Increasing Farmer Resilience to Climate Change-Upscaling Market Oriented Climate Smart Agriculture Project

Consultant

Overview

Conduct analysis and develop concept note for agriculture resilience project

You have:

• A Master’s degree in Agriculture Management/Economics, Demography/Statistics, Climate Change, Environmental Sciences, or related field.
• Work experience in relevant technical areas (sustainable development assessments) for at least 7 years.
• Experience working on research and monitoring of climate change adaptation and mitigation interventions in the agriculture sector.
• Experience in adaptive management working with communities engaged in livelihoods sustainability interventions.
• A demonstrated understanding of issues related to gender equality and climate change adaptation.
• Proven experience in developing concept notes, project proposals, and resource mobilisation in the sustainable agriculture field.
• Project evaluation/review experiences within United Nations system will be considered an asset.
• Work experience in Eswatini is compulsory. Experience in Southern Africa will be an added advantage.
• Proficiency in written and spoken English and siSwati.

Contract

This is a National Consultant contract. More about National Consultant contracts.

Background

The Ministry of Agriculture – National Agriculture Marketing Board (NAMBOARD) is seeking the technical services of a National Consultant to conduct an analysis of the outstanding work and additional support that can be provided to the two schemes: Intamakuphila at Ngwempisi in the Manzini Region and Mavulandlela at Ntfonjeni in Hhohho Region, which were beneficiaries under the Increasing Farmer Resilience to Climate Change-Upscaling Market Oriented Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) Project. This analysis will culminate into the development of a concept note which NAMBOARD will use to mobilise resource for implementation.

The COMESA-funded Project has been implemented since July 2018 and came to an end in June 2021. The project focused on upscaling support on the adoption of markets-driven climate smart agriculture to rural farmers. It also assisted government to identify policy and programmatic gaps as well as opportunities to inform CSA strategic development and sectoral planning to assist small-holder farmers with greater integration into sustainable commercial production and markets, considering existing climate risks. The project also developed lessons which will feed into the formulation of adaptation strategies and programmes within the agriculture sector as well as replication in different agro-climatic zones.

The specific objectives of the project were:

1. To convert 60 ha of furrow irrigated land to an efficient, water-saving drip irrigation technology for high value crop production in two (2) community-based schemes: Intamakuphila at Ngwempisi in the Manzini Region and Mavulandlela at Ntfonjeni in Hhohho Region.
2. To improve cold chain management systems and linking farmers to sustainable formal markets.
3. To provide mechanization options for at least 1,500 farmers practicing conservation agriculture.
4. To increase income from commercial agricultural activities for 1,500 households in four (4) community-based schemes.
5. To provide credit facility for rural farmers schemes.

The next phase of this initiative is identifying upscaling needs for the two schemes to be fully operational as well as scaling the initiative to other rural communities through mobilising financial support and alignment with other ongoing initiatives. In addition, there is a need to review the implementation modalities of the revolving fund to improve its size, sustainability and ability to recover loans.

The Objective of the Consultancy

The objective of this consultancy is to use the CSA Terminal Report and other relevant reports on the CSA Project to:

1. Identify implementation gaps in the Intamakuphila and Mavulandlela schemes to highlight activities that still need to be undertaken for the project results to be realized. Use the lessons learnt to recommend improvements which will ensure the sustainability and contribute to the overall goal of the project. Costs, potential partners and sources of financing should be included.
2. Identify opportunities in the Intamakuphila and Mavulandlela for sustainable scaling, including costs, potential partners and sources of financing
3. Identify opportunities for sustainable scaling to other communities as well as partnerships, including costs, potential partners and sources of financing
4. Prepare a pre-feasibility study and full project proposal, aligned to the Small Grants Programme, which will take into consideration i) to iii) above, as well as other considerations we required by the GEF Small Grants Programme, which can be used to mobilise financial and technical resources for implementation. The project proposal will also be used to inform future programming for the sector.

Duties and Responsibilities

The National Consultant will use all relevant project reports as well as engage all key stakeholders (NAMBOARD, Ministry of Agriculture, UNDP, Intamakuphila and Mavulandlela communities, EU, IFAD/FAO, Civil Society players doing similar work and others) under the project in conducting this exercise.

The specific tasks in the terminal assessment will include, but not limited to the following:

Gap Analysis of the Intamakuphila and Mavulandlela Schemes:

• Review original project objectives and terminal report to identify the implementation gaps and recommendations
• Engage NAMBOARD and the two schemes for additional insight and context
• Prepare recommended activities, including costs and potential partners and financiers

Recommendation on opportunities for scaling up in other communities:

• Identify and profile communities for replicating the lessons learnt

• Engage community members to establish baseline, identify community commitment/readiness, establish community governance structures and obtain community buy-in for proposed interventions

• Prepare recommended activities, including costs and potential partners and financiers with and in consultation with communities,

• Identify a registered and experienced lead Community Based Organization or Non-Governmental Organization to lead the project with the support of NAMBOARD
• Identify, engage and secure co-financing opportunities for the project from potential and aligned partners (Private sector, civil society, research institutions, development agencies, development banks, government).

Prefeasibility Study and Project Proposal Development

• Prepare a comprehensive prefeasibility study, project proposal and co-financing letters (of intent) which includes the scope or work to be covered in task 1 and 2
• Present the Prefeasibility study and Project Proposal to key stakeholders, in particular communities, for input and validation purposes

• Submit a soft copy of the prefeasibility study, GEF Small Grants Programme full project proposal using the SGP template, and any other data collected, including pictures, stakeholder lists to NAMBOARD with a copy to UNDP.

• Prepare a comprehensive prefeasibility study, project proposal and co-financing letters (of intent) which includes the scope or work to be covered in task 1 and 2

• Present the Prefeasibility study and Project Proposal to key stakeholders, in particular communities, for input and validation purposes
• Submit a soft copy of the prefeasibility study, GEF Small Grants Programme full project proposal using the SGP template, and any other data collected, including pictures, stakeholder lists to NAMBOARD with a copy to UNDP.

Deliverables:

The consultant will conduct the study and produce the following deliverables:

1. Inception Report- detailing the methodology, work plan with clear timelines, and roles and responsibilities for the various partners participating in the analysis as well as related costs.
2. First draft Prefeasibility study and Concept Note, based on the reviews, fieldwork and consultations.
3. Conduct validation workshop to present findings to communities and other key stakeholders.
4. Final Prefeasibility study report and full Project Proposal (which can be submitted to the intended donors)

Evaluation Management

With overall reporting to the UNDP Resident Representative, the Consultant will work on day-to-day basis with NAMBOARD and shall be supervised by the Chief Operating Officer at NAMBOARD and Environment Team Lead at UNDP.

The Project Implementing partner, Ministry of Agriculture-NAMBOARD, will be responsible for liaising with the National Consultant to set up stakeholder interviews, arrange field visits and coordinate with Government. UNDP will support organization of stakeholder workshop to review and validate the Prefeasibility study and Concept Note.

The consultant will include travel costs and per diems within the country in their financial proposals.

Competencies

Functional Competencies

• Report writing skills
• Demonstrated community consultation, data collating, management and analysis skills.
• Excellent communication skills.
• Team building approach.

Cross Functional Competencies

Strategic Thinking:

• Ability to develop effective strategies and prioritized plans in line with UNDP’s objectives, based on the systemic analysis of challenges, potential risks and opportunities; linking the vision to reality on the ground, and creating tangible solutions
• Ability to leverage learning from a variety of sources to anticipate and respond to future trends; to demonstrate foresight in order to model what future developments and possible ways forward look like for UNDP

Knowledge Generation:

• Ability to research hand turn information into useful knowledge, relevant for context, or responsive to a stated need
• Collective Intelligence Design:
  • Ability to bringing together diverse groups of people, data, information or ideas, and technology to design services or solutions

Human-centered Design:

• Ability to develop solutions to problems by involving the human perspective in all steps of the problem-solving process
• Partnerships Management:
  • Ability to build and maintain partnerships with wide networks of stakeholders, Governments, civil society and private sector partners, experts and others in line with UNDP strategy and policies

Communication

• Ability to communicate in a clear, concise and unambiguous manner both through written and verbal communication; to tailor messages and choose communication methods depending on the audience.

Working with Evidence and Data

• Ability to inspect, cleanse, transform and model data with the goal of discovering useful information, informing conclusions and supporting decision-making.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• A Master’s degree in Agriculture Management/Economics, Demography/Statistics, Climate Change, Environmental Sciences, Monitoring and Evaluation or other closely related field.

Experience:

• Work experience in relevant technical areas (sustainable development assessments) for at least 7 years.
• Experience working on research and monitoring of climate change adaptation and mitigation interventions in the agriculture sector.
• Experience in adaptive management working with communities/ schemes engaged in livelihoods sustainability interventions.
• A demonstrated understanding of issues related to gender equality and Climate Change Adaptation with experience in gender sensitive evaluation and analysis.
• Proven experience in developing concept notes, project proposals and resource mobilisation (in the sustainable agriculture field)
• Project evaluation/review experiences within United Nations system will be considered an asset.
• Work experience in Eswatini is compulsory. Experience in Southern Africa will be an added advantage.

Language Requirement:

• Proficiency in written and spoken English and siSwati.

Submission of Application:

Interested and qualified candidates should submit;

1. Duly accomplished Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability using the template provided by UNDP;Letter of Confirmation of Interest template
2. Personal CV or P11, (P11 form); indicating all past experience from similar projects, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the Candidate and at least three (3) professional references.

Technical proposal:

• Brief description of why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment.
• A methodology, on how they will approach and complete the assignment;
• Financial proposal that indicates the all-inclusive fixed total contract price, supported by a breakdown of costs, as per template provided Letter of Confirmation of Interest template

Please note you can upload only one document to this application (scan all documents in one single PDF file to attach).

Incomplete applications will be excluded from further consideration.

Criteria for Selection of the Best Offer

• Combined Scoring method – where the qualifications and experiences will be weighted a max. of 70%, and combined with the price offer which will be weighted a max of 30%

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Potential interview questions

Added 3 years ago - Updated 1 year ago - Source: jobs.undp.org