(Closed) Request For Proposal – GPSNR-RFP-A02-026-GPSNR Knowledge Sharing Platform: Digital Platform Development

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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 2019. 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 define GPSNR strategy and objectives.

The GPSNR Secretariat and the GPSNR Capacity Building Working Group, through the GPSNR Knowledge Sharing Platform Task Force, are jointly overseeing the development and eventual operations and maintenance of a digital GPSNR Knowledge Sharing Platform.

This digital platform is envisaged to be an easily accessible, multi-lingual and expandable knowledge platform for smallholders and other actors based on quality-controlled information. Besides providing technical information on the latest sustainability best practices and Good Agricultural Practices, it will provide access to live market conditions on natural rubber such as prices on key exchanges, projected supply, and demand shifts, as well as overall global market developments. The digital platform will also incorporate communication functions such as live chat and forum with built-in translation tools to allow smallholders to share and communicate seamlessly across different countries. Another crucial aspect will be to safeguard data security and ownership.

GPSNR is seeking proposals to build the above digital platform in mobile application form, and to maintain the application for GPSNR for a trial period of 3-6 months. Details are provided below. 

Key Requirements for the Digital Platform

GPSNR has completed an initial Assessment of Status Quo and Evaluation of Knowledge Sharing Platforms for Rubber Smallholders. This included an extensive needs review of smallholders and other key players in the natural rubber value chain with regard to digital applications. Interested bidders can approach the GPSNR Secretariat for a copy of the Report.

The main target user of the platform are natural rubber smallholders and other players in the natural rubber value chain globally.

GPSNR is open to proposals based on the following:

  • Adopting and adapting an existing platform that is already on the market and accessible to natural rubber smallholders in whatever capacity
    • In this option, the service provider of the existing platform should provide a template that can be adaptable to suit GPSNR’s stated requirements
  • Developing a customised platform specifically for GPSNR and its requirements
    • The custom solution can be hosted and operated either on GPSNR’s IT infrastructure or by the app provider (i.e., delivered as a Software as a Service).

Based on the initial Status Quo Assessment Report, the Platform should have the following key characteristics:

  1. Be an (expandable)multi-lingual open information exchange platform with the following language options:
    • Minimum from the start: Bahasa Indonesia, English
    • Ideally including: French, Thai
    • Expandable in the future: Khmer, Vietnamese, Sinhalese, Burmese, Spanish, Portuguese, Tamil
  2. Host quality-controlled technical information on natural rubber issues that will be first reviewed and endorsed by GPSNR members
  3. Be free-to-use and respecting users’ data privacy
  4. Allow for easy access by smallholders using simple or commonly available tools such as smartphones
  5. Data security and privacy to be safeguarded at all times
  6.  The platform should be built such that it can be expanded or further customisable to incorporate more features in the future
  7. System architecture and infrastructure: it should be possible to use the app via the iOS and Android app system

Building on the above, the Platform should be able to host, at minimum, the following content and functions (multi-lingual):

  1. Daily natural rubber prices, automated to reflect live updates based on local, regional and global prices
  2. Information on local or global sustainability best practices, in the most accessible digital formats (pdf, video, ppt, text, etc.)
  3. Information on Good Agricultural Practices, in the most accessible digital formats (pdf, video, ppt, text, etc.)
  4. Marketplace (for natural rubber products / agricultural products)
  5. Forum / chat / helpline for smallholders to discuss news or other issues and exchange experiences and best practices

Platform developers are welcomed to recommend other essential features or functions based on their technical and user experience expertise.

Deliverables

By the end of the project, the consultant should have completed the following:

Phase 1: Preparatory Recommendations

  1. Recommend detailed technical requirements for the digital platform or application, including requirements for data security, ownership, back-office administration, documentation, support, maintenance and performance criteria
  2. Prepare screen designs prior to software development
  3. Engage with preliminary pilot calls with smallholders to gather further feedback and inputs
  4. The above to be reviewed in discussions with the GPSNR Capacity Building Working Group

Phase 2: Software Development

  1. Build the digital platform in line with the stated requirements, either by adopting an existing digital platform, or developing a customised platform or application for GPSNR

  2. Continuous review with the GPSNR Capacity Building Working Group

Minimum viable product (MVP)

  • A final graphic design and user interface is apparent.
  • The core functions can be used and demonstrated.
  • Initial content has been input.

Beta version of the app

  • Final graphic design and user interface have been applied.
  • All functions can be used.
  • All content has been input.

Phase 3: Platform Pilot Period

  1. Maintain the platform for a trial period of 3-6 months
    • exact costs and timeframe to be proposed, considering manpower, technical, licensing etc. needs
  2. Work with GPSNR to engage in continuous user and quality assurance tests and feedback to further refine the digital platform or application as required

Submission Guidelines & Requirements

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

  1. A detailed technical proposal must be provided. This technical proposal must provide an overview of the proposed methodology for the three Phases of the project. In addition, the technical proposal should provide a proposed schedule and milestones, as applicable.         
  2. A detailed price proposal must be provided. This price proposal should indicate the overall fixed price or expected price range for each Phase of the project, including daily rates and an estimated total number of days for each Phase of the project.        
  3. Proposals will only be accepted from individuals or firms with experience relevant to this project. Examples of previous relevant work should be provided, as well as resumes of all key personnel performing the work.
  4. Proposals must be signed by a representative that is authorised to commit the bidder’s company.

Project Timelines

Request for Proposal Issuance29 August 2022
Proposal submitted by consultant to yeo.siyuan@gpsnr.org26 September 2022
Selection of consultant / Notification to Unsuccessful Bidders7 October 2022
Completion of Phase 1: Preparatory RecommendationsNovember 2022
Completion of Phase 2: Software DevelopmentTo be proposed by the bidder
Completion of Phase 3: Platform PilotTo be proposed by the bidder
 
Pilot period should conclude no later than June 2023
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 a total budget of up to 140,000 EUR for all three Phases of the project.

This figure could be adjusted based on bidders’ expert recommendations on costs and timeline, and reviewed based on the outcomes put forth following each Phase of the project.

Payment terms shall be:

  • 60% at the signing of the contract
  • 5% upon completion of Phase 1: Preparatory Recommendations
  • 20% upon completion of Phase 2: Software Development
  • 15% upon completion of Phase 3: Platform Pilot

Evaluation Factors

GPSNR will rate proposals based on the following factors:

  1. Responsiveness to the requirements set forth in this RFP
  2. Methodology for completing all three Phases of the project
  3. Costs and expected timeline for all three Phases of the project
  4. Technical expertise/experience, including team composition, past performance/experience

When evaluating bids, GPSNR may request for more information as part of a full due diligence to understand bidders’ technical and commercial background, assess potential conflicts of interests and independence vis-à-vis natural rubber smallholders and the wider agricultural sector, and level of competence for the project.

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.

Digital Guidelines and Considerations

The consultant should commit to follow the guidelines specified in the Principles for Digital Development.

The principles of data protection legislation must be taken into account when processing personal data:

  • The data must be processed lawfully (lawfulness)
  • Data must only be processed if this is required and reasonable (fairness).
  • The data must be processed transparently (transparency).
  • The data must be processed for defined (time-limited), clear and legitimate purposes (earmarking).
  • Only as much data as is required may be processed (data minimisation).
  • Accuracy and currency must be ensured (data accuracy).
  • The principle of integrity and confidentiality must be guaranteed through an appropriate level of protection (data security).

View RFP Document here

More To Explore

Request For Proposal – GPSNR-RFP-A02-022-Pilot Provision of Certified Planting Materials in Indonesia – Clone Orders

Deadline for submission has been updated to 8th July 2022

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.

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 to procure approximately 40,000 certified plants from licensed and accredited institutions in Indonesia. The planting materials are to be delivered by January 2023 at the latest for replanting at selected nursery or budwood garden sites (exact locations to be determined).

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

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

2. 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. 

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.  

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]

[2] https://www.facsglobal.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Final-Rubber-report-2020.pdf

3. Expected Deliverables

The overall objective of the Pilot Provision of Certified Planting Materials project is to deliver approximately 40,000 plants by January 2023. GPSNR has identified the following clones for procurement:

  1. IRR 220
  2. IRR 112
  3. RRIC 100

The service provider should also detail the initial certification process prior to delivery of clones.

The proposal should justify whether GPSNR should proceed with all of any of the three clones above, and the recommended number of clones to procure.

Submitted proposals should also provide brief justifications and details on the costs, timeline, and rationales for each of the clones listed above, and provide rationales for where the clones are most needed amongst the following 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 specific regions based on relative productivity, coverage of existing coaching services, socio-economic needs, or other considerations.

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 provider may also be expected to work closely with the GPSNR Capacity Building Working Group (Indonesia National Subgroup) to fine-tuned or further augment the clone selection and delivery timelines.

Key Metrics

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

  1. Total planting materials delivered by January 2023

  • Initial certification of clonal materials
  • Overall expected costs
  • Level of details in justifications for selected clones and recommended regions for replanting

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

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

4. Proposal Format and Contents

The proposal should include the following:

  1. A workplan that outlines all key activities of the deliverables (as outlined in 3. Expected Deliverables above)
  2. Timeline and key stages of operations (based on 5. Expected Timeline below)
  3. Budget, including detailed breakdown of expected manpower, logistics, and costs (based on 6. 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

5. Expected Timelines

The work shall begin by July 2022 and the various phases shall be completed in accordance with the approximate timeline below:

RFP publication 3 June 2022
Submission deadline for proposals 8 July 2022
Contract Award 1 July 2022
First Full Review October 2022
Delivery of clones January 2023

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

6. Budget

The Platform is anticipating that the total budget of no more than 26,000 EUR be allocated to the project.

Payment terms shall be:

  • 30% at the signing of the contract
  • 20% upon the First Full Review
  • 50% upon the delivery of planting materials

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

View RFP Document here

GPSNR Secretariat June 3, 2022
Tender

(CLOSED) Request for Proposal – Study on Living Income Gap in Global Natural Rubber Value Chains – Myanmar

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 the GPSNR was initiated by the CEOs of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) Tire Industry Project (TIP) in November 2017. 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 GPSNR strategy and objectives.

Through a process led by the Equity Working Group, the Platform has begun an investigation into how value can be equitably distributed across the entire natural rubber value chain. To achieve this aim, it is important for the Platform to gather information about the following metrics in different countries:

i) the prevailing net household income of rubber smallholders;

ii) the detailed cost of production for rubber (input costs, labor etc);

iii) the living income for rubber smallholders;

iv) the living income gap and v) the living income reference price for rubber (the price at which the living income benchmark can be reached).

The Platform has decided to limit the focus of this initial study to Ivory Coast, Indonesia, Thailand, and Myanmar and the consultant is expected to collect information on the aforementioned metrics in Myanmar for this study.

Given that living income data is not readily available for each country, alternative benchmarks should be used where relevant and applicable. A list of potential benchmarks and preliminary data are illustrated in the attached document. To facilitate cross-country comparisons of income data and living income levels, the consultant is expected to use consistent units of measurement (per household / per workforce / per person) throughout this study.

The consultant will collect the information via desktop study, interviewing of GPSNR members, research institutes, social NGOs, governmental organizations, etc.  A primary list of stakeholders will be provided by the Secretariat together with the Equity Working Group members.  A complementary list will be developed by the consultant.  Regular contact and updating to the Equity Working Group together with the Secretariat will be required. Travel plans shall be made by the consultant where possible and necessary.

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 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 19th August 2020 to be considered. Proposals should be submitted to stefano.savi@gpsnr.org for consideration.
  7. GPSNR anticipates shortlisting at least two individuals or firms to have more in-depth discussions with, and will make an award to one of these “down-selected” individuals or firms.

Budget

The Platform is anticipating that a total budget of no more than 10,500 Euros be allocated to this engagement

Payment terms shall be:

  • 50% at the signing of the contract
  • 50% on delivery of the final report

Evaluation Factors

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

  • Responsiveness to the requirements set forth in this Request for Proposal;
  • Relevant past performance/experience;
  • Samples of work;
  • Cost, including an assessment of total cost of ownership;
  • Technical expertise/experience of bidder and bidder’s staff;
  • The ability to collect information at the global and local level.

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.

Please submit your application to stefano.savi@gpsnr.org by 19 August 2020.

GPSNR Staff August 14, 2020

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