Background

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is the UN’s global development network, advocating for change and connecting countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better life. We are on the ground in nearly 170 countries and territories, working with governments and people on their own solutions to global and national development challenges. As they develop local capacity, they draw on the people of UNDP and our wide range of partners that can bring about results.

In Guinea-Bissau, failure to implement decentralization as foreseen by the Constitution, antiquated management systems, nepotism in the selection of senior civil servants, and dwindling resources, have rendered the public service ineffective. This leaves the State unable to provide high-quality services to citizens, especially at regional and sector levels, where the presence of the state is very week.

The UNDP program in Guinea Bissau aims to create the conditions for decentralization in the country building on lessons learned from other experiences, through the implementation of a Local Economic Development program. The main objective of this program is to capacitate local, regional and national state authorities, with a focus on Gabu, Quinara and Cacheu Regions, in participatory and inclusive local development planning processes, in technical, institutional and financial management to enhance quality service delivery, and support? local economic development promotion. The proposed approach on Local development in Guinea Bissau seeks to improve food and income security of targeted populations, especially youth and women affected by poverty and exclusion.

Guinea-Bissau is a small country with an immense potential for wealth creation and poverty eradication given its natural endowment. However, this potential is threatened by the fragile biodiversity of the country and the impacts of climate change that among other consequences, result in land degradation. , the negative effects of which must be reduced in the short and medium term.

Climate Change and variations result in arable land reduction (especially for rice production, the country main staple) as consequence of salinization of soils. Forest cover is also threatened by the excessive slaughter exploitation of species, including illegal logging, of high commercial value on the international market.

This environmental degradation is further exacerbated by other factors such as overgrazing, poorly adapted and controlled practices in the North and North-East, and uncontrolled fire (half of the territory being burnt during the dry season). These factors harmful to the environment lead to the non-regeneration and extension of plant resources.

Land degradation and its consequences is a long-term phenomenon challenge and represents an important threat to the development of countries and the attainment of Sustainable Development Goals, in particular the eradication of ?poverty reduction and hunger.

In recognition of this challenging issue, Guinea-Bissau committed to improve sustainable land and water management (SLWM) with a view to preventing and limiting the negative consequences on the decline of agricultural productivity, food insecurity and poverty.

In October 2016, Guinea-Bissau as signatory of the Convention of Fight Against Desertification and through the World Mechanism, has adopted the Neutrality of Land Degradation program (NLD) which aims to among others, identify measures, techniques, policies and targets to be achieved nationally.

• Guinea-Bissau is signatory of the Sustainable Development Goals, whose 15th Goals is on Sustainable management of forests, combat desertification, halt and reverse land degradation, halt biodiversity loss and the respective target 15.3 ?establishes that by 2030, combat desertification, restore degraded land and soil, including land affected by desertification, drought and floods, and strive to achieve a land degradation-neutral.

The above international commitments, further reinforce the attention that the land degradation issue deserves. ?Therefore, for a country like Guinea-Bissau that has the majority of its population living in rural areas, with their livelihoods dependent on agriculture and floristries, any local economic development program strategy should take stock of the fertile and arable land availability, and the trends in terms of degradation. This will allow the program to design realistic local development plan and economic value that takes into account these factors.

The assignment will be conducted at the local level, specifically in the region of Cacheu and will constitute a pilot of NLD for the purpose of its integration in the local planning process.

Duties and Responsibilities

The overall objective of this assignment is to support the local planning process of Cacheu region by providing the necessary information, data and statistics, including maps for the stage of the diagnostic as a key step in the formulation of the development sustainable plans in the Secção, Sector and Região levels.

The specific objectives are to:

• Conduct a comprehensive diagnostic assessment and definition of the baseline situation on land degradation in Cacheu region, using available official data from government and local NGOs institutions from the last 5 years and a prognostic of activities for increased mitigation and potentialities for the next 5 years;
• Establish a database on assessed land degradation status to support further development ofan improved agro-sylvo-pastoral integrated development scheme;
• Map the existing best practices among the key stakeholders in use to fight or sustain land degradation process;
• Propose a strategy andaction plan, locally managed by the concerned communities,for the implementation of a strategy for the improvement/recovery of degraded soils;
• Mapping of all the agrarian projects in the region of Cacheu bySectores and Secção;
• In consultation with relevant stakeholders (Gabinete de Planificação Agrária) and GB’s development partners (FAO, PNUD, UEMOA, BOAD, etc.), assessing the exitingagrarian production potential (animal and vegetal production) within the region;
• Mapping of all the agriculture, forestry and husbandryprojects in the region of Cacheu , under implementation or in pipeline developed by the different stakeholders and development partners, informing budget, duration, geographic area of intervention, expected key results with focus in the Sectores and Secção of the region;
• Develop a methodology for integrating, budgeting, monitoring and evaluating proposed innovations;
• The consultant will work together with the Regional Planning Cabinet, the Regional Planning Delegate,, community councils and technical teams and all agents involved in the participatory planning at the level of Secção and Sector in the region of Cacheu to implement? the tools and instruments that will allow the diagnostic, action plan, monitoring and evaluation of the regional development plan in Cacheu; this work will be extensive to the seccão and sectors of Cacheu;
• Inception Report outlining how the consultant will undertake the assignment and the respective work plan, and suggestion for ToRs adjustment if need be;
• The comprehensive diagnostic study on land degradation in Cacheu region available that includes knowledge and good agro-ecological practices of farmers on soil management, the types of current land degradation, the causes of these degradations, the consequences of the degradation observed, the adaptation strategies that are implemented, the resources available: fertilizers, manure, straw, poultry droppings, soil conservation techniques (to prevent degradation), management and restoration of degraded soils from the establishment of different techniques are identified;
• Maps of soils suitability and their dimensioning and potential production are provided;
• The methodology for integrating, costing, monitoring and evaluating proposed innovations is developed;
• The database to promote a new integrated agro-sylvo-pastoral development scheme is constituted;
• The plan to strengthen the capacities of the different actors in the fight against land degradation is proposed and available;
• Innovative or adapted techniques for the improvement of dry lands cropping techniques (agro-ecological techniques) and recovery/improvement of degraded soils, maintenance/improvement of soil fertility are proposed;
• Restitution/validation workshops for the results held at the seccao, sector and regional levels;

In order to deliver the above products, the consultant is expected to perform the following activities:

• Review the studies already carried out on the sector;
• Diagnose the existing soil degradation in Cacheu region, mainly without excluding operations that may have a significant impact;
• Identify needs for promotion, capacity building related to Sustainable Natural Resource Management;
• Identify the knowledge and agro-ecological practices of farmers on soil management, the types of current land degradation, the causes of these degradations, the consequences of the degradation observed, the adaptation strategies that are implemented, the available resources: fertilizers, manure, straw, poultry droppings, soil conservation techniques (to prevent degradation), management and restoration of degraded soils from the establishment of different techniques;
• Collecting all the agriculture data from relevant stakeholders such as FAO GB;
• Analysis of women's involvement in natural resource degradation and proposed solutions;
• Propose the strategic elements that will enable the implementation of the Land Degradation Neutrality Program in Cacheu region;
• Develop an action plan for the improvement/recovery of degraded soils and local soil fertility;
• Design innovative or adapted techniques for the improvement of dry lands cropping techniques (agro-ecological techniques);
• Develop a methodology for integrating, budgeting, monitoring and evaluating of proposed innovations;
• Hold participatory and inclusive workshops at the regional level with the main working groups and community councils for validation purposes;

• Working closely with the LED international consultant, Regional Focal Point and Regional Delegate of Planningin order to ensure a participatory approach of consultation and validation of results.

Expected Outputs:

• Inception report including revised work-plan – Deadline: 20 August, 2017
• Diagnostic of land degradation report – Deadline: 30 August, 2017
• Database of new integrated agro-sylvo-pastoral development scheme – Deadline: 15 August, 2017
• Action plan for the improvement/recovery of degraded soils and local soil fertility – Deadline: 15 September, 2017

Innovative or adapted techniques for the improvement of dry lands cropping techniques (agro-ecological techniques) – Deadline: 20 September, 2017

• Plan of recovery/improvement of degraded soils, maintenance/improvement of soil fertility – Deadline: 20 October, 2017
• Methodology to integrate, budget, monitor and supervise innovations – Deadline: 10 November, 2017
• Training of Working groups at Seccao, Sector and Regional levels – Deadline: 10 December, 2017

Reporting:

The consultant will work directly with the CTA for Local Development to whom will provide regular updates on the course of his assignment execution. The consultant will discuss any challenges or bottlenecks that he may find in the process with the CTA and find solutions to enable the achievement of defined objectives. He/she will also discuss with the CTA all technical aspects of the assignment, as well as proposed deliverables before formal submission.

The Consultant will report to the UNDP Deputy Resident Representative-Program, to whom he will provide briefings on weakly basis on the progress of the assignment.

Competencies

Organizational Competencies:

• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability.

Functional:

• Strong analytical, negotiation and communication skills, including ability to produce high quality practical advisory reports and knowledge products;
• Professional and/or academic experience in one or more of the areas of the Development or knowledge management field.

Project and Resource Management:

• Ability to produce high quality outputs in a timely manner while understanding and anticipating the evolving client needs;
• Ability to focus on impact and results for the client, promoting and demonstrating an ethic of client service;
• Strong organizational skills;
• Ability to work independently, produce high quality outputs;
• Sound judgment, strategic thinking and the ability to manage competing priorities.

Partnership building and team work:

• Demonstrated well developed people management skills;
• Strong ability to manage teams; creating an enabling environment, mentoring and developing staff;
• Excellent negotiating and networking skills;
• Demonstrated flexibility to excel in a multi-cultural environment;
• Provides constructive coaching and feedback.

Communications and Advocacy:

• Strong ability to write clearly and convincingly, adapting style and content to different audiences and speak clearly and convincingly;
• Strong presentation skills in meetings with the ability to adapt for different audiences;
• Strong analytical, research and writing skills with demonstrated ability to think strategically;
• Strong capacity to communicate clearly and quickly;
• Strong inter-personal, negotiation and liaison skills.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Advanced Degree – Master’s degree in Agriculture, Sociology, International Development or other related field.

Experience:

• Minimum of 10 years of national/international professional experience in the practice area with policy or program;
• Experience working in the field of Knowledge Management and/or organizational management highly desirable;
• Work experience from a developing country highly desirable;
• Experience in the use of computers and office software packages as well as web based management systems;
• Excellent writing, research, analysis and presentation skills;
• Any preference in knowledge or expertise in the following areas (please be specific): Local development; African continent. Programme implementation vs. policy level.

Language requirement:

• Excellent comunication skills in Portuguese and English.

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications:

Proposal:

• Explaining why they are the most suitable for the work;
• Provide a brief methodology on how they will approach and conduct the work;
• Financial proposal;
• Personal CV including past experience in similar projects and at least 3 references;
• Lump sum contracts.

The financial proposal shall specify a total lump sum amount, and payment terms around specific and measurable (qualitative and quantitative) deliverables (i.e. whether payments fall in installments or upon completion of the entire contract). Payments are based upon output, i.e. upon delivery of the services specified in the TOR.? In order to assist the requesting unit in the comparison of financial proposals, the financial proposal will include a breakdown of this lump sum amount (including travel, per diems, and number of anticipated working days).

Travel:

All envisaged travel costs must be included in the financial proposal. This includes all travel to join duty station/repatriation travel.? In general, UNDP should 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.

In the case of unforeseeable travel, payment of travel costs including tickets, lodging and terminal expenses should be agreed upon, between the respective business unit and Individual Consultant, prior to travel and will be reimbursed.

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the following methodologies:

Evaluation:

Cumulative analysis:

When using this weighted scoring method, the award of the contract should 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?70 point would be considered for the Financial Evaluation.

Evaluation criteria:

• Criteria A: Education background - 10pts;
• Criteria B: Experience as defined in the ToRs - 15pts;
• Criteria C: Competences as defined in the ToRs -10pts;
• Criteria D: Understating of the ToRs - 15pts;
• Criteria E: Methodology and overall approach - 30pts;
• Criteria F: Overall quality of the proposal (Comprehensiveness, structure, language and clarity) - 20pts.