The GEF Small Grants Program has been a fundamental part of the GEF’s support to the production of global environmental benefits and the implementation of the UNFCCC, UNCBD, UNCCD and other multilateral environmental agreements in Philippines since 1992 when the Philippines SGP Country Program was first established. UNDP/GEF recently secured PPG financing for the Seventh Operational Phase of the GEF Small Grants Programme in Philippines. The project aims to enable community organizations in Philippines to take collective action for adaptive landscape management for socio-ecological resilience - through design, implementation and evaluation of grant projects for global environmental benefits and sustainable development. The project will be financed by the GEF Trust Fund.

This Initiation Plan (IP) project will provide support towards preparation of the project described in the recently approved PIF for the Seventh Operational Phase of the GEF SGP in Philippines. The IP is financed through a Project Preparation Grant which will cover the costs of preparation activities: stakeholder consultations, baseline assessments, and development of a project log frame with defined baseline and indicators, a detailed work plan, and the definition of the management arrangements for the FSP. Consultations and these other activities will be supported by desk review of support documentation, as appropriate.  The final output of the initiation plan will be a UNDP-GEF project document and GEF CEO Endorsement Request ready for submission to UNDP and GEF.  The documents will be compliant with the specific requirements of the GEF and conform to UNDP Operational Policies and Guidelines.

The preparatory phase for the detailed design of this initiative will take place between 22 May 2019 until 20 April 2020, following a detailed Project Preparation Grant (PPG) Initiation Plan (IP), attached as Annex I. During this time, various activities will be undertaken to finalise the design of project documents that will govern the activities of the proposed GEF financed project. These due-diligence related activities will build on those undertaken during the development of the concept (Project Identification Form- PIF, attached here as Annex II). A Project Document and a GEF CEO Endorsement Request will be produced in accordance with the various requirements of UNDP and GEF, based on the above information. Comprehensive stakeholder discussions and input will be relied on throughout the design phase.

In the context of the above, UNDP is seeking the services of an experienced local individual to work on a series of activities required for the preparation of the project document to the standard required by UNDP-GEF. Particularly, the local individual will focus on agribusiness and livelihood, a core component of the SGP 7.

Scope of Work

The Agricultural Livelihood Specialist will lead and support the identification of viable business and enterprise development and investment opportunities, analyse the barriers to start-ups, conduct preliminary analysis of potential returns on investments and make recommendations for creating an enabling environment for businesses and enterprises to be supported.

The national expert will lead on the following:

• Assessment of barriers and opportunities (legal, institutional, practical and otherwise) on the economic and production landscapes within the selected project sites;
• Targeted analyses of market potential of selected potential value chains, including market trends in the respective business fields;
• Baseline assessment of the current financial and other benefits accruing to communities on the utilization of the natural resources for livelihood purposes;
• Baseline assessment of existing community-based business and economic models;
• Identification of an appropriate, community-based, cost-effective and integrated package of ecological and physical measures to be implemented at a landscape level;
• Undertake socio-economic assessments of selected sites, identify sources of incomes for most households and levels of poverty (household incomes).

Expected Outputs and Deliverables

Institutional Arrangement

With oversight from the UNDP/GEF Upgrading Country Program Global Coordinator and ISD Programme Manager, the Project Development Specialist, shall directly supervise the Agricultural Livelihood Specialist. At different points during the contract, the Agricultural Livelihood Specialist is expected to liaise/interact/collaborate/meet with the project stakeholders, both at the national and local levels.  The UNDP CO, with assistance from SGP PMU, shall provide administrative and logistical assistance to the Consultant in order for her/him to accomplish enumerated outputs.

The Agricultural Livelihood Specialist is expected to work and closely coordinate with the Project Development Specialist and other national consultants (National Consultant on NRM and Stakeholder Engagement and Gender Specialist) in the conduct of key project preparation activities and to deliver the necessary inputs and data for the drafting and finalization of the required UNDP Project Document including its mandatory annexes and the GEF CEO Endorsement.

Duration of the Work

The expected duration of work is estimated to be 73 working days spread over 8 months.

Duty Station

The Agricultural Livelihood Specialist is not expected to report daily to UNDP office but can be provided a space should s/he need a work area.

Price Proposal and Schedule of Payments

Consultant must send a financial proposal based on lump sum amount.

The total amount quoted shall be all-inclusive and include all costs components required to perform the deliverables identified in the TOR, including professional fee, travel costs, living allowance (if any work is to be done outside the IC´s duty station) and any other applicable cost to be incurred by the IC in completing the assignment. The contract price will be fixed output-based price regardless of extension of the herein specified duration. Payments will be done upon completion of the deliverables/outputs and as per below percentages:

• Deliverable 1 Upon submission and acceptance of the draft Inception Report and detailed Workplan: 20% of total contract amount
• Deliverable 2 Upon submission and acceptance of the first draft of UNDP ProDoc: 30% of total contract amount
• Deliverable 3 Upon submission and acceptance of the second draft of UNDP ProDoc with all required sections and Annexes and first draft EO Endorsement Request: 20% of total contract amount
• Deliverable 4 Upon submission and acceptance of the final draft UNDP ProDoc with all required sections and Annexes and final darft EO Endorsement Request (addressing the comments of UNDP CO and global): 30% of total contract amount

In general, UNDP shall 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 event of unforeseeable travel not anticipated in this TOR, payment of travel costs including tickets, lodging and terminal expenses should be agreed upon, between the respective business unit and the Individual Consultant, prior to travel and will be reimbursed.

• Strong interpersonal and communication skills;
• Strong analytical, reporting and writing abilities skills;
• Openness to change and ability to receive/integrate feedback;
• Ability to plan, organize, implement and report on work;
• Ability to work under pressure and tight deadlines;
• Outstanding communication, project management and organizational skills;
• Excellent presentation and facilitation skills.
• Demonstrates integrity and ethical standards;

Qualifications of the Successful Individual Contractor

Educational Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Economics/Business Management/ Entrepreneurship/ Development Economics

Experience

• At least seven (7) years of demonstrable experience in agricultural development and enterprise/livelihood  development;
• Excellent understanding and at least three (3) years of experience in doing value chain analysis, product development, marketing and promotion;
• Previous experience working with international organizations;

Language

• Good command of English is a requirement.

Criteria for Evaluation of Offers

Offers will be evaluated based on combined scoring method – where the Technical Proposal will be evaluated based on qualifications in the CV. 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):

Technical Criteria for Evaluation

• Criteria 1: Relevance of Education – Max 15 points
• Criteria 2: Number of years and relevance of experience in the field of agricultural development and enterprise or livelihood development - Max 40 Points
• Criteria 3: Number of years of experience in doing value chain analysis, product development, marketing and promotion – Max 25 points
• Criteria 4: Previous experience working in international organizations – Max 10 points
• Criteria 5: Fluency in English language – Max 10 points

Applicants who will only receive a minimum score of 70 points and above from the assessment of the CV will be qualified for the assessment of the Financial Proposal.

Recommended Presentation of Offer and documentation

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications. Please group them into one (1) single PDF document as the application only allows to upload maximum one document:

• Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability using the template provided in Annex II.
• 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.
• Technical proposal, including a brief description of why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment;
• Financial proposal, as per template provided in Annex II. Note: National consultants must quote prices in Philippine Peso.

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.