Historique

The project was designed to address land degradation in forests, rangelands and farmlands through implementation of practical sustainable land management (SLM) interventions in the Uluguru and East Usambara Mountains, which give rise to the Ruvu and Zigi rivers respectively.

The forests in these catchments are globally recognized as important stores of carbon and centers of species diversity and endemism. They also provide critical watershed services, the continued functioning of which is being compromised by a host of human-induced pressures and poor land-use practices that are causing rapid land use change and land degradation. The situation is made worse by high levels of poverty and population growth, inadequate infrastructure for providing clean water to communities, low levels of compliance with water-use regulations and a lack of co-ordination amongst the various institutions and programmes operating in the catchments. As a result, the quantity and quality of water in the Ruvu and Zigi river catchments are declining, undermining ecosystem services and functions and resulting in water shortages for people and the environment.

This project has been organized under two components, the first focused on building institutional capacity and strengthening co-ordination amongst Water Basin Authorities and other relevant stakeholders, and the second on implementing practical Sustainable Land Management (SLM) interventions to address land degradation in forests, rangelands and farmlands, with the overall purpose of securing watershed services and improving livelihoods.

Component 1 provides for several areas of project support, including: (i) development and implementation of Integrated Land Use Management Plans (ILUMPS) and Village Land Use Plans; (ii) establishing or strengthening multi-sectoral stakeholder committees whose role will be to co-ordinate dialogue and action amongst stakeholders, and raise awareness about SLM; (iii) forming  and strengthening Water User Associations and capacitating them to perform their roles effectively; (iv) improving compliance and enforcement; and, (v) increasing the funds available for SLM.

Component 2 will target the widespread adoption of SLM practices within agricultural and livestock production systems and the conservation and rehabilitation of degraded forests in the two river basins. Key areas of project support will include working with selected communities and relevant basin management authorities to: (i) reduce human-induced pressures (e.g. illegal harvesting and mining and unwise use of fire) and promote sustainable forest management and forest restoration both within and outside of protected areas; (ii) develop and test sustainable livestock management technologies; and (iii) increase household food production and incomes through uptake of SLM and Sustainable Rangeland Management practices, and the development of diversified, alternative sustainable livelihoods.

Devoirs et responsabilités

• Review the problem addressed by the project and the underlying assumptions.Review the effect of any incorrect assumptions or changes to the context to achieving the project results as outlined in the Project Document.
• Review the relevance of the project strategy and assess whether it provides the most effective route towards expected/intended results. Were lessons from other relevant projects properly incorporated into the project design?
• Review how the project addresses country priorities. Review country ownership. Was the project concept in line with the national sector development priorities and plans of the country (or of participating countries in the case of multi-country projects)?
• Review decision-making processes: were perspectives of those who would be affected by project decisions, those who could affect the outcomes, and those who could contribute information or other resources to the process considered during project design processes?
• Review the extent to which relevant gender issues were raised in the project design. See Annex 9 of Guidance for Conducting Midterm Reviews of UNDP-Supported, GEF-Financed Projects for further guidelines.
• If there are major areas of concern, recommend areas for improvement.
• Undertake a critical analysis of the project’s Log frame indicators and targets, assess how “SMART” the midterm and end-of-project targets are (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Time-bound), and suggest specific amendments/revisions to the targets and indicators as necessary.
• Are the project’s objectives and outcomes or components clear, practical, and feasible within its time frame?
• Examine if progress so far has led to, or could in the future catalyse beneficial development effects (i.e. income generation, gender equality and women’s empowerment, improved governance etc...) that should be included in the project results framework and monitored on an annual basis.
• Ensure broader development and gender aspects of the project are being monitored effectively.Develop and recommend SMART ‘development’ indicators, including sex-disaggregated indicators and indicators that capture development benefits.
• Review the log frame indicators against progress made towards the end-of-project targets using the Progress Towards Results Matrix and following the Guidance for Conducting Midterm Reviews of UNDP-Supported, GEF-Financed Projects; colour code progress in a “traffic light system” based on the level of progress achieved; assign a rating on progress for each outcome; make recommendations from the areas marked as “Not on target to be achieved”
• Review overall effectiveness of project management as outlined in the Project Document.Have changes been made and are they effective?Are responsibilities and reporting lines clear?Is decision-making transparent and undertaken in a timely manner?Recommend areas for improvement.
• Review the quality of execution of the Executing Agency/Implementing Partner(s) and recommend areas for improvement.
• Review the quality of support provided by the GEF Partner Agency (UNDP) and recommend areas for improvement.
• Review any delays in project start-up and implementation, identify the causes and examine if they have been resolved.
• Are work-planning processes results-based?If not, suggest ways to re-orientate work planning to focus on results?
• Examine the use of the project’s results framework/ logframe as a management tool and review any changes made to it since project start.
• Consider the financial management of the project, with specific reference to the cost-effectiveness of interventions.
• Review the changes to fund allocations because of budget revisions and assess the appropriateness and relevance of such revisions.
• Does the project have the appropriate financial controls, including reporting and planning, that allow management to make informed decisions regarding the budget and allow for timely flow of funds?
• Informed by the co-financing monitoring table to be filled out, provide commentary on co-financing: is co-financing being used strategically to help the objectives of the project? Is the Project Team meeting with all co-financing partners regularly to align financing priorities and annual work plans?
• Review the monitoring tools currently being used:Do they provide the necessary information? Do they involve key partners? Are they aligned or mainstreamed with national systems?Do they use existing information? Are they efficient? Are they cost-effective? Are additional tools required? How could they be made more participatory and inclusive?
• Examine the financial management of the project monitoring and evaluation budget.Are sufficient resources being allocated to monitoring and evaluation? Are these resources being allocated effectively?
• Project management: Has the project developed and leveraged the necessary and appropriate partnerships with direct and tangential stakeholders?
• Participation and country-driven processes: Do local and national government stakeholders support the objectives of the project? Do they continue to have an active role in project decision-making that supports efficient and effective project implementation?
• Participation and public awareness: To what extent has stakeholder involvement and public awareness contributed to the progress towards achievement of project objectives?
• Assess how adaptive management changes have been reported by the project management and shared with the Project Board.
• Assess how well the Project Team and partners undertake and fulfil GEF reporting requirements (i.e. how have they addressed poorly-rated PIRs, if applicable?)
• Assess how lessons derived from the adaptive management process have been documented, shared with key partners and internalized by partners.
• Review internal project communication with stakeholders: Is communication regular and effective? Are there key stakeholders left out of communication? Are there feedback mechanisms when communication is received? Does this communication with stakeholders contribute to their awareness of project outcomes and activities and investment in the sustainability of project results?
• Review external project communication: Are proper means of communication established or being established to express the project progress and intended impact to the public (is there a web presence, for example? Or did the project implement appropriate outreach and public awareness campaigns?)
• For reporting purposes, write one half-page paragraph that summarizes the project’s progress towards results in terms of contribution to sustainable development benefits, as well as global environmental benefits.
• Validate whether the risks identified in the Project Document, Annual Project Review/PIRs and the ATLAS Risk Management Module are the most important and whether the risk ratings applied are appropriate and up to date. If not, explain why.

Compétences

• Competence in adaptive management, as applied to SLM and conservation and Natural resources management;
• Excellent communication skills;
• Demonstrable analytical skills;
• Project evaluation/review experiences within United Nations system will be considered an asset.

Qualifications et expériences requises

Education

• Masters in a relevant area such as Environmental Economics, Environmental Sciences, Land and Water resources management, Landscape ecology, Geography, Environmental policies, Environmental governance, Biodiversity Management, Protected Area development and Sustainable Land Management and other related subjects;
• Postgraduate diploma/certificate in Project Planning and Management is added advantage.

Experience

• 10 years relevant work experience in the area of Environmental Economics, Biodiversity Management, Protected Area development, Sustainable Land management;
• Recent experience with result-based management evaluation methodologies;
• Experience applying SMART indicators and reconstructing or validating baseline scenarios;
• Must be a Tanzanian national with knowledge in environmental, water resources and biodiversity management experience and context in Tanzania;
• Project development and design experience, experience in developing projects, specific experience in GEF project Evaluation and understanding will be an added advantage;
• Experience in and comfortable with working in different socio-cultural settings;
• Experience working in East Africa.

Language

• Fluent in written and spoken English;
• Swahili will be added advantage.

How to Submit Proposals:

• Proposals should be submitted to icprocurement.tz@undp.org e-mail address not later than Thursday, 07 June 2018 at 1:30 pm (EAT);
• Applications with no financial offer or missing P11 form and CV or the required documents for the technical evaluation will not be considered for evaluation;
• All necessary information for this post (TOR, Deliverables, Target dates, etc. are presented in the ICPN) therefore applicant must download it from the following link: http://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_notice.cfm?notice_id=46615;
• Each email should be less than 8MB; emails over this size will not be received to the above-mentioned account;
• Any request for clarification must be sent in writing, or by standard electronic communication to the e-mail address tenders.tz@undp.org.