Company Profile

Established in 2005, Fairtrade Africa is the independent non-profit umbrella organization representing all Fairtrade certified producers in Africa. Currently, the organization represents over 1,083,139 producers across 28 countries in Africa.
Fairtrade Africa is owned by its members, who are African producer organizations certified against international Fairtrade Standards producing traditional export commodities such as coffee, cocoa, tea, cut flowers, cane sugar, wine, cotton, bananas, mango, pineapples and non-traditional commodities including shea butter, rooibos tea, vegetables and fresh and dry fruits. Fairtrade Africa is made up of both Small Producer Organizations (SPOs) and Hired Labour Organizations (HLO). In HLOs, the focus is on supporting companies that employ hired labour to supply better working conditions for their workers while in SPOs the focus is on members who are smallholders who run their farms mainly using their own and their family labour.

Fairtrade Africa’s interventions are guided by the Fairtrade Theory of Change which visually expresses how these ultimately lead to global Fairtrade Goals. You can read more about FTA at www.fairtradeafrica.net

Job Description

Terms of Reference

Financial External Audit

• Subject: Ghana Agroforestry for Impact – Terms of Reference for financial audit
• Period to be audited: July 2023 to July 2026
• Deadline for submission of tenders: August 16th 2024
• Estimated start date: Not before September 2024
• Location of the audit:

1. Fairtrade Africa office in Accra, Ghana
2. If needed, Fairtrade Africa office in Kumasi, Ghana
3. If needed, Max Havelaar France supporting documents can be examined remotely

GAIM Project
General overview of the project
Ghana Agroforestry for Impact (GAIM) is a three-year project funded by several actors including the French Development Agency (AFD). The fundraising has been managed by Max Havelaar France (MHF) and the project will be implemented by FTA.

GAIM responds to two challenges: the low income of cocoa farmers and their dependence on it, as well as the vulnerability of ageing cocoa farms to climate change, which pushes them to expand their production area to protected zones. Through the introduction of agroforestry techniques, the specific objectives will be i) to convert 100ha of cocoa to agroforestry, enhancing biomass production, improving the microclimate of the farmland, reducing input costs by increasing the productivity of the plots ii) to diversify crops and sources of income, while iii) strengthening the inclusion of women and the engagement of young people ensuring intergenerational transmission. After 9 years, GAIM aims to provide a living income for cocoa farmer households, organic certification for cooperatives, generation of carbon credits and access to decision-making positions for women.

3 partner cooperatives have been identified to carry out this project in Ghana:

• Asunafo North Municipal Cooperative Cocoa Farmers Union - further referred to as 'Asunafo North' (about 10,000 members)
• Kukuom Cooperative Cocoa Farmers and Marketing Union - hereafter referred to as 'Kukuom' (3601 members)
• Kuapa Kokoo Farmers Union (KKFU) - further referred to as 'KKFU' (about 84,000 members)

They all have developed institutional and sectoral legitimacy to carry out their role of representing and defending Fair Trade values in their cooperatives.

Specific objectives of GAIM
The GAIM project has 3 specific objectives:
1)To strengthen Fairtrade cooperatives in the cocoa sector by developing their capacity to support the agro-ecological transition and to animate networks of small-scale producers.

One of the main services that a cooperative provides to its producer members is technical support. This support is provided by experienced field agents employed by the cooperative, and by the provision of equipment, inputs, etc. Fairtrade certified cocoa co-operatives seek to support and accompany their members in the agro-ecological transition of their means of production, for a more sustainable and environmentally friendly production. Agroforestry methods can only be disseminated to members if the cooperatives have the skills and capacity to support and accompany them. To achieve this objective, GAIM will consolidate a training and support system for field agents, who will in turn train producers. In addition, agroforestry services will be made available in local service centres (LSCs), as close as possible to the communities. In order to sustain the strengthening of the skills and capacities of the cooperatives, the inclusion of women and young people is important; women represent an important part of the workforce in the cocoa sector, yet they are generally under-represented and their work is rarely recognised or paid. Finally, intergenerational transmission is necessary to ensure the sustainability of the sector. The achievement of this specific objective will be measured by (i) the number of cooperatives that have systematised these agroforestry services to their members, and (ii) the number of cooperatives that have developed complementary activities to continue the promotion and dissemination of the conversion to agroecology.

2)To contribute to the ecological intensification of smallholder Fairtrade cocoa production systems.

Climate change is already having an impact on cocoa production in Ghana, with some areas experiencing drought at certain times and heavy rainfall at others. By implementing dynamic agroforestry practices in the cocoa plots, the cocoa trees will be less susceptible to drought, as they are protected by several layers of canopy. By reproducing a forest-like environment that is favourable for cocoa production, the aim is that cocoa farmers will no longer have to go deep into the forest and contribute to deforestation to find more fertile soil. In order for them to have the means to reduce their impact on the environment and to be more resilient to the effects of climate change, the project plans to i) promote the conversion of farmland to one of the three agroforestry techniques, ii) effectively convert 100 hectares to dynamic agroforestry, iii) carry out a diagnosis of land tenure for effective and relevant registration of plots that meets several objectives: clarifying the issues related to land and tree ownership, facilitating the transparency and traceability needed to comply with the various legislations (EU, ARS ...), contributing to the maintenance of farms of sufficient size to ensure a decent income, overview of future harvests, etc) and, where appropriate, iv) ensuring workshops for the exchange of good practices at local and national level, including stakeholders in the cocoa landscape. This specific objective will be measured by the total area of converted plots, the number of trained farmers who actually implement agroforestry activities on their plots, as well as the percentage of farmers who apply these carbon sequestration reduction techniques within their plots and/or who testify to having become aware of the related environmental issues.

3)Improvement and diversification of cocoa farmers' income and livelihoods.

In Ghana's 'cocoa belt', all households live by the same seasonal rhythm: when there is no cocoa, regional income is low and prices on local markets are low, so that diversified cultivation generates little or no income. In order for farmers to improve and diversify their sources of income, support to cooperatives beyond the distribution of seeds and seedlings is needed. This will be done through the implementation of management and marketing services for products from diversified crops, via the optimisation of the use of tools and equipment (premises, trucks not used during cocoa harvests), but also through the carrying out of a market study that will identify new product/market combinations that are potentially profitable for the farmers. In addition, a feasibility study for payment for environmental services will be carried out, and an effective payment pilot project will be set up to encourage farmers to convert their cocoa production to dynamic agroforestry. At the community level, the establishment and support to the development of VSLAs will be strongly encouraged to spread access to credit and encourage farmers to save their extra income. Women will play an important role in these credit unions as they are usually the participants and beneficiaries. In order for them to be involved in the agroforestry activities implemented by the project, they will be able to buy improved stoves that are sold by the cooperatives in order to free up their time for other domestic tasks. If women farmers have access to these agroforestry trainings, and to capital that they can reinvest, they will
drastically contribute to the improvement of cocoa production and productivity, and reinvest their capital in their households, or community.

Main expected results

• Result 1: Small-scale cocoa farmers are informed, trained and have access to services that enable them to develop dynamic agroforestry production systems.
• Result 2: Cocoa farmers have reduced their impact on the environment and are more resilient to the effects of climate change.
• Result 3: Cocoa farmers have diversified their sources of income and are improving their livelihoods

Main Indicators

• IOV 1: 80% of participating farmers have substantially increased their income through (i) at least 1 additional income generating activity, and (ii) reduced expenditure on food and inputs.
• 80% of participating farmers have implemented forest-like conditions on their farms by introducing new tree species (crop and biomass trees).
• 100 hectares converted to agroforestry techniques
• 3 cycles of participant training will be provided (per diem).
• Creation of modules, supports, materials, for these 3 cycles and for 45 participants of which 30 are women.
• 80% of the 45 participants put the theoretical learning into practice through internships, IGA development, etc.

Objective of final audit

Objective
FTA, in collaboration with MHF, is submitting a call for tenders to contract a private external audit firm with experience in non-profit organisations, to carry out audits of the financial statements of the GAIM project.

This audit must be carried out in compliance with international auditing standards and consider the AFD guidelines stipulated in the following methodology and the appendices.

Scope of Audit
The external audits will be carried out on the financial statements of the GAIM project at these dates (see appendix 3 for summarised timeline of dates):

1. Report 1 on costs incurred from July 2023 to December 2024
2. Report 2 on costs incurred from January 2025 to December 2025
3. Report 3 on costs incurred from January 2026 to July 2026

The auditor will:

• Follow the checklist in appendix 1
• Read the AFD requirements for the financial audit
• Comply with the AFD requirements for the financial audit
• Ensure the expenses incurred during the project are eligible according to AFD requirements
• Ensure all expenses incurred are reported in the financial report
• Give an opinion on the procedures listed in the financial agreement between GAIM and AFD and in the methodological guide of the AFD support mechanism (https://www.afd.fr/en/civil-society-organizations)
• Certify the submitted report to AFD

The audit will be carried out in Ghana, at the Fairtrade Africa Accra office, where supporting documents are saved. If necessary, supporting documents can be checked at the Fairtrade Africa Kumasi office.

The auditor will examine the MHF supporting documents remotely.

Amount
The overall budget of the project is 1,195,182.27 €.

Budget breakdown will be communicated to selected consultant.

Methodology and audit process
The audit will take place in 2 phases:

1)Phase 1: Meeting between auditor and GAIM project team
Once the consultant is selected, and after the signature of the contract between FTA and the consultant, a meeting will be organised between the auditor and the GAIM project team.

The objective will be to:

• Have a full understanding of the scope and methods of audit control
• Strengthen the internal procedures, in compliance with AFD contractual obligations
• Advise the project team as to avoid the ineligible expenditures at the end of the project implementation

Prior to this meeting, the GAIM project team will make sure to send all required documents to the selected consultant: full project proposal, FTA financial procedures, quarterly reports, financial agreement between GAIM and AFD...

The meeting will address the following points:

• GAIM team contractual obligations with AFD as per the agreement (timeline, expenditure eligibility, procurements, activity reports, matchfunding agreements...)
• The scope and summary of the project
• The link between GAIM and other stakeholders contributing to the project
• Project funding
• Financial and accounting traceability procedures and internal control systems

The goals of this meeting for the auditor will be to:

• Understand the project and financial procedures implemented by FTA
• Identify weaknesses and risk factors of the financial process of the GAIM project
• Identify the prominent control points to be checked
• Understand the procedure to trace financial and accounting information from FTA, MHF and other partners

The goals of this meeting for MHF and FTA will be to:

• Make sure to respect the financial contractual obligations towards the AFD and understand the implications of the measures to implement
• Identify the areas of risk in financial management methods that could affect GAIM contractual obligations, and anticipate solutions
• Identify best practices, namely in tracing financial flows and contract signing
• Understand how the financial audits will be carried out, what to expect from the GAIM team and how to work effectively with the auditor

At the end of the introductive meeting of phase 1, the consultant will write a guidance note on recommendations for the conduct of the future financial audit that will be sent to FTA and MHF. This note will be written independently by the consultant.

2)Phase 2: Carrying-out and scope of the audit

This phase will be carried out 3 times.

1. Report 1 will concern costs incurred from July 2023 to December 2024
2. Report 2 will concern costs incurred from January 2025 to December 2025
3. Report 3 will concern costs incurred from January 2026 to July 2026

3 main steps will be followed:

Step 1: Recommendations report

The consultant will carry out a main review by:

• Ensuring that all expenditure has been incurred in compliance with the anticipated costs of the Financial Agreement and the methodological guide of AFD's CSO support mechanism A particular attention will be given to the procurements process.
• Checking the correct resources were allocated to the project by the right funders
• Checking the expenditures eligibility* reported in the financial report

The main eligibility criteria for expenditure are as follows:

• The expenditure was incurred during the period covered by the Financial Agreement
• The expenditure incurred was budgeted for and is classified in the correct budget category
• The expenditure incurred was necessary for the good implementation of the project
• The expenditure incurred and reported in the financial report was recorded and was allocated to the project in FTA’s accounting system or in that of its partners This step will be checked against the accounting standards applicable in Ghana

Deliverable: The expected deliverable for this first step is a recommendations report that must be received prior to the preparation of the draft reports and immediately after the finalisation of the audit.

The recommendations report will include:

• Comments, conclusions and recommendations on the accounting records and the internal control system resulting from the audit work performed
• Description of the procedures applied and the methodology used
• Identification of specific weaknesses, audited controls and recommendations for each identified weakness
• Information on the degree of compliance with audit recommendations.
• Issues identified during the audit that may have an impact on the financial statements
• Main conclusions of the expenditure audit report and recommendations.
• The financial audit checklist in Appendix
• Any other information the auditor deems appropriate

MHF, FTA and partners may make comments on the recommendations report 1 week after receiving of the report and get back to the consultant if needed.

Expected dates for submission of recommendation report:

• Report 1: February 15th 2025
• Report 2: February 15th 2026
• Report 3: September 15th 2026

Step 2: Draft report
After having studied the recommendation report, MHF, FTA and partners will suggest corrective measures that will be submitted to the auditor. Once the auditor has read the corrective measures, the auditor will submit a draft report. This is the first version of the audit report, including financial statements, related notes, tables and appendices.

The report must contain:

• Comments, conclusions and recommendations on the accounting records and the internal control system resulting from the audit work performed
• Description of the procedures applied and the methodology used
• Identification of specific weaknesses, audited controls and recommendations for each identified weakness
• Information on the degree of compliance with audit recommendations.
• Issues identified during the audit that may have an impact on the financial statements
• The financial audit checklist in Appendix
• Any other information the auditor deems appropriate

These draft reports will be submitted to FTA and MHF for review and approval.

Expected dates for submission of draft report:

• Report 1: February 28th 2025
• Report 2: February 28th 2026
• Report 3: September 30th 2026

Step 3: Final reports
Once the relevant draft reports have been discussed and approved by FTA, MHF and the auditor, the final reports will be signed off by the responsible external auditor.

Expected dates for submission of final reports:

• Report 1: March 15th 2025
• Report 2: March 15th 2026
• Report 3: October 15th 2026*

*The final financial audit must:

• Justify the verification of expenditures
• Comment each check
• Indicate the amount of expenditures declared ineligible
• Check competitive tendering procedures
• Include the completed checklist (appendix 2)

N.B. All explanations, comments, issues, observations during or after the audit must be recorded in writing, with a record sent by email to the immediate managers and individuals concerned. Additionally, dates and comments of written evidence can, in no way, be modified.                                                   

Required Skills or Experience

Consultant profile
The consultant profile must match the following description:

• The partner in charge of signing the report must be a chartered accountant and a member of the professional associations of chartered accountants
• Understanding of recognised professional standards (IFAC, IDEAS, etc.)
• Additional points will be given if the associate staff have experience of auditing projects funded by French public donors
• Additional points will be given if the associate.s speak.s French and English