BACKGROUND
The Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) has secured financing from the African Development Bank (AfDB), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), and the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) to implement the Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones (SAPZ) Programme. Following the successful launch of Phase I in seven (7) states (Imo, Kaduna, Cross River, Kwara, Oyo, Ogun) and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Phase II will be implemented in ten (10) additional states: Anambra, Borno, Ekiti, Enugu, Delta, Gombe, Katsina, Kebbi, Niger, and Plateau.
The SAPZ Programme represents a major strategic investment by the Federal Government of Nigeria, driven by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security (FMAFS), to develop agro-processing clusters in high agricultural production areas across the country. This initiative aims to rapidly develop modern agro-processing capacity to serve local markets, create sustainable markets for farmers, reduce post-harvest losses, promote import substitution, and generate agriculture-related employment.
The SAPZ Programme comprises two key building blocks:
• Agricultural Transformation Centres (ATCs): Community-based rural institutions supported with quality production inputs for feedstock production and Aggregation Centres (AC) for primary storage.
• Agro-Industrial Hubs (AIH): Equipped with infrastructure to create modern agro-processing environments for secondary value addition, drawing feedstock from the ATCs.
SAPZ Phase II will lead to infrastructure development and operationalization of ten (10) selected AIHs and twenty (20) ATCs under Tranche 1. These facilities will be strategically located within production areas to aggregate products from communities, transfer them to AIHs for value addition, and supply to distribution and retail centers or for export.
The AIHs will offer comprehensive infrastructure including administration offices, research and development facilities, quality assurance and quality control (QA/QC) laboratories, knowledge centres with ICT, procurement centres, community vocational centres, health centres, residential facilities, electricity, water supply, fire stations, solid waste management, public toilets, internal and access roads, solar street lighting, truck parking, and processing support infrastructure (cold stores, veterinary clinics, livestock/poultry quarantine zones, breeding centers, etc.). Each hub typically covers 50-250 hectares and includes centrally managed land developed and dedicated to supporting agro-processing firms and related stakeholders.
2.0 PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVES
The purpose of this assignment is to engage an Environmental Safeguards Specialist to provide technical leadership and oversight for the effective implementation of environmental safeguards under SAPZ Phase II, ensuring full compliance with AfDB Integrated Safeguards System (ISS), applicable national regulations, and relevant international standards.
Specific Objectives
I. Ensure timely preparation, review, clearance, disclosure, and implementation of environmental safeguards instruments for SAPZ Phase II activities.
II. Support participating states in meeting AfDB and national environmental due diligence requirements for programme onboarding and implementation.
III. Provide continuous technical guidance, monitoring, and reporting on environmental safeguards performance.
IV. Strengthen institutional capacity for environmental safeguards management at national and state levels, in coordination with social safeguards functions.
Kindly download the attached documents for details, please.
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