Introduction & Background

 
 The Global Platform for Sustainable Natural Rubber (GPSNR) is an international, multi-stakeholder, voluntary membership initiative seeking to lead improvements in the socioeconomic and environmental performance of the natural rubber value chain.
Development of GPSNR was initiated by the CEOS of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) Tire Industry Project (TIP) in 2018. Members of the platform include tire manufacturers, rubber suppliers and processors, vehicle makers and NGOs. Representatives from each of these stakeholder groups have contributed to the development of the Singapore-based platform and the wide-reaching set of priorities that will define strategy and objectives.

Thailand is the largest producer of natural rubber (NR) worldwide, contributing 36% to
total global production. Majority of the NR production in Thailand is conducted
by smallholder farmers owning land of 2-4 hectares. The NR value chain in Thailand has historically been supported by various governmental bodies, now functioning under the umbrella of the Rubber Authority of Thailand (RAOT). This has led to exceptional performance by rubber farms, with an average yield exceeding 1.6 tons per hectare in 2019. However, the NR value chain in Thailand remains highly labour-intensive and currently
faces oversupply and low prices.

Thailand rubber has some specific particularities. It is grown in 4 main regions with different growing conditions: Traditional areas are in the South (the historical planting) and the East (Rayong and Chanthaburi provinces) while more recent developments were established in less climatically favourable areas: North and North-East (Esan). It has the particularity to be produced almost exclusively by smallholders, using higher tapping frequencies than other countries even in the neighbourhood, and to exploit rather low size farms (1.5ha or less). Share cropping among farmers and tappers is a common practice, beside family farming. Consequence of this is that although a good land productivity (kg/ha), labour productivity remains very low to date.

GPSNR, through the Smallholders Representative and Capacity Building Working Group (SCB WG) – Thailand National Subgroup, is currently inviting proposals for the dissemination of coaching materials and implementation of coaching on Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) for smallholders in two regions (North and North-East) of Thailand, with a focus on one province per region.

The proposed coaching programs should be implemented in accordance with the
GPSNR’s environmental and social commitments and values, as outlined in the GPSNR
Policy Framework[1], and in compliance with the relevant Thai Agricultural Standard: Good Agricultural Practices issued by the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives
of Thailand.

[1]
https://sustainablenaturalrubber.org/policy-framework/

Objectives

The overall objectives of the GAP coaching programmes are to ensure the long-term sustainability of rubber livelihoods and ecosystems by increasing smallholders’ productivity, yields, and socio-economic resilience, whilst safeguarding nature and the environment. 

Expected Deliverables

Brief Justifications

The objective of the project is to update and disseminate the best Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) recommendations to farmers in Thailand. This aims to ensure that planters have access to relevant knowledge and resources to enhance their productivity,
motivation, and income, leading to an improved livelihood.

The proposal should implement GPSNR’s proposed strategy for capacity building in
Thailand and provide brief justifications on the most suitable approach to
conduct coaching for smallholders in two regions (North and North-East) of
Thailand, with a focus on one province per region.

The GPSNR SCB WG – Thailand National Subgroup may prioritize funding for coaching in
regions based on relative productivity, coverage of existing coaching services,
socio-economic needs, recommendations of RAOT, or other considerations.

Proposed Coaching Approach

Possible approaches for consideration include (non-exhaustive): mobile coaching at local
community centres; building physical training centres; on-farm coaching; hybrid
coaching approaches. The proposal should consider which approach represents the
best fit for community needs and dynamics.

The proposed coaching approach should consider, but is not limited to, the
following priorities:

a.    Coaching based on the train-the-trainers (ToT) model

b.   Female and other minority inclusion and representation

c.    Field coaching (or other approach) implementation plans

d.   Integration of technology for data capture and ongoing engagement, and progress tracking (i.e. immediate and longer-term monitoring and evaluation)

e.   Others (i.e. nuanced approaches to meet geographic/other needs; ongoing farmer community connectivity and interactions; engagement with local or regional officials

Service providers are to adapt the provided GPSNR GAP coaching approaches. The GPSNR GAPs are created to serve as general best practices and principles for global usage and are periodically reviewed and updated to reflect the sector’s latest understandings.

The service provider is expected to work with GPSNR to adapt the general GAPs to align with local situations in Thailand and comply with the relevant Thai Agricultural Standard: Good Agricultural Practices issued by the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives of Thailand. This will build trust with smallholders and optimize the coaching outcomes, particularly in terms of language, technical specificities, and local needs.

Service providers should also translate the relevant Thai Agricultural Standard: Good Agricultural Practices issued by the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives of Thailand from Thai to English.

The GPSNR GAPs consist of the following four modules:

1.     Rubber Plant Material

2. Establishment and Maintenance of Plantations

3.    Latex Harvesting

4.   Diseases and Pests

Service providers are also expected to operate in line with principles and values set forth in the GPSNR Policy Framework such as commitment to environmental protection and sustainability, zero deforestation, community engagement and FPIC etc.

The selected service provider may also be expected to work closely with the GPSNR SCB WG – Thailand National Subgroup to fine-tuned or further augment the provided coaching materials. 

Key Metrics

To prevent risk of false correlations, it is essential to collect baseline data on participating smallholders before the GAP coaching begins. The impact assessment should compare the participating smallholders’ data after the GAP coaching to accurately measure their improvement.

It is also important to collect control group date of smallholders who did not participate in the GAP coaching programmes to ensure any changes observed are due to the GAP coaching and not other factors. Additionally, being aware of external factors such as weather and market prices can help to better assess the results.

 The proposal should elaborate on how the following key metrics can be achieved and measured:

1.      Total number of smallholders coached

2.     Total number of trainers or coaches coached

3.     Year-by-year increase in smallholder productivity and smallholders engaged

4.    Inclusivity across gender, youth, geographic regions, and ethnicity (e.g., indigenous, or other minority communities)

5.     Monitoring and evaluation of coaching progress and outcomes

 The proposal should also identify other key metrics of importance not listed above and describe how they will be achieved and measured.

Submission Guidelines & Requirements

The following submission guidelines & requirements apply to
this Request for Proposal:

1.     Proposals will only be accepted
from individuals or firms with experience relevant to this project.

2.    A technical proposal must be provided that is not more than 4 pages. This technical proposal must provide:

•      A workplan that outlines all key activities of the deliverables
(refers to Expected Deliverables above)

•      Timeline and key stages of operations (refers to Project
Timelines below)

•      Budget, including detailed breakdown of expected manpower,
logistics, and costs expected to run coaching programmes for an initial three
years, beginning in 2023 (refers to Budget below)

•      Description of past work and technical expertise that is relevant
to this RFP

•      A list of project team members with their roles in the project and
associated qualifications

•      Proposals must be signed by a representative that is authorized to
commit bidder’s company.

3.    Proposals must be received prior to the 30 June 2023 to be considered. Proposals should be submitted to cheewei@gpsnr.org for consideration.

GPSNR reserves the right to amend the scope and budget of this RFP to get the most suitable consultant for each topic.

Project Timelines

Service provider will also provide fortnightly or monthly progress updates to the GPSNR SCB WG, or on an as-needed basis.

Budget

The Platform is anticipating that a total budget of no more than 216,000 USD be allocated to this engagement, depending on the proposed coaching approach.

Payment terms shall be:
• 20% at the signing of the contract
• 20% at the first round of coaching conducted
• 20% upon First Full Review (August 2024)
• 20% upon Second Full Review (August 2025)
• 20% upon Third Full Review (August 2026)

Evaluation Factors

GPSNR will rate proposals based on the following factors:

1. Responsiveness to the requirements set forth in this Request for Proposal
2. Relevant past performance/ experience
3. Samples of work
4. Cost per farmer, and other aspects of the proposed coaching approach of programme
5. Technical expertise/experience of bidder and bidder’s staff
6. Proposed timeline of operations

GPSNR reserves the right to award to the bidder that presents the best value to GPSNR as determined solely by GPSNR in its absolute discretion.

gulation consolidated text 20-12-22

View RFP Document here

Introduction & Background

The Global Platform for Sustainable Natural Rubber (GPSNR) is an international, multi-stakeholder, voluntary membership initiative seeking to lead improvements in the socioeconomic and environmental performance of the natural rubber value chain. Members of the platform include tire manufacturers, rubber suppliers and processors, vehicle makers and NGOs. 

The Manufacturer’s Subgroup (SG) consists of GPSNR members who are rubber product manufacturers only.  The SG is seeking a consultant/field to map their supply shed (i.e., all the farms that they are sourcing from) focusing on polygon mapping techniques in complex supply chains such as in Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand – each with a separate RFP, and report on the price and time required for each polygon mapped.

Objectives

The goal of the project is to investigate what effort (i.e., time and cost) may be required for a rubber processor to map their supply chain in complex supply chains in Malaysia. 

The consultant is to map small holder farmers in selected regions within Malaysia. Manufacturers will specify the regions to be mapped at a later date. 

The service provider should work with the Manufacturer’s Subgroup and the participating processors from Malaysia and their dealers to:

1. Keep track of the time and costs of all mapping related activities throughout the study, calculate time and cost of mapping each polygon, and provide them to their GPSNR Point of Contact at the end of the survey.

2. Register farmers using a provided data logger application. The service provider is welcomed to use their own data logger application. 

Scope of Work/Expected Deliverables

Specifically, GPSNR expects the consultant to:

1. Map regions of rubber producers supplying to the participating processor in Malaysia via polygon mapping. 

   1. Single GPS coordinates should not be utilised irrespective of the size of the plantation. 

   2. Geo mapping to include coordinates up to 6 decimal places in geoJSON format 

2. 2. Store/transfer geo location polygons mapped, to a 3rd party database as designated. 

   3. Bi-weekly progress reports 

   4. Ensure compliance to applicable local and global data privacy norms and regulations such as but not limited to GDPR, PDPA, etc.

2. We would like a detailed account of the resources: 

   1. Price per polygon mapped – Cost per unit (per Farmer/Plot/Polygon) 

   2. Timeline to map Polygons per day (eg 18 months to map X polygons)

3. A recommendation of the scalability of this pilot

   1. Can the same estimated cost/time/labour be replicated in other regions/jurisdictions within the same country?

   2. E.g., $X/farm is calculated but is not scalable due to what reason(s).

4. Interested parties should submit the quote for the following – 

   1. For mapping polygons (cost per Ha)

   2. For mapping polygons + completing set of questionnaires as a part of risk assessment

5. Comply with applicable data privacy norms and regulations (including but not limited to GDPR and PDPA).

6. An optional activity that service providers could provide is the ability to integrate a transactional traceability function (own or 3rd party as designated)

Proposal Format and Contents

The proposal should include the following:

1. A workplan that outlines the key activities towards the deliverables outlined in Expected Deliverables above

2. The timeline and key stages of operations based on Project Timeline below 

3. Budget, including detailed breakdown of expected manpower, logistics, and costs as mentioned above

4. Description of past work and technical expertise that is relevant to this RFP

A list of project team members with their roles in the project and associated qualifications.

Submission Guidelines & Requirements 

The following submission guidelines & requirements apply to this Request for Proposal: 

1. Proposals will only be accepted from individuals or firms with experience relevant to this project. 

2. Examples of previous relevant work should be provided. 

3. A technical proposal must be provided that is not more than 4 pages. This technical proposal must provide an overview of the proposed solution as well as resumes of all key personnel performing the work. In addition, the technical proposal should provide a proposed schedule and milestones, as applicable. 

4. A price proposal must be provided that is not more than 1 pages. This price proposal should indicate the overall fixed price for the project as well as hourly rates and an estimated total number of days. 

5. Proposals must be signed by a representative that is authorized to commit bidder’s company. 

6. Proposals must be received prior to the 25th of September to be considered. Proposals should be submitted to stefano.savi@gpsnr.org and aidan@gpsnr.org for consideration. 

7. GPSNR reserves the right to amend the scope and budget of this RFP in order to get the most suitable consultant for each topic. 

Project Timelines

Budget

The Platform is anticipating that a total budget of no more than 20USD/ha be allocated to this engagement and more competitive quotations will be favoured. 

Payment terms shall be:

• 20% at the signing of the contract

• 30% at the midpoint date to be agreed upon and memorialized in the contract based on the submitted work plan

• 50% to be agreed based on mutually agreed milestones

The allocation of the payment shall be based on the net amount after travel expenses, if deemed necessary by both the consultant and Secretariat, are incurred and documented.

Evaluation Factors

GPSNR will rate proposals based on the following factors, with cost being the most important factor:

1. Responsiveness to the requirements set forth in this Request for Proposal

2. Relevant past performance/ experience

3. Samples of work

4. Cost, including an assessment of total cost of ownership

5. Technical expertise/experience of bidder and bidder’s staff

GPSNR reserves the right to award to the bidder that presents the best value to GPSNR as determined solely by GPSNR in its absolute discretion.

View RFP Document here