Consultancy Opportunity: Evaluation of the Tesco UK Farm Assurance Framework

'Sustainable agriculture' is one of three components within the 'Restoring Nature in Food Production' pillar of the Tesco/WWF Partnership. The Partnership is addressing the environmental impacts that the UK agricultural sector has on soil carbon, water quality, biodiversity and greenhouse gas emissions.

Together, we are driving the uptake of more sustainable practices through farm advice on the ground and by engaging in policy-based and finance-based advocacy. Market-based levers, such as through farm assurance schemes like Red Tractor, offer a direct way for Tesco and WWF to drive improvements in environmental outcomes from agriculture.

WWF and Tesco wish to commission a consultant to undertake an evaluation of Red Tractor in order to assess the gap between the Red Tractor standards and best practice, and understand impediments to achieving changes to on-farm practices through Red Tractor implementation. In addition, we would like the consultant to consider the degree to which requirements of Tesco's Sustainable Farming Groups (SFGs) for UK producers contribute to advancing environmental outcomes.

The output from this piece of work will be a short paper with recommendations. We are looking for a consultancy solution that can demonstrate expert knowledge of the literature which identifies best practice agri-environmental farm management practices, expert knowledge of agri-environmental regulations, and in-depth interviewing expertise and ability to undertake research on sensitive subjects.

For further information, please refer to the attached Terms of Reference. Your proposal must contain: - Your approach and proposed methodology to address the Objectives and Tasks - An analysis of how you fulfil the required skill set - Names and CVs of all staff who will work on the consultancy, and proposed roles - A fee proposal including: o Total days and day rates for each member of staff who will work on the consultancy o Any travel/ancillary costs o Your VAT status with VAT, if applicable, clearly identified