Deadline: 13-Mar-2019 at 11:59:59 PM (Eastern Time – Washington D.C.)
The Project background: Agriculture is the mainstay of Sierra Leone, accounting for 62.6% of GDP. Subsistence farming dominates the sector, where the use of fertilizer is limited due to cost, poor availability, and lack of knowledge of the increased yield benefits of correct application of fertilizer in agricultural practices. In Sierra Leone all fertilizer is imported, typically in relatively small quantities which increases cost and reduces availability at critical periods of the crop cycle. Farmers also lack the appropriate education and support which then limits their fertilizer usage.
IFC is looking to hire a firm to undertake a market study in Sierra Leone to better understand the fertilizer market and value chain and to develop a plan to strengthen the fertilizer supply chain which also supports the project development of Mangara Agribusiness Company (Mangara), a local company that is working to develop a bulk blending fertilizer plant in Sierra Leone.
opportunity, flat yields and small farms. It’s true that Africa is still producing too little food and value-added products despite recent efforts to increase investment, and that agricultural productivity has been broadly stagnant since the 1980s as shown in the 
today’s agri-food system. Whether it’s today’s soil moisture, tomorrow’s weather forecast, or the price of rice in Riyadh, every bit of data can improve the efficiency with which the world’s 570 million farmers put food into the mouths of its soon-to-be eight billion consumers. Digital technologies are facilitating the flow of data through the food system, shrinking information asymmetries and fashioning new markets along the way. How can we ensure these new markets are appropriately contested, and the treasure does not end up in the hands of a couple of gunslingers? Is there a public sector’s role in generating and disseminating data that on the one hand encourages innovation and competition and on the other reduces opportunities for market capture? One place to look may be at the crossroads of internet and public goods.
been in the market for weather forecasts that help them decide when to plant and harvest to mitigate climate risks. Earlier this month, the 48th session of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change delivered sobering news: the 
Netherlands for the World Bank 
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