Recruitment of a Consultant to Support The SchoolFood4Cities Project in Arusha City at Rikolto

Recruitment of a Consultant to Support The SchoolFood4Cities Project in Arusha City at Rikolto

CALL FOR APPLICATIONS

N°023/EA-RIKOLTO/TANZANIA/CFT/2026

RECRUITMENT OF A CONSULTANT TO SUPPORT THE SCHOOLFOOD4CITIES PROJECT IN ARUSHA CITY

1. General Information

Project: SchoolFood4Cities Programme
Implementation Period: 2026-2028 (Task-based assignment)
Area of Intervention: Arusha City, Tanzania

As part of the implementation of the SchoolFood4Cities Project, Rikolto in East Africa is issuing this call for applications to recruit an individual consultant to provide technical support, research, documentation, policy engagement and knowledge generation activities related to home-grown school feeding programmes in Arusha City.

2. Context of the Assignment

Rikolto is an international network organization with more than 40 years of experience in partnering with farmer organizations and food chain stakeholders across Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America.

Through the SchoolFood4Cities initiative, Rikolto seeks to understand the role of local governments in enabling home-grown school feeding programmes.

School feeding programmes in Sub-Saharan Africa face significant challenges including:

• Limited access to free or subsidized school meals
• Nutritional deficiencies and low dietary diversity
• Exclusion of vulnerable children due to parental contributions
• High levels of food insecurity in urban and peri-urban areas
• Weak local food system linkages

Local governments are increasingly recognized as key actors in shaping and implementing school feeding programmes through governance, food procurement, food safety, and community engagement mechanisms. The project is being implemented in Arusha (Tanzania), Mbale (Uganda), and Kitwe (Zambia).

3. Objective of the Consultancy

General Objective

The overall objective is to support the implementation of the SchoolFood4Cities project and contribute to generating evidence on the role of local governments in enabling sustainable, inclusive and home-grown school feeding programmes in Arusha City.

Specific Objectives

The assignment will specifically:

• Analyze and articulate the role of local governments in designing, implementing and scaling innovative school food programmes.
• Support implementation of pilot initiatives in Arusha City.
• Generate evidence to influence policy and practice.
• Strengthen awareness and capacity of local governments and other food system stakeholders.
• Develop knowledge products for wider learning and replication.

The consultancy will also focus on:

• Inclusive and sustainable school food procurement
• Local food systems governance
• Food security and nutrition
• Community resilience
• Gender-responsive approaches
• Climate-resilient school feeding systems

4. Scope of the Study

The assignment will cover:

• Arusha City local government authorities
• Schools participating in the pilot programme
• Food suppliers and food system actors
• Community groups and parents
• Development partners and key stakeholders involved in school feeding systems

The study will also assess:

• Local government roles in school feeding governance
• Sustainable and inclusive procurement mechanisms
• School food systems and supply chains
• Gender and social inclusion aspects
• Community resilience and sustainability
• Opportunities for scaling successful interventions

5. Expected Methodology

The consultant must propose an approach combining:

• Literature review
• Stakeholder consultations
• Technical support to pilot implementation
• Analysis of implementation data
• Documentation of lessons learned
• Development of policy and knowledge products

The methodology must include:

• Review of project documentation
• Engagement with key stakeholders
• Evidence generation and analysis
• Policy-oriented recommendations
• Knowledge dissemination approaches

6. Expected Deliverables

The selected consultant must provide:

• One working paper for Arusha City.
• One peer-reviewed open access journal article.
• One synthesis comparative analysis working paper on national and local policies.
• One thematic working paper emphasizing gender and community resilience.
• One policy brief for Arusha City.
• One scaling roadmap for Arusha City Council 
• Case studies documenting innovative procurement models and interventions based on learnings from the school feeding pilots. 
• A series of infographics and data visualizations that captures the learnings and recommendations 
• One short explainer/documentary video.
• Documentation and evaluation of pilot interventions with recommendations for scale-up.

7. Duration of the Assignment

The maximum duration of the assignment is one year from the date of signing the contract. 

8. Qualifications

The consultant must meet the following criteria:

• PhD/Master’s degree in Food Science, Social Science, Agriculture, Economics or related field.
• Extensive research experience with evidence of publications.
• 10-15 years of experience in food systems.
• 10-15 years of experience working with international organizations and donors.
• Experience in stakeholder training and capacity development.
• Excellent analytical, report writing and presentation skills.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills.
• Demonstrated experience in action research.

9. Application Materials

Applicants must submit:

One PDF file containing the administrative documents:

1. a) Dated and signed letter of submission
   b) Copy of company registration (if applicable)
   c) Copy of Tax Identification Number (TIN)
   d) Bank account details (RIB)
   e) Tax Clearance Form

NB: Any bid that does not meet the above administrative requirements will not be considered for technical evaluation.

One PDF file containing the technical proposal structured as follows:

1. a) Understanding of the Terms of Reference
   b) Proposed methodological approach
   c) Work plan
   d) Experience of the consultant
   e) Qualifications
   f) References from similar assignments
   g) Understanding of the local context
2. h) Updated CV
3. i) Evidence of previous similar assignments
4. j) Sample publications or reports

Note: Any technical proposal that does not follow this structure may be rejected.

One PDF file containing the financial proposal:

• Daily consultancy rate
• Detailed budget inclusive of taxes

10. Criteria and Procedures for Evaluating Bids

10.1 Evaluation of Administrative Compliance

Verification of completeness and compliance of administrative documents.

10.2 Evaluation of the Technical Proposal

Only administratively compliant bids will be evaluated based on:

• Understanding of the Terms of Reference
• Relevance and robustness of the proposed methodology
• Work plan and implementation strategy
• Experience of the consultant
• Qualifications
• References from similar assignments
• Understanding of the local context

Only bidders scoring at least 70% in the technical evaluation will proceed to the financial stage.

10.3 Evaluation of the Financial Proposal

Only bids that have met the minimum technical threshold will be opened and analyzed financially.

Financial score = (Amount of the lowest bid / Amount of the bid being evaluated) × 100

The financial bid accounts for 20% of the overall score.

11. Award of the Contract

The contract will be awarded to the bidder with the highest combined technical and financial score.

Final score = (Technical score × 80%) + (Financial score × 20%)

12. Submission Guidelines

Applications must be sent to:

[email protected] not late than 27th October 2026

Subject of the email: SchoolFood4Cities Consultancy – Arusha City

The bidder must submit three separate PDF files:

• Administrative documents
• Technical proposal
• Financial proposal

Any submission that does not comply with the requirement of three separate PDF files will be automatically disqualified.

Submission deadline: 27th October 2026

Request for Clarification

All requests for clarification must be sent to:

[email protected] on 20th October 2026

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