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• The Strengthening Agribusiness Resilience and Competitiveness (STAR) project, funded by Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), is implemented by the International Trade Centre (ITC) from2022 – 2026.
• The project aims to improve the livelihoods of rural communities in 10 districts across Northern and North-Eastern Uganda with a focus on increasing the competitiveness and natural disaster resilience of SMEs and farming households in the cassava, shea, and oilseeds value chains.
• The project will target 10,000agricultural/agro-pastoral households directly, support 60 cooperatives and small to medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), and eight Business Support Organisations and provide policy support.
• STAR is designed with a gender-responsive approach to natural disaster resilience, which means it will identify and sensitize gender-based constraints and support the inclusion of women and women-owned businesses in implementation.
• ITC implements STAR in collaboration with a Korean NGO (World Vision Uganda) and coordinate closely with relevant government bodies (Ministry of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives, Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries, Ministry of Disaster Preparedness and Refugees, Ministry of Water and Environment, and the Disaster Risk Management (DRM) committees in the 10 district levels, KOICA and development partners. The following outputs are expected upon implementation of the project:
• Output 1: Capacity of producers and SMEs to become more competitive and resilient to natural disaster risks increase; through awareness raising, capacity building measures, coaching, connection with service providers and to grant schemes
• Output 2: Enhanced structures of community-based disaster risk management
• Output 3: Improved service offering of BSOs and other service providers to build SMEs’ natural disaster risk resilience and competitiveness
• Output 4: Strengthened national strategies and policies to improve natural disaster risk resilience and competitiveness of the target agricultural value chain ITC’s work includes a focus on rural MSMEs to promote competitiveness and income-risk diversification for smallholder farmers and MSMEs in the context of enhanced sustainable participation in value chains.
• Assignment – Product and Sales Channels Optimisation and Buyer Engagement Business diagnostic: Under this assignment, the consultant will build and conduct structured business diagnostics with approximately ten SMEs in the oilseeds, shea and cassava sectors to understand their product portfolio, current sales channels, existing and potential B2B buyers, and constraints in closing commercial deals.
• Based on the analysis, the consultant will identify common capacity gaps and design and deliver a group training programme addressing cross-cutting needs such as negotiation skills, pricing strategies, buyer communication, and development of compelling business propositions.
• In addition, the consultant will develop tailored support plans for each SME and provide individualized coaching to a subset of around six to eight enterprises, with an estimated five days of advisory support per company delivered over a six-month period.
• This coaching will focus on strengthening relationships with existing buyers, reactivating or advancing previously stalled opportunities, refining products to better meet market demand (without major capital investments), and improving overall commercial positioning.
• The consultant will also facilitate and guide businesses in local and regional buyer engagements, advising them on establish new connections, or advance ongoing and possibly stalled discussions.

Copyright Clause: The consultant has to ensure that she has obtained the necessary permissions with regard to intellectual property rights required to perform her services under this consultancy contract and for the subsequent dissemination by ITC in any form. Documentary proof is to be submitted to ITC. Should any license fee be due for the use of copyrighted materials of third parties, the consultant shall request the prior written permission from ITC. ITC champions workforce diversity, inclusion, gender equality and gender parity and considers all qualified persons – of all genders – equally, including those with disabilities, without discrimination or prejudice of any kind.