Background

Over exploitation of marine fisheries is a major global issue and key driver of changes in the marine environment. Excessive fishing is caused by a variety of inter-acting factors, including the growing global demand for seafood. This project contributes to address key aspects of the market forces that drive overfishing. The project will add to the transformation of the seafood market by mainstreaming sustainability in the value chain of important commodities platforms, and fisheries improvement projects (FIP), developing national capacities, and generating learning to be shared worldwide. The project will allocate GEF resources strategically under the following four (4) project components, namely:

Component 1: Promotion of global demand for sustainable marine commodities

Component 2: Enabling environment for sustainable marine commodities supply chains

Component 3: Demonstration of Fisheries Improvement Projects (FIPs)

Component 4: Sustainable marine commodities information and knowledge management systems

The project is an inter-regional intervention. Market engagement and knowledge management are global components. The sustainable marine commodities platforms and FIPs will be implemented, using a participatory approach in Costa Rica, Ecuador, Indonesia and Philippines.

This activity is covered under Component 2: Enabling environment for sustainable marine commodity supply chains. It is aligned with the Project Document (ProDoc) which directs under this component the conduct of an in-depth sector analysis for the country; and the preparation of a five-year strategic plan/ National Action Plan (NAP), herewith identified in this document as the National Management Plan (NMP), for the platform towards the sustainable fisheries management of the Blue Swimming Crab (BSC) commodity.

In 2015, the Philippines passed Republic Act (RA)10654 “An act to prevent, deter and eliminate illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, amending Republic Act 8550”, otherwise known as “The Philippine Fisheries Code of 1998”, which took effect last October 2015. The Fisheries Code adheres to the following objectives: (i) conservation, protection and sustained management of the country’s fishery and aquatic resources; (ii) poverty alleviation and the provision of supplementary livelihood among municipal fisherfolk; (iii) improvement of productivity of aquaculture within ecological limits; (iv) optimal utilization of offshore and deep-sea resources; and (v) upgrading of post-harvest technology. The Fisheries Code is a codification of existing fishery laws.

The Philippines has already approved and implemented a BSC National Action Plan or the BSC Management Plan (BSCMP), which among its other objectives, pursues achieving and addressing “sustainability in exploiting our natural resources, the effect of the environment on the resource, and the effect of resource exploitation on the environment”. Said plan has been put in effect with the promulgation of Joint Department of Agriculture (DA) – Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Administrative Order No. 01, series of 2014, entitled “Regulation for the Conservation of Blue Swimming Crab (Portunus pelagicus)”. The BSCMP has charted out its intended activities and budgetary requirements for the period of 2012 to 2015.

Likewise, there has also been a parallel effort from the business sector, represented by the Philippine Association of Crab Processors, Inc. (PACPI), and with support from the National Fisheries Institute (NFI) – Crab Council, on the crafting and implementation of a five (5) year (2016-2021) Blue Swimming Crab Fisheries Improvement Project (FIP) Action Plan for Visayan Sea and nearby waters. The action plan was developed building upon the pre-assessment conducted by MRAG (an independent fisheries and aquatic resource consulting company dedicated to the sustainable use of natural resources) in 2015, wherein the strengths and weaknesses of the fishery were assessed against the performance indicators of Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) Fisheries Standard. Various BSC commodity stakeholders, government, non-government organizations, academe and industry players have been involved in the crafting and implementation of the PACPI BSC FIP. PACPI has also been extending the geographical scope of its FIP, in response to the expanded sourcing of raw materials from other fishing grounds of its member companies.

Cognizant of the need to streamline the country’s BSC commodity sustainability efforts, reduce redundancy, and maximize limited government and industry resources, in line with the objectives of the Fisheries Code, the BSCMP, and supported by the goal of the GMC to mainstream sustainable fisheries management for the BSC commodity in the Philippines, the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) in the Philippines, as implementing partner of the project “Global Sustainable Supply Chains for Marine Commodities (GMC-PHI), with support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) as implementing agency of the Global Environment Facility (GEF), requires the services of a National Consultant for the support and packaging of a Root Cause Analysis (RCA) report, and National Management Plan (NMP) for the Philippines’ Blue Swimming Crab marine commodity.

Institutional Arrangement

For the duration of the contract, the National Consultant will be subject to the overall guidance of the Technical Working Group (TWG) BSC Commodity Platform, and the supervision of the GMC-PHI Project Implementation Unit (GMC-PIU).

Duration of Work

The expected duration of work is eight (8) months from 15 May 2019 to 15 Jan 2020.

Duty Station

There will be no official duty station for the National Consultant. However, the consultant shall report to the BFAR – Capture Fisheries Division (BFAR-CFD), as requested by the GMC-PHI and BFAR, and participate in on-site activities hosted by the GMC-PHI as necessary towards the completion of the deliverables.

Travel outside Manila will be shouldered by the Project.

Duties and Responsibilities

The Project will hire a National Consultant with the following four (4) objectives:

• To conduct an in-depth sector analysis for the BSC commodity sector in the country, expected to investigate and identify the weaknesses and gaps of the sector towards sustainable fisheries management for the BSC commodity as well as propose/ clarify contributing causes and causality relationships, to be documented in the Root Cause Analysis (RCA) report;
• Through an inclusive, stakeholder-oriented process, conduct a performance evaluation of the earlier BSCMP implementation—documenting results, that will be part of the new harmonized BSCMP;
• Through an inclusive, stakeholder-oriented process, conduct an in-depth review of the current PACPI FIP Action Plan for the BSC commodity, and identify points of synergy with the on-going development of the updated BSCMP—documenting results, that will be part of the new harmonized BSCMP; and
• Through an inclusive, stakeholder-oriented process, in line with the findings in the RCA report, and building upon the performance evaluation of the earlier implementation of the BSCMP, and based on the review of the current PACPI FIP Action Plan for BSC—to develop a new harmonized BSCMP that pursues the overall sustainability of the commodity, aligned with certain international certification/s or standard/s, as decided on by the Technical Working Group (TWG) platform, expected to incentivize increased international buyer demand for BSC commodity that is sustainably sourced from the Philippines.

Expected Outputs and Deliverables:

There will be two (2) main outputs of the consultancy:

1. Root Cause Analysis (RCA) Report; and
2. Unified National Management Plan for the BSC commodity (BSC-UNMP)

Competencies

CORPORATE COMPETENCIES

• Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards;

• Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP;

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

• Treats all people fairly without favouritism.

FUNCTIONAL COMPETENCIES

• Ability to work in a diverse and multi-cultural environment;
• Self-motivated and ability to work under pressure and to meet strict and competing deadlines;
• Displays analytical judgment and demonstrated ability to handle confidential and politically sensitive issues in a responsible and mature manner;
• Demonstrates openness to change and ability to manage complexities;
• Demonstrates self-management, including conflict management/negotiating skills on interpersonal issues;
• Excellent oral and written communication skills in English and Filipino;
• Excellent organizational skills and ability to work effectively in teams, delivering through and with others;
• Computer literate; good knowledge of Microsoft Office Applications

Required Skills and Experience

Offers will be evaluated based on combined scoring method – where the Technical Proposal will be evaluated based on qualifications in the CV and brief description of previous work. The Technical evaluation is weighted a max. of 70%.

The Financial Proposal that will be evaluated through submission of the Offeror's Letter to UNDP Confirming Insterest and Availability for the IC including Financial Proposal Template and combined with the price offer will be weighted a max of 30%;

For the evaluation of the Technical Proposal, the selection of the successful consultant must be based in the following qualifications (with the appropriate obtainable points):

Education - Maximum obtainable points is 20 points

• Bachelors degree in fisheries science, environmental science, or natural resource sustainability – 10 points (Additional points for Masters / PhD)

Experience 1: Maximum obtainable points is 30 points

• At least ten (10) years of relevant experience in fisheries management and related projects, such as development and implementation of plans/ programs – 20 points   (Additional points for additional years of experience)

Experience 2: Maximum obtainable points is 30 points

• At least ten (10) years experience with government institution/s preferably working on fisheries-related work – 20 points    (Additional points for additional years of experience);

?Experience 3: Maximum obtainable points is 20 points

• Experience in working with a multi-disciplinary team/s

Language

• Excellent English writing and communication skills

Applicants who will only receive 70 points  from the assessment of the CV and Brief description of why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment will be qualified for the assessment of the Financial Proposal.

Recommended Presentation of Offer

Offerors must upload in one (1) file the documents below:

1. Duly accomplished Offeror's Letter to UNDP Confirming Insterest and Availability for the IC that indicates the all-inclusive lumpsum 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;
2. Financial Proposal (Annex 2 of Offeror's Letter to UNDP Confirming Insterest and Availability)
3. 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;

You may download the editable version of the Offeror's Letter to UNDP Confirming Insterest and Availability for the IC by clicking on this link: http://gofile.me/6xdJm/bE9TCw8fU

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