Background

Since 2014, the occupation of vast Iraqi territory by the ISIL, caused mass displacement, disruption to life and economy, and the destruction of public infrastructure and private property. The simultaneous decline in global oil prices and the Iraqi oil sector resulted in an economic recession that affected all sectors of the Iraqi economy and government budgets – and therefore job opportunities.

The 2019 Humanitarian Response Plan anticipates that during 2019 as many as 6.7 million people will require some form of humanitarian assistance in Iraq, including 1.8 million internally displaced persons (IDPs), 11 million living in conflict affected communities, and 4.1 million returnees.

At the same time, displacement and return of population have highly complex impact upon the socioeconomic fabric of host communities. In hosting communities, decreased access to essential services may lead to social tensions among different social groups. The same challenge has occurred in returnee areas as well, since the volume and speed of population’s return is greater than the restoration of public infrastructure and services.

The lack of livelihood opportunities can also lead to social tensions, the adoption of negative coping mechanisms, or even a secondary displacement. Youth and women are especially vulnerable to exploitative labour in the face of these challenges. There is a need for increased access to income generation in displacement and return areas to facilitate and encourage returns, as well as to promote recovery after the end of military activities.

Cash for work (CfW) interventions in Iraq have been successful in addressing many of the above needs. Social tensions are reduced as communities have increased employment opportunities, restored public infrastructure or services, and increased interaction among diverse community members. At the same time, participants gain valuable experience and capacity development – especially when skilled supervision is provided. Women’s participation can empower their position in society and reduce their exposure to harmful work practices.

To achieve the aims of improving livelihoods, providing income generating opportunities and supporting the labour needed to contribute to reconstruction and recovery, UNDP will support the implementation of cash for work activities for urban agriculture in Ninawa Governorate, Iraq. The urban agriculture sector includes the production, processing, distribution and marketing of food in urban and peri-urban areas. Examples include home gardens, rooftop gardens, market gardens, neighbourhood food processing cooperatives, school farms and urban farms. Through a cash for work modality, the Urban Agriculture Specialist will support the development and implementation of these livelihood-based activities to create sustainable jobs and build resilience with returnees and host communities in urban and peri-urban areas in Ninawa Governorate, Iraq.

Duties and Responsibilities

Scope of Work

Under the direct supervision of the ICRRP Livelihoods Component Lead, the Consultant will provide leadership, coordination and technical support to the Implementation of Cash for Work Activities through Urban Agriculture project in Ninawa Iraq. This will include the capacity building of the UNDP implementing partner; liaison with, and capacity building of, local authorities; monitoring and capacity building of urban framers; assistance to institutionalise the process so that activities can be replicated through the establishment of additional urban agriculture projects in future.

More specifically, the Consultant is expected to provide technical expertise with regard to the following urban agriculture (UA) services during the assignment period:

• UA interventions in urban areas at household level: home gardens / backyard gardens/ rooftop gardens
• UA interventions in urban areas at community level: market gardens / neighbourhood food processing cooperatives / school farms / urban farms
• UA interventions in urban areas at community level: local markets
• UA interventions for in-camp at household level: kitchen gardens, to facilitate returns
• UA interventions for in-camp at community level: demonstration gardens, to facilitate returns
• UA interventions for in-camp at community level: local markets

III. Duties and Expected Outputs

Under the direct supervision of the ICRRP Livelihoods Component Lead, the Consultant will undertake the following tasks:

• Assess and map the current situation of urban agriculture in the Ninawa in terms of historical development, existing obstacles and challenges.
• Analyse the existing rules and regulations regarding urban agriculture.
• Provide support, technical knowledge and a road map for relevant stakeholders to set-up urban agriculture projects.
• Provide support, including training workshops, to implementing NGOs/local authorities to build urban agriculture capacity.
• Facilitate knowledge exchanges amongst key urban agriculture actors – UA Hubs.
• Facilitate development of urban agriculture city strategies for local authorities.

IV. Deliverables:

V. Institutional Arrangement  

The consultant will report to the ICRRP Livelihoods Component Lead and will collaborate with other ICRRP staff.

The consultant will submit monthly activity reports, describing the progress/achievements against the tasks described above as well as the final report at the end of the assignment. Payment is made against combined deliverables (as per the payment schedule provided below) upon approval of the Crisis Response Specialist or ICRRP Programme Manager.

He/she will be requested to work in the UNDP office in Erbil. UNDP will provide the office space.  The consultant is expected to bring their own computer and telephone and any other required technological solutions apart from this equipment.

VI. Duration of the Work

Period of Assignments/Services: 80 days over 7 months (roughly 11.5 days per month on average)

Estimated Start Date:                    1 May 2019

VII. Duty Station

When in Iraq, the consultant is expected to be based in Erbil duty station with frequent missions around Ninawa to the Project locations.

Competencies

Core Competencies:

• Communication
• Team Work
• Ability to plan and organise
• Accountable
• Creative
• Technologically aware

Functional Competencies:

• Ability to manage urban environmental processes including recovery and reuse of wastewater and organic solid waste, and international standards on wastewater irrigation.
• Proven ability to develop, supervise or manage urban farming systems including home gardens and market gardens.
• Proven ability in effectively leading and coordinating multi-stakeholder projects.
• Proven knowledge of urban agriculture policy development.
• Ability to design and supervise agroforestry and organic agriculture.
• Ability to support urban agriculture extension.
• Information technology including word processing, report writing, power-point.
• Strong interpersonal, communication and cross-cultural skills.
• Analytical thinking and ability to apply logic to solve problems.
• Creative thinking and design skills.
• Workshop facilitation skills.
• Teaching and training skills.
• Excellent capacity building.
• Ability to take initiative.
• Decision making skills.
• Conflict resolution skills

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• PhD in urban agriculture / urban planning / urban environmental management

Work Experience

• At least ten years of proven experience of working on Cash for Work programmes.
• Proven experience of working with UN agencies or NGOs in urban development.
• Proven experience in urban agriculture projects and in urban agriculture policy development.
• Experience of working in post-conflict livelihoods rehabilitation projects is required. Previous experience of working in Iraq would be an asset.

Language

• Fluency in English is required. Knowledge of Arabic would be desirable.

X.     Scope of Bid Price and Schedule of Payments

• Interested professionals are invited to submit their bid consisting of a technical and financial proposal for completion of this assignment.  The technical proposal shall include:

1. CV of the applicant;
2. A description of the understanding of the scope of work by the applicant and justification of why the applicant is the best candidate for the position;
3. A description of the approach and methodology for completion of the assignment;
4. An indicative work plan placing the planned activities of point (b) above along a time-line;
5. List of urban agriculture publications such as articles, journal papers and/or technical reports by the applicant;
6. Any other information that the applicant finds relevant.

The financial proposal shall indicate the total amount required for covering all aspects of the assignment broken down into the following categories:

• Professional fees presented as daily or monthly rates.
• Estimate of living cost in Iraq for the duration of the Project;
• Estimate of travel costs to and from Iraq, and locally between duty station and field (Ninawa);
• Any other anticipated costs related to the assignment, or travel to Iraq.

The full contracted amount will be disbursed as per the below payment plan unless otherwise agreed between UNDP and the consultant.

XI. Criteria for Selection of the Best Offer

The following criteria shall serve as basis for evaluating offers:

• Combined Scoring Method – where the technical qualifications and methodology will be weighted a maximum of 70% and combined with the price offer which will be weighted with a maximum of 30%.
• Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 70% points in the technical evaluation will be considered for financial evaluation.

Note:  In addition to the desk review of the CV and technical proposal, an interview will be held with the shortlisted candidates.

Technical Criteria Weight