Quarterly Report: Q1 FY 2014 Mali Cereal Value Chain

The Chief of Party, Willem van Campen, and Project Coordinator, Ms. Ashley Dean, worked to establish the ACDI/VOCA presence in Bamako. They met with local subcontractors Nyeta Conseils and G FORCE, reviewed potential locations for office space, and met with the IICEM team, including COP Jean-Francois Guay. The project team also looked at potential locations for work planning sessions with the CVC team, made a selection, and finalized logistics. They met with a local labor lawyer to review and finalize the local employment contract and began working on the Employee Policy Manual that will be relevant for all local staff working on the CVC project. Additionally, ACDI/VOCA's Senior Contracts Administrator, Ms. Leigh Hartless, traveled to Bamako to support start-up activities and to discuss and finalize local subcontracts with CVC's two local partners. During the first quarter, the project team also attended the IICEM two-day closeout event to take note of lessons learned, major achievements, and contribute to information sharing between the IICEM and CVC teams. The team also set up and attended a meeting with IICEM staff to discuss the transition of technical activities, as well as administrator matters such as vehicle transfer. In early November 2013, CVC's Project Director from ACDI/VOCAs HQ, Ms. Penelope Hucker, and ACDI/VOCA's West Africa Regional Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist, Ms. Nirinjaka Ramasinjatovo, also traveled to Bamako to participate in the work planning sessions and support the CVC team during start-up. The project team also drafted the Field Security Manual by ACDI/VOCA's Security Director, Dave Jegier, and shared it with the field staff for their review and adherence. The final Field Security Manual will be updated and finalized once the Security Director is able to travel to Mali to make a full assessment of all three project offices in Q2. During the start-up period, the team rented a temporary office at the Private Sector Centre until mid-December. The technical staff were able to use this space to work on writing the first year work plan, while the operations staff continued the search for permanent office space. In December, the permanent project office location in Bamako was selected and the lease finalized. With the finalization of the lease, the team began transferring equipment from IICEM and moving into the Cite UNICEF office. The CVC team received a significant amount of equipment from the IICEM project, which allowed for rapid mobilization as vehicles, office furniture, printers, photocopiers, etc. were immediately available for CVC use. Once moved into the permanent office, the operations staff focused on multiple procurements to set up office cabling for internet and telephone service, partitioning for offices, and laptops. With the inheritance of equipment from IICEM, the CVC operations staff renewed the insurance of all vehicles inherited from IICEM and followed the necessary procedures to ensure proper transfer of IICEM vehicles in Mali. With support from ACDI/VOCA's HQ, CVC successfully opened a bank account with Ecobank in Mali, and received their first wire transfer. The Director of Operations, Mrs. Adrienne Keita, in collaboration with Mr. Gallo Sidibe, set up and attended a meeting with IICEM staff to discuss the transition of technical activities, as well as administrator matters such as vehicle transfer. The CVC team also received a significant amount of equipment from the IICEM project, which allowed for rapid mobilization as vehicles, office furniture, printers, photocopiers, etc. were immediately available for CVC use. The project team's efforts during the first quarter focused on project start-up and the preparation of a workplan proposal for the first year. The team conducted an onboarding training for the COP, contract preparation and negotiation with subcontracting consortium partners, opening of a bank account, selection and contracting of personnel, identification of office space, and establishment of an office. The team also prepared a personnel manual and field security manual for the project. The workplan development included a team orientation workshop, handover-meetings with IICEM, orientation meetings with USAID's Economic Growth team, contacts with potential partners, extensive information exchange among new staff and between ACDI/VOCA's HQ and field staff. A draft workplan, accompanied by EMMP and PMP, was submitted within the contractually set deadline. Staff training on Value Chain Analysis was prepared and was planned to start early January 2014. The project team's efforts during the first quarter laid the foundation for the successful implementation of the Mali Cereal Value Chain project. The team's focus on project start-up and workplan development ensured that the project was well-positioned to achieve its objectives and make a positive impact in Mali