BACKGROUND
The Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) has secured a facility from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) to implement a 7-year IFAD/IsDB/AfDB – Assisted Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zone (SAPZ) Program in partnership with the State Governments and Private Investors in two (2) participating states of Kano and Ogun in the first phase.
The implementation of SAPZs is a major investment program of the Federal Government and Ogun State Government, driven by the Ogun State Program Implementation Unit (SPIU) in collaboration with relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) in the state to develop agro-processing clusters in areas of high agricultural production across the country. It is a strategic move to rapidly develop modern agro-processing capacity to serve the vast and growing local markets, create sustainable market for farmers and reduce postharvest losses of local agricultural produce and thereby create wealth for farmers, promote import substitution and create sustainable agriculture related jobs.
This clustering approach is to help address investment challenges in the development of agro-processing areas across Nigeria, including poor access to quality infrastructure, inadequate agricultural production and productivity and other challenges confronting agro-processing environment. SAPZs, therefore, will be developed with requisite infrastructure for agro processing environment which will help reduce cost absorptions and engender competitiveness in agro-industrial production that is critical to further unlocking the potentials of Nigeria’s Agriculture to create ready markets and wealth for farming communities and reduce rural poverty.
The SAPZ is made up of two building blocks which include the Agro-Industrial Hub (AIH) equipped with desirable infrastructure to create modern agro-processing environment where secondary value addition will take place, Agricultural Transformation Centre (ATC) which is a community-based rural institution within the host community to support agricultural production, with provision of quality production drivers for the production of feedstock, and the Aggregation Centre (AC) for primary processing and storage. The Agro-Industrial Hub (AIH) will draw its raw materials for processing from the ATC where activities of the production clusters and Aggregation Centers are being coordinated.
2.0 OBJECTIVE (S) OF THE ASSIGNMENT
The objective of this assignment is to engage a qualified consultancy firm to conduct a comprehensive Value Chain Infrastructure Needs Assessment for the Ogun Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zone (SAPZ). The assessment will focus on the production clusters for Cassava and Rice in the eight (8) LGAs where these commodities are produced. The aim is to identify infrastructure gaps and recommend needed climate resilient infrastructure to support production, primary processing, and market accessibility. The key infrastructure to be assessed includes feeder roads, culverts, small bridges, processing facilities, commodity stores, local markets, and solar-powered boreholes in each of the production clusters.
As part of the objectives, the consultant shall Conduct desk review of existing/ongoing and planned infrastructure development workplan in consultation with State/Federal Infrastructure planning unit/department to avoid duplication of infrastructural development.