Consultants to do Market Intelligence Study for Potential Agri-forestry Sub-sectors of the Bac Kan province

Market Intelligence study for potential agri-forestry sub-sectors of the Bac Kan province

Background and Rationale

Bac Kan is the ethnic and mountainous province and among the poorest provinces in Vietnam. The province restructured in 1997, separated from Cao Bang and Thai Nguyen provinces. The province covers an area of 4859.4 square kilometres and as of 1st April 2009, according to the national population survey, it has a population of 294.660 people. It is one of the least populated provinces in the Northern midlands and mountain areas of Vietnam. The Bac Kan town is located 170km north of Hanoi.

The “Leveraging private sector investments through inclusive businesses” grant project was made available to SNV in order to complement the on-going IFAD-supported 3PAD Agro-forestry project in Bac Kan province, with special focus on its Component 2 Investment for Growth. The project aims to improve income and create new jobs for low-income population in Bac Kan Province through an effective Public-Private Partnership and a dynamic and efficient APIF that provide opportunities to promote and support the implementation of Inclusive Business as a comprehensive and sustainable solution to generate growth and improve poor peoples’ quality of life. The target groups for 3PAD project are poor and near poor smallholder farmers in 03 districts Ba Be, Pak Nam and Na Ri in Bac Kan province.

The management of the APIF on a day-to-day basis and the promotion of inclusive investments will be exercised by the Centre for Trade, Investment and Tourism Promotion (CTITP) with the support from the 3PAD project.

Several studies had identified agricultural, forestry and tourism potentials of Bac Kan from the supply side such as seedless persimmon, mandarin, taro, corn, glass noodle, ginger, medicine hubs, acasia plantation, cattle, Ba Be lake and so on.

The market demands for those identified sub-sectors/products, however, are yet identified since non market analysis has been carried out.

Objectives of the assignment

The overall objective of the assignment is to do market intelligence study to identify the key sub-sectors/products in Bac Kan with the highest potential of production and market demand. More specifically:
- To build a picture of a market for identified sub-sectors/products and try to answer some specific commercial questions such as what is the market potential, what are competitors’ future plans likely to be, what prices customers might be willing to pay, what's the best means of entering a market;
- To develop a market-based information that will be useful for CTITP/3PAD project to deliver advices and to focus the promotion of investment opportunities for those sub-sectors/products;
- To develop capacity of local players including companies operating in the sub-sectors and CTITP/3PAD team in defining market prospects and understanding what is happening in regional, national and/or international markets. 

Consultant tasks
- To review of secondary data including existing materials, study reports, meeting minutes etc… related to agro-forestry and tourism potentials of Ba Be, Pak Nam and Na Ri districts of Bac Kan province;
- To collect primary data from interviews with related stakeholders in the province
- To map out potential sub-sectors/products of the province with their key companies/players who could be in and/or outside of the province;
- To share results of the mapping with companies/potential investors and select one or maximum two companies each sub-sector/product to conduct market intelligence study.
- To conduct in-depth market intelligence studies. This should be done jointly by selected companies/potential investors, CTITP/3PAD team and the consultant team. The minimum number of market demand analysis is 10 for a minimum number of 7 sub-sectors/products. The steps of each study will be:

• Consultant team and CTITP/3PAD team will work with the company to define market information needs, scope and design of the study
• Consultant team will train CTITP/3PAD team and the company in data collection and analysis
• Consultant team and CTITP/3PAD team will help the company to collect market information
• Consultant team, CTITP/3PAD team and the company will jointly analyse collected data and produce report

Expected Outputs and Deliverables
1. A list of potential agro-forestry and tourism sub-sectors/products of Bac Kan province and key players/companies that are operating in those;
2. Market intelligence reports, which provide a view of markets, understanding of what is happening in regional and/or national market place, what the issues are and what the likely market potential is. The reports should include, but not limited to the following sections/information:

2.1 External database/factors:
- Review of relevant government policies and strategies for the sub-sector development;
- List of current production system including areas, location, volume, scale of farms, productivity, cultivation practice, geographic and climatic influence…;
- Sub-Sector stakeholder map and stakeholder influence map, including key information about companies, partners, networks of companies in the Bac Kan province…
- Typical information about competitors of the sub-sector/value chain outside of the Bac Kan province, including market positioning, core clients and contracts, size and structures of business, pricing, packaging, technologies, promotional and advertising campaigns, and so on.
- A brief overview (trends, volume, value) of the international, national and provincial markets of sub-sector/value chain

2.2 Internal database/factors:
- Review information based on internal data of company(ies), including sales record, types of customers, market share and market segments… to understand where the company has cross-sale and up-sale opportunities and/or what type of customers are its most profitable.
- Measure and recommend for enhancement of marketing effectiveness of company(ies)

2.3 Conclusions and recommendations on potential sub-sectors and/or business cases for development of sustainable and inclusive investment projects.

2.4 Staff of CTITP/3PAD and selected companies are trained in market information collection and analysis.

2.5 List of references

Interviewees, agencies, documents, materials, photos etc.

Consultants Role: The consultant(s) will work closely with SNV programme staff, SNV partners, and community to achieve the contract goals and expected results.

The consultant(s) shall commit to follow SNV values and working approaches, i.e. encouraging equal participation, promoting grassroots and vulnerable groups, localization, contextualization, gender equity, sustainable development.

The consultant(s) commit that all related results will be SNV property and solely under SNV management.

Study organization:

Location: In and outside of Bac Kan province.

Timing: The assessment is to be undertaken and completed within 1.5 months from assignment commencement.

Methodology: The study will include desk and field studies.  The consultant team will work with SNV and CTITP staff to develop a detailed plan and consolidate methods/tools for study.  The initial phase will involve a desk study approach to gather background data and information. Upon compilation of this information, the sub-sectors and companies will be selected by the SNV, CTITP and consultant team for further in-depth review and analysis.

Reporting, debriefing, sharing: Reports are to be submitted in English and Vietnamese, and should include case studies and photos, use neutral and moral simple language, be based on evidence and experience with clear and transparent references.

Draft reports are expected to be submitted to SNV for comments a week before formal submission date.

Consultants will lead a debriefing workshop to present key findings to SNV.

The consultant team profile
The consultancy team is expected to consist of:
- Professionals in the field of rural economic development with experience in agriculture, agri-business, market strategy, value chain/sub-sector development.
- Professional(s)/practitioner(s) in the field of agri-forestry product marketing and market intelligence.

Application
Proposals should be submitted by 20th May 2012 to:
Ms Pham Ngoc Tram, Senior Advisor Inclusive Business
SNV Vietnam
6th Floor, Building B, La Thanh Hotel,
218 Doi Can, Ba Dinh, Hanoi
Email: [email protected]

Proposal should include:
- A cover letter that includes a brief statement (no more than 3 pages) explaining the general approach, methodology, the proposed research tools (questionnaires, database, reports, etc.) and its methodology (focus groups, interviews, participatory rapid appraisal, etc.)
- Proposed team formulation, role assignment, time availability, and consultant fee
- Up to date CVs, highlighting relevant qualifications and experience.