this page, creating a profile and attaching other supporting documents as are relevant.

Applications will be accepted from July 2021 on an open-ended basis. The project will assess applications, undertake due diligence and sign MoUs continuously over this period, but priority will be given to applications on a first come, first serve basis.

Should you need any clarifications, kindly write to kenyahr@snv.org with "A2SPL EOI enquiry" as your email subject.

NB:

Only applications that meet the above criteria will be considered.

We do not appreciate third-party mediation based on this advertisement.

Applicants are not required to undertake any medical checks before selection or pay any money at any stage of the recruitment process.