Terms of Reference
Market Analysis for Commodity Procurement for the McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Project in Cameroon
Implementer : Nascent Solutions Inc. (Nascent)
Funder: United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)
Location: Cameroon
Period for the Evaluation: July 1st – August 21st, 2026
Introduction:
Nascent Solutions, Inc. (Nascent) is implementing the McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Project (MGD-FFE) to improve the literacy and nutrition of school-age children in 260 schools in the Adamawa, East, North, and Northwest regions of Cameroon. The program will provide school meals to students using US-donated and locally procured commodities. US-donated commodities will include rice, beans, vegetable oil, and Corn Soy Blend plus, while the locally procured commodities will include biofortified maize and beans, palm oil and chicken eggs.
Nascent Solutions Inc. seeks a consultant or consulting agency to conduct a market analysis to better understand the local supply and demand for the food commodities needed and the potential impact of procurement on market prices for local communities. The results will inform Nascent Solutions’ operational plan.
Background:
Nascent intends to procure substantial quantities of commodities within Cameroon, which presents a market opportunity for local producers of biofortified maize and beans, palm oil and chicken eggs. Nascent seeks to understand how these commodities will be reliably supplied or obtained to support the school feeding program. Nascent is aware that buying large commodities from the local market can cause price increases or shortages of commodities for local communities in the short run. Nascent will also want to determine if the US-donated commodities distributed as school meals and take-home rations will have any effect on the local commodity prices. The consultant will provide an in-depth analysis of the supply chain of commodities, including production trends and key actors, and offer recommendations on how required quantities can be reliably procured while avoiding causing harm to the food security of local communities. The consultant will also include in the report, a statement that Cameroon produces enough commodities locally and none will be sourced from the west African regional market. This will justify not doing a regional analysis of the commodities.
Purpose of the Market Analysis
To understand the supply, pricing, and market impact of local procurement of biofortified maize and beans, palm oil, and chicken eggs (from North, Northwest, Adamawa, and East regions of Cameroon) to inform the design of an LRP procurement plan.
Objectives:
- Identify and analyze local production capacity and seasonality of maize, beans, palm oil, and chicken eggs against the school feeding program’s demand for the commodities.
- Establish the import and export trends in the past 4 years of maize, beans, palm oil, and chicken eggs.
- Identify the key players in the supply chain of the commodities (private sector), including local aggregation and value addition points/actors.
- Establish the four-year local annual price trends and price elasticity of demand for the commodities and discuss any potential adverse effects on the local market.
- Identify challenges, if any, that might limit the ability to successfully acquire required stocks of commodities locally.
- Recommend a procurement plan that minimizes any potential adverse effects of the lean season.
- Evaluate the market impact of imported commodities from the US (fortified rice, pinto beans, vegetable oil).
Expected outputs of the consultancy:
The successful applicant is expected to produce the following as the Activity Deliverables:
- Inception report outlining methodology and implementation plan of how the applicant will approach the consultancy.
- Technical report from the analysis.
- Clean datasets in .csv format.
Time frame: The entire work is expected to be completed within 1 month and 21 days (July 1st – August 21st, 2026) from the signing of the contract. This period includes fieldwork and reporting.
Eligibility:
This call is open to duly registered and authorized evaluation firms / individuals operating in Cameroon that meet the profile outlined below.
Profile of Evaluation Firm / Individual
- Expertise: MUST demonstrated not less 5 years’ experience in agricultural market research, in Cameroon.
- Location: MUST be in Cameroon and well conversant with agriculture value chain actors; farmers cooperatives, local traders, and government agencies.
- Strong methodology: capacity for both quantitative (surveys, statistics) and qualitative (interviews, focus groups) approaches.
- Regulatory and cultural Knowledge: familiarity with Cameroon’s trade policies, bilingual context (French/English), and cultural factors.
- High-quality reporting: demonstrated ability to deliver clear, actionable reports with validated data and visualizations.
- Multidisciplinary team: Economists, agronomists, statisticians, and local enumerators who are well conversant with agriculture value chain actors; farmers cooperatives, local traders, and government agencies. The team should demonstrate the ability to acquire primary data on agricultural commodities within a short period of time.
- Applicants/consultants must disclose any actual, potential, or perceived conflicts of interest related to suppliers, service providers, contractors, partners, or other entities connected to the scope of work. The selected consultant/firm must maintain independence and objectivity throughout the assignment to ensure procurement integrity and compliance with applicable organizational, donor, and regulatory requirements, including relevant 2 CFR 200 standards.
- Nascent Solutions reserves the right to request clarifications, negotiate with applicants, reject any or all proposals, cancel or amend the solicitation process at any stage, and conduct interviews or additional assessments where deemed necessary to support the evaluation and selection process.
Evaluation Criteria
Bids will be evaluated on a combined technical and financial basis. The indicative weighting is:
• Technical capacity and relevant experience: 40%
• Proposed methodology and work plan: 25%
• Key personnel (qualifications, M&E experience, and subject matter expertise): 20%
• Financial proposal (all-inclusive fees in XAF exclusive of VAT): 15%
Duty Station:
Yaoundé, Cameroon with travels to all project regions.
How to apply
Interested applicants are requested to prepare a brief expression of interest (not longer than 4 pages in length) responding to the invitation. The EOI should highlight:
- The organization’s name, address, and researchers who will lead the activity. The EOI should also highlight the lead researcher’s qualifications and experience (including Curriculum Vitae/resume) in work similar to market analysis for humanitarian or development projects.
- Methodology, study design, and data sources the applicant will employ to effectively address the objectives of this assessment.
- Budget proposal in XAF
EOI should be submitted by 12th June 2026 through EMAIL ONLY to Nascent Solutions at: admin@nascents.org