Diagnosis and development of strategies to strengthen storage and management processes of agricultural products in Ecuador

Description

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), in close technical coordination with the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries (MAGAP) and the Undersecretariat of Information and Promotion of Agricultural Marketing of Ecuador, convenes specialized consulting firms for the development of a comprehensive diagnosis and the formulation of strategies aimed at optimizing the chain of storage and marketing of agricultural products. with a priority emphasis on the grain sector.

1. Situational diagnosis and inventory of territorial capacity

- Evaluation of the current infrastructure: Collect and analyze technical, operational, financial and regulatory information on the country's distribution, inventory management and storage mechanisms.

- Projected supply and demand balance: Consolidate a detailed inventory of the storage capacity available in the public and private sectors, contrasting it with the projected needs of national production to identify logistics gaps.

- Participatory mapping and focus groups: Coordinate, moderate and consult technical working groups and focus groups with key actors in the production, distribution and marketing chain to validate bottlenecks in the environment.

2. Design of the national grid and public-private investment models

- National system configuration: Provide scalable storage infrastructure typologies (micro, medium and large scale) together with formal sectoral articulation mechanisms to shape an integrated national network.

- Diversification of business models: Evaluate and propose investment schemes and governance schemes suitable for the installation, continuous maintenance and operation of the network, encompassing pure public investment, private capital, public-private partnerships (PPPs) or concession regimes.

- Chain optimization (disintermediation): Design a technical model focused on reducing unnecessary links in marketing channels, allowing a more direct and efficient connection between producers and end markets.

3. Technology watch and skills transfer

- International benchmarking: Analyze the best international practices in grain storage and conservation, isolating the lessons learned and methodological success stories that are technically and economically replicable in the Ecuadorian context.

- Institutional strengthening: Proportional formal technical training schemes for the efficient management of armament and the improvement of marketing processes.

4. Expected Products and Delivery Approach

The consultancy requires the structuring and technical validation of the following four main products:

- Output 1 — Detailed work plan: Document with a detailed description of activities, execution methodology, physical-financial schedule with control milestones, assignment of team roles and mapping of government actors' dependencies.

- Output 2 — Situational diagnosis and comparative report: Analytical report on commercial storage gaps (emphasis on grains), audited private inventory and the dossier of national and international good practices.

- Output 3 — Technical proposal for chain optimization: Operating model focused on the reduction of links and intermediaries, accompanied by their respective guidelines and implementation manuals.

- Output 4 — Consolidated final report and sustainability plan: Closing document in senior management executive format. It must be written in a simple language and accessible to non-specialized personnel, relying on graphic communication tools, thematic maps and conceptual diagrams that exempt the reader from reviewing the secondary analytical detail.

Technical support: Provide methodological support in the formal days of validation, socialization and transfer of the proposals generated to government counterparts.

Note: Interested companies should review the requirements on the BEO Bidder Portal.