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Call for EOI for Procurement of LLM Engineering Firm for The Digital Extension Services Project- Gf Project.

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  1. Call for Expression of Interest (EOI)

    Procurement of LLM Engineering Firm for the Digital Extension Services Project – GF Project

    Investment Name: Nigeria Public Private Partnership AI-enabled Digital Advisory Planning
    Contract Ref No.: AFAAS/GF/QCBS/2025/0018
    Investment ID: INV-069417
    Date: 4th November, 2025

    About AFAAS

    The African Forum for Agricultural Advisory Services (AFAAS) serves as the continental platform for mutual learning, collaboration, and innovation among Agricultural Extension and Advisory Services (AEAS) actors across Africa. Mandated by the African Union Commission, AFAAS plays a pivotal role in strengthening AEAS to enhance agricultural productivity and drive inclusive, resilient, and sustainable food systems on the continent.

    AFAAS has received a grant from the Gates Foundation (GF) in support of the project entitled “Nigeria Public Private Partnership AI-enabled Digital Advisory Planning.” GF has provided AFAAS with a grant for the period from 1st August, 2025 to 30th March, 2026 (Investment ID: INV-069417) to execute all necessary preparatory activities required to de-risk and launch a scalable, AI-enabled agricultural extension platform delivered through a public-private partnership (PPP). The envisioned solution will be farmer-centered, technically and financially sustainable, and jointly owned and governed by the public and private sectors.

    For the implementation of the project activities, AFAAS will conduct procurements for goods, consulting, and non-consulting services, in accordance with the AFAAS Procurement Management Manual.

    Objective of the Consultancy

    The overall objective for this assignment is to develop a design of an AI-Driven Digital Extension Services Delivery Platform (ESDP) in Nigeria for scaling agricultural extension services across the country.

    Specific Objectives:

    • Define technical requirements to develop a design of an AI-Driven Digital ESDP in Nigeria.
    • Conduct technical analysis and advisory services to finalize AI-Driven Digital ESDP product design through ecosystem engagement as organised by the Consortium.

    Duration of Assignment

    The LLM Engineering Firm shall work for a duration running between November 2025 – March 2026 from AFAAS Secretariat or elsewhere as may be agreed between the parties. The specific milestones and deadlines will be agreed upon during the inception phase.

    Qualification and Experience

    Mandatory Requirements (Compliance & Business)

    • Business Registration and Legal Standing
    • Financial Stability (audited financial statements)
    • Insurance: Professional liability and cybersecurity coverage
    • Valid Practicing Certificates in engineering or AI/ML fields
    • Minimum Operating Period: 3–5 years

    Technical Expertise and Experience

    • Proven Experience with LLMs
    • Relevant Project Portfolio including:
      • Custom model training (e.g., LoRA, QLoRA)
      • Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) systems
      • Prompt and context engineering
      • NLP tasks (sentiment analysis, translation, contextual understanding)
    • Technical Stack Proficiency: Python, Hugging Face, PyTorch, TensorFlow
    • Data Handling Skills: Cleaning, preprocessing, securing datasets
    • Evaluation Metrics: Performance evaluation, mitigation of hallucination, bias, and factual errors

    Team Capabilities and Key Personnel

    • Multidisciplinary Team: LLM/ML engineers, backend/frontend developers, UX researcher, data engineer, agronomy/domain expert, M&E specialist, project manager
    • Key Expert Qualifications: Master’s or PhD in Computer Science, AI, or related fields
    • Communication Skills: Proficiency in English and stakeholder engagement

    Quality Assurance and Project Management

    • Methodology: Project management plans, timelines, risk mitigation
    • Quality Control: Throughout development and deployment
    • Integration Plan: Strategy for system integration
    • Post-Deployment Support: Maintenance and updates
    • Security and Compliance: Adherence to NDPR and ethical AI standards

    Selection Method

    The provider shall be selected based on the Quality and Cost Based Selection (QCBS) method outlined in the AFAAS Procurement Manual.

    Submission Instructions

    Deadline for Queries: 6th November, 2025 (08:00 – 17:00 local time)
    Submission Deadline: 10th November, 2025 at 10:00 a.m.

    Required Documents:

    • Cover Letter for EOI
    • Technical and Financial Proposal
    • CV in English
    • References (Recommendation Letters)

    Submit via Email:
    secretariat@afaas-africa.org
    cc: pwanzala@afaas-africa.org

    Or Deliver to:
    Dr. Lillian Lihasi Kidula
    Executive Director, AFAAS
    Kigobe Road House No. 26, Ministers Village Ntinda
    P.O BOX 34624 Kampala, Uganda
    Tel: +256-312313400

    Further Information

    For additional details, contact:

    • Grace Paddy Wanzala (Procurement Specialist): pwanzala@afaas-africa.org
    • Dr. Lillian Lihasi Kidula (Executive Director): llihasi@afaas-africa.org

     

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