The Shire River Basin covers over 3.1 million ha and directly or indirectly influences the livelihoods of over 5.5 million people in the southern region of Malawi. The basin is of critical economic importance: it is the source of over 98% of the country’s power generating capacity, supplies water to major urban centres such as Blantyre and Limbe, supports a locally significant artisanal fishery, and supplies irrigation water for valuable crops. Malawi’s economy is based primarily on agriculture, dominated by subsistence and rain-fed food production systems that are greatly challenged by land degradation and declining soil fertility. 

 

However, extensive land use including extensive tree felling coupled with bushfires in the Middle and Upper Shire have resulted in severe deforestation, land degradation and soil erosion. Up to 13% of the total forest cover was lost between 1990 and 2005, while 35% of the primary forest cover was lost in the period 2000 – 2005 (Project Document). Forests on customary land are neither controlled nor protected hence they are prone to over-exploitation. Studies have shown that tree species diversity and richness are lower in customary land than in forest reserves and leasehold land (Mwase et al., 2007), confirming the hypothesis that open access lands are not compatible with conservation of tree and shrubs. Grazing is also intensive on grasslands of floodplains, near lakes and streams and wetlands. All this has led to dramatic land degradation in the Shire basin resulting in reduced productivity of the land, flooding and siltation of river which, in turn, has increased the cost of electricity generation and water purification.

 

Data from the Southern Regional Water Board show that the cost of treating water increases between 8 to 10 times duringthe wet season compared with dry season. Free run-off during the rains has resulted in nutrient overload in the river and supported growth of weeds such as water hyacinth. Removing these weeds and soil from the water which would cause frequent breakages of equipment, significantly increasesthe cost of purification. 

 

Similarly, the total remedial cost associated with the degradation incurred by the electricity supply company at its three power stations on the Shire (Nkula, Tedzani and Kapichira stations) is estimated to be around US$ 959, 615 each year. Other studies reported that in addition ESCOM looses over 1.1 million dollars per year in “lost revenue” due to power outage caused by broken machinery, silt, weeds and trash related to land degradation. Studies further estimated that consumers lose about US$ 223,214 per year substituting electricity and/or replacing broken down equipment due to power surges.

 

Payment for Ecosystems Services (PES) offers economic incentives to foster more efficient and sustainable use of ecosystem services. Farmers in Shire River basin can earn financial incentives through the sale of green water credits (GWC). Green Water Credits is a mechanism to reward land users for specified soil and water management activities that increase “green” water, thus increasing the supply of fresh water. ESCOM, the Southern Water Board (SWB) and the Blantyre Water Body (BWB) have expressed their interest to pay the land managers in the Shire water catchment for the adoption of practices that increase infiltration (Green Water) to reduce run-off (Brown Water) and the consequent siltation of the river.

 

However, institutional arrangements for effective PES, e.g. a Green Water Credit Scheme are not only absent, but they are also unknown. This is manifested by the following barriers:

 

¨      Water management, as presently undertaken by water authorities, is essentially surface-water management instead of management of the whole resource.

¨      Water management by farmers and livestock owners is incidental; since they are paid for their crops and livestock, not for delivering water.

¨      Land users have limited awareness of the linkages between land management and watershed health and functionality and are largely unaware of the downstream effects of their activities neither have they ever been made to account of the bad impacts on the downstream.

¨      Land users often cannot afford to implement best practice in the short term, since the costs are greater than the returns.

¨      Land and water rights are not sufficiently attractive to motivate investment in green water management.

¨      The individual or community land holding boundaries do not coincide with the micro or macro catchment boundaries hence the current land management is not done on a watershed/catchment basis.

¨      Unclear boundaries of water catchments for the purposes of a PES

¨      Unclear timeline and scale of improved practices to make a significant reduction in siltation and costs.

¨      Unclear of how some of costs and benefits of such schemes would be passed on,

¨      The disparity of how a group of land owners/users/ would organize themselves to identify, implement and adhere to a agreed PES scheme

¨      Unclear of how and to whom payments would be channeled e.g. payments to individual farmers or payment through community projects such as roads, clinics, schools, etc..

 

In order to address the above issues, Government and UNDP/GEF developed the Private Public Sector Partnership Project on Sustainable Land Management (SLM Project) in the Shire River Basin with the goal being theprovision of the basis for economic development, food security and sustainable livelihoods while restoring the ecological integrity of the River shire Basin”.

 

Specifically, the objective is: “To reduce land degradation in the Shire River Basin through improved institutional, policy and Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) arrangements.” The objectives will be achieved through 4 key outcomes:

 

• Policy and institutional arrangement for basin-wide SLM, including preparatory work for the establishment of the River Shire Development Authority
• Private public partnerships providing financial incentives for SLM 
• Improving knowledge and skills at all levels to support SLM;
• Crop insurance providing the basis for increased access to credits as well as increased use of up to date weather information in decision making for improved livelihood systems.

 

The project is focussing on the middle and lower Shire river basin. Lessons learnt will be up-scaled to the entire Basin through the planned River Shire Development Authority.

 

This four-year programme is coordinated by the Environmental Affairs Department (EAD) of the Ministry Natural Resources, Energy & Environment. Implementation is taking place in Blantyre, Neno, Balaka and Mwanza districts involving local authorities and stakeholders, as well as the departments of forestry, energy, Climate Change & Meteorological Services, Land Resources Conservation, Extension, Water and Planning. Linkages with the private such as ESCOM, Blantyre Water Board, Southern Region Water Board, as well as NGOs will be established as well.

The present assignment has been initiated by EAD in order to assist in developing an appropriate Green Water Credit scheme which can be implemented in the Shire River Basin. This would reduce the costs of electricity generation and water purification to the country.

The assignment comprises of the following tasks:

 

• Analysis and synthesis of lessons learnt from previous PES, including from other regions, with a focus on identifying key factors of success for such schemes that should help in the design and effective implementation of an appropriate Green Water Credit Scheme. Also look into the possibility of cash payments and /or bonus payments to farmers/ land users for planting and managing the trees in the Shire River basin (case study of the national Environment Youth Corps in the USA, Lesotho and the Gambia).
  

• Take stock and review national policies, regulations and practices that have a bearing on PES or payment for watershed services (PWS). This should include issues such as:What rules exist for payment ecosystems deals? Land and Ecosystems services- ownership- who has legal right to sell? - Who owns the trees?  Do prospective ecosystem service sellers have legal rights to engaging in economic activities on the community land that is the focus of the potential PES deal? Are there other users of this land? OR does the user have exclusive user rights to cover the future.  Are there people who would be negatively impacted by a PES deal in terms of their current resource access or land use ? How do local tenure & user= rights say about sustainable management?   Are they any local institutional capacity exists that can support payment ecosystems services?  Will the act of managing the land to provide the marketed ecosystem services detract the ecosystem’s capacity to provide other services? If so, who depends on these other services, and how will their rights be affected? Is the regulatory framework including the Acts governing user rights of natural resources, conducive to establishing PES.  Analyze and provide clarity and legal certainty in land tenure issues, including the role of Traditional Authorities. Clarify on what links exists between legal right & resource management- land use incentives 
• Develop an appropriate Green Water Credit Scheme for Shire River Basin, based on the review and the synthesis report above, including, but not limited to the following elements- :

Define the supply of the ecosystems services:

• The feasible unit of boundary (time, space) for the micro-catchment, specific land use management practices that will yield the desired ecological outcomes
• Assess quality and current status of the ecosystems services and the rate or level(baseline) of degradation
• Clarify technical relationship between natural resources management and ecosystems services
• What are the capacities to enhance or maintain ecosystems services?
• What indicators will be used to monitor impact of land use change on ecosystems services so that buyers know that ecosystems services are effective.

Identify degradation agents and drivers: damaging land users, drivers:  Propose a marketable value for the Ecosystem Services service on sale:

• What price is the buyer willing to pay and the seller is willing to accept?

• Define the institutional framework surrounding the PES. (i) local institutional capacity;  (ii.) governance issues needed;  (iii.)  partners whom the project can work with;  (iv)   Sustainability of proposed PES through linkage to an institutional structure for managing the SRBA

 

• How to minimize transaction costs
• Establishing the equity and fairness criteria
• How will payment be made- on individual or as group basis.What baseline data is neededfor payments to be attempted? How regular should payments be
• Propose a clear M&E systems

• Experience with Payment for Ecosystem Services, with special attention to develop Green Water Credits or similar schemes.
• Sound judgment and strong client and results orientation;
• Strong analytical and report writing abilities required
• Results Orientation
• Good ICT skills
• Works with energy and a positive, constructive attitude

 

Education:

• Advanced university degree (Masters or higher level) in Natural Resources Management or other relevant studies;

Experience:

• Minimum of 10 years professional experience in Natural Resources Management
• Experience with Payment for Ecosystem Services, with special attention to developing Green Water Credits or similar schemes an advantage.
• Skills in facilitation and coordination, with strong communication and inter-personal skills