Procurement of Food Parcels

The project addresses food security issues by providing immediate support to vulnerable households through food parcel distribution and income generation and enhances the agriculture sector to guarantee sustainability, all in the context of protecting the environment, and adapting to climate change. Over a period of Twelve months, the project will:

Distribute food parcels: mouneh (provisions) based on a list prepared by a nutritionist to meet the basic needs of an average household for one month. The distribution of the parcels will be accompanied by the nutritionist who will provide nutrition awareness on issues such as: food losses and food safety, nutritional balance, and budgeting for food at the household level. The contents of the box are lentils, chickpeas, dry beans, bourghul, flour (white and whole grain), salt, tomato paste, oregano mixture, Kishk, Awarma, olive oil and carob molasses.

Provide “living or active goods”: such as seeds, and /or seedlings, and/or animals, and/or compost, to support up to 200 beneficiaries, with the aim of improving agricultural production and sustainably enhancing the food security of vulnerable households.

Conduct cash-for-work: for the empowerment of the vulnerable communities (who cannot find alternative jobs) knowing that the work will follow the Forest Landscape Restoration guidelines of Shouf Biosphere Reserve (SBR) and the Climate Change Mitigation interventions, targeting mainly sustainable agriculture.

Organize “mouneh” based awareness sessions: through sessions and educational activities related to nutrition/food security, mainly for parents and children, in one or more farmer markets in the region.

The implementing partner of the project is Al-Shouf Cedar Association. It is supported by the local authorities, and local communities, in addition to the Ministries of Environment and Agriculture.

2. The Service

The service to be performed by the supplier is within the scope of the ‘Distribution of Food Parcels” and shall be performed in close cooperation with IFEEL II team. The composition of the food parcels that will be distributed by Al-Shouf Cedar Association will cover most (60%) of the energy/caloric needs for a family of 5 individuals for one month and will contain a variety of items within each food group (carbs, proteins and fat) providing the macro and micronutrients.

The quality of the food provided responds to the recommended nutritional needs, ensuring that the family members have access to a minimum balanced nutritional content, taking into consideration that the food items included in the parcel have a long shelf life.

Most of these items in the parcel should be bought from local farmers, food processors such as women cooperatives and local MSMEs that buy from local farmers, so all the products are natural, without any preservatives and considered as a good source of vitamins and minerals. This leap in the food parcel content will support the many actors along the value chain and will have an effective role in raising small holders’ and food processors' incomes. Hence IFEEL ration will contribute to supporting the livelihoods of the local community mainly by increasing productivity, adding value to local products, increasing income, employment opportunities and mobilizing the economy and social capital of rural territories.

The supplier will:

1. Do the packaging and labeling of the parcels, as needed. Since the weight of the food parcel is 51.50 kg, the package will be divided into two parts and shall consist of a; (i) sealed cardboard box (ii) a 10 kg separate white flour bag. The cardboard box and the flour bag will both carry the logos of ACS and GIZ, and a list of the items with the quantity and weight of each, to avoid any abuse. The design of the label will be later provided to the selected supplier by Al-Shouf Cedar Association team.  The primary and secondary packages must be sized in order to protect the goods, avoiding empty space inside the packages. The packaging must be reduced to the minimum. The name of product, production and expiry dates and the fact that it is free from culturally restricted components, must be indicated on the inner packaging (all cartons and individual wrappers/boxes/can/containers). An additional brochure stating that the Awarma is Halal should be printed.

Individual products must be marked with:

1. product name
2. list of ingredients
3. list of nutritional values
4. free from culturally restricted components
5. net weight in kg
6. date of production printed or stamped on the packaging
7. minimum durability date (minimum of 1 year), declared as "best before" printed or stamped
8. Purchase the products when feasible from local farmers and processors already active in the region. The contents of the box are lentils, chickpeas, dry beans, bourghul, flour (white and whole grain), salt, tomato paste, oregano mixture, kishk, awarma, olive oil and carobe molasses. The BOQ of the food parcel is further elaborated in Annex 1.
9. Support local value chains and women ateliers when feasible.

The priority should be given but not limited to the; (i) local farmers who have been trained on sustainable agricultural practices i.e GAP, organic farming, biodynamic farming etc, (ii) local producers and processors.

1. Approve performing quality assurance laboratory tests on random samples by Al-Shouf Cedar Association when receiving the food parcels. Al-Shouf Cedar Association will have the right to reject any content that doesn’t conform to LIBNOR quality requirements and standards.