Background

I.  Background to the project

Climate change is posing constraints to sustainable socio-economic development in Mozambique. The increasing frequency and severity of droughts and floods, the changes in rainfall patterns has an increasing impact on communities’ livelihoods, especially in the arid and semiarid region of the country.

In consistency with the implementation of the NAPA and in order to promote communities’ adaptation to climate change in the Gaza province (district of Guijá), MICOA (DNGA) and UNDP are implementing a Medium Size project “Coping with Drought and Climate Change”. The project is being implemented with financial support from the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) Special Climate Change Fund over the period 2008-2012.

The project main goal is to contribute to enhancing food security and the capacity to adapt to climate change in agricultural and pastoral systems in Mozambique. The four main expected outcomes of the project are:

  • Farmers/ Pastoralists in the pilot sites are able to cope with drought
  • Early warning systems provide them timely and relevant information to assist them in coping with drought
  • Drought preparedness and mitigation policies support farmers and pastoralists to cope with drought
  • Farmers and pastoralists deploy and replicate successful approaches to cope with drought

 
The budget for the project is $960,000, over 4 years, ie $240,000 average per annum. The project currently contains 9 outputs and 38 separate activities. Stakeholders at the project inception workshop, held on the 23 and 24 February 2009, agreed that the project needed to be better focused, and the number of activities prioritised and reduced. Stakeholders also discussed reducing the number of years duration of the project from four to three.

Duties and Responsibilities

Developing robust management tools for the project

  • Basing on existing project document and Inception Workshop discussions held, a multiannual workplan and detailed budget need to be revised  for the  duration of the project to fit within the available budget.
  • For M&E purposes, a logical framework deriving from the workplan, with relevant set of indicators, means of verification, risks and assumptions needs to be developed.

Undertaking a baseline study that will serve the following objectives:

  • Inform and justify the selection of the pilot site(s) and selected communities for the activities implementation (tentative communities: Nalazi, Manzene, Chivonguene);
  • Help to identify and prioritise project activities and outputs;
  • Provide a consistent information base to produce the benchmark (before activities’ implementation) from which to undertake monitoring and evaluation of the project at later stages.

The baseline study will compile qualitative and quantitative information that will:

  • ascertain priority adaptation needs in the pilot project sites;
  • ascertain how this project can add value to existing development activities with regards to adaptation to climate change, thereby helping to identify activities and outputs which will form the basis of the logframe, and
  • establish baseline values for the logframe indicators.  

For this reason it is recommended that assignments (1) and (2) to be undertaken in parallel by the same consultant.

Specific tasks

Under the overall supervision of UNDP CO and working in partnership with DNGA-MICOA focal point, the consultant will:

Interview Provincial and District Authorities, local support organizations, any relevant stakeholder working in areas relevant to the project implementation in the district to assess:

  • what is currently being done/invested in climate-sensitive sectors
  • what the adaptation options would be
  • what the project could feasibly focus on given the available budget;
  1. Consult with donors and other potential financing partners on co-financing possibilities;
  2. Undertake field visits to Guijá to consult and validate with key local stakeholders at Provincial, District and community level, the project’s workplan;
  3. Consultation with key national stakeholders national (MINAG-SETAN, INGC-DARIDAS,  INAM, IUCN and others) to validate workplan and budget and conform commitments to the project implementation;
  4. Complete a three years work plan for the project according to expected outcomes and activity results already identified by the project management unit;
  5. Revise the budget allocation accordingly, considering cuts into the timing and activities planned;
  6. Produce a logical framework for the project resulting from the workplan and baseline study;
  7. Undertake the baseline survey in selected communities of Guijà district (data gathering, processing, analysis and report writing) to produce the baseline values to assess project impact; 
  8. Present the  outputs to the project team

Competencies

Required:

  • Proven strong practical experience in development projects management (at least 5 years) 
  • Previous experience in commissioning and managing participatory baseline studies and project logframes

Considered as an asset:

  • Good contacts with national stakeholders in Moz (including government and NGOs)
  • Familiarity with MICOA, UNDP and GEF procedures (including  project formultation and management) 
  • Knowledge of Xanghana.

Required Skills and Experience

  • Postgraduate degree in the areas relevant to the project (natural resources management, environmental management, forestry, agronomy, disaster risk management).
  • Demonstrated experience in working on public policy development; 
  • Experience in organising and running consultations and meetings effectively; 
  • Experience in working with governments and donors; 
  • Good oral and written communication and research skills. 
  • Working knowledge of English and Portuguese
  • Experience in developing climate change adaptation projects;