Historique

In Uganda, wetlands provide many important functions including supporting the agriculture sector, particularly in the context of food and security. Wetlands serve as a source of water for irrigation, watering livestock and other agricultural related activities. Over 80% of the people living adjacent to wetland areas in Uganda directly use wetland resources for their household food security needs. In addition to supporting food and water security, wetlands support income generation and employment. Of a total population of 34 million Ugandans, it is estimated that wetlands provide about 320,000 workers with direct employment and provide subsistence employment for over 2.4 million.

Wetlands have been used for agriculture for thousands of years. They provide a range of valuable ecosystem services, such as the provision of food and clean water, the retention of and recycling of nutrients. However, the value of these services is sometimes underestimated. In some areas, the drainage and reclamation of wetlands for agriculture has been widespread, but there is increasing recognition of the critical interdependencies between agriculture and healthy wetlands.

However, wetland health and resilience has of recent been compromised by poor agricultural practices in the adjacent catchments. For example, in Kabale District, in the southwestern region, 58% of wetlands have been drained for farming and other activities. Communities are searching for land in the wetlands because soils in the catchments are becoming increasingly infertile due to temperature increases and other climatic changes. As a result, the wetland ecosystems have lost their capacity to retain nutrients and store and filter water. This impacts water supply to surrounding communities, which are dependent on water from wells constructed near wetlands. In addition, the ability of these wetlands to adapt to climate change are also compromised, reducing their ability to retain silt, control floods, store and filter water, and maintain the microclimate.

Considering the rate at which wetlands are disappearing, the government of Uganda initiated the process of restoring wetlands and associated catchments with a major focus on promoting climate resilient agricultural interventions in wetland catchments, starting with the most affected areas of Eastern and South-Western Uganda. (Districts in the East include; Kaliro, Namutumba, Pallisa, Budaka, Kibuku, Butaleja, Tororo, Mbale, Bukedea and Ngora while those in the south western include; Kabale, Kisoro, Rukungiri, Kanungu, Ntungamo, Bushenyi, Buhweju, Rubirizi, Shema and Mitooma).

However, there is need to undertake a rapid assessment to generate geographic information and selected characteristics on all the wetlands in the above 20 districts to update or bridge existing GIS data gaps. The information will guide project implementation, ongoing monitoring and evaluation efforts but also the planned impact evaluation of the project. The assignment will involve physical visits to and mapping of the wetlands and collecting information on the wetland characteristics using mobile-based data collection technology such as Open Data Kit (ODK).

In order to undertake this activity, UNDP Uganda in partnership with the Ministry of Water and Environment (MWE) wishes to contract a Geographic Information Systems / Remote Sensing specialist to undertake this assignment. These Terms of Reference provide a general outline of the tasks. On the basis of this, the individual consultant will be expected to present a proposal on how he/she would approach the assignment.

The consultant will work under the overall technical guidance of the Director Environment Affairs and report to the Team leader, Climate Change Response and Disaster Risk Resilience at UNDP Uganda, for all contractual obligations. For delivery of the assignment, the consultant will work closely with the Project Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist and the Wetlands Management Technical staff, including undertaking joint field visits to the 20 target districts.

Devoirs et responsabilités

The following tasks will be accomplished:

• Review the existing GIS data for the 20 target districts, indentify gaps, propose and implement actions to address the data gaps;
• Conduct field visits (with support and guidance of respective District Natural Resources staff) to all the wetlands in 20 target districts and geolocate all the wetlands in each of the 20 districts, and obtain key wetland characteristics;
• Generate shape files/ maps for the wetlands in each of the 20 districts and shape files/ maps combining wetlands in each of the two regions;
• Generate KML files/maps for the wetlands in the 20 target districts showing extent of degradation;
• Undertake an organisational capacity assesment for GIS hardware, software, personel and make actionable recoomendations;
• Design and deliver a tailor-made training for project implementation staff on GIS and use of mobile-based data collection technology using Open Data Kit (ODK). Specific training include;
  • Use of ArcView software for spatial analysis and creation of relationships between wetland restoration, demarcation and their impact on wetland health;
  • Using GIS to create and display relationships between local populations and wetlands usage (degradation or conservation);
  • Processing of Digital Elevation Models (DEMS) which includes the development of contour intervals, shaded reliefs maps, view shade maps, slope and aspect maps, and other similar products;
  • Analysis of satellite imagery with regards to wetlands (health, vegetation, water table, encroachment, etc) using GIS software like ARCMAP and QGIS;
  • Creation of models or relationships on how to monitor impact of wetland restorations, demarcations on the surrounding catchments including open water bodies like lakes, rivers, streams (hydrological modelling, wetland hydrology analysis);
  • Use of mobile-based data collection technology using Open Data Kit (ODK).

Compétences

• Strong expertise and knowledge on GIS;
• Familiarity in application of GIS for Natural Resource Mapping;
• Maturity and confidence in dealing with senior members of National Institutions;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
• Excellent written and oral communication skills, with analytical capacity and ability to synthesize relevant data and information;
• Excellent coordination skills and result oriented collaboration with colleagues;
• Builds strong relationships with clients, focuses on impact and result for the client and responds positively to feedback.

Qualifications et expériences requises

Education Qualifications:

• Master’s Degree in GIS, or any other related field with emphasis on Soil and Water Resources.

Experience:

• A minimum of 10 years of experience at the national level on application of GIS in the Natural Resources Management, Climate Change, Agriculture Sectors;
• At least 5 years of experience in conducting National level training programmes for government agencies, educational institutions, and non-state sector agencies;
• Prior experience in development of GIS based maps, national level GIS maps/ data bases for related field will be an added advantage;
• Familiarity in working with National Level Agencies for similar assignments;
• Knowledge of the Uganda country context and government systems essential.

Language requirement:

• English is essential.

Duration of assignment, Duty station and expected places of travel:

The duration of the assignment is 55 days spread over four (4) months while the duty station is Kampala. The consultant is also expected to travel to all the above mentioned 20 districts.

Key deliverables of the assignment:

The following are the key deliverables of the assignment;

• Inception report within five (5) working days after contract signature;
• Draft report within 45 days after acceptance of the inception report. The consultant shall make a presentation of the draft report at a validation workshop to be held at a venue in Kampala to be confirmed by MWE;
• Final report within five (5) working days after the validation workshop;
• Shape files mentioned above;
• KML files mentioned above;
• An organisational capacity assessment report;
• Training report.

Management and supervision of the assignment:

Responsibilities of the Consultant:

The consultant will have overall responsibility for the work and operation of the evaluation. The consultant is responsible and accountable for the production of the key deliverables of the assignment including the following:

• Review of documentation to be provided by the project;
• Conducting fieldwork to generate primary data and information;
• Writing and compilation of inception, draft and final reports as needed;
• Presentation of the draft report to stakeholders

Responsibilities of MWE

• Introducing the consultant to key stakeholders
• Supervision of the consultant
• Quality assurance for the deliverables mentioned above
• Organising the inception workshop and the validation workshop;

Intellectual property:

Ministry of Water and Environment (MWE) shall, solely and exclusively, own all rights in and to any work created in connection with this agreement, including all data, documents, information, copyrights, patents, trademarks, trade secrets or other proprietary rights in and to the work. The consultant is not allowed to post or publish (electronically or in print) any project related information without the explicit permission of the Ministry of Water and Environment.

Payment terms and schedule:

Payment shall be by Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) after submission of an invoice by the consultant as per the following schedule:

• 20% of the contract sum after presentation of an acceptable inception report;
• 30% of the contract sum after presentation of an acceptable draft report;
• 50% of the contract sum after presentation of an acceptable final report;

Evaluation Methodology:

Evaluation of proposals from consultants shall be done using Quality Cost Based Selection methodology with quality parameters taking 70% of the score and cost taking 30% of the score.

The award of the contract shall 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 60 points will be considered for the Financial Evaluation

• Technical Criteria – Maximum 70 points;
• Relevant qualifications: 10;
• A minimum of 10 years relevant work experience: 15;
• Relevant experience in the evaluation of technical assistance projects: 30;
• Familiarity with integrated rural development projects in Uganda: 15.

Submission of Application:

The candidate is required to submit an electronic application directly uploaded on the UNDP jobs website with all the requirements as listed here below. Annexes and further information may be downloaded on http://procurement-notices.undp.org no.49498

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications in one single PDF document to this website - http://jobs.undp.org no. 80904.

• Duly accomplished Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability using the template provided by UNDP (Annex II);
• Personal CV, 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.

Technical proposal:

• Brief description of why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment;
• A methodology, on how they will approach and complete the assignment;
• Financial proposal that indicates the all-inclusive fixed total contract price, supported by a breakdown of costs, as per template provided (Annex II);
• Annexes 1 and II - may be downloaded from the UNDP Procurement Notices Website -http://procurement-notices.undp.org/ For further clarifications, please contact; janet.anyango@undp.org; moses.lutwama@undp.org;

Interested applicants should submit applications through uploading of all their required documentation in one single pdf document on this website only.