Context

Hogla [Typha elephantine] is an abundant grass grown in the wet areas of Bangladesh.  Millions of feet of hogla strings are produced every year and it is commonly used in basket making, roofing materials, fences and even coffins.  Our research shows that the women who make the hogla strings are extremely badly paid even when the strings are made into fair trade baskets.  

The value chains, in basic terms, involve farmers who harvest the hogla [perhaps using hired labour] and then sell the hogla to the markets where it is traded, Middlemen will buy the hogla and arrange for rural women to make the hogla strings which are then sold on, eventually reaching manufacturers.  The products are then sold locally or are exported. 

We are keen to explore the creation of fair trade supply chains for products that use hogla, to ensure men and women in these chains have decent work standards and receive the right share of the price of the products. Understanding of the entire supply chains, the different players in the chain, the roles that men and women play, and how the value of the product changes from stage to stage will also enable us to identify the pinch points in the chain, develop the right interventions, and ensure that men and women working in the chain share in the benefits of trade.  There are already a small number of fair trade businesses that buy and use hogla strings, but we want to see these benefits extended to the other people in the value chains. 

Assignment Objectives

Overall Objective

A report will be developed and presented to the Traidcraft Bangladesh team and other stakeholders.  This report will describe three existing current hogla value chains, with an emphasis on the manufacture of the hogla strings including payments, organisation and trading relationships.  The report will describe possible interventions that will make the chain compliant with fair trade standards [as defined by WFTO] and that will enable the economic empowerment of the women involved in making the strings.  The emphasis of the research and subsequent report should be on the people in the earlier stages of the value chain, particularly before the hogla strings are used in the manufacture of other goods.

Organisation Involved

Traidcraft, established in 1979, is the UK’s leading organisation dedicated to fighting poverty through trade. Traidcraft has two arms: Traidcraft plc and Traidcraft Exchange. www.traidcraft.org

Traidcraft takes a three-pronged approach to making trade work for the poor:

• Trade: We identify the problems that prevent the poor benefiting from trade, and work to overcome these.
• Support: We identify the services that small businesses need to enable them to trade effectively and build the capacity of local service providers to provide these services on an affordable basis.
• Influence: We undertake lobbying and advocacy activities to campaign for trade policies that help rather than hurt the poor.  And we help poor producers to understand the rules that restrict how they trade and encourage them to speak up for their rights.

Traidcraft plc, is the UK’s leading fair-trade organisation, working with more than 100 producer groups in over 30 countries, helping them build sustainable livelihoods for the future.

Traidcraft Exchange is the only international development charity in the UK focusing exclusively on trade and is seen as a pioneer in this field. Traidcraft Exchange includes:

• The International Development Department, which coordinates overseas programmes and is staffed by development experts with a strong track record in project management.  It has offices in Bangladesh, India and Kenya.
• The Development Support Department which provides trade-related training and consultancy services, it is staffed by experts with extensive experience in business development.
• The Policy Unit which is staffed by trade policy experts who have made great strides in recent years in raising awareness of how global trade policies affect the poor and lobbying for change on their behalf.

Deliverables

A report [maximum 30 pages, excluding appendices] describing the hogla value chains, the actors within those chains, the relationships and transactions between them and the socio-economic context of the actors and the chains.  The data and analysis needs to be disaggregated by gender, and ethnicity (if relevant). The report will describe possible interventions that can improve the ethical nature of the value chains, particularly with regard to fair prices, fair wages and working conditions for the people working in the value chains.

The key findings of the report will be presented to the staff at Traidcraft Bangladesh in Dhaka for discussion.

The report should be written in English.

Methodology

We would expect that the research will be carried out using a mix of methodologies, including desk research, interviews and FGDs with Hogla Value Chain actors. Any proposal for this work should include a description of the approach to be taken.

A draft report will be circulated to key Traidcraft staff for review prior to the finalisation of the report. A validation workshop will be conducted by Traidcraft where Consultant has to play the role of moderator and will present the findings.

Timeframe

We expect to see an outline plan describing how the work will be delivered and over what timescale.  We do not expect that the work will have a duration greater than two months.
The consultant/ consulting firm would need to work around the following dates:

Budget

The proposal should include a breakdown of the:

• Planned budget, showing paid time, expenses etc.
• Total payable
• Payment schedules

Application Process

Interested agencies/firms are requested to submit their proposal electronically to the following address on or before 5 March 2018.

Country Director
TRAIDCRAFT EXCHANGE
Please email to: TX_Bangladesh@traidcraft.org (Please mention “Proposal for Hogla VC Study” in the subject line).

For any clarification, please contact Ms. Sonya Firoz, Senior Programme Manager, Traidcraft Exchange, at Sonya.Firoz@traidcraft.org.

The proposal must include:

• Contact details of the Consultant or Consulting Firm i.e. mailing address along with name, mobile number and email address of primary contact person
• Profile and experience of the Consultant or Consulting Firm highlighting similar experience
• Up to date and detailed CV of the Consultant(s) and other team members with brief descriptions of relevant assignments
• A clear overview of how this piece of work will be approached, the methodology proposed and the outputs generated, with a clear timeline
• A detail budget (Financial Proposal) for the assignment
• Two references

The Proposal, excluding the CVs, should not be more than -10 pages long, should have 1.15 spacing, and use Times New Roman typeface with a minimum font size of 12.

Selection Criteria

On receipt of the Proposal designated project management unit will evaluate the Technical and Financial Proposal. Selection of the consulting firm/agency will be based on:

Mode of Payment

• Total fees for the evaluation will be paid in three installments. The first instalment (40% of the total fee) will be paid on signing the contract, the second instalment (30% of the total fee) will be paid after submission of draft report, and the remaining amount (30%) will be paid upon acceptance of the final report.
• The payment would be made in account payee cheque in the name of the Firm/Consultant
• Any VAT/TAX incurred from this assignment must be deducted at source as per government rule and policy. 

General terms and conditions

• Traidcraft Exchange reserves the right to accept or reject any proposal without giving any verbal and/or written rationale;
• All reports and documents prepared during the assignment will be treated as Traidcraft’s property
• The reports/documents or any part, therefore, cannot be sold, used and reproduced in any manner without prior written approval of Traidcraft Exchange
• Traidcraft Exchange or its representatives reserve the right to monitor the quality and progress of the work during the assignment