RFP 2310-01: Hire a Consultant to Update the Rice Fortification Landscape

According to Basic Health Survey (RISKESDAS), Indonesia Health Profile, Ministry of Health Indonesia, 2018, the prevalence of anemia among vulnerable population groups is high. Around 48.9% of pregnant women, 38.5% of children less than five years of age, 32% of adolescents (15-24 years), and 26.8% of school-aged children (5-14 years) were anemic. The prevalence of anemia among these age groups has increased compared to what has been identified through RISKESDAS 2013.

As the per capita rice consumption is high (94.47 kg in 2019), there has been a long interest in rice fortification in the country. However, most rice is milled in small-scale mills (the total number of rice mills in 2015 was 182,199, with 94.7% small-scale, 4.7% medium-scale, and 1.1% large-scale). The Government of Indonesia started a national rice subsidy program for the poor (RASKIN) in 1998, In April 2008, the Government expanded the RASKIN program to cover 19.1 million families with a subsidized rice allocation of 15 kilograms (kg) each per month, up from a monthly allocation of 10 kg per family for 15.8 million families Raskin price is about IDR 1000/kg (2008).  In 2016, the government convert RASKIN into RASTRA which continued subsidized rice with an expanded target, i.e. reached 15.5 million beneficiaries in 2017, 14.3 million beneficiaries in 2017, and 5.34 million beneficiaries in 2018 .^. RASTRA was transformed into non-cash-food assistance (BPNT) program in form of a food voucher. BPNT allocated for each targeted beneficiary is IDR 110.000/month/family in 2017). Reached 10.25 million beneficiaries in 2018, and 15.6 million beneficiaries in 2019. In 2020 RASTRA was replaced by the SEMBAKO program which provided beneficiaries in form of an electronic card to purchase rice, eggs, vegetables, etc. at e-warong (retail stores) to 18.8 million.

There is no Indonesian National Standard for rice fortification yet, i.e., no guidelines specify the nutrients, their compounds, and the quantities to fortify rice in Indonesia. However, there is a standard for the quality of rice. The ‘Regulation of the Minister of Agriculture of the Republic of Indonesia’ has issued standard NUMBER ‘31/PERMENTAN/PP.130/8/2017’ on rice quality. According to this standard, rice is categorized into 3 categories: medium, premium, and special rice. The government of Indonesia (GoI), together with its fortification partners has been looking at providing fortified rice through social safety nets in the country. One of the most promising programs to supply fortified rice is the SEMBAKO scheme. Beneficiaries (currently around 18.8 million) can purchase various commodities at e-warong such as rice, eggs, and vegetables.

The National Food Logistics Authority (BULOG) is producing fortified rice (‘Fortivit’) and selling it in the open market. However, they use only premium rice making the fortified rice very expensive and not accessible for the people who need it most. Industry can potentially play a big role in increasing the availability of fortified rice in the country. As mentioned above, however, it is currently not clear what amount of industrial rice is available on the Indonesian market. Under previous work on rice fortification, it has been reported that there are 12 potential private sector partners interested in rice fortification. There is a need to revise existing standards on the quality of rice and develop a national standard on rice fortification. Currently regulation stated only premium rice is used for fortification, which costs 37- 48% higher than regular rice. There is a need for additional analysis on cost drivers including a quality assurance/quality control, imported fortified rice kernel (FRK), packaging, import duties, use of premium rice, etc. Presently, there is low consumer and institutional demand for fortified rice within the cash-based social safety net system and retail market.

There is also a need to explore and improve the existing regulatory environment – including the fortification of premium and medium-quality rice. To address the above-mentioned gaps, Nutrition International plans to hire a consultant to review and update rice fortification landscape analysis (WFP, 2021).

Kindly find detailed RFP along with TOR and Budget Template in the link as follows: 

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1SsIDY1jzGnBte7el09_VOgVoHPc7JSMR?usp=share_link

 

The submission deadline for proposals is Friday, January 20, 2023 by 23:59 HRS. West Indonesia Standard Time.

The Technical and Financial Proposal in two separate files put into a covering email specifically indicating the subject line “RFP 2310-01: Hire a Consultant to Update the Rice Fortification Landscape” and should be sent by email to:

proposalsindonesia@nutritionintl.org