Consultant - Nourishing Prosperity Alliance (NPA-FORAGE) Project

The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) seeks to engage a consultant who designs, develops, tests, and deploys a robust, web-based Forage Market Digital Platform alongside a highly user-friendly web/mobile application that enhances access to forage market information and strengthens market linkages across the forage value chain.

The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) works to improve food and nutritional security and reduce poverty in developing countries through research for efficient, safe and sustainable use of livestock. It is the only one of 15 CGIAR research centers dedicated entirely to animal agriculture research for the developing world. Co-hosted by Kenya and Ethiopia, it has regional or country offices and projects in East, South and Southeast Asia as well as Central, East, Southern and West Africa. www.ilri.org.

Nourishing Prosperity Alliance (NPA) forage project, funded by the GATES Foundation, aims to establish commercially viable and sustainable forage markets that equitably strengthen the regional competitiveness of the dairy industries in Kenya and Ethiopia.The primary purpose of the NPA project is to:

A. Increase demand for and use of optimized, climate-smart forage among SSPs, raising productivity and reducing methane emission intensity.

B. Improve the equitable supply of nutrient-dense, climate-smart forage rations for SSPs and

C. Improve equitable enabling environment for forage market development.

The NPA- forage project in Ethiopia has been intervening in 58 woreda in six (6) regions, including Amhara, Oromia, Sidama, South Ethiopia, Central Ethiopia, and southwest Ethiopia.

The forage sector plays a critical role in transforming the livestock and dairy value chains by improving animal productivity and community resilience. However, commercial forage markets often suffer from fragmented supply chains, information asymmetry regarding prices, and limited coordination between actors. The digital platform helps the small-scale producer to get full insight into forage production, input, and market information.

Thus, this ToR is prepared to identify competent individuals/firms to develop a comprehensive digital platform for the forage market that is user-friendly and helps forage producers, input-service providers, MSMEs, cooperatives, and other actors access up-to-date information on forage inputs, production, processing, and markets.

The primary objective of this consultancy is to design, develop, test, and deploy a robust, web-based Forage Market Digital Platform alongside a highly user-friendly web/mobile application that enhances access to forage market information and strengthens market linkages across the forage value chain.

The objective of this assignment is to develop a comprehensive digital platform that will:

• Host and regularly updated forage input, service, and market information, together with a monitoring tool for use by forage producers, input suppliers, mechanization service providers, MSMEs, and other key value chain actors.
• Provide an interactive dashboard for real-time analysis and visualization of forage input/service market update information, trends, and performance indicators.
• Strengthen linkage of forage market information across different forage market actors so that they can easily access it.

The digital platform will be expected to encompass two core functions:

1. Core Platform Features & Architecture

• Web-Based Marketplace Dashboard: A central portal for registered enterprise users (processors, large-scale producers, suppliers) to list products, post purchase requests, and manage transactions.
• User-Friendly App Interface: A responsive web application (progressive web app - PWA) optimized for mobile devices, accessible to smallholder farmers and MSMEs.
• Real-Time Price & Input Information System: A dynamic module tracking current market prices across key regional hubs and monitoring inventory levels of forage inputs.
• Knowledge Exchange Hub: An easy-to-navigate repository for agronomic advice, climate-smart forage production practices, and a simple Q&A feature for peer-to-peer or expert-to-farmer learning.
• Localization: Support for multiple languages (e.g., Amharic, Oromiffa) with intuitive, visual icons to ensure high accessibility for users with varying literacy levels.

1. Security, Data, and Maintenance

• User Authentication & Roles: Secure registration and SMS/OTP-based verification linked to user profiles (categorized by producer, supplier, processor, extension worker, or farmer).
• Offline Capability: Essential app features (like cached price of forage and forage seed information and downloaded agronomic guides) must remain accessible offline.
• Admin Panel & Analytics: A backend dashboard for NPA Forage’s MEL and project teams to monitor platform usage, active listings, user growth, and transaction trends.

• Develop a comprehensive and beneficiary - friendly digital platform.

Deliverable 1: 5 days - Inception Report, system design, and a detailed work plan.

• submitting inception report on proposed digital platform implementation.
• Conduct a validation meeting with the project team on the work plan and operational.

Deliverable 2: 5 days - UI/UX Wireframes and a verified clickable prototype for both web and app views.

Deliverable 3: 20  days - Develop a comprehensive and beneficiary -friendly digital platform.

• Hold constructive meetings on digital tools.

Deliverable 4: 30 days - Fully deployed live platform, clean source code transfer, admin user manuals, and completion of the capacity-building training session.

• Provide training for selected actors on how to use and operate the tools.

• Fluency in English and [local working language, e.g., Amharic is required. 
• Knowledge of Afan Oromo is an advantage.

ILRI does not charge a fee at any stage of the recruitment process (application, interview meeting, processing or training).

• A minimum of a bachelor’s degree in computer science, Software Engineering, Information Technology, or a closely related field.
• Strong proficiency in modern backend and frontend frameworks and relational/non-relational database management.
• Familiarity with building light, offline-first digital tools tailored for rural areas with low network bandwidth
• Excellent analytical, system architecture, and problem-solving skills.
• Strong communication and documentation skills, with the ability to explain technical functionalities to non-technical project teams

• Minimum of 5–7 years of proven experience in designing and developing full-stack web applications and responsive mobile solutions.
• Demonstrated experience building agricultural marketplaces, SMS-integrated information systems, or supply chain digital platforms within developing country contexts.

To find out more about ILRI visit our website at http://www.ilri.org

To find out more about working at ILRI visit our website at http://www.ilri.org/

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