Information portal on climate adaptation and mitigation in Central Asia

Consultant (firm) on evaluation of farming activities supported by climate sub-loans in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan

Climate Adaptation and Mitigation Program for Aral Sea Basin (CAMP4ASB)

Terms of Reference

Consultant (firm) on evaluation of farming activities supported by climate sub-loans in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan

1.       Background

The Climate Adaptation and Mitigation Program for Aral Sea Basin (CAMP4ASB) aims to enhance regionally coordinated access to improved climate change knowledge services for key stakeholders (e.g., policy makers, communities, and civil society) in participating Central Asian countries as well as to increased investments and capacity building that, combined, will address climate challenges common to these countries. CAMP4ASB is comprised of the two main components as follows:

Component 1: Regional Climate Knowledge Services

Component 2: Regional Climate Investment Facility

Objective: To strengthen the knowledge and capacity base for climate action and facilitate regional dialogue and multi-stakeholder engagement for an effective climate response at scale

Objective: To provide financing and technical assistance to rural communities for climate-smart investments that will generate lessons and experience for scaled-up climate action in priority areas common to all Central Asian countries

Sub-components:

1.1. Strengthening the Information Platform for Central Asia

1.2. Targeted upgrading of climate-related monitoring systems

1.3. Developing methodologies, approaches, and tools for decision support

1.4. Developing knowledge products

1.5. Building capacity

1.6. Setting up a Climate Investment Assessment Mechanism

1.7. Outreach and coalition building

Sub-components:

2.1. Investment Financing

2.2. Capacity Building and Community Support

This assignment corresponds to sub-activity 1.6 “Setting up a Climate Investment Assessment Mechanism” and 2.1 “Investment Financing”[1]. This will support the systematic evaluation of climate investments under Component 2. CAMP4ASB’s Assessment Mechanism will rely on a regional pool of experts, comprising national TWG members from the five Central Asian countries, Regional Coordination Unit technical experts, and additional experts as appropriate. Several climate investments, at an advanced implementation stage, will be selected each year following criteria such as: use of an innovative climate technology or practice, or addressing a climate risk specific to a particular agro-ecological zone, etc. For each of these selected investments, members from the expert pool, including from Central Asian countries other than that of the climate investment location, will evaluate the climate investment and will draw lessons based on a pre-established assessment methodology.

These evaluations will be available for public dissemination, including for presentation and discussion at events such as the Annual Climate Forum or through CAMP4ASB web portal. These evaluations will also be inputs toward CAMP4ASB-funded knowledge products, e.g., strategy and sectoral policy papers. In the longer term, this material would constitute a regional repository of climate-smart solutions to inspire, inform, and foster transformation. Contingent upon availability of additional resources, this mechanism could also in future cover flagship climate investments, funded by the countries themselves or with support of development partners, to further enhance this smart-lessons database established under CAMP4ASB.

2.       Objective:

The main objective of the Consultant is to support the Regional and National Coordination Units (RCU and NCUs) in the evaluation of farming activities supported by climate sub-loans[2] in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan under the Regional Climate Investment Facility. The consultant will perform on-field assessments of the sub-loans to evaluate any resulted climate resilience or GHG mitigation benefits/drawbacks, associated social and environmental spillover effects, to draw lessons learnt and develop recommendations that would guide NCUs in better targeting of their sub-loans to climate-smart agriculture (CSA) practices. The output of the this assignment will contribute to the Climate Investment Assessment Mechanism and provide insights and recommendations for promoting CSA practices in the region.

3.       Specific Tasks and Deliverables:

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Task

Deliverables:

Indicative Timeline:

1

To review selected farming activities supported by the sub-loans and develop appropriate approach for climate scoring and assessment

1.1    1st Report containing but not limited to the following elements:

·         Summarized information on reviewed sub-projects, their distribution across agricultural activity type, geographical location and corresponding agro-climatic zones, range of loan size, etc;

·         Elaborated approach for evaluation of farming activities supported by the sub-loans in terms of their impact on climate resilience and/or carbon footprint. The approach should incorporate the following:

-          a set of criteria applicable for the evaluation, including (but not limited to) resilience to water shortages and droughts; soil erosion, salinization and fertility; heat stress; plant diseases and insects; reduction of GHG emissions;

-          meaningful quantitative and qualitative indicators that can be applied for in-situ evaluation across noted and proposed criteria taking into account type of data and information that can be provided by the farmers;

·         An evaluation template, with methodological guidelines for smart-lessons covering project description, challenges, lessons on costs, indicators, etc., recommendations for scaling-up including prospective geographic areas, as well as suggestions for cataloguing (to be consulted via CAMP4ASB website).

by October 7, 2018

2

To conduct on-field survey and evaluation of shortlisted sub-projects;

2.1    RCU and NCUs are supported in shortlisting of sub-projects for site visiting and survey in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. The shortlisted sub-projects should allow for diversity in type of agricultural activities, geographical location; size of the loans;

2.2    The on-field evaluation of the shortlisted sub-projects is conducted according to the developed approach. The 2nd Report should include:

·       summary on the surveyed sub-projects with owner/household information, geographical location, range of loan size, retrospective information on farm specialization and performance, and supported agricultural activities, household profile;

·       detailed information on the evaluation results, with findings and conclusions per each surveyed sub-project;

·       lessons leant and recommendations for NCUs in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan on improving sub-loans pre-assessment process and better scoring for CSA practices and technologies;

by December 1, 2018

3

To develop knowledge products and conduct capacity building trainings

3.1    Elaborated concept of on-line regional repository/database of appropriate CSA practices and technologies, that would incorporate information from existing global and regional SLM databases and incorporate findings from the Climate Investment Assessment Mechanism;

by Feb 18, 2019

3.2    Develop (bearing on the evaluation findings) a simple and sufficiently robust ex-ante evaluation check form/tool, that can be used by NCUs and local banks in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan for scoring climate resilience and carbon footprint benefits during pre-assessment of sub-loan applications;

3.3    NCUs staff and credit specialists in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan from local banks have received trainings on the ex-ante evaluation technique;

by April 30, 2019

4.       Qualification Requirements

The contracted firm is expected to have:

ü at least 10 years of experience in agricultural development, climate change, natural resources management, with focus on research and/or program analysis, monitoring and evaluation;

ü project and research-based knowledge on agricultural structure and practices in Central Asian countries; and on surrounding institutional, social, climatic and technological factors;

ü portfolio of farmers and practitioners-oriented capacity building programs, knowledge products and/or extension services, with focus on promotion of SLM/CSA practices and technologies in Central Asian countries;

5.       Reporting Requirements

The Consultant should report to the RCU Coordinator. The estimated duration of the consultancy will be September 2018 – May 2019



[1] For more details about the project and description of all components and subcomponents please, pls refer to the CAMP4ASB Project Appraisal Document (PAD)


[2] Hereinafter, “sub-loan” or “sub-project” refers to activities of rural communities, farmers and agricultural companies supported by loans from the Regional Climate Investment Facility in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan



Interested candidates should send a Request for Expression of Interest no later than COB August 27, 2018 to Mr. Sanzhar Mustafin, email: smustafin@carececo.org with the title: Consultant [Name of the firm/consultant] on evaluation of farming activities.

Please note that only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.