(Closed) Request For Proposal – GPSNR-RFP-A02-020-Smallholders Policy Equivalent

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Updated 6 May 2022

Introduction

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 producers and processors, vehicle makers, NGOs, and smallholder natural rubber producers. 

GPSNR is seeking to hire a consultant to develop the GPSNR Policy Equivalent for Smallholders, which will put forth commitments for economic, environmental, and social sustainability for GPSNR smallholder members.

Relevant Background

GPSNR Policy Framework for Member Companies

In September 2020, the GPSNR General Assembly endorsed the GPSNR Policy Framework for natural rubber production and sourcing for GPSNR ordinary member companies.

The GPSNR Policy Framework provides a framework for GPSNR member companies to align their natural rubber purchasing policies on all aspects of sustainability: economic, environmental, and social. Modelled around the Platform’s 12 Principles of Sustainable Natural Rubber, the GPSNR policy framework sets out eight overarching themes that include commitments to legal compliance, community livelihoods, healthy, functioning ecosystems (including no deforestation), and respecting all human rights.

In line with the GPSNR Policy Framework, the GPSNR Secretariat has prepared guidance on the Policy Evaluation Procedure to support members in aligning their corporate policies with the GPSNR Policy Framework.

GPSNR Smallholders Policy Equivalent for Smallholder Members

As of March 2022, GPSNR currently has 112 smallholder members across 10 countries: Brazil, Cambodia, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Ivory Coast, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam.

While this represents a small percentage of the millions of smallholder producers globally, GPSNR is committed to developing the mechanisms, tools, and processes to support smallholders globally in adopting best practices for natural rubber production in terms of economic, environmental and social outcomes. 

To advance this, the Platform is developing the GPSNR Smallholders Policy Equivalent. GPSNR is seeking to hire a consultant to make recommendations on the objectives, content, function, and roadmap of this new document, the Smallholders Policy (or similar equivalent), relative to the needs, interests, and capacities of the Platform’s smallholder members.

The consultant is expected to collect relevant information via desktop study and information provided by the GPSNR Secretariat and the GPSNR Smallholders Policy Task Force.

The consultant would also be expected to conduct a number of stakeholder engagement sessions (e.g., interviews, focus group discussion; including but not necessarily limited to GPSNR smallholder members, and GPSNR NGO and private company members with direct interactions with smallholder, such as natural rubber processers) based on the criteria set out below. The GPSNR Secretariat will provide a preliminary list of contacts and the consultant will be expected to propose additional contacts to interview, with a particular focus on external schemes / platforms that engage with smallholders.

Regular contact and provision of updates to the Task Force together with the Secretariat will be required.

Further Context

To become a Smallholder Member of GPSNR, the following criteria must be met:

  1. The primary source of income for the smallholder is the farm (not only Natural Rubber)
  2. The Natural Rubber production unit size is not more than 50ha (although the farm may be larger)
  3. Profits from the farm accrue primarily to the owner of the farm and their family

Deliverables

Objectives, Content and Function of the Smallholders Policy Equivalent

The consultant should put forth recommendations covering the objectives, substantive content, function, and roadmap (e.g., propose normative documents to be developed later on) of the Smallholders Policy Equivalent, considering the responses of key stakeholders to the following questions:

  1. What are the objectives of the Policy Equivalent for GPSNR and GPSNR smallholder members?
  2. What are the sustainability commitments and standards put forth in the Policy Equivalent?
  3. How detailed should the commitments in the Policy Equivalent be? 
  4. How binding should the Policy Equivalent be for smallholder members (e.g., level of adoption requirements)?
  5. What would the Policy Equivalent entail or mean for smallholder members upon its completion and endorsement?
  6. What are the expected costs and benefits of implementing the Policy Equivalent for member and non-member smallholders?
  7. How would the content, form or function of the Policy Equivalent compare to existing equivalents (e.g., participatory guarantee systems) in other commodities (e.g., coffee, cocoa, palm oil etc.), if any? 
  8. Follow-up Questions: What mechanisms can GPSNR put in place to assist farmers in managing the costs of adhering to implementing sustainability best practices?

This should be conducted through a needs review comprising a representative set of stakeholders (smallholders, NGOs, processers, and producers). GPSNR will facilitate virtual access and engagement with GPSNR smallholder and company members where applicable and requested by the consultant.

This RFP is also not limited in scope to smallholders or stakeholders in any specific geographical region, given that the output is expected to be globally applicable.

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 as well.
  3. A technical proposal must be provided that should be around 4 pages in length. This technical proposal must provide an overview of the proposed methodology 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 page. This price proposal should indicate the overall fixed price for the project as well as daily 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 10 June 2022 to be considered. Proposals should be submitted to yeo.siyuan@gpsnr.org for consideration. You may also reach out to this contact for any questions or clarifications.

Project Timelines

The Request for Proposal timeline is as follows:
Request for Proposal Issuance  6 May 2022
Proposal submitted by consultant to yeo.siyuan@gpsnr.org
10 June 2022
Selection of Consultant /
Notification to Unsuccessful Bidders		24 June 2022
Contract Award1 July 2022
Work to commence no later than  8 July 2022
First ReviewAugust
2022
Second ReviewSeptember 2022
Delivery of Recommendations to GPSNREnd-September
2022

The above timeline is open to further adjustments based on discussions with the consultant and GPSNR’s ongoing key milestones.

Budget

The Platform is anticipating that a total budget of no more than 25,000 GBP. If the consultant deems that travel plans are required to execute this project, these should be included in the proposal (along with any additional budgetary requirements).

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% on delivery of the final report

Evaluation Factors

GPSNR will rate proposals based on the following factors:

  1. Costs and expected timeline
  2. Responsiveness to the requirements set forth in this RFP
  3. Methodology for developing the Policy Equivalent 
  4. Technical expertise/experience, including past performance/experience

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

More To Explore

Request For Proposal – GPSNR-RFP-A02-025-Review and support the development of a risk analysis document and to assess and define appropriate risk thresholds for the GPSNR use case (In a natural rubber supply chain context)

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 rubber products manufacturers, natural rubber suppliers and processors, end users and NGOs. 

Through a process led by the Strategy and Objectives Working Group (Risk Subgroup), a risk analysis document has been developed for members to identify and manage risk. In its current iteration, the document contains identified social and environmental risks reflected in the GPSNR Policy Framework, information that is required to assess the tools, characteristics of high/low risk rubber production regions and potential mitigation measures. 

GPSNR is seeking a consultant to review and revise the risk analysis document and to work with the Risk Subgroup to suggest a guidance framework for members to identify risk thresholds with suggested mitigation measures. Members need to be able to invest in making rubber supplies sustainable and to make sourcing and engagement decisions based on preliminary risk assessments. Given members’ general lack of knowledge about the details of their supplies, risk assessments in many cases would have to be done at increasing levels of resolution, starting at country level, moving to districts, and finally to the actual plantation and farm level.

Objectives     

  1. Review and further complete the sourcing risks document (see below ‘Scope of Work’)
  2. Propose a methodology aiming to assess risks at different levels (country, district, and plantation/farm level), and the tools that
    1) are currently available to do so, or that
    2) would need to be developed, and where possible, an indication of the costs
  3. Suggest the risk thresholds at country, district, and plantation/farm level at which risks have a reasonable chance to be successfully mitigated through active interventions by members or GPSNR in general. 
  4. Suggest potential risk mitigation actions at the country, district, and plantation/farm level and provide a list of recommended existing tools (if any) to mitigate potential risks
  5. Suggest the risk thresholds at country, district, and plantation/farm level at which sourcing should not be considered (i.e., when risk mitigation cannot be implemented).
  6. Align the recommendations with the Accountability Framework Initiative (in particular, the Supply Chain Management guidance),  and link to source documents utilised
    -The review of tools, datasets and frameworks for risk assessment and mitigation is not limited to existing tools applied for the rubber industry,  the consultant can and is encouraged to draw on the experience of other commodities (palm oil / cocoa) if applicable.

  1. Work closely with the members of GPSNR’s Risk Task Force to guide the above analysis.
  2. Suggest members of other tropical commodities platforms who focus on risk assessment and mitigation and whom GPSNR’s Risk Task Force may consider contacting.

Scope of Work

For each of the five GPSNR Policy Framework components listed below, the consultant is expected to recommend methods for risk assessment and risk mitigation and the tools and baseline databases available to conduct them. 

Detailed guidance is provided in GPSNR’s Risk Analysis Working Document (available to bidding consultants upon request to the stefano.savi@gpsnr.org). 

The consultant should reference and build on the following work

The consultant is to populate each of the listed components of the GPSNR Policy Framework detailed in the Risk Analysis Working Document. The policy subsets were developed based the following list of required information and the consultant is encouraged to use the list when doing so: 

  1. Risks most likely to be encountered
  2. Risk assessment methods at country level
  3. Risk assessment methods at district level
  4. Risk assessment methods at plantation/farm level
  5. Risk level before mitigation at which rubber should not be purchased at country level 
  6. Risk level before mitigation at which rubber should not be purchased at district level
  7. Risk level before mitigation at which rubber should not be purchased at plantation/farm level
  8. Risk mitigation methods at country level
  9. Risk mitigation methods at district level
  10. Risk mitigation methods at plantation/farm level
  11. Risk level after mitigation at which rubber should not be purchased at country level 
  12. Risk level after mitigation at which rubber should not be purchased at district level
  13. Risk level after mitigation at which rubber should not be purchased at plantation/farm level

The consultant is to focus on this subset of GPSNR Policy Framework components. Detailed guidance for each component (i.e., gaps identified by the Risk Subgroup members) have been provided (See ‘Annex’). 

  1. Deforestation (see GPSNR Policy Framework component 2.1.2):

Background: Most natural rubber is produced by smallholders operating plantations in multiple use mosaic landscapes.

Task: Identify methods to assess the risk that current operations or future expansion of some of these plantations harm HCV/HCS, suggest potential approaches to mitigate that risk, and suggest quantitative thresholds when risk is high enough to conduct mitigation activities, and when buyers should refrain from sourcing because mitigation has failed. Consider the applicability of available maps for use in natural rubber supply chains, taking into account its specificities. (See ‘Annex A: Deforestation for details) 

  1. Supporting long term protection of natural forests, restoration of degraded rubber landscapes (see GPSNR Policy Framework component 2.2):

Task: In a rubber smallholder context, the consultant is expected to suggest ways how the downstream supply chain can help to protect remaining HCV/HCS areas and other natural ecosystems and help restore at least those crucial to re-establish connectivity between remaining blocks. (See ‘Annex B: Supporting long term protection of natural forests, restoration of degraded rubber landscape’ for details)

  1. Fire use + Land Prep, Fire use + Land Management (see GPSNR Policy Framework component 2.3)

Task: Assess and refine current characteristics of High/Low risk at a country or region level depending on available information and standards. The consultant is advised to focus on defining and quantifying thresholds for the density of alerts to characterize areas of high and low risk. An example could be X instances of fire reported in a specified area over a year would be considered a high-risk area. 

  1. Labour (see GPSNR Policy Framework Components 3.6)

Task: Identify methods to assess the risk of poor labour practices (e.g., poor working conditions and health and safety risks, child labour/forced labour) or practices and suggest potential approaches to mitigate that risk, and suggest quantitative thresholds when risk is high enough to conduct mitigation activities, and when buyers should refrain from sourcing because mitigation has failed. (See ‘Annex C: Labour’ for details)

A suggested focus on but non-exhaustive list:

Health and Safety
Working conditions (hours worked, rest days)
Child labour/Forced labour

  1. Human Rights (see GPSNR Policy Framework component 3.6)

Task: Identify methods to assess the risk of human rights infringement (e.g., low income/wages, IPLC rights), suggest potential approaches to mitigate that risk, and suggest quantitative thresholds when risk is high enough to conduct mitigation activities, and when buyers should refrain from sourcing because mitigation has failed. (See ‘Annex D: Human Rights’ for details)

A suggested focus on but non-exhaustive list:
Income (farm owners) and wages (farm workers)
IPLC Rights with appropriate context for Natural Rubber supply chain

Expected Deliverables

GPSNR expects the consultant to:

  1. Complete and finalize the risks assessment drafted in order to define a comprehensive set of questions to assess and mitigate risks based on the:
    1. Objectives listed above, (including the reviewing of tools in Objective 4, see ‘Objectives’) 
    2. Tasks for each policy component listed in the Scope of Work and their detailed guidance in the Annex
  2. Consultant to pitch their findings, recommendations and opinion on our risk assessment and approach.

Proposal Format and Contents

The proposal should include the following:

  1. A workplan that outlines all key activities of the deliverables (as outlined in Expected Deliverables above)
  2. Timeline and key stages of operations (based on Expected Timeline below)
  3. Budget, including detailed breakdown of expected manpower, logistics, and costs (based on Budget below)
  4. Description of past work and technical expertise that is relevant to this RFP
  5. 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 as well. 
  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 daily 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 7th of October 2022 to be considered. Proposals should be submitted to stefano.savi@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

RFP Publication

Note: Consultants should email cheryl@gpsnr.org to share any indicative or prospective interest to submit a proposal. This would allow GPSNR to share updates to the tender (where any) directly with the consultant. 

 26 August 2022
Proposals submitted by consultant to stefano.savi@gpsnr.org 7 October 2022
Selection of Top Bidders / Notification to Unsuccessful Bidders 27 October 2022
Contract Award / Notification to Unsuccessful Bidders 28 October 2022
Phase I – Review 1 of Deliverable 1: Complete and finalize the risks assessment drafted in order to define a comprehensive set of questions to assess and mitigate risks. November 2022 
Phase 2 – Review 2 (if needed)/Completion of Deliverable 1: Complete and finalize the risks assessment drafted in order to define a comprehensive set of questions to assess and mitigate risks. December 2022
Phase 3 – Completion of Deliverable 2: Consultant to pitch its findings, recommendations and opinion on our risks assessment and approach December 2022
Presentation to and discussion with GPSNR Executive Committee for feedback (via digital meeting) December 2022
Phase 4 – Delivery of Deliverable 1 and 2 to GPSNR Jan 2023

Budget

The Platform is anticipating that a total budget of no more than €25,000 be allocated to this engagement.

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% on delivery of the final report

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.

Annex

Annex A: Deforestation

Gaps that the group has identified in the Risk Analysis Working Document:

  • Is it possible, and if so how, to assess this risk at a coarse grain country or province / district level, or does such an assessment have to be done at the landscape / plantation level?  
    -Which tools (e.g., publicly or commercially available HCV/HCS maps exist for which rubber growing areas? 
    -How do these existing maps need to be queried and what answers can they provide to members?  
    -Should existing tools not be sufficient, what tools would need to be developed to assess risk at a satisfactory level, sufficient to protect HCVs and HCS forests?  

  • What is the likelihood of existing, known smallholders to expand into HCV/HCS?  
    -Is there a link to the distance between current plantations and blocks of HCV/HCS?  
    -Is there a link between the occurrence of fire hotspots, rubber plantations and blocks of HCV/HCS? 
    -If there is, what intensity of fire hotspots can indicate what levels of risk to HCV/HCS? 
    -What level of detail do maps have to have to identify such a link with reasonable accuracy? 
    -What is the likelihood of previously unknown smallholders to open forest for new plantations? 
    -What are the early warning signs for either? How can they be detected, analysed, and applied? 
    -At what time will it be necessary to conduct detailed plantation level surveys?  

  • At what risk threshold should downstream buyers engage in on-site surveys and risk mitigation activities? 
    -Can such threshold be quantified or at least categorized into no/low versus high risk, and if so, how? 
    -What tools exist for such on-site activities and who can apply them?  
    -How can the impact of such risk mitigation activities be evaluated?  
    -At what threshold should buyers refrain from buying supplies from the assessed area? 

For more details, please click this link

Annex B: Supporting long term protection of natural forests, restoration of degraded rubber landscapes 

Gaps that the group has identified in the Risk Analysis Working Document:

  • How to assess the capability of local government to exercise effective protection of legal protected areas (e.g., based on trajectory of forest loss in surrounding protected areas or based on gov budgets)? 
  • How to assess the presence of effective landscape or jurisdictional initiatives in the area? 
  • How can the remaining natural forests be protected and how can the restored blocks of degraded rubber landscapes be mapped and prioritized?  
  • How can smallholders be integrated in this process?  
  • How can the commercial supply chain join local private and government efforts?  
  • How can supply chain members best join hands to financially and/or practically support them? 

Annex C: Labour

Gaps that the group has identified in the Risk Analysis Working Document:

  • Is it possible, and if so how, to assess this risk at a province / district level (coarser than farm level)? 
    -Which tools (e.g., publicly, or commercially available) exist to assess these socio-economic data? 
    -How do these solutions query and (if possible) summarize data at a coarse-grained level and what answers can they provide to members?  

  • At what risk threshold should downstream buyers engage in on-site surveys and risk mitigation activities?  
    -Can such threshold be quantified or at least categorized into no/low versus high risk, and if so, how?
    -What tools exist for such on-site activities and who can apply them?  
    -How can the impact such risk mitigation activities be evaluated?  
    -At what threshold should buyers refrain from buying supplies from the assessed area?   

Annex D: Human Rights

Gaps that the group has identified in the Risk Analysis Working Document:

  • Is it possible, and if so how, to assess this risk at a province / district level (coarser than farm level)? 
    -Which tools (e.g., publicly, or commercially available) exist to assess these socio-economic data?  
    -How do these solutions query and (if possible) summarize data at a coarse-grained level and what answers can they provide to members

  • At what risk threshold should downstream buyers engage in on-site surveys and risk mitigation activities?  
    -Can such threshold be quantified or at least categorized into no/low versus high risk, and if so, how?  
    -What tools exist for such on-site activities and who can apply them?  
    -How can the impact such risk mitigation activities be evaluated?  
    -At what threshold should buyers refrain from buying supplies from the assessed area?  

View RFP Document here

GPSNR Secretariat August 26, 2022
Tender

(Closed) Request for Proposal – GPSNR Capacity Building Working Group: Smallholders GAP Coaching in Indonesia (GPSNR-RFP-A02-017)

  1. INTRODUCTION

The Global Platform for Sustainable Naural Rubber is an international, multi-stakeholder, voluntary membership initiative committed to improving the socioeconomics and environmental performance of the natural rubber value chain.  Development of the GPSNR was intiated 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.

The GPSNR aims to support the natural rubber sector to become more sustainable. Key element in achieving  this is to ensure there is capacity among smallholders and industrial plantations to adopt best practices in NR  production.

GPSNR, through the GPSNR Capacity Building Working Group (Indonesia National Subgroup), is seeking proposals to disseminate coaching materials and implement coaching on Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) for smallholders in Indonesia.

Proposed coaching programmes should be implemented in line with GPSNR environmental and social commitments and values, based on the GPSNR Policy Framework[1].

  1. OBJECTIVES AND SCOPE OF WORK

2.1 Context

There are approximately 2.25M smallholders in Indonesia, representing 83% of national natural rubber production (3.6 M tonnes). Smallholders cultivate less than 2 ha of land with an average yield of slightly below 1 ton/ha, as compared to state and private commercial plantations achieving 1.4 ton/ha and 1.5 ton/ha respectively.

Indonesia’s average rubber yield is significantly lower than neighbouring countries in Southeast Asia; such low yield is due to low-quality clones, limited knowledge of Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) and aging trees.

Most rubber trees in Indonesia were planted from 1978-1991 through several government schemes. Given that rubber trees only have a 25-year productive lifespan, with steeply declining yields thereafter, almost all rubber trees planted under these schemes have passed their peak production. Whilst there is no formal data available on tree aging in Indonesia, the Ministry of Agriculture estimates around 600,000 – 700,000 ha of natural rubber plantations need rejuvenation. Replanting should ideally occur on about 4% of plantations annually to ensure a stable output. Yet, it is estimated that between 2010 and 2017 replanting of only 1.3% was undertaken.

Diseases are a major threat to rubber trees, with 80 – 90% of farmers experiencing tree diseases in 2019 in West Kalimantan and South Sumatra, and 60% in Jambi. When disease (pink and white root rot) attacks trees, the trees should be cut down, leaving not even the stem in the ground, to minimise infection of other trees. A new rubber leaf fall disease is spreading in Sumatra and Kalimantan. This disease causes leaf fall more than twice a year and reduces annual yield by up to 40%. The treatment for this disease is expensive and is often not implemented by smallholders.

Land preparation for replanting is also an important factor for sustainability of production and can lead to lower rubber disease infection rates. Young trees are susceptible to numerous diseases and pests, which smallholders must be coached and financially supported to protect in years 1 – 3. The cost of land preparation and field protection is among the most expensive investments, besides the purchase costs of high yielding clones. Costs incurred during the tree replanting stages is around $2,600 per ha over a 5-year period. During the 6th year, the trees will become productive and operational costs will be $460 pa.

Using the right clone makes a tremendous difference in a rubber tree’s lifetime yields. The productivity of rubber clonal and seedling-derived plants is almost 3 x lower than for certified clones. Across the region, only 5% of farmers received their seedlings through a government programme. Certified nurseries are only located in provincial and district capital cities resulting in limited access to high-yielding planting materials for remote smallholders.

Additionally, poor tapping techniques are another major cause of low yields and can decrease the productive life of trees by up to 50%. It is estimated that an average smallholder with 1.5 ha of rubber will earn 57% less than the Indonesian minimum wage.

Smallholders’ rubber plots and jungle rubber, as opposed to large, monoculture commercial estates, demonstrate higher animal diversity and may be able to come closer to mimicking the diversity found in natural forest ecosystems. Yet, low yields and record low international prices are driving smallholders to clear their jungle rubber and convert to other land uses such as palm oil. Research indicates in some villages on average, smallholders now grow rubber on only 0.34 ha with another 2.17 ha devoted to oil palm, and 66% of natural rubber plantations had been converted to oil palm. Cultivating oil palm also has other benefits such as i) being less labour intensive and generally farmers do not need to hire external labour – although gross returns of rubber are higher, the lower labour requirement for oil palm makes it more profitable for smallholders; ii) palm oil farmers receive more support from the government and supply chain actors; iii) contract farming arrangements for palm oil enables farmers to get loans/credits and extensions services from companies; and iv) the longer start up time for new rubber trees compared to oil palm is another factor as farmers receive income earlier than when planting rubber.

Five provinces contribute 66.5% of national production: South Sumatra, North Sumatra, Jambi, Riau, and West Kalimantan. South Sumatra province is Indonesia’s largest and most productive area. Its natural rubber area is almost 23% of the total national productive area and smallholders’ plantations take up 98.5% of this area. The productivity of smallholders in South Sumatra is the highest among smallholder areas in Indonesia, producing 1.3 ton/ha, and more likely to have received GAP training. In 2019 the government announced a replanting plan for 2019 – 2027, with a focus on South Sumatra (92,600 ha), South Kalimantan (76,550 ha) and Jambi (69,900 ha). However, this plan has no large-scale lending programme associated with it and is to be executed by local governments and has not yet been implemented. Demand for replanting is strongest in Jambi, where 40% of farmers are willing to undertake replanting. Demand is lowest in West Kalimantan, where only 1 farmer out of 79 was contemplating. Most likely the demand in Jambi is due to peak planting being undertaken in 1995 – 2005 and the majority of the trees are approaching their maximum productive age, and Jambi farmers are more aware of the importance of good quality clones and their impact on yield – they also have the highest rate of nursery clone purchase – and have suffered less from disease.

Source:

Financial Assessment of Smallholder Natural Rubber Production in Indonesia. July 2020. USAID Green Invest Asia, HeveaConnect, SNV and Financial Access. [2]

  1. EXPECTED DELIVERABLES

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.

3.1 Brief Justifications

The proposal should implement GPSNR’s proposed strategy for capacity building in Indonesia and provide brief justifications on the most suitable approach to conduct coaching for smallholders in any of five identified regions:

  1. Northern Sumatra
  2. Southern Sumatra
  3. Central Sumatra
  4. West Kalimantan
  5. East Kalimantan

The GPSNR Capacity Building Working Group (Indonesia National Subgroup) may prioritise funding for coaching in regions based on relative productivity, coverage of existing coaching services, socio-economic needs, or other considerations.

3.2 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:

  1. Coaching based on the train-the-trainers (ToT) model
  2. Female and other minority inclusion and represention
  3. Field coaching (or other approach) implementation plans
  4. Integration of technology for data capture and ongoing engagement, and progress tracking (i.e. immediate and longer-term monitoring and evaluation)
  5. 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 be in line with local situations in Indonesia in order to build trust with smallholders and to optimize coaching outcomes, especially in terms of language, technical specificities, and local needs.

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[3] such as commitment to environmental protection and sustainability, zero deforestation, community engagement and FPIC etc.

The selected service providermay also be expected to work closely with the GPSNR Capacity Building Working Group (Indonesia National Subgroup) to fine-tuned or further augment the provided coaching materials.

3.3 Key Metrics

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 increases in smallholder productivity and smallholders engaged
  4. Inclusitivity across gender, youth, geographic regions, and ethnicity (e.g., indigenous or other minority communities)
  5. Monitoring and evaluation of coaching progress and outcomes

Propoals are also encouraged to include key metrics of importance not listed above.

  1. PROPOSAL FORMAT AND CONTENTS

The proposal should include the following:

  1. A workplan that outlines all key activities of the deliverables (as outlined in Expected Deliverables above)
  2. Timeline and key stages of operations (based on Expected Timeline below)
  3. Budget, including detailed breakdown of expected manpower, logistics, and costs expected to run coaching programmes for an initial two years, beginning in 2022 (based on Budget below)
  4. Description of past work and technical expertise that is relevant to this RFP
  5. A list of project team members with their roles in the project and associated qualifications
  6. Proposals must be received prior to 15 January 2022 to be considered. Proposals should be submitted to yeo.siyuan@gpsnr.org for consideration. You may also reach out to this contact for any questions or clarifications
  1. EXPECTED TIMELINE

The work shall begin by February 2022 and the various phases shall be completed in accordance with the dates outlined in the timeline below:

Activity Due Date
RFP publication 10 Dec 2021
Submission deadline for proposals 15 Jan 2022
Evaluation and follow up End Jan 2022
Contract Award Feb 2022
Preparations and Implementation for 2022 Feb – Dec 2022
First Full Review Dec 2022
Preparations and Implementation for 2023 Jan – Dec 2023
Second Full Review Dec 2023

Consultants will also provide fortnightly or monthly progress updates to the GPSNR Capacity Working Group, or on an as-needed basis.

  1. BUDGET

The Platform is anticipating that the total budget of no more than 150,000 USD be allocated to the engagement, depending on the proposed coaching approach.

Payment terms shall be:

  • 30% at the signing of the contract
  • 20% at the first round of coaching conducted
  • 30% upon the First Full Review (Dec 2022)
  • 20% upon the Second Full Review (Dec 2023)
  1. 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 of the consultant
  3. Samples of work (e.g., previous training or coaching programmes in Indonesia)
  4. Cost per farmer, and other aspects of the proposed coaching approach or programme
  5. Technical expertise/experience of bidder and bidder’s staff
  6. Proposed timeline of operations
  7. Scale-up plan from 2022 to 2023, and outlook beyond 2023

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.

[1] https://sustainablenaturalrubber.org/policy-framework/
[2] https://www.facsglobal.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Final-Rubber-report-2020.pdf
[3] https://sustainablenaturalrubber.org/policy-framework/

Download RFP here
Contact Person: Yeo Siyuan  – yeo.siyuan@gpsnr.org

GPSNR Staff December 10, 2021

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Global Platform for Sustainable Natural Rubber

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