UNDP Jobs - 48849- National Consultant to Establish a System for Moni

National Consultant to Establish a System for Monitoring of Land Degradation in Kamuli and Nakasongola Districts

Location :

Kampala, UGANDA

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

01-Sep-2014

Application Deadline :

22-Aug-14 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

National Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

49 working days

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

49 days

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence. UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

Background

The cattle corridor of Uganda has experienced dramatic land and vegetation degradation driven by a combination of inappropriate land use (agricultural encroachment into reserves) and the weakening of pastoralism as a production system. These are in turn driven by high population growth, high dependence on natural resources coupled with poor resource management, and poor economic development, poverty and more recently climate change. Pastoralism is the main economic activity in the corridor, but crop and charcoal production are also significantly sources of income from utilization of natural resources.

The Government of Uganda through the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF) with support from United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) is implementing the project "Enabling environment for sustainable land management (SLM) to overcome land degradation in some of Uganda’s Cattle Corridor Districts, namely Kamuli and Nakasongola.

The overall goal of the project is Sustainable Land Management providing the basis for economic development, food security and sustainable livelihoods while restoring the ecological integrity of the Cattle Corridor ecosystem. The objective of the project is to provide land users and managers with the enabling policy, institutional and capacity environment for effective adoption of SLM within the complexity of the cattle corridor production system. This objective will be achieved through strengthening the policy, regulatory and institutional frameworks to support sustainable land and charcoal management in the cattle corridor, use of Knowledge as a basis for land use planning and improvement of dryland farming and pastoralism, and, facilitation of Local economic development through diversification and access to finance and insurance.

Objective of assignment

Overall objective of the assignment is to set up sites for socio-economic and ecological monitoring of land degradation in Kamuli and Nakasongola districts. The study will establish a farmer friendly method of monitoring changes in soil fertility, identify clear indicators of land degradation in those areas and design a system for monitoring changes in plant species diversity, regeneration/depletion rates, growth or disappearance of canopy covers and for the farmers, the study will focus on developing methodology adapted to farmer’s use, to be used to monitor key indicators of soil fertility.

The specific aim of this consultancy is to:

Set up sites for ecological and socio-economic monitoring of land degradation and establish the baseline situations;
Design a system that will enable participatory monitoring (by farmers and extension staff) changes in soil fertility given the different current and future practices they will be introduced to;
Develop a methodology for monitoring and verifying trends in plant species and canopy growth/depletion in Kamuli and Nakasongola districts;
Build capacity of district and project staff to monitor soil fertility and soil erosion, plant species and canopy changes in the 2 districts;
Evaluate socio-economic impact of land degradation.

The project stakeholders include farmers, in this case particularly farmers adopting SLM, who are the direct beneficiaries, government agencies namely: The MWE, National Environment Management Authority (NEMA), the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development (MEMD), the Ministry of Lands and Urban Development (MLUD), Nakasongola and Kamuli district local governments and the Ministry of agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries who are responsible for accomplishing this particular task.

Duties and Responsibilities

Scope of work

The geographical scope of this consultancy is Kamuli and Nakasongola districts where specific study areas shall be selected. Activities shall be done in these two districts only, and may involve travelling up to 1000km, and engaging with SLM project coordinators and farmers. The technical coverage is mainly on designing a methodology for monitoring species diversity, soil fertility changes and ecosystem health regularly so that the trend can be studied and strategies laid to ensure farmers and district extension workers can use for decision making. It is expected that the assignment shall be completed in a period of one month starting 01 September 2014. The consultant will be expected to perform the following specific tasks:

Identify suitable sites and establish sampling plots;
Document the most appropriate method of monitoring soil fertility levels, soil erosion and species diversity on a regular basis and the indicators to be monitored;
Build district and project staff capacity to regularly monitor and manage data on the set indicators, and train farmers to monitor changes in soil fertility and soil erosion;
Design and operationalize a system for monitoring the socio-economic and ecological changes at the selected sites.

Deliverables/ Outputs:

An inception report explaining the approaches, schedules of the detailed activities and expected time of delivery of the assignment. Estimated duration 3 days;
A documentation of the current ecological and socio-economic set up in selected areas of the 2 districts determined. Estimated duration 10 days;
Documentation of the appropriate method of monitoring soil fertility levels, soil erosion and species diversity on a regular basis and the indicators to be monitored. Estimated duration 9 days;
District, project staff and farmers capacity built to regularly monitor soil fertility, erosion, plant species diversity and canopy cover built. Estimated duration 6 days;
A data management tool designed. Estimated duration 2 days;
A user friendly guideline for farmers to monitor soil fertility and soil erosion changes designed. Estimated duration 6 days;
Guidelines for monitoring soil fertility and soil erosion introduced to farmers and district extension staff for piloting. Estimated duration 5 days;
Draft guidelines and proposed system presented for stakeholder validation. Estimated duration 2 days;
Final versions of guidelines and methodologies for monitoring soil fertility, soil erosion , plant species diversity and socio-economic changes submitted. Estimated duration 6 days.

Note:

All the above deliverables will be reviewed and approved by Commissioners at NARO, MAAIF, MWE,UNDP and TA SLM.

Institutional Arrangement;

The consultant shall report to the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF) through the Commissioner Planning and will work closely with and supervised by the SLM steering committee. The Project management unit (PMU) in the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries shall monitor progress against planned activities/deliverables and report to UNDP. Disbursement of funds from UNDP to the consultant shall be made upon receipt of certification from MAAIF. The consultant shall liaise with District Natural Resources Officers, District Forestry, Environment, and lands officers, SLM coordinators, and district planners and will report to the UNDP Country Director on all contractual obligations.

Competencies

Demonstrates integrity and ethical standards;
Mature judgment and initiative;
Ability to present complex issues in a simple and clear manner;
Ability to work under pressure;
Initiative and independence.

Required Skills and Experience

Education;

Master’s Degree in any Natural Sciences with a bias in Ecology, Environmental Economics, and related fields from a recognized and reputable institution.

Experiences required;

A solid track record in natural resources based research, with at least seven years of experience;
The consultant must have undertaken similar or related assignment in East Africa or Uganda in the last 5 years
Familiar with socio-economic set up of crop and livestock producing communities in semi-arid / dry land farming systems.
Knowledge and experience in monitoring and evaluation and demonstrated experience of working with government agencies and communities will be an added advantage
Good organisational skillswith demonstrated evidence of capacity to produce and present good reports.

Language;

The language of the assignment shall be English. All deliverables shall be in English language. Therefore, excellent English communication skills (Oral, written, and presentation) are essential.

Price Proposal and Schedule of Payments;

Payments shall be made on certification of work following agreed deliverables as shown below:

On completion of deliverable no.1 - 20%;
On completion of deliverable no.2,3,4,5 - 40%;
On completion of deliverable no.6,7,8 - 30%;
On completion of deliverable no.9 - 10%.

Evaluation Method and Criteria:

Cumulative analysis

The award of the contract shall be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

Responsive/compliant/acceptable, and
Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.
Technical Criteria weight; - 70%;
Financial Criteria weight; - 30%.

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points (70% of the total technical points) would be considered for the Financial Evaluation

Technical Criteria – Maximum 70 points

Criteria

Education (Advanced degree) - 15;
Knowledge in natural resources based research, familiar with socio-economic set up of crop and livestock producing communities in semi-arid/dry land farming systems - 15;
Relevant experience in conducting similar assignments - 10;
Relevance of experience in report writing and drafting - 10;
Description of approach/methodology to assignment - 20;

Application procedure:
The consultant is required to submit an on line application with the documents/information in one single PDF document:

Duly accomplished Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability using the template provided by UNDP (Annex II);
Personal CV or P11, 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 (Annex II).

For further information, please email fredah.zawedde@undp.org and copy justine.naiga-bagonza@undp.org .
Annexes:

Annex I: Individual Contractor General Terms and Conditions;
Annex II: Template to Confirmation of Interest and Availability and Submit the Financial Proposal.

Annexes (to be downloaded from UNDP Uganda website, procurement notices section:http://www.ug.undp.org).