1. Background

The International Center of Insect Physiology and Ecology has a country office in Addis Ababa, located in Gurd Shola. icipe’s mission is to improve health and food security through research and development of environmentally friendly tools and strategies. As part of its research and development efforts, icipe is collaborating with the Mastercard Foundation to implement the Mass Youth Employment in Apiculture (MaYEA) program. The purpose of this partnership intervention is to transform Ethiopia's apiculture industry by enabling 1,050,000 young people (80% women) to access wage and self-employment through skilling and access to financial services in 135 Woredas (districts) organized in three implementation hubs. National Hub, the national program Coordination Office managed by icipe, the Central, South and Southwest Hub, which included Oromia, Sidama, South Ethiopia, Central Ethiopia, Southwest, and Gambella regions), and the North and Northwest Hub, including Amhara, Afar, Tigray and, Benishangul Gumuz, regions. The Central, South and Southwest Hub is led by IIRR, and the program is implemented in partnership with SOS Sahel Ethiopia and the Movement for Ecological Learning and Community Action – Ethiopia (MELCA-Ethiopia). ORDA Ethiopia leads the North and Northwest Hub and executes the MaYEA program in collaboration with Bees for Development, The Well in Action, and the Population Health and Environment Ethiopian Consortium. 

MaYEA aims to disrupt the apiculture sector and allied value chains to triple the current national annual honey production by 2028 by skilling 300,000 new beekeepers to start beekeeping, increasing the production and productivity of 350,000 existing young beekeeping farmers, and engaging additional 350,000 young people in integrated value chain activities according to relevant climatic, economic and market orientation of the location.

With the aim of revolutionizing the apiculture sector and improving honey production and productivity, icipe has a keen interest in piloting digital hive monitoring technology in 30 small-scale beekeepers, each with one frame hive and one transitional hive for the pilot and the same numbers as control groups. The pilot is aimed to test the effectiveness of the technology in providing accurate and real-time data, allowing beekeepers to make more informed decisions to maintain a healthy colony and improve honey production and hive productivity.

icipe intended to pilot the digital hive monitoring technology to test its effectiveness in providing accurate and real-time data, allowing beekeepers to make more informed decisions to maintain a healthy colony and improve honey production and hive productivity.

As a result, icipe is looking for a technology vendor and consultant to work on this project. The term of reference below is provided to allow interested vendors and consultants to submit proposals for the intended piloting program. 

2. Objectives

2.1 General objective 

• Test the effectiveness of digital hive monitoring technology to improve hive health, reduce colony loss, and increase honey production.

2.2 Specific objective

• Scrutinize the technology’s ability to reduce colony loss by detecting feed shortages, predators, diseases, swarming, and environmental threats and use predictive analytics to improve hive health.

• Examine the technology’s capacity to provide actionable insights and data-driven recommendations for increased honey production. 

• Conduct a user’s satisfaction survey to assess that the technology is user-friendly.

3. Technical specifications 

The digital technology solution must contain smart hive sensors, IoT (Internet of Things) and Cloud-based platforms to monitor, record, process data and provide notifications for informed decisions and interventions.

The smart hive sensors must monitor temperature, and humidity to ensure that honeybee colonies remain in optimal conditions, track changes in hive weight to estimate honey production, colony growth, and feed shortage, analyse sound and vibration to detect swarming, queen presence, and stress levels, and send pest, predator and disease alerts to identify potential threats to honeybee colonies. The smart hive sensors will be utilized in remote locations with limited access to electric power, so they must be designed to be energy-efficient, with long battery life or solar-powered options. Finally, the smart hive must transmit real-time data to mobile app via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. The smart hive sensor should reduce interruption to honeybee colonies by minimizing manual hive inspections, promote data-driven beekeeping for improved management, reduced colony loss and increase honey yield and bee health.

In general, the technology must be scalable and user-friendly that track temperature, humidity, brood condition, hive weight, sound, vibration and bee colony activity in real time. Furthermore, it should provide predictive analytics for early detection of the wellbeing of honeybee colonies such as disease, pests, predators, and swarming events and empower beekeepers with data-driven decision-making tools to improve hive management, reduce honeybee colony loss, enhance production and productivity. The technology must have been tested with small-scale beekeepers (preferably in the African apiculture sector, with testimonials or examples of successful application to verify). 

The system should include a set of standards to detect irregularities in honeybee colony activities and wellbeing.

4.  EXPECTED OUTCOMES

• Increased honey production and income: - optimal colony management based on real-time data is anticipated to increase honey production and income from honey sales.

• Reduced colony losses: - early identification of pest, disease, and swarming events, as well as the feed availability is expected to allow beekeepers to make informed decisions, reducing honeybee colony loss.

• Feedback on the technology: - feedback will be collected from beekeepers on the technology for scaling.

Deliverables

• Inception report: this will include the background, objectives, scope of the work, methods and approach, data collection tools and timeline of the work.

• Progress report: the progress of the assignment must be reported for each of the activities outlined in the above table in a timely manner.

• Draft report: a draft report must be submitted in accordance with an agreed-upon reporting template, including major findings, conclusions and recommendations.

• Final report: the consultant will present the pilot findings to stakeholders to collect feedback and submit the final report by incorporation the feedback. 

5. Methodology

The service provider should outline a clear, step-by-step approach covering the following:

5.1 Baseline survey

Before using digital hive monitoring technology,a baseline data, which includes current honey yields per hive, annual income generated from honey, colony loss rate, major bee pests, predators and diseases affecting honeybees, swarming, and so on will be collected from targeted beekeepers for the piloting program.

 5.2 Training and capacity building

Beekeeping experts and development agents from government institutions, as well as MaYEA’s implementing partners in the woredas selected for the piloting program, will receive hands-ontraining (ToT) on how to install, operate and maintain the technology. Beekeepers will also receive hands on site demonstration and practical training on the technology. 

5.3 Installation of hive monitoring technology

Installing hive monitoring technology or tools at selected beekeeper’s apiary sites involves careful placing sensors inside or near beehives to collect real-time data on hive conditions. These gadgets typically track temperature, humidity, hive weight, sound patterns, vibration, bee activity, disease, pests and predator’s occurrences. Sensors will be carefully placed inside the hives in a manner avoiding disrupting the bees while collecting reliable data. The devices will then be connected to a central system using a wireless technology, allowing beekeepers and experts to access the data remotely through smartphones or computers. Proper calibration and testing are required to verify that the system works properly.

Each selected beekeeper will have at least two to three transitional and frame hives with honeybee colonies. One from each hive type will be used to install the technology, and one from each hive type will serve as a control group. 

5.4 Data collection, analysis and interpretation

Once the hive monitoring technology is installed, data collection, analysis and interpretation will proceed throughout the pilot program. 

5.5 Monitoring and evaluation framework

A monitoring and evaluation framework that establishes processes to track progresses, and measure impacts is stipulated below:

A. Key Performance Indicators: the piloting objectives will be measured using the below listed key performance indicators:

• Honeybee colony loss: - the loss of colonies due to pest, predators, swarming and environmental factors will be measured to observe improvements as a result of technological use.

• Honey production: - honey yield per hive in kilograms will be measured to evaluate if it has improved because of optimized hive management.

• Income from honey sales: - increased income of beekeepers from sale of honey.

• Users’ satisfaction: - beekeepers’ satisfaction with the digital hive monitoring system will be collected using survey to determine that the technology is user-friendly.

Table 1: Monitoring and evaluation matrix

B. Data collection methods: 

• Survey and interviews: - qualitative feedback from beekeepers about useability, challenges and benefits as well as base line data will be collected through a survey and interviews.

• Hive monitoring data: - real-time data on hive conditions and productivity will be acquired through the digital system. In addition, honey production will be collected by measuring the honey harvest.

• Field observation: - field observations will be conducted to monitor hive condition and compare it to digital data.

6. Timeframe

The piloting will run 14 months, including the preparatory phase, allowing for at least one full beekeeping season to capture data across various seasons and colony activity, including brood development, dearth period, honey flow season and so on. However, the consultancy service will last for 70 days, beginning with the signing of the agreement. The final activity, monitoring and evaluating the pilot, will takes place virtually, at least once a month, to discuss progress, challenges (if any) and potential solutions. 

Qualifications and experiences

The task is expected to be delivered by a team of two multi-disciplinary experts with the following qualifications and experiences.

Qualifications

• MSc (preferably PhD) in apiculture/agriculture/environmental science and related fields.

• Master’s degree in computer science/information technology/data science. 

Experiences

• Familiar with honeybee colonies, their lifecycle and behaviour.
• Hands on experience in managing hives and understanding hive dynamics.
• Experience in operating and maintaining digital devices such as sensors, IoT (Internet of Things) equipment, dashboards and monitoring software.
• Experience in analysing and interpreting data collected from hive monitoring system such as temperature, humidity, vibration, sound and so on.
• Familiar with basic programming knowledge such as phyton (for interpretation) and data visualization tools (Tableau, Power BI).

Mandatory Requirements

• Detailed cover letter expressing interest in this assignment, including full contact details (name, tel. e-mail), and physical address, signed by an authorized representative.

• Copies of the consulting firm’s statutory registration documents, PIN certificate, valid business license.

• Detailed firm’s profile, including organization chart.

• Evidence of the Technology Company/Firm and Technical team’ experience in delivering similar digital hive monitoring technology design and pilot testing both at international and national level during the last five (5) years. Provide contacts with at least three (3) references from key clients and you have provided a similar service.

• CVs of the Lead from the Company/firm and key technical staff who will deliver the intended piloting program that clearly indicate technical skills, academic qualifications and years of experience.

• Provide a competitive and detailed cost breakdown (in ETB) to perform the assignment, including all the chargeable taxes.

How To Apply

Application Procedure and Requirements

Vendors must submit the following documents:

1. Company profile and relevant experience.

2. Technical proposal outlining the approach, methodology, and timeline.

3. Financial proposal with a detailed budget breakdown in ETB.

4. CVs of the proposed team members.

5. References from similar projects.

Submission deadline

Applicants must submit their application details via emails to icipe-ethiopia@icipe.org in PDF format by 8th May 2025. Lately submitted applications will not be considered for evaluation.

icipe is an equal opportunity employer. It fosters a multicultural work environment that values gender equity, teamwork, and respect for diversity.