Individual Consultant for Enterprise Development Training

Job details

Term of Reference 1. Background and Rationale The Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF), under its mandate of promoting sustainable livelihoods, MSME development, and economic graduation, is strengthening collaboration with PMAS–Pir Mehr Ali Shah Arid Agriculture University (ARID) to enhance institutional capacity for enterprise development, value chain strengthening, and rural economic transformation. In the current economic context of Pakistan, shrinking employment opportunities, rising unemployment particularly among youth and graduates and increasing economic uncertainty have significantly constrained the absorption capacity of the formal job market. Traditional employment pathways are no longer sufficient to meet the growing demand for livelihoods, especially in rural and semi-urban areas. This situation underscores the urgent need to promote entrepreneurship, self-employment, and MSME development as viable and sustainable alternatives. Universities, as centers of knowledge and innovation, have a critical role to play in preparing graduates not only as job seekers but as job creators. However, limited integration of enterprise development, startup incubation, and market-oriented skills within academic systems restricts this potential. Therefore, strengthening faculty capacity to embed entrepreneurship and enterprise development within teaching, research, and student engagement is essential to respond to the evolving economic realities and to support inclusive and resilient economic growth. While ARID University possesses strong technical expertise, research infrastructure, and domain knowledge in agriculture and allied sectors, there remains a significant gap in translating academic knowledge into market-oriented enterprise development and commercialization pathways. Faculty members are primarily engaged in academic and research-oriented teaching; however, there is limited structured capacity to integrate enterprise development, startup readiness, and business-oriented concepts into classroom delivery, research supervision, and student engagement. Furthermore, there is a growing need to equip faculty with practical tools and methodologies to prepare students for entrepreneurship, startup development, and self-employment, particularly in agri-based and rural enterprise sectors. Currently, gaps exist in delivering applied business concepts such as opportunity identification, business plan development, value chain development, marketing, and financial literacy and management within academic curricula. This limits the ability of students to transition from theoretical learning to enterprise creation, innovation, and commercialization of research outputs. In addition, institutional mechanisms for startup incubation, enterprise mentoring, and research-to-market linkages require further strengthening to create a cohesive ecosystem that effectively connects academia with industry and markets. As highlighted in the project design, strengthening institutional capacity for enterprise development and commercialization is critical to enable sustainable economic transformation and value chain development. To address these challenges, PPAF intends to engage a qualified Consultant to design and deliver a structured 7-day Enterprise Development Training (EDT) programme for ARID University faculty and staff. The training will adopt a practical, participatory, and action-oriented approach, enabling faculty to integrate enterprise and startup concepts into teaching, mentoring, and applied research, while also strengthening their capacity to support MSMEs, value chains, and student-led enterprises. The intervention will contribute to strengthening ARID University’s incubation ecosystem and institutional capacity, promoting entrepreneurship, innovation, and commercialization, and enabling faculty and students to play an active role in enterprise development, thereby supporting youth employment, rural enterprise growth, and inclusive economic transformation. The proposed intervention aims to address these gaps by strengthening faculty capacity to: 1) Deliver enterprise and startup concepts within academic curricula 2) Mentor students for business plan development and startup creation 3) Support incubation of agri-based enterprises 4) Facilitate linkages between research, markets, and MSMEs This aligns with the broader project objective of strengthening institutional capacity for enterprise development and commercialization. 2. Objectives of the Assignment The overall objective of this 7 days assignment is to strengthen the capacity of ARID University faculty and staff to effectively integrate and deliver enterprise development, entrepreneurship, and value chain concepts within academic, research, and practical learning environments. Specifically, by the end of this training participants will be able to: • Elaborate key concepts of enterprise development: business cycle, business planning, marketing, costing & pricing and bookkeeping. • Recognize and demonstrate personal entrepreneurial competencies. • Develop and confidently present a business plan based on an understanding of the business cycle, market assessment and marketing mix plan, costing & pricing and financial management. • Conceptualize, operate and close a practical business creation exercise (BCE). • Elaborate key elements value chain framework. 3. Scope of Work 3.1 Training Design and Customization The Consultant will: • Review existing EDT material and contextualize for ARID. • Customize training module(s) as per the following: • Agriculture (particularly peanut sector), livestock, agribusiness and any other sector • University teaching and student engagement • Teaching aids for classroom delivery • Case studies • Startup mentoring 3.2 Training Delivery • Deliver a seven (7) day Enterprise Development and Startup Incubation Training for selected students, graduates, young professionals, and potential startup teams, with the participation of relevant faculty members for institutional learning and future mentoring. • Ensure strong focus on: a) Practical application b) Innovation and entrepreneurship c) Startup ideation and validation d) Business planning and financial literacy e) Enterprise management skills f) Market and value chain orientation g) Team building and leadership development 3.3 Key Training Session The following training sessions are proposed to guide the design and delivery of the 7 days Enterprise Development Training. However, the consultant may review, refine, combine, rearrange, or propose additional sessions and training methodologies, as appropriate, to enhance the quality, relevance, and effectiveness of the programme in line with the training objectives and the startup development needs of the participants. The final training curriculum and session plan shall be submitted to PPAF for review and approval. The training shall include (but not limited to): • A. Enterprise Development Foundations • B. Market Oriented Enterprise Development • C. Startup Development & Business Planning • D. Financial Literacy for Enterprises • Business concepts and business cycle • Entrepreneurship and startup ecosystem • Personal Entrepreneurial Competencies (PECs) • Marketing and 6Ps Marketing or 7 Cs of marketing • Market survey and customer analysis • Value chain development and linkages • Mini Market Exercise • Opportunity identification and screening • Business plan development • Business Creation Exercise (BCE) • Costing and pricing • Profitability analysis • Bookkeeping and financial management E. Academic Integration & Incubation • Embedding enterprise concepts into curriculum • Student engagement methodologies • Startup mentoring and incubation models • Research commercialization pathways • Linking students with MSMEs and markets • E. Team Building and Entrepreneurial Leadership • Understanding the enterprise life cycle • Leadership and decision-making in business • Innovation and problem-solving skills • Managing business growth and challenges • Business sustainability and resilience • Growth and enterprise expansion 4. Target Group The 7 day training will be delivered to a selected group of approximately 25 participants, comprising: • 5 staff members from PPAF, including relevant programme, operations, and technical personnel involved in livelihoods, MSME development, and value chain interventions; and • Approximately 20 faculty members from PMAS - Arid Agriculture University (ARID), representing key departments related to agriculture, agribusiness, and allied disciplines. The selected participants will be those who are directly engaged in, or have the potential to contribute to, enterprise development, startup incubation, research commercialization, and value chain promotion, ensuring effective application and institutionalization of the training outcomes. 5. Proposed Methodology The Consultant will adopt a participatory, action-oriented, and practicum-based training