Enhancing Competitiveness of High-Value Agriculture and Artisan

Given the vulnerabilities that arise from a narrow export base and market, a major challenge for Bhutan is to diversify its export markets. The Government of Bhutan’s 11th Five Year Plan aims to expand into new markets, achieve inclusive social development, and accelerate green economic development through the Rural Economy Advancement Program and the Rapid Investment in Selected Enterprises Program.

These two programs form the cornerstone of the government's diversification strategy, which aims to develop agro-processing and other subsectors, small and cottage industries, and tourism links.

Bhutan’s trade strategy highlights high-value niche exports that promote Brand Bhutan and indicate the product's geographic origin. Bhutan’s forestry policy also highlights comparative advantages in nutraceuticals, medicinal herbs, and natural dyes, which compliment artisan and high-value agricultural products. The One Village One Product (OVOP) initiative supported by the Queen's Project Office (QPO) has prioritized a number of Bhutanese agro-products based on market potential, grassroots community production, and potential for development and scaling up.

 

The agribusiness value-chain development specialist and team leader will perform the following tasks:

  • provide overall supervision of the TA in close collaboration with the project management unit (PMU), through the project coordinator, to control the quality of outputs and monitor compliance with ADB procedures;
  • prepare a review of the literature and commercial practices in sector strategy, trends, and competitiveness factors, including climate change impacts;
  • assess and prioritize product value chains and micro, small, and medium-sized enterprise (MSME) clusters in collaboration with the One Village One Product initiative and the steering committee;
  • prepare MSME value-chain maps, market analyses, and recommendations for value-chain strengthening, climate change risk mitigation, and product development and certification (e.g., organic, social, and environmentally inclusive business certification; and certification related to climate change);
  • provide technical advice to selected entities on capacity building and business planning;
  • help selected entities prepare applications for matching grants for value-adding equipment, training, and business development;
  • deliver knowledge presentations at value-chain coordination forums to link producer clusters and MSME enterprises to buyers and markets;
  • prepare the project performance monitoring system, evaluation framework, and progress and technical reports.
Qualifications: 
  • At least 10 years of experience in high-value and certified organic production, value adding, and marketing in a private sector capacity and also with international development agencies
  • Should have a proven track record as a team leader in high-value agribusiness development
  • Work experience in Bhutan or in the Asian region would mean an asset
  • University qualifications in agribusiness, marketing, or agricultural economics.
Start / Duration: 

The capacity development technical assistance (TA) will be implemented over 36 months, tentatively from January 2017 to December 2019. The input of the Team Leader is foreseen for 4.5 person-months, intermittent

Please send your most recent CV to:

Barbara.Braun [at] afci.de