ThaiNGO

TERMS OF REFERENCE

1. Background

Agriculture plays a central role in the economies of the Mekong region, employing a significant portion of the population and contributing substantially to the subregion's GDP. However, the sector faces numerous challenges, including low productivity, fragmented supply chains, limited access to innovative technologies, and vulnerability to climate change.

The agriculture sector, vital for both domestic consumption and international trade, highlights the need for a paradigm shift towards more sustainable and technologically integrated practices. Thus, it is crucial to address this issue, particularly in the context of Mekong sub-regional cooperation. The Mekong countries have increasingly recognized the value of collaborative efforts to tackle cross-border challenges, leveraging shared resources, and knowledge to foster regional stability, economic growth, and environmental sustainability. The development of a sustainable and smart agricultural supply chain directly contributes to these goals.

The Mekong CONNECT: Facilitating Agricultural Resilience and Modernization through Collaboration, Networking, Empowerment, Capacity-building, and Technology project, aimed at enhancing agricultural resilience and modernization, will address these issues by promoting smart agricultural technologies and fostering sustainable public-private partnerships (PPPs). Through collaboration of Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand, and Viet Nam, the project seeks to integrate advanced technologies into the region's agricultural supply chains, improve resilience, and ensure environmental sustainability. 

To accelerate the adoption of climate-smart technologies in agriculture, national agencies, academic institutions, and private sector actors can strengthen human resource development. This boosts product quality and productivity, opening up greater export and trade opportunities for the Lower Mekong Countries. Regional training programs can also foster collaboration among CLMTV nations, enabling shared solutions to climate challenges, adaptation of smart agriculture technologies and PPP models.

About the Training

This training is one of three regional programs under Component 2, focusing specifically on smart farming practices. The curriculum is developed in partnership with leading universities in the Mekong region and the Republic of Korea (RoK), ensuring a robust, evidence-based approach.

2. Objective of the Consultancy

The objective of the consultancy is to develop training curriculum, deliver technical training, and facilitation support over five consecutive working days for a CSA focused regional workshop, equipping participants with practical and conceptual understanding of smart farming technologies, PPP strategies, and implementation planning. In specific:

1. Strengthen regional knowledge and capacity in climate-smart agriculture and smart farming technologies
2. Deliver tailored sessions on precision agriculture, IoT systems, drones, data analytics, and automation
3. Facilitate understanding and application of Public–Private Partnership (PPP) models for agricultural innovation
4. Promote cross-country knowledge exchange and regional collaboration among CLMTV participants
5. Guide participants in developing context-specific action plans for technology adoption and pilot implementation
6. Provide feedback on strategies to scale smart farming within participants’ institutions or regions
7. Support participatory learning through group activities, case studies, role plays, and live pitching sessions

3. Scope of work

4. Key Deliverables

• Final curriculum, presentations and materials for respect module
• Active facilitation of five training days
• Technical inputs to participant action plans
• Summary of session feedback and reflections
• Contribution to the final training report (including session inputs and evaluation results)

5. Duration and location of work

The consultancy will last for 10 to 15 working days in September 2025 depending on qualifications and available budget. The work will be home-based for training materials preparation and deliver/ facilitate the trainings at Mekong Institute, Khon Kaen, Thailand.

• September to October including CSA training on September 22–26, 2025
• Mekong Institute, Khon Kaen, Thailand (5 days of training)
• Bangkok, Thailand (2 days of structured learning visits, optional involvement)

6.  Consultant Requirements

The trainer/ mentor should have:

• Advanced / master’s degree in agriculture, Agricultural Technology, Environmental Studies, or related fields
• Proven experience in smart agriculture technologies and PPP facilitation
• Experience conducting regional training or working with CLMTV stakeholders preferred
• Strong communication and intercultural facilitation skills
• Fluency in English (spoken and written); other regional language(s) an asset

7.  Submission of Interest

Interested applicants are requested to submit the following documents no later than August 31, 2025:

• Letter of interest and CV with qualifications, expertise, and experience.
• Consultancy rates per day.

 Submission Guidelines

• Proposals must be submitted in English
• All documents should be submitted in PDF format
• Proposals should be sent via the online form by click on the link below https://forms.office.com/r/AyvT8Sw2bu
• with the subject line: Proposal Submission for “Technical Advisor on Climate-Smart Agriculture & Smart Farming Technologies”