Request for Expression of interest: Soybean organic certification process (EOS and NOP standard) Farm Audit
REQUEST FOR EXPRESSION OF INTEREST (EOI)
Soybean organic certification process (EOS and NOP standard) Farm Audit
The “Sustainable Agriculture for Forest Ecosystems (SAFE)” project was commissioned by the European Union (EU) Commission, the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the Foreign Ministry of Netherlands. The Action is implemented by GIZ under the BMZ funded “Fund for the Promotion of Innovation in Agriculture (I4Ag)” in six partner countries: Brazil, Ecuador, Indonesia, Vietnam, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and Zambia.
The specific objective (outcome) of the Action is “Contributions to inclusive transition towards deforestation-free, sustainable, and legal supply chains for selected commodities to the EU have been made.” The SAFE Project has partnered with private sector to jointly work on the following aspects:
1. To facilitate linkages for smallholder farmers with private sector companies and contribute to the establishment of a sustainable and viable soy organic value chain.
2. To conduct pilots with smallholder farmers on traceability and transparency of sustainable soy production in line with EUDR requirements; This activity will not only be for companies targeting their export towards the EU market. It will also apply to entities that produce for national and regional markets.
3. To train smallholder farmers in Central and Southern Provinces; Mumbwa and Itezhi-tezhi Districts on sustainable, deforestation-free and legal agricultural production practices.
Objectives of the Assignment
GIZ seeks to engage a qualifi ed Contractor with experts in soybean organic certification process (EOS and NOP standard) for 1250 organic small holder farmers in Itezhi Tezhi district. To achieve the above objectives and adhere to the European Union Deforestation Free Regulation (EUDR), the SAFE project together with its private partners need to integrate deforestation free production processes in the establishment of a sustainable organic soybean value chain with small scale farmers:
The Contractor will undertake the following assignment:
I. The contractor is responsible for providing the following services:
II. Participate in a kick-off meeting with GIZ Project team and private partners to discuss the scope of the assignment
III. Conduct on site Evaluations and Prepare Initial Detailed Assessment Reports
IV. Preparation of Application Documents Required from the Clients
V. Review Application documents and Inspection Reports and Make Impartial Certification Decisions
VI. Ensure Operational Efficiency, Compliance with Accreditation Requirements and Quality Control
VII. Final Audit (During harvest Period), Product Testing, Review and Potential non-compliance check, Certification
The service is expected to be performed between October 2025 to December 2026 and be completed approximately within 365 days of signing the contract.
Selection Criteria: To qualify for consideration in the tender procedure, interested firms are required to meet the following qualifications and submit documents for eligibility assessment accordingly:
• At least one brochure or PowerPoint presentation that conceptually outlines their work on Soybean organic certification process – Farm Audit.
• At least 2 reference projects on Soybean organic certification process including geographical coverage and monitoring data (Number of Beneficiaries reached, etc.)
• The average number of employees and managers in the past three calendar years have worked on Soybean organic certification process.
• Overview of geographical experience and coverage of the organization in the region.
Additional submissions:
1. Annual total turnover for each of the last three (3) years, a minimum of 45,000 Euros or Zambian Kwacha equivalent per year is required.
2. List of completed and ongoing projects supported by a minimum of 2 client references.
3. Minimum of 2 CVs detailing experience, competencies, and skills of key personnel for this project.
Submission Details: • Official letter expressing interest.
How To Submit: The number of pages of all submission documents shall not exceed 50 pages.
External content (e.g., links to websites) will not be considered, the size limit of the attachment is 30MB.
The information and documents specified above shall be submitted to GIZ in PDF format by Friday 26th September 2025 on or before 16:00hrs Zambian local time to the following email address: [email protected]
The subject line must be clearly marked as: “Call for Expression of Interest, Ref Soybean organic certification process No. 83494802”
Kindly note that complete tender documents will ONLY be shared with the shortlisted consultant that will meet stated criteria.
For further clarification bidders can send their queries to: [email protected] GIZ Procurement Unit