Background

Since 2014, The United Nations Development Program through its Biodiversity Finance Initiative (BIOFIN) Project, has been supporting the Philippine Government in articulating the financial resources it needs to maintain a healthy biodiversity portfolio in-country. In particular, BIOFIN in collaboration with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources - Biodiversity Management Bureau (DENR-BMB) has conducted the following assessments:  1) Policy and Institutional Review (PIR); 2) Public and Private Biodiversity Expenditure Review (PPBER); 3) Assessment of financial needs (cost and gap analysis of implementing Philippine Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (PBSAP).  These assessments significantly contributed to the development of a Biodiversity Finance Plan.

Based on insights gained from the results of the three BIOFIN assessments, this Plan acknowledges the importance of tapping additional financing to support the biodiversity agenda of the Philippines, mainly through its National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (N     BSAP), referred to henceforth in this Plan as the Philippine Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (PBSAP). This Plan is cognizant of the parallel challenges that could not be addressed by generating financing alone: thus, the Plan transcends the focus on generating additional resources and also identifies a range of “finance solutions” that leverage finance, fiscal and economic tools and strategies to improve the outcome of biodiversity objectives in the country. Financing solutions include a range of transformative actions: generating more financing to fund the PBSAP or associated planning documents; appropriate attribution of biodiversity expenditures in the budget; attaining cost-effective budget execution by eradicating overlaps in biodiversity functions; eradicating expenditures that continue to or aggravate dissipation of biodiversity resources; and paving the groundwork for a responsive policy environment through greater awareness on biodiversity and biodiversity financing and enhancing institutional support towards monitoring of PBSAP.

An updated Biodiversity Expenditure Review (BER) report, covering 2014 – 2018 budget data of more than 60 agencies, provided opportunities to strengthen the biodiversity focus of government programs as provided for by Sec. 41       of the 2021 General Appropriations Act.  The report pointed to significant resources within the Department of Agriculture where budgets for its agrobiodiversity programs increased 9-fold and proposed for a National Agrobiodiversity Program to streamline its agrobiodiversity efforts. 

According to the PBSAP, agrobiodiversity has been developed through the application of the knowledge and skills of farmers, herders and fisherfolk in a wide range of agroecosystems. The communities’ traditional practices related to agrobiodiversity serve as the key to global food security because of their wild relatives. The genetic diversity found in domestic animal breeds allows farmers to select stocks in response to changes in the environment, threats of disease, market conditions, and societal needs, all of which are largely unpredictable. The promotion of agrobiodiversity entails the identification, documentation, and harnessing of indigenous plants and animals to diversify food sources towards food security and sustainable agriculture. The conservation of agrobiodiversity is essential especially during the onset of the COVID-19 outbreak where lives and livelihoods especially for the vulnerable groups primarily the small-scale farmers, informal workers, and laborers are at risk[1]. It is also high time to recognize the role of agrobiodiversity in strengthening the current efforts of mainstreaming biodiversity in the sectors of health, heritage, and culture to ensure the safety of  Filipino farmers and consumers as well as preserving the Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Practices (IKSP) in terms of agriculture and fisheries.

Public subsidies, direct or indirect, may produce unintended consequences to the environment and biodiversity.  Subsidies can take many forms from construction and development tax breaks to the provision of free chemical/damaging fertilizers in agriculture. At the global level, BIOFIN has been working on addressing harmful subsidies in agriculture. This will also be an area of interest in the Philippines.

The study will have the following objectives:

1. Develop a national framework on Agrobiodiversity strategy to align the budget of the Department of Agriculture (DA) to biodiversity conservation building on current initiatives of      DA, DENR, and other relevant agencies such as Biodiversity-Friendly Agricultural Practices (BDFAP), Biodiversity-Friendly Enterprises (BDFE), Nationally-     Important Agricultural Heritage System      (NIAHS), and other similar endeavors; and
2. Identify agricultural subsidies potentially harmful to biodiversity and recommend re-design strategies of these harmful subsidies for agrobiodiversity conservation.

[1] https://www.fao.org/2019-ncov/q-and-a/impact-on-food-and-agriculture/en/

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the supervision of the Project Manager, the Agrobiodiversity Specialist will carry out the following tasks:

• Using the updated BER report as a reference, conduct a stocktaking of current agrobiodiversity programs (including indigenous knowledge and practices, as applicable) implemented by the public sector;
• Based on the stocktaking report, identify the following:
  • strategic points of convergence (within and in between sectors),
  • assessment of implementation gaps of agrobiodiversity programs (i.e. PBSAP agenda vs DA programs),
  • financing sources and opportunities, and
  • policy gaps at both the executive (current policies and programs i.e. Strategic Agriculture and Fisheries Development Zones, Network of Protected Areas for Agro-industrial Development, Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Plan, National Organic Agriculture Program, Community-based Action Research Program, National Technology Commercialization Program, Heirloom Rice Project, etc.) and legislative (i.e. proposed bills such as HB 268:  An Act Providing for the Collection, Characterization, Conservation, Protection, Sustainable Use of and Access To and Benefit Sharing of Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture) levels. 

• Provide recommendations (institutional, programmatic, policy) on how to address the gaps pertaining to the conservation of agrobiodiversity,
• Identify, assess and quantify the value and the cost of each type of agricultural subsidies and incentives likely to have a harmful impact on biodiversity for each key sector;
• Understand the potential of redesigned options and prioritize efforts that take into consideration a full range of social, environmental, economic, and political economy concerns and trade-offs throughout the re-design and transition process, including within the COVID-19 context;
• Develop an action plan for redesigning the prioritized subsidies;
• Lead discussions among DENR Central Office, specifically the Policy and Planning Services, DENR-BMB, and DA on uptake of results of this study;
• Present report findings to Department of Agriculture, DENR-BMB, UNDP, and other appropriate parties;
• Attend project meetings, as applicable; and Submit reports to BMB and UNDP.

A.   Expected Outputs and Deliverables

Institutional Arrangement

The BIOFIN Project Manager shall directly supervise the consultant and approve his/her output.

The consultant is expected to liaise/interact/collaborate/meet with the national and global (as necessary) BIOFIN project team, DENR and its units, and UNDP.  As needed, the project staff shall provide administrative assistance to her/him in order for her/him to accomplish all requirements.

The project staff including other project consultants, as well as, relevant technical staff shall provide comments on the outputs of the consultant within 2 weeks of the consultant’s submission of his/her outputs. Should there be further comments, the revised output shall be submitted within a week.  Should there be no comments, the Project Manager shall endorse the consultant’s output/s for approval.

Based on the table above, outputs will be submitted to UNDP and BMB through the Project Manager on the dates indicated. 

UNDP Philippines will not provide a workstation, transportation, or ICT equipment for the consultant.

UNDP Philippines shall be entitled to intellectual property and other proprietary rights over all materials that have a direct relation to the project.

Considering the COVID-19 pandemic and declaration of State of Public Health Emergency in the Philippines, all work of the Individual consultant shall be done within the guidelines and protocols set by the local and national government. During the entire duration of the Community Quarantine, this consultancy shall be performed remotely and will be a home-based assignment. The Consultant is expected to have his/her own equipment, office space, and internet connectivity. The Consultant shall not engage in any meetings or activities outside their homes. Coordination/meetings shall be done through phone or online communication until such time that the quarantine is lifted.

The project and the Consultant shall assess once the Community Quarantine is lifted if it is safe and necessary to have in-person meetings and collaboration.

Duration of the Work, Duty Station, and Travel

The Contractor will be engaged from December 1, 2021, to June 30, 2022, unless revised in a mutually agreed-upon timetable by UNDP and the Contractor. Changes in the duration of the contract will be implemented through the issuance of a contract amendment. The consultant is expected to render a total of 75 person-days spread for 7 months.

Duty station: This is a work-from-home arrangement. The Consultant is not required to report daily at the duty station but shall have an agreed reporting schedule with the project management unit and other relevant UNDP and BMB personnel.

Travel: As may be deemed relevant to the assignment, the Consultant may be required to travel within the Philippines, and UNDP will shoulder the travel expenses with prior agreement with the Consultant.

Competencies

Required Skills and Experience

Criteria for Selection of the Best Offer and Qualifications of Successful Candidate

The Offers received will be evaluated using a combined scoring method - where the technical proposal will be weighted 70 points and combined with the price offer which will be weighted 30 points.  

The CV will be reviewed using the criteria in the table below. Only offerors who will obtain a minimum of 70% or 49 out of 70 obtainable points will be shortlisted and considered for evaluation of the financial proposal. 

Scope of Price Proposal and Schedule of Payments

1. The Contractor should send the financial proposal based on a lump-sum amount for the delivery of the outputs identified below. The total amount quoted shall be “all-inclusive” (professional daily fees X number of days, communications, etc.) that could possibly be incurred by the Contractor should be factored into the final amount submitted in the proposal. Travel, as deemed relevant by UNDP and compliant with government guidelines on community quarantine, will be arranged and paid for by UNDP and should not be included in the financial proposal.
2. Medical/health insurance must be purchased by the individual at his/her own expense, and upon award of contract, the Contractor must be ready to submit proof of insurance valid during the contract duration
3. The contract price will be a fixed output-based price. Any deviations from the output and timeline will be agreed upon between the Contractor and UNDP.
4. Payments will be done upon satisfactory completion of the delivery by target due dates. Outputs will be certified by the Project Manager prior to the release of payments.

The Payment terms are as follows:

Recommended Presentation of Offer

The following documents are requested:

1. Duly accomplished Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability using the template provided by UNDP;
2. 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; and
3. Financial Proposal that indicates the all-inclusive fixed total contract price, supported by a breakdown of costs, as per template provided.  If an Offeror is employed by an organization/company/institution, and he/she expects his/her employer to charge a management fee in the process of releasing him/her to UNDP under Reimbursable Loan Agreement (RLA), the Offeror must indicate at this point and ensure that all such costs are duly incorporated in the financial proposal submitted to UNDP. 

Interested applicants to note that personal Medical/health insurance (to be purchased by the individual at his/her own expense) is mandatory for the issuance of contracts. Upon award of the contract, the consultant must be ready to submit proof of insurance valid during the contract duration.

Offerors must upload in one (1) file the documents mentioned above.

Templates for a) P11 Personal History Form and b)  Offeror's Letter to UNDP Confirming Interest and Availability and Financial Proposal (Annex 2) are available through the link below. UNDP General Terms and Conditions for Individual Contractors  are also available:

http://gofile.me/6xdJm/bE9TCw8fU

Incomplete submission of required documents may result in disqualification.

Please see the deadline of submissions above.

Because of the volume of applications UNDP receives, only shortlisted offerors will be notified.