UNDP Jobs - 60651- Consultant - Developing a Modified /Collapsible Ca

Consultant - Developing a Modified /Collapsible Casamance Charcoal Kiln

Location :

Kampala, UGANDA

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

Application Deadline :

02-Nov-15 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

National Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

22 days

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

22 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, charcoal production and trade as well as declining crop farming constitute the main economic activities in the corridor.

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.

The charcoal value chain is characterized by poor and inefficient practices that result in substantial losses of the raw material (wood) as well as the product (charcoal). This in turn increases pressure on the declining woody biomass stocks in the cattle corridor which is also the main supply source of charcoal in Uganda. The Renewable Energy Policy of Uganda of 2007 emphasizes the need to ensure sustainability of charcoal production and proper functioning of the charcoal sub-sector by introducing a number of interventions including the development of charcoal standards and promotion of efficient kiln technologies. These interventions are recognized as key milestones in creating a formal and fairly modernized charcoal industry in the country away from a largely informal and disorganized one.

During the course of implementation of this project, 20 casamance kilns [30% increased efficiency of charcoal production] were provided to farmers that were willing to pilot the use of this technology to generate lessons and encourage adoption. With the same amount of wood, the yield of charcoal from traditional kilns is about 10 bags [each weighing about 70 kg], whereas the yield of charcoal from casamance kiln is 13 bags [30% increase- 210 kg additional charcoal. At midterm, the performance of the technology was reviewed with the users, which discovered that the transportation of the bulky casamance kiln to the charcoal making site is by itself a big problem, since it can be moved only on pick-up or ox-carts, which are limited in number in the area. The mission then designed a portable casamance kiln, that can be dismantled and re-assembled, which is made of tin and can be transported on a bicycle. The consultants recommended that modified casamance kilns made for dissemination to the CBOs for piloting. The modified casamance kiln [drawing prepared by the mission- see Figures 6 & 7], costs about US $ 250.

Duties and Responsibilities

Objective of assignment

The overall objective of the assignment is to develop a more portable and user friendly model of the casamance kiln.

The specific aim of this consultancy is to:

Fabricate a modified form of the long drum casamance model into a collapsible model;
test the modified test piece with charcoal producers to ensure efficiency is maintained;
Produce at least 20 pieces of the modified casamance for distribution to users.

The project stakeholders include farmers, in this case particularly charcoal producers who are the direct beneficiaries, government agencies namely: The MAAIF, 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 National Agricultural Research Organisation (NARO).

Scope of the services

The geographical scope of this consultancy is the 2 project area districts of Nakasongola and Kamuli, which also form the major target of the results of this activity.The technical coverage is mainly on translating the picture designs into actual fabricate useable products.

The consultant will be expected to perform the following specific tasks:

Study the proposed modified model diagrams;
Fabricate and test the model with a selected group of charcoal producers that have ever used the former model;
Provide a short report about the performance of the modified model and the opinions of the intended users, to ease approval of the model by MEMD;
Fabricate at least 20 pieces of the approved model for dissemination.

NOTES: Candidates should have the necessary patents and copyrights for whatever models they are proposing; as this will be checked and verified.

Competencies

Functional Competencies:

Skills in GIS and Remote sensing;
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.

Core Competencies:

Excellent communication skills, organized (dealing with many stakeholders);
Planning/organizational skills.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Ugandan National holding at least a Master’s Degree related to Renewable Energy technologies with a bias in biomass energy, engineering and associated fields from a recognized and reputable institution.

Experiences required:

A solid track record development and production of energy use facilities, with at least 5 years of experience;
Familiar with the charcoal value chain and socio-economic set up of charcoal producing communities in semi-arid / dry land farming systems;
Demonstrated experience of working with government agencies and communities will be an added advantage.

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:

Payment to the individual consultant will be made upon satisfactory completion of the stated milestones in 2 installments of 40% and 60% respectively in that order.

Evaluation Method and Criteria:

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

Responsive/compliant/acceptable, and;
Highest Combined Score (based on the 70% technical offer and 30% price weight distribution) where the minimum passing score of technical proposal is 70%.

Evaluation Criteria:

Technical Proposal (Maximum 70 points)

Relevance of education – 5 points;
Language skills – 5 points;
Interpretation of the assignment and methodology- 30 points;
Relevance of experience (professional/work experience)- 30 points;

Financial Proposal (Maximum 30 points): To be computed as a ratio of the Proposal’s offer to the lowest price among the proposals received by UNDP.

Application Procedure:

The consultant is required to submit or upload an electronic application through this website not later than 13th October, 2015.

The application should include the following documents/information:

Duly accomplished Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability using the template provided by UNDP (see Annex II);
Updated Personal CV highlighting past experience in similar assignments and with 3 professional references with contact details (email and telephone);
Technical Proposal: suggested outline for technical proposal; The offerors' interpretation of the assignment; Approach and methodology for undertaking the assignment;
Financial proposal (in template provided in Annex II) stating an all-inclusive fixed lump sum fee for this assignment in Ugandan Shillings, supported by a breakdown of costs. Such total lump sum price must include professional fee, and costs necessary to conduct the assignment such as communication costs, etc. The consultant will be paid against the completion of specific, measurable deliverables as identified in this TOR.

Annexes (to be downloaded from UNDP Uganda Website, procurement notices section: hhttp://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_notice.cfm?notice_id=25746.

Annexes:

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

For further clarifications, please send an email to justine.naiga-bagonza@undp.org and diana.nabbanja@undp.org.