∙ Member Demographics: Document the total number of members in each cooperative, broken down clearly by sex and age.

∙ Readiness Assessment: Assess if the cooperatives are willing and ready to participate in the project. Check if they are open to using shared Storage Centers and Education/Transformation Centers, and if they agree to pay user fees to maintain the facilities.

∙ Data Integration: Combine and merge the new field baseline data with the existing Phase 1 Diagnostic data. This will create one unified database for all cooperatives across the old and new project sites, ensuring a single foundation for the business and governance models.

3.2 Production, Yield, and Alternative Income Baselines

∙ Shea Yield Profiling (Savanes, Kara, Centrale): Document the average annual amounts of shea nuts collected and processed by targeted cooperatives. Evaluate processing losses, identify local collection seasons, and find out how many days per season members spend collecting nuts.

∙ Maritime Alternative Baseline: Map the main income sources and agricultural activities in Avé 1/Kévé. The consultant must identify the other types of farming that are already common in the Maritime region. Document what crops local farmers prefer to grow, what alternative agricultural value chains exist, and find out what specific farming practices can be expanded to provide sustainable income without cutting down trees.

3.3 Socio-Economic and Land Tenure Assessment

∙ Land and Tree Tenure Matrix: Map who owns the land and who owns the trees according to both official laws and local customs. Explain how these rights are shared, looking closely at whether women and youth face restrictions in accessing land or trees.

∙ Income Share Evaluation: Measure how important existing shea activities (collection and processing) are to total household income compared to other types of work. For the Maritime region, measure the income share of alternative activities—like charcoal production, firewood sales, and main agricultural crops—to understand what current income needs must be replaced by new agroforestry lines.

PILLAR 2: DATA ACQUISITION FOR BUSINESS MODELING

The consultant will collect practical data in four areas to create financial and cash-flow projections:

3.4 Volumes and Supply Projections

∙ Cooperative Supply Capacity: Count the number of women and collectors connected to each of the 4 planned processing centers. Establish how many nuts they currently collect each year.

∙ Staged Supply Projections: Create realistic supply forecasts showing how nut volumes will increase over time as parkland management improves. Keep in mind that new shea trees take many years to bear fruit, so projections must be broken down by stages.

∙ Throughput Matching: Document the target daily capacity for each processing unit (tons of nuts/kernels processed per day) based on expected supply and realistic working days per year. Find the minimum amount of raw material the machinery needs to operate efficiently without losing money.

3.5 Market, Price, and Policy Information

∙ Buyer Identification: Identify active buyers who purchase products from the cooperatives in each region. Map where these buyers are located and outline transport routes if buyers do not collect products directly from the center doors.

∙ Financial Performance Tracking: Record the volumes sold, gross revenue, net profit, and average annual reinvestment rates for each cooperative to create clear financial benchmarks.

∙ Price Tracking: Record the prices paid for raw nuts, processed butter, and alternative crops over recent years, broken down by region and season (peak vs. off-peak).

∙ Buyer Specifications: List the quality standards and certifications required by buyers (such as maximum moisture content, free fatty acid levels, organic certification, or fair-trade standards).

∙ Policy Alignment: Review Togo's national trade and environmental policies. Note any local incentives for processing products locally or restrictions on exporting raw, unprocessed nuts that could affect the business.

3.6 Technical Parameters, Technology Choices, and Cost Structures

∙ Process Flow Mapping: Review the processing methods used by local cooperatives. Document the planned machinery options (manual vs. semi-mechanized vs. fully mechanized) for crackers, roasters, grinders, presses, boilers, filters, and storage units. Check what equipment is currently available.

∙ Resource Inputs and By-Products: Quantify the requirements for electricity, diesel, biomass energy, and daily water. Document how processing waste and by-products will be managed, including any associated costs or opportunities to sell them.

∙ Operational Parameters: Define the exact labor needs for each processing line (number of workers per shift, required skill levels, and gender roles). Track conversion rates (e.g., how many kg of nuts are needed to make 1 kg of butter) and standard loss rates. Estimate how long each step of the processing method takes.

∙ Detailed Cost Assessment:

» Variable Costs: Itemize costs for buying raw nuts, worker wages, energy, water, packaging, transport, and routine equipment maintenance.

» Fixed Costs: Document equipment depreciation (wear and tear), management salaries, insurance, licenses, and the rental or opportunity cost of the 1-hectare centers.

3.7 Organizational and Financial Arrangements

∙ Ownership and Management Models: Evaluate what type of management structure local communities prefer (e.g., cooperative-owned and managed; cooperative-owned but professionally managed; or a private-public-cooperative partnership).

∙ Revenue Distribution: Outline how revenues will be shared among cooperative members, factory operational funds, community social funds, and any external partners.

∙ Capital Expenditure (CAPEX) & Financing: Estimate local costs for building the centers, buying machinery, and initial working capital. Identify potential funding sources such as grants, subsidies, cheap loans, or private investments.

PILLAR 3: PROJECT-LEVEL GOVERNANCE MODEL DESIGN

The consultant will create a governance framework to organize rights, responsibilities, and rules along the value chain. To support this process, the consultant will establish operational rules based on information gathered in the diagnostic report, including relevant actors, institutional mandates, traditional systems, power dynamics, and related governance considerations:

3.8 Design of Operational Rules

∙ Management Committees: Define the structure and roles for the Processing Facility Management Committee, Regional Management Committees for each center, and local Parkland Management Groups. Explain how government, chiefs, and cooperatives will be represented.

∙ Access and User Fee Rules: Create clear rules for using the 1-hectare Education Centers and Common Storage Facilities. This includes: who can use the centers, scheduling rules, how user fees will be calculated to cover maintenance, quality control rules, and how complaints will be handled.

∙ Proximity Mapping: Create maps showing where cooperatives are located in relation to the new facilities to ensure travel times are reasonable.

∙ Plantation Management Rules: Define who is responsible for planting seedlings, maintaining trees, and how harvested products from the 2,000 hectares will be distributed and sold.

∙ Transparency Tools: Design tools to keep operations transparent, such as publicly posting product prices, holding regular member assemblies, using simple reporting templates, and setting up feedback channels.

3.9 Validation Workshops

∙ Stakeholder Feedback: Lead four regional workshops to present findings, discuss draft business options, and gather feedback from local stakeholders to finalize the reports.

 

4. DELIVERABLES AND PAYMENT SCHEDULE

The consultant must submit all deliverables in both French and English (US English). Reports must follow GGGI formatting rules and be submitted electronically alongside clean Excel files containing all raw data, baseline records, survey responses, and financial formulas.

#	Deliverable	Main Content Requirements	Payment (%)	Due Date
1	Inception Report	Clear methodology and field sampling plan for the new sites; bilingual data collection tools (surveys, questionnaires) matched with the Phase 1 Diagnostic format; list of key stakeholders; detailed field travel schedule.	20%	1 week after contract signing
2	Draft Baseline Report + Draft Business Model & Governance Framework	Full profile of cooperatives in the new sites; data on nut collection, processing, and sales; merged data from Phase 1; alternative value-chain and wood-fuel assessment for Maritime; financial projections, initial business options, and draft facility rules; draft workshop presentations.	45%	5 weeks after contract signing
3	Validation Workshops,   Final Report + Final Business & Governance Framework + Presentation	Delivery and facilitation of 4 regional workshops; a short synthesis report summarizing stakeholder feedback and required updates.   Finalized baseline data incorporating workshop feedback; full business model analysis (at least 4 options) with cost-benefit analyses and implementation roadmaps; final infrastructure governance framework; final bilingual presentation slides.	35%	7 weeks after contract signing

 

5. EXPERTISE REQUIRED

5.1 Qualifications

∙ Master’s Degree or higher in Agricultural Economics, Forestry Economics, Agroforestry, Natural Resource Management, Rural Development, Governance, or a closely related field.

5.2 Experience

∙ Analytical Skills: Strong logical thinking and writing abilities. Demonstrated ability to analyze complex field data and summarize findings clearly.

∙ Stakeholder Support: Proven experience in training and supporting local rural stakeholders and small-scale cooperatives.

∙ General Experience: 5-8 years of professional experience in organizational development, cooperative support, natural resource management, or the forestry sector.

∙ Specific Experience: At least 3 years of direct experience conducting baselines, designing rural business models, or creating cooperative governance rules in rural Togo.

∙ Policy Context: Good understanding of Togolese government structures, ministry procedures (especially MERFPCCC), and local municipal workflows.

∙ Socio-Environmental Awareness: Clear understanding of gender issues, traditional land limitations for women/youth, and local environmental risks in Togo.

∙ Core Competencies: Ability to work independently and deliver high-quality outputs on time; ability to collaborate productively with diverse stakeholders ranging from government officials to traditional chiefs.

∙ Language Skills: Excellent written and spoken communication skills in both French and English are strictly required.

 

6. ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

6.1 Application Components

Interested individual national consultants must submit:

∙ A detailed Curriculum Vitae (CV)

∙ A cover letter

∙ A brief technical and financial proposal (maximum 2 pages) explaining the applicant’s understanding of the ToR, proposed field methodology, and an indicative work schedule.

6.2 Contract Value

The maximum total value for this contract is up to USD 9,800 including all the consultant travel expenses and any other procurement needed to achieve the expected results of this assignment.

6.3 Support Provided by GGGI

∙ GGGI will provide the Phase 1 Diagnostic Study of Shea Governance report and project coordinates.

∙ GGGI will provide official introduction letters to help the consultant coordinate with regional authorities, mayors, and traditional chiefs.

∙ GGGI will facilitate and provide ground transportation for official field trips directly related to data collection for this assignment.

∙ GGGI will facilitate the communication of the government and the local government.