UNDP Jobs - 49368- Senior Consultant – Sustainable Agriculture, Natio

Senior Consultant – Sustainable Agriculture, National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM), For Indian Nationals Only

Location :

Hyderabad (with visits to different states and Delhi), INDIA

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

10-Sep-14 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

National Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

One Year with Fifften working days per month.

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

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

UNDP Country Programme (2013-17) is aligned with the Government of India’s Twelfth Plan priorities and seeks to improve the effectiveness of national programmes and policies for disadvantaged regions and groups especially women, Scheduled Castes, Schedule Tribes, minorities, displaced persons and persons with disabilities. UNDP’s partnership with the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) under “Governance and Accelerated Livelihoods Support” aims to strengthen the effectiveness of key Ministry programmes by providing:

(a) technical assistance to the state government and NGOs in Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Odisha to improve sustainable livelihoods with linkages to Panchayati Raj Institutions for governance in focus districts;

(b) policy advice and technical assistance to the Ministry and the state governments to help improve the efficiency, accountability and inclusiveness of National Rural Livelihoods Mission and the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Scheme and;

The Government of India, Ministry of Rural Development had launched the “National Rural Livelihood Mission” (NRLM) in June 2011 after restructuring its existing centrally sponsored flagship Scheme “Swarnjayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana” (SGSY). The NRLM functions in a mission mode for target based time bound delivery of outcomes. The Mission is designed to facilitate shift of the states from the allocation based strategy to a demand-driven strategy, enabling the states in the process to formulate their own poverty reduction plans.

The central objective of the Mission is to eliminate rural poverty through innovative implementation strategies involving mobilization and organization of the rural poor into sustainable community based organizations (CBOs) and their financial and economic inclusion. The three key components of the Mission are:

social inclusion through institution and human capacity building;
financial literacy and inclusion; and
economic inclusion through livelihood promotion and diversification. The NRLM is implemented on a cost sharing basis between the Centre and the States in the ratio of 75:25. In respect of the North-Eastern States, the cost is shared between the Centre and the States in the ratio of 90:10. The inter-state distribution of NRLM funds, however, is based on the relative rural poverty ratios of the states as determined by the Planning Commission.

UNDP, under the GOALS Project, provides technical support to NRLM for efficient and inclusive implementation through:

(a) positioning professional managers and domain experts to improve implementation at the state level;
(b) strengthening the social mobilisation in favour of women from persistently excluded groups; and
(c) developing and testing of context-specific, market-led, livelihood strategies that will enable institutions of the poor women to secure their role in markets and supply chains and ensure higher and sustained returns.

NRLM, as a core strategy to strengthen the existing livelihoods of the poor, focuses on promotion of sustainable agriculture practices by reducing the risk as well as cost of agriculture. The key interventions promoted are community managed sustainable agriculture, millets and cereal crops, in-situ water conservation, tree based farming practices, regeneration of forest species, system of root intensification, usage of locally available inputs, integrated farming practice with small ruminants, etc.

Under NRLM, these models will be identified and scaled up through a community centric approach. NRLM has launched Mahila Kisan Sashaktikaran Pariyojana (MKSP) in 14 states as a roll out plan for promoting sustainable agriculture. There are quite a few successful models on sustainable agriculture in various agro-climatic zones in the country being implemented by various NGOs and government programs. There is a strong need to identify these best practices and document them in a manner which will be useful for the practitioners. These best practices are also to be converted into various mediums for dissemination and training.

In this context, NRLM is in the process of developing a livelihoods strategy for the ultra-poor households around sustainable agriculture. The goal is to cover around 3 crore Poorest of the Poor households in the country, who are organized into the SHG networks, in the next 10-12 years in a phased manner. The objective is to provide year-long incomes from agriculture livelihoods and also enable household food & nutrition security for them. NRLM is targeting additional annual income of around Rs. 50,000 for households through sustainable agriculture livelihoods.

In this context, NRLM needs the services of a Technical Expert to support the National Mission Management Unit (NMMU), National Resource Organization (NRO) and State Rural Livelihoods Missions (SRLMs) in facilitating the roll-out of sustainable agriculture in NRLM in general and in specific states in particular.

As part of its support to NRLM, UNDP is looking for an experienced and dynamic individual to supplement the role of the NMMU and NRO in the above capacity.

Duties and Responsibilities

Deliverable/key results expected:

The Consultant is required to undertake the following activities under the direct supervision of the Mission Director, NRLM and Programme Analyst, UNDP:

Review agriculture interventions under Sustainable Agriculture and suggest essential interventions for holistic and agro-ecology approaches;
Support capacity building programmes on sustainable agriculture based on agro-ecological concepts to staff of SRLMs, communities (members, leaders, cadres and institutions) and other stakeholders at various levels in multiple ways;
Interact with NRLM team and assist in developing policy interventions as relevant to Community Managed Sustainable Agriculture in different states;
Review ‘Farmers Field Schools’ and suggest ways of to making them more vibrant;
Undertake assessments, identify and document implementation challenges, best practices and innovations under sustainable agriculture;
Develop guidelines & protocols for SRLMs and facilitate SRLMs, in general, and select SRLMs in particular (such as Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana) in scaling-up community managed sustainable agriculture in the state;
Perform any other related task consistent with the level of the post and/ or as assigned by the Mission Director, NRLM.

Expected Deliverables:

The expected deliverables are in conjunction with the responsibilities as described above and as decided from time-to-time by the Mission Director, NRLM.

Deliverables and Timelines

A comprehensive workplan will be drawn up in consultation with the Mission Director, NRLM and UNDP;
Report on the work undertaken and accomplished will be submitted at the end of each month;
Back-to-office reports will be submitted at the end of each travel and meetings, giving details of objectives, outcomes and follow-up actions of the travel/meeting.

Competencies

Functional Competencies:

Extensive knowledge of sustainable agriculture;
Strong facilitation, training and presentation skills especially with communities;
Good research, analytical and report writing skills;
Ability to explain the objectives of the assignment in a focused and strategic manner to a varied audience;
Ability to plan and organize work programme;
Proactive Consultative and collaborative capacities;
Team mentoring including prioritisation for self and others, time and resource management and conflict resolution skills;
Problem resolution based on comprehensive information gathering, analysis and identification of key issues;
Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
openness to change and ability to manage complex situations;
Possesses basic knowledge of organizational policies and procedures and applies them consistently in work tasks;
Responds positively to critical feedback and differing points of view. Also solicits feedback from staff about the impact of his/her own behaviour.

Corporate Competencies:

Demonstrates commitment to UNDP’s mission, vision and values;
Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
Highest standards of integrity, discretion and loyalty.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Ph. D in Agriculture and/or related fields.

Experience:

20+ years of overall development experience;
Out of above 20 years 15 years of relevant experience at the state/national/international level in supporting scaling-up of community-led extension processes, advocacy of sustainable agriculture, co-ordination and facilitation of senior, complex teams, providing management advisory services and publication of Papers in national and international journals.

Language:

Good knowledge of English and Hindi; Knowledge of state language would be an asset;
Excellent oral and written communication skills.

Financial Proposal:

Consultant shall specify his/her per day consultancy rate;
Travel related to the assignment will require UNDP approval including tickets, lodging and terminal expenses, prior to travel and will be reimbursed as per actuals in line with UNDP rules and procedures. In general, UNDP does not accept travel costs exceeding those of an economy class ticket. Should the IC wish to travel on a higher class he/she should do so using their own resources.

CV:

Consultant should submit his/her updated CV with three references.

Payment Schedule:

Consultancy fee would be paid monthly for the actuals days worked.

Evaluation Criteria:

Cumulative analysis

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

Responsive;
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.

Educational Qualification- 10;
Proven experience in supporting sustainable agriculture in various states in the country-30;
Experience in working with SRLMs/States in scaling-up Sustainable Agriculture-10;
Hands-on farming experience in sustainable agriculture-10;
Experience of training various stakeholders-10.

Travel:

Willingness to travel.

Notes:

Any kind of miscellaneous charges i.e. internet, phone etc. would not be reimbursed;
Individuals working with institutions may also apply, contract would be issued in the name of institution for the specific services of individual;
Please note proposals without financial proposal will not be considered;
CV and Financial proposal can be clubbed in one file for uploading;
The consultants must bring his/her own computing equipment.

For any clarification kindly write to sandeep.sharma@undp.org