Request for proposal for Conducting studies on the enabling environment for implementing zero deforestation cocoa production in Cameroon

THE ORGANIZATION

The Alliance of Bioversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) (The Alliance) delivers research-based solutions that harness agricultural biodiversity and sustainably transform food systems to improve people’s lives. Alliance solutions address the global crises of malnutrition, climate change, biodiversity loss, and environmental degradation. With novel partnerships, the Alliance generates evidence and mainstreams innovations to transform food systems and landscapes so that they sustain the planet, drive prosperity, and nourish people in a climate crisis. The Alliance is part of CGIAR, a global research partnership for a food-secure future. https://alliancebioversityciat.org/ , www.cgiar.org.

BACKGROUND

The need to transform food systems into to low emissions production systems has become a pivotal theme in global climate discussions, focusing on addressing key challenges in sustainable development. The global food system plays a significant role in driving climate change, accounting for approximately one-third of total human-generated GHG emissions. Despite this significant impact, countries’ pledges to mitigate climate change through instruments such as the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Paris Agreement (2016) fall short and do not necessarily consider food-system emissions. This is in part due to countries’ concerns regarding the impact of interventions on key development priorities such as food and nutrition security.

Addressing this challenge requires more than just innovative technologies. It demands a transdisciplinary approach that integrates science, policy, and community engagement to develop an enabling environment for scaling innovations towards food system transformation. This transdisciplinary approach includes aspects such as (1) identifying direct and underlying drivers of food system GHG emissions and GHG emission sources; (2) identifying geographical areas where government development priorities overlap with food system GHG mitigation opportunities; (3) identifying farm-level drivers of adoption of innovations; (4) implementing value chain upgrading strategies to overcome adoption barriers; (5) promoting sustainable business models and financial mechanisms to scale innovations; (6) measuring climate action benefits, SDG co-benefits, and undesired effects.

Cocoa production is a pillar of Cameroon’s economy, playing a vital role in national development and the global chocolate industry. It has provided millions of smallholder farmers with a stable source of income, creating opportunities for economic mobility in regions historically affected by high poverty rates. Beyond individual livelihoods, the sector significantly contributes to the national economy.

Key challenges persist in the cocoa sector in Cameroon’s, including deforestation and GHG emission, limited access to finance, market instability and labor concerns, particularly child labor. Cocoa cultivation remains a major driver of deforestation and soil degradation, as farmers expand production to meet growing demand. Socially, deep-rooted issues such as child labor and gender inequality continue to hinder rural development and poverty reduction. Additionally, the sector faces significant barriers to adopting sustainable farming methods due to limited technical knowledge and resources. Addressing these challenges is essential to ensuring the long-term sustainability of cocoa production in Cameroon.

This call for proposals aims to develop studies on the enabling environment for implementing zero deforestation cocoa production in Cameroon, using an integrated and multidisciplinary approach.

OBJECTIVES AND DELIVERABLES

Main activity, sub activities and expected deliverables for developing studies on the enabling environment for implementing zero deforestation cocoa production in Cameroon.

Objective : 1

Analyzing the role of cocoa production as a direct and underlying driver of GHG emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in Cameroon.

Activity is about examining the contributions of cocoa production to deforestation and GHG emission in Cameroon. The following sub-activities shall be conducted under this deliverable;

-Map cocoa producing regions in Cameroon and indicate the current area under cocoa cultivation in each region as well as national figures.

– Produce high-resolution maps of trends of cocoa production in Cameroon.

-Produce a high-resolution map that shows trends (between 2000 and 2024) of deforestation and forest degradation and associated carbon emissions in Cameroon.

-Perform a quantitative study on socio-economic and political factors, including cacao production and child labor, affecting deforestation in Cameroon. Factors can be identified in the framework developed by Sylvester et al., (2024).

– Conduct a literature review of the different cocoa production practices (including agroforestry) in different regions and GHG associated with the different practices.

Deliverable:

-A report that maps cocoa-producing regions in Cameroon, detailing current cocoa cultivation areas by region and nationally. The report shall include high-resolution maps of cocoa production in Cameroon and presents trends from 2000 to 2024 in deforestation and forest degradation as well as associated carbon emissions across key cocoa-producing regions.

-A quantitative report that analyzes socio-economic and political drivers of deforestation and forest degradation in Cameroon. The report shall also present the result of the literature review on cocoa production practices and their associated greenhouse gas emissions in different regions.

Objective : 2

Understanding stakeholder’s development priorities in cocoa value chain Cameroon.

This activity aims to identify the thematic and geographical areas where development priorities of value chain stakeholders (including government priorities) overlap with GHG-mitigation opportunities in the cocoa value chain. The key activities shall be.

-Organize one national level workshop involving stakeholders (including the government) in cocoa value chain in different cocoa producing regions to understand the development priorities of different stakeholders in the cocoa value chain.

– Using data on socioeconomic and political factors driven deforestation from 1, perform spatial explicit analysis showing geographical overlaps at lowest scale possible between deforestation, cacao production and development priorities

Deliverable

A report that summarizes one national workshops held to identify development priorities of regional stakeholders and national actors in Cameroon’s cocoa value chain. The report shall also present the methodology and the results of the geospatial explicit analysis between deforestation, cocoa production and development priorities.

Objective: 3

Assessing farm-level potential for adoption of zero deforestation cocoa production in Cameroon

This activity aims to understand the factors that influence farmers’ adoption behavior of agroforestry cocoa production, enabling the design of effective incentives to boost adoption. The key activities under this objective shall include.

-Conduct review of existing literature in Cameroon on factors affecting farmer’s adoption of zero deforestation and sustainable practices in the cocoa value chain such as agroforestry.

Deliverable

– A report on the review of literature on factors influencing farmers’ adoption of zero-deforestation and sustainable practices in Cameroon’s cocoa value chain. The report shall contain suggested incentives for boosting the adoption of zero deforestation and sustainable practices in Cameroon.

Objective: 4

Value-chain upgrading strategies to overcome adoption barriers of zero deforestation cocoa production.

This activity shall focus on understanding the obstacles within the cocoa value chain that hinder both the adoption of sustainable practices and the processing of cacao. Based on that, craft strategies to effectively address these challenges. The sub activities shall be.

-Perform a value chain analysis and provide a snapshot on the current state of the cocoa value chain in Cameroon(structure, key actors, regional characteristics, environmental factors, relationships between actors, and competitiveness levels).

-Identify together with cacao value chain stakeholders the bottlenecks that hinder the implementation of a zero-deforestation strategy in cacao production, as well as its processing into cocoa

Deliverable:

A report on Cameroon’s cocoa value chain structure, key actors, and challenges, identifying bottlenecks hindering zero-deforestation strategy implementation in cocoa production.

Objective: 5

Inclusive business models and financial mechanisms to scale for implementing zero deforestation in the cocoa value chain.

Inclusive business models and finance are crucial for facilitating the implementation of zero deforestation practices such as agroforestry, as well as to scale local processing in the cocoa value chain. Key activities under this deliverable includes.

-Analyze existing business models and financial mechanisms for implementing zero deforestation cacao production, as well as to scale cacao processing.

-Identify and describe three viable business models for implementing zero deforestation cacao production and cocoa processing.

Deliverable:

A report that reviews business models and financial mechanisms for zero-deforestation cacao, identifying and describing three viable implementation options for Cameroon

Objective: 6

Understanding climate action and development co-benefits for implementing zero deforestation cacao production in Cameroon.

This deliverable shall focus on climate action and development co-benefit for implementing sustainable practices in the cocoa value chain such as GHG emission reduction, carbon sequestration, biodiversity protection and improved incomes among others. Key deliverables shall include the following.

-Model GHG emission and carbon sequestration benefits under three different scenarios (15%, 30% and 50%) of increased adoption on zero deforestation practices such agroforestry in Cameroon.

-Identify potential non-carbon benefits (such as socio-economic), and the required social and environmental safeguards to maximize non-carbon benefits

-Evaluate the government progress and gaps for complying for EU Zero deforestation law in the cocoa value chain in Cameroon.

Deliverable:

A report on models on GHG emissions and carbon sequestration benefits under increased adoption of agroforestry and evaluation of Cameroon’s progress toward EU Zero Deforestation law compliance

APPLICANT PROFILE

The company(s), organization(s) or individual consultants that submits the proposal in response to this RFP must meet the following requirements:

• Be Cameroonian organizations, with at least seven (7) years of experience in the design and implementation of projects in the cacao sector in Cameroon Non-Cameroonian organizations with at least seven years of presence in Cameroon are eligible to apply.
• Show proof of presence and activities in Cameroon
• Demonstrate a minimum of five (5) years of experience in processes of strengthening knowledge, technical, organizational and operational capacities of local communities in the formulation and/or implementation of sustainable practices in the cocoa value chain.

DOCUMENTS REQUIRES FOR THE PROPOSAL

1. Presentation letter

The applicants must send with its proposal the duly completed cover letter, in addition to the following documents, which must be included as attachments to the cover letter:

• Certificate of existence and legal representation (in case of organization).
• Copy of the citizenship card of the legal representative. The legal representative must prove that he or she has the capacity to enter the subcontract offered.
• A list of past project implemented. Applicants must send along with their application files a description of past similar projects implemented and its outcomes. This should not be more than 3 pages.

2. Technical proposal

The applicants must clearly explain how the activities described in the Terms of Reference, along with the technical and methodological considerations, will be implemented to achieve the scope of work and objectives. The work plan proposal should demonstrate a logical relationship between the proposed activities, timelines, and responsible parties. This section should not exceed 10 pages in length.

3. Financial proposal

The applicants must submit a detailed budget based on the budget, maintaining the budget categories. Each item must be presented in detail individually, for example, salary for each individual participating in the activity, materials, field work etc. Unit prices, quantities and total prices must be shown. The maximum amount of this fix price contract is USD 75,000.

4. Team members

Give a detailed list of team members participating in the project and their roles. Include their CV in the application file as an attachment.

5. Additional documents to be submitted alongside the application

• Certificate of Registration – Proof of the partner’s legal status and official recognition.
• Institutional Bank Account Certification Letter – A letter on bank official letterhead confirming the name of the implementing partner’s institution as it appears on the bank account.
• Audited Financial Statements – The partner’s audited institutional financial statements for the past two years, including the auditor’s opinion. Additional financial documentation may be requested by the Alliance if needed.
• Previous Grant Agreements or Contracts – Copies of agreements or contracts with former funders or organizations, which will serve as part of the partner’s reference documentation.
• Completed Vendor Conflict Of Interest Declaration Form

Request for Proposal Schedule

The following calendar summarizes the important dates of the bidding process. Proposers must strictly follow these deadlines.

• Publication of the request for proposals: 26/05/2025
• Deadline for written questions: 10/06/2025
• Responses to questions/clarifications: 12/06/2025
• Closing date for submission of proposals: 16/06/2025

The above dates may be modified at the discretion of the Alliance of Bioversity and CIAT. Any changes will be published in an amendment to this RFP.

How to apply

Questions and clarifications: Questions related to the technical or administrative requirements of this request for proposal can be sent no later than 5:00 p.m. local time in Bogotá, 10/06/2025 to the email [email protected], [email protected] , [email protected] and copy [email protected]

Oral presentations: Interviews may consist of oral presentations of the activities and approaches proposed by the proponents. Proposers should be prepared to make presentations to the technical evaluation committee virtually upon receiving notification of the invitation to present the proposal.

Instructions for submitting proposals

The proposal must be submitted no later than 5:00 p.m. local time in Bogotá on June 16th, 2025 to [email protected], [email protected] , [email protected] and copy

[email protected] with the email subject “Request for technical and economic proposal 003”. Technical and financial proposals must be submitted in separate files. The proposed budget for this activity should not exceed USD 75,000. The format of the files sent must be Word, Excel or PDF. Do not use sending platforms. (Google drive, Dropbox, etc.). The RFP number should be included in the subject line.

To apply, please visit Alliance of Bioversity and CIAT tender page where you can download the tender documents with the specifications and requirements contained within:https://alliancebioversityciat.org/tenders/request-proposals-conducting-studies-zero-deforestation-cocoa-production