Tender for consortium of consultants in the shea sector of Benin

CBI is looking for consultants to provide business export coaching to SMEs in Benin’s shea sector. The consultants will do this through expert advice and export development support tailored to each participating company’s needs and maturity level. We are looking for experts who can provide: 

• Technical coaching on production, productivity, and European Union (EU) market compliance: Supporting SMEs with certification readiness, quality management, traceability, and market access strategies, including B2B matchmaking and trade fair participation
• Local project coordination and follow-up coaching: Serving as CBI's local representative, monitoring SME progress on action points, and providing hands-on support between expert visits.
• Cooperative development and coaching for women-led shea cooperatives: Strengthening sourcing relationships between exporting SMEs and women's groups through inclusive procurement strategies, governance support, and sustainable coaching models.
• Senior institutional support for sector governance: Facilitating public–private dialogue, strengthening the interprofession, and supporting policy engagement to benefit the entire shea value chain. 

About the project

With the project, we aim to strengthen the competitiveness and sustainability of Benin’s shea sector while improving the position of women at the base of the value chain. It focuses on supporting export-oriented SMEs in meeting EU and international market requirements and developing more stable and inclusive sourcing models with women-led cooperatives. At the same time, women’s groups will receive tailored coaching to strengthen their organisational capacity, improve product quality, and enhance access to markets. Opportunities for income diversification and the development of local service providers will further contribute to resilience and long-term growth. The project also seeks to create a more enabling environment by improving coordination among sector actors and strengthening public-private dialogue. Overall, the initiative aims to foster fairer, more transparent and, above all, commercially viable relationships that benefit both businesses and women suppliers. 

Role of the consultant

The invitation to tender has not been divided into lots because we ask the consultants to form a consortium of experts for the roles themselves.  

The consultancy team brings together experts in SME development, export market access, production and productivity improvement, cooperative strengthening, women's economic empowerment, value chain development, and sector governance. Together, they support shea-processing SMEs and women-led cooperatives in Benin to become more competitive, sustainable, and export-ready for EU markets.

CBI is looking for the following 4 types of experts: 

1. Technical coaching for SMEs on production and productivity management aligned with EU market demand (expert A)

• Support export-ready SMEs (with adequate communication capacity and English proficiency) in participating in international trade fairs;
• Facilitate B2B matchmaking between SMEs and EU and Dutch buyers;
• Support SMEs in preparing a USP (credible sourcing stories, including their engagement with women’s groups);
• Provide regular market intelligence on EU or Dutch demand (buyer requirements related to sustainability and traceability, market trends and pricing developments);
• Organise importer seminars or webinars to position participating SMEs and highlight inclusive sourcing practices;
• Organise a buyer’s mission.

2. Expert in local project coordination and technical coaching for SMEs

• Provide ongoing support to SMEs by following up on the coaching delivered by expert A, including topics such as productivity management, EU market preparation, staff productivity, certification readiness, and product diversification;
• Monitor SME progress on agreed action points and provide hands-on coaching to help them advance;
• Maintain regular communication with expert A to share progress updates and identify where additional or specialised support is required;
• Assist with the logistics of site visits, including scheduling meetings and arranging transportation for other experts and CBI staff when they are in Benin;
• Maintain regular communication with sector stakeholders to encourage and monitor their engagement in the project's initiatives;
• Assist with logistical details for meetings and training sessions, including agenda setting, venue selection, catering, equipment, and sending out invitations;
• Moderate stakeholder meetings as needed to facilitate effective dialogue and collaboration. 

3. Local expert in cooperative development and coaching for women-led shea cooperatives

1. Technical support to the sourcing relations of exporting SMEs with women cooperatives:
   1. The consultant will provide direct coaching to exporting SMEs engaged in the shea sector to enhance their sourcing models, including:
   2. Sourcing and procurement strategies integrating women suppliers, ensuring structured and inclusive engagement with cooperatives and producer groups;
   3. Improved security and reliability of supply, including increased volume consistency, better coordination, and reduced seasonal volatility;
   4. Enhanced quality of shea nuts and/or butter, through improved handling practices, quality control systems, and stronger feedback loops with producers;
   5. Transparent and predictable pricing mechanisms that strengthen trust, stability, and long-term supplier relationships;
   6. Formalised and contractual arrangements between SMEs and women’s groups or cooperatives;
   7. Improved working conditions, including access to appropriate protective equipment and safer processing practices.
2. Technical support to women cooperatives:

The assignment is to strengthen the capacity of women’s groups or cooperatives. A core principle of this intervention is to move away from traditional classroom-based training approaches, which have shown limited effectiveness in low-literacy contexts. Instead, the assignment will prioritise individualised, continuous coaching and mentoring, tailored to the needs, capacities, and realities of women engaged in shea collection and processing.

The consultant will design, test and implement a model that:

1. Leverage and strengthen the role of exporting SMEs as active partners in cooperative development, including where SMEs deploy field agents or extension-type staff working with women cooperatives:
   1. Focuses on practical, on-the-job learning, using visual tools, demonstrations, and repeated engagement rather than one-off training sessions.
2. Identifies and supports community-based coaches or facilitators (with basic education levels) who can work closely with women’s groups to strengthen governance, financial management, and operational performance:
   1. Builds a pathway toward financial sustainability, whereby these community-based coaches can progressively be remunerated by the cooperatives themselves, contingent on demonstrated value and improved cooperative performance.
3. Cooperative systems approach, recognising that many women’s shea groups are embedded within broader cooperative structures that may also engage in other value chains such as soy or cashew:
   1. Leverage and strengthen these multi-commodity cooperative structures to improve efficiency, service delivery, and market access. 

Additionally, identify feasible complementary activities for the women’s groups to diversify activities all year round, such as:

• Beekeeping;
• Tree seedling production (nurseries);
• Vegetable cultivation (market gardening).
   

Assess each option in terms of:

• Technical feasibility;
• Market potential;
• Climate suitability;
• Gender and social inclusion aspects.

4. Senior institutional support

• Support the restructuring and institutional strengthening of IKB to improve representation of value chain actors (processors, traders, exporters);
• Build participation and trust among sector stakeholders to ensure a unified sector voice;
• Facilitate the process of the interprofession formal endorsement by the government of Benin as a representative sector body;
• Enable structured public–private dialogue;
• Ensure discussions are evidence-based and grounded in the realities of companies and women cooperatives; 
  Support identification of policy windows and development of a joint sector roadmap with government stakeholders;
• Support scaling of training and coaching activities through national institutions. 

Download the tender documents

You can download the tender documents via the TenderNed documentation page.  Please read the tender documents carefully.

How to apply

• You must submit the tender and necessary documents online via the Dutch government's online tendering system, TenderNed.
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Apply for the tender: Consortium of consultants in the shea sector of Benin.

Questions

Please send any questions about the tendering process and content of the tender to CBI via TenderNed. Please note that we will answer all questions collected during the question period and publish them anonymously via TenderNed.  

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