Consultancy – Identification and Development of Revolving Funds Incentive Credit Scheme for the Mt. Elgon Landscape

Request for Proposals (RfP)

Identification and Development of Revolving Funds Incentive Credit Scheme for the Mt. Elgon Landscape

Purpose: Identification and Development of Revolving Funds Incentive Credit Scheme for the Mt. Elgon Landscape aimed at attracting and rewarding farmers, community members, the private sector and other stakeholders’ participation in Biodiversity Conservation, Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR), Sustainable Land Management (SLM) and, productive, sustainable crop value chains in the Mt. Elgon landscape.

Requested by: Uganda Country Office (UCO), Land Systems Programme, under the

GEF 7 funded project; “Promoting Integrated Landscape Management Approach for Conservation of the Mount Elgon Ecosystem in Eastern Uganda”.

Project Contract ID Nunber: P03404

RfP Reference Number: IUCN-24-06-P03404-3

Welcome to this Procurement by IUCN. You are hereby invited to submit a Proposal. Please read the information and instructions carefully because non-compliance with the instructions may result in disqualification of your Proposal from this Procurement.

1. REQUIREMENTS
   1. A detailed description of the services to be provided can be found in Attachment 1.
2. CONTACT DETAILS
   1. During the course of this procurement, i.e. from the publication of this RfP to the award of a contract, you may not discuss this procurement with any IUCN employee or representative other than the following contact. You must address all correspondence and questions to the contact, including your Proposal.

IUCN Contact:

Email address: [email protected]

1. PROCUREMENT TIMETABLE
   1. This timetable is indicative and may be changed by IUCN at any time. If IUCN decides that changes to any of the deadlines are necessary, we will publish this on our website and contact you directly if you have indicated your interest in this procurement (see Section 3.2).

DATE

ACTIVITY

12th June 2024

Publication of the Request for Proposals

14th June 2024

Deadline for confirmation of intention to bid

17th June 2024

Deadline for submission of questions

18th June 2024

Planned publication of responses to questions

1st July 2024

Deadline for submission of proposals to IUCN (“Submission Deadline”)

2nd July 2024

Clarification of proposals

5th July 2024

Planned date for contract award.

8th July 2024

Expected contract start date.

7th September 2024

Expected contract end date.

1. Please email the IUCN contact to express your interest in submitting a Proposal by the deadline stated above. This will help IUCN to keep you updated regarding the procurement.
2. COMPLETING AND SUBMITTING A PROPOSAL
   1. Your Proposal must consist of the following four separate documents:

• Signed Declaration of Undertaking (see Attachment 2)
• Pre-Qualification Information (see Section 4.3 below)
• Technical Proposal (see Section 4.4 below)
• Financial Proposal (see Section 4.5 below)
  1. Your Proposal must be submitted by email to the IUCN Contact (see Section 2). The subject heading of the email shall be [RfP Reference No. IUCN-24-06-P03404-2– bidder name]. The bidder’s name is the name of the company/organisation on whose behalf you are submitting the Proposal, or your own surname if you are bidding as a self-employed consultant. Your Proposal must be submitted in PDF format. You may submit multiple emails suitably annotated, e.g. Email 1 of 3, if attached files are too large to suit a single email transmission. You may not submit your Proposal by uploading it to a file-sharing tool.

Proposals must be prepared in English.

IMPORTANT: Submitted documents must be password-protected so that they cannot be opened and read before the submission deadline. Please use the same password for all submitted documents. After the deadline has passed and within 12 hours, please send the password to the IUCN Contact. This will ensure a secure bid submission and opening process. Please DO NOT email the password before the deadline for Proposal submission.

1. Pre-Qualification Criteria

IUCN will use the following Pre-Qualification Criteria to determine whether you have the capacity to provide the required goods and/or services to IUCN. Please provide the necessary information in a single, separate document.

Pre-Qualification Criteria

1

3 relevant references of clients similar to IUCN / similar work

2

Confirm that you have all the necessary legal registrations to perform the work

3

State your annual turnover for each of the past 3 years

4

How many employees does your organisation have who are qualified for this work?

1. Technical Proposal

The Technical Proposal must address each of the criteria stated in the table below explicitly and separately, quoting the relevant criteria reference number (in the two middle-columns).

Proposals in any other format will significantly increase the time it takes to evaluate, and such Proposals may therefore be rejected at IUCN’s discretion.

Where CVs are requested, these must be of the individuals who will actually carry out the work specified. The individuals you put forward may only be substituted with IUCN’s approval.

IUCN will evaluate Technical Proposals with regards to each of the following criteria and their relative importance as follows:

SN

Description

Information to provide

Relative weight

1

Technical capability

1.1 State your understanding of the assignment objectives and tasks.

10

1.2. Define the scope of work clearly and in sufficient detail.

10

1.3. Articulate how you will achieve each objective and task in sufficient detail, while directing proper level of effort towards each objective and task.

15

1.4. State your understanding of the expected outputs and provide technical solutions and expected outcomes.

15

1.5. Define the equipment, techniques, tools, approaches, and methods to be used in executing the assignment.

10

1.6. Provide assignment time schedule in conformity with assignment scheduling and duration.

8

2

Past performance alignment and coherence with current assignment objectives and tasks

2.1. Provide your past performance/ relevant experiencethat match with the current assignment.

10

2.2. Indicate key personnel and their qualifications, expertise and past work experience that match with the current assignment.

12

2.3. Attach detailed CVs of individuals whose qualifications, expertise, and past work experience match with the current assignment, and who will carry out the work specified.

10

TOTAL

100%

1. Financial Proposal
   1. The Financial Proposal must be a fixed and firm price for the provision of the goods/services stated in the RfP in their entirety.
   2. Prices include all costs

Submitted rates and prices are deemed to include all costs, insurances, taxes (except VAT, see below), fees, expenses, liabilities, obligations, risk and other things necessary for the performance of the Terms of Reference or Specification of Requirements. IUCN will not accept charges beyond those clearly stated in the Financial Proposal. This includes applicable withholding taxes and similar. It is your responsibility to determine whether such taxes apply to your organisation and to include them in your Financial Proposal.

1. Applicable Goods and Services Taxes

Proposal rates and prices shall be exclusive of Value Added Tax to ensure that we are comparing like for like. This applies regardless of whether the IUCN office in question is exempt from VAT.

1. Currency of proposed rates and prices

All rates and prices submitted by Proposers shall be in Uganda Shillings.

1. Breakdown of rates and prices

Include here all the required price information breakdown, for example daily rates or unit prices for goods. The price needs to be broken down as follows:

SN

Description

Quantity

Unit Price

Total Price

1

Professional fees

2

Per diems/Safari Day Allowance (SDA)

3

Reimbursables (specify below)

a)

b)

c)

d)

4

Travel expenses

TOTAL

1. Additional information not requested by IUCN should not be included in your Proposal and will not be considered in the evaluation.
2. Your Proposal must remain valid and capable of acceptance by IUCN for a period of 90 calendar days following the submission deadline.
3. Withdrawals and Changes

You may freely withdraw or change your Proposal at any time prior to the submission deadline by written notice to the IUCN Contact. However, in order to reduce the risk of fraud, no changes or withdrawals will be accepted after the submission deadline.

1. EVALUATION of PROPOSALS
   1. Completeness

IUCN will firstly check your Proposal for completeness. Incomplete Proposals will not be considered further.

1. Pre-Qualification Criteria

Only Proposals that meet all of the pre-qualification criteria will be evaluated.

1. Technical Evaluation
   1. Scoring Method

Your Proposal will be assigned a score from 0 to 10 for each of the technical evaluation criteria, such that ‘0’ is low and ‘10’ is high.

1. Minimum Quality Thresholds

Proposals that receive a score of ‘0’ for any of the criteria will not be considered further.

1. Technical Score

Your score for each technical evaluation criterion will be multiplied with the respective relative weight (see Section 4.4) and these weighted scores added together to give your Proposal’s overall technical score.

Subject to the requirements in Sections 4 and 7, IUCN will award the contract to the bidder whose Proposal achieves the highest total score.

1. Explanation of procurement procedure
   1. IUCN is using the Open Procedure for this procurement. This means that the contracting opportunity is published on IUCN’s website and open to all interested parties to take part, subject to the conditions in Section 7 below.
   2. You are welcome to ask questions or seek clarification regarding this procurement. Please email the IUCN Contact (see Section 2), taking note of the deadline for submission of questions in Section 3.1.
   3. All Proposals must be received by the submission deadline in Section 3.1 above. Late Proposals will not be considered. All Proposals received by the submission deadline will be evaluated by a team of evaluators in accordance with the evaluation criteria stated in this RfP. No other criteria will be used to evaluate Proposals. The contract will be awarded to the bidder whose Proposal received the highest Total Score. IUCN does, however, reserve the right to cancel the procurement and not award a contract at all.
   4. IUCN will contact the bidder with the highest-scoring Proposal to finalise the contract. We will contact unsuccessful bidders after the contract has been awarded and provide detailed feedback. The timetable in Section 3.1 gives an estimate of when we expect to have completed the contract award, but this date may change depending on how long the evaluation of Proposals takes.
2. Conditions for participation in this procurement
   1. To participate in this procurement, you are required to submit a Proposal, which fully complies with the instructions in this RfP and the Attachments.
      1. It is your responsibility to ensure that you have submitted a complete and fully compliant Proposal.
      2. Any incomplete or incorrectly completed Proposal submission may be deemed non-compliant, and as a result you may be unable to proceed further in the procurement process.
      3. IUCN will query any obvious clerical errors in your Proposal and may, at IUCN’s sole discretion, allow you to correct these, but only if doing so could not be perceived as giving you an unfair advantage.
   2. To participate in this procurement, you must meet the following conditions:

• Free of conflicts of interest
• Registered on the relevant professional or trade register of the country in which you are established (or resident, if self-employed)
• In full compliance with your obligations relating to payment of social security contributions and of all applicable taxes
• Not been convicted of failing to comply with environmental regulatory requirements or other legal requirements relating to sustainability and environmental protection.
• Not bankrupt or being wound up.
• Never been guilty of an offence concerning your professional conduct.
• Not involved in fraud, corruption, a criminal organisation, money laundering, terrorism, or any other illegal activity.
  1. You must complete and sign the Declaration of Undertaking (see Attachment 2).
  2. If you are participating in this procurement as a member of a joint venture, or are using sub-contractors, submit a separate Declaration of Undertaking for each member of the joint venture and sub-contractor, and be clear in your Proposal which parts of the goods/services are provided by each partner or sub-contractor.
  3. Each bidder shall submit only one Proposal, either individually or as a partner in a joint venture. In case of joint venture, one company shall not be allowed to participate in two different joint ventures in the same procurement nor shall a company be allowed to submit a Proposal both on its behalf and as part of a joint venture for the same procurement. A bidder who submits or participates in more than one Proposal (other than as a subcontractor or in cases of alternatives that have been permitted or requested) shall cause all the Proposals with the bidder’s participation to be disqualified.
  4. By taking part in this procurement, you accept the conditions set out in this RfP, including the following:
• It is unacceptable to give or offer any gift or consideration to an employee or other representative of IUCN as a reward or inducement in relation to the awarding of a contract. Such action will give IUCN the right to exclude you from this and any future procurements, and to terminate any contract that may have been signed with you.
• Any attempt to obtain information from an employee or other representative of IUCN concerning another bidder will result in disqualification.
• Any price fixing or collusion with other bidders in relation to this procurement shall give IUCN the right to exclude you and any other involved bidder(s) from this and any future procurements and may constitute a criminal offence.

1. Confidentiality and data protection
   1. IUCN follows the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The information you submit to IUCN as part of this procurement will be treated as confidential and shared only as required to evaluate your Proposal in line with the procedure explained in this RfP, and for the maintenance of a clear audit trail. For audit purposes, IUCN is required to retain your Proposal in its entirety for 10 years after then end of the resulting contract and make this available to internal and external auditors and donors as and when requested.
   2. In the Declaration of Undertaking (Attachment 2) you need to give IUCN express permission to use the information you submit in this way, including personal data that forms part of your Proposal. Where you include personal data of your employees (e.g. CVs) in your Proposal, you need to have written permission from those individuals to share this information with IUCN, and for IUCN to use this information as indicated in 8.1. Without these permissions, IUCN will not be able to consider your Proposal.
2. Complaints procedure

If you have a complaint or concern regarding the propriety of how a competitive process is or has been executed, then please contact [email protected]. Such complaints or concerns will be treated as confidential and are not considered in breach of the above restrictions on communication (Section 2.1).

1. Contract

The contract will be based on IUCN’s template in Attachment 3, the terms of which are not negotiable. They may, however, be amended by IUCN to reflect particular requirements from the donor funding this particular procurement.

1. About IUCN

IUCN is a membership Union uniquely composed of both government and civil society organisations. It provides public, private and non-governmental organisations with the knowledge and tools that enable human progress, economic development and nature conservation to take place together.

Headquartered in Switzerland, IUCN Secretariat comprises around 1,000 staff with offices in more than 50 countries.

Created in 1948, IUCN is now the world’s largest and most diverse environmental network, harnessing the knowledge, resources and reach of more than 1,300 Member organisations and some 10,000 experts. It is a leading provider of conservation data, assessments and analysis. Its broad membership enables IUCN to fill the role of incubator and trusted repository of best practices, tools and international standards.

IUCN provides a neutral space in which diverse stakeholders including governments, NGOs, scientists, businesses, local communities, indigenous peoples’ organisations, and others can work together to forge and implement solutions to environmental challenges and achieve sustainable development.

Working with many partners and supporters, IUCN implements a large and diverse portfolio of conservation projects worldwide. Combining the latest science with the traditional knowledge of local communities, these projects work to reverse habitat loss, restore ecosystems, and improve people’s well-being.

www.iucn.org

https://twitter.com/IUCN/

1. ATTACHMENTS

ATTACHMENT 1

SPECIFICATION OF REQUIREMENTS / TERMS OF REFERENCE

Summary Organization

International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), http://www.iucn.org

Project

GEF 7 funded project; “Promoting Integrated Landscape Management Approach for Conservation of the Mount Elgon Ecosystem in Eastern Uganda”.

Project Contract ID Number: P03404

Type of Service

Short Term Consultancy

Thematic Area

Land Systems

Location

Mount Elgon Ecosystem

Duration

30-man days

Collaboration and Coordination

United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), National Environment Management Authority (NEMA), and the District Local Governments of Mbale, Sironko, Bulambuli, Namisindwa, Bududa, Manafwa, Bukwo, Kapchorwa and Kween.

Technical Reporting

Senior Programme Officer, IUCN Uganda Country Office

Managerial Reporting

Country Representative, IUCN Uganda Country Office

Deadline for Submission

28th June 2024

Expected Starting Date

8th July 2024

Expected End of Contract

7th September 2024

Vacancy contacts

[email protected]

1. Introduction

1.1 The Mt. Elgon Ecosystem

The Mt. Elgon ecosystem is a trans-boundary ecosystem that straddles Eastern Uganda and Western Kenya and is a key resource in both Kenya and Uganda, providing ecosystem goods and services to over 4 million human lives and their livestock. The Mt. Elgon ecosystem serves as a catchment area for the drainage systems of Lakes Victoria, Turkana and Kyoga maintaining water quality, quantity and influencing the economies and livelihoods of communities in western Kenya, eastern Uganda, and the wider Nile Basin ecosystems. The forest mountain ecosystem is the source of critical goods and services that support livelihoods and economic development including provisioning (e.g. food, fiber, fuel, timber, water, and medicine), regulating (e.g. erosion regulation, flood regulation, landslide regulation), supporting (pollination, soil fertility) and cultural (e.g. recreation, cultural heritage). The higher slopes of Mt. Elgon landscape are protected as National Parks both in Kenya and Uganda. Mt. Elgon ecosystem was declared a UNESCO Man and Biosphere (MAB) Reserve in Kenya and Uganda in 2003 and 2005 respectively and is destined to be made trans-boundary MAB conservation area. It also has the status of an Important Bird Area (IBA).

Despite its global, national, and local ecological and socio-economic significance, many areas of the Mt. Elgon landscape are affected by land degradation, deforestation, and forest degradation. Some wetlands and forests have been converted into farms and some riverbanks cultivated. The forest ecosystem is particularly threatened by overharvesting of forest products and encroachment by settlements and for agriculture. Livestock grazing and poaching have equally and substantially reduced the biodiversity and, population sizes of animals are hunted down for meat and other products for traditional use. The main root cause of all this is high population pressure and poverty levels in the wider Mt. Elgon landscape.

The region experiences extensive impacts of land degradation in the form of loss of tree cover, severe erosion, increasingly frequent occurrence of landslides, excessive soil nutrient depletion due to over-cultivation and offsite effect of sedimentation and flooding in the lowlands. Biodiversity has steadily declined at the ecosystem level and natural processes have drastically diminished and degraded in quality. Although there is rising coffee production, there is low integration of sustainable landscape approaches, lack of organization and collective action as well as incentives to ensure optimum production, insufficient incorporation of soil health in sustainable land management operations and high prevalence of poverty. Moreover, the existing landscape management approaches are fragmented and disjointed leading to unsustainable agricultural practices with inefficient value chains.

The current institutional arrangements and governance systems are weak leading to unsustainable agricultural practices and inefficient value chains. As such, the farming practices are unsustainable leading to low agricultural productivity and negative climate change impacts. Land and forest degradation are worsening climate change impacts. Moreover, the coffee and staple crop value chains are unresponsive to resource-poor farmers needs coupled with inadequate market linkages. The above situation is exacerbated by inadequate knowledge on Integrated Land Management approaches at landscape, national and regional levels. In meeting the economic growth, poverty reduction and industrialization plans, Government has identified and prioritized equitable access to productive land, sustainable natural resources management and integrated landscape planning and management as critical development pathways. One of Uganda’s critical landscapes faced with vast land management challenges is the Mt. Elgon landscape. The GEF 7 Project focus is on this area.

1.2 The GEF 7 Project in Mt. Elgon Ecosystem

The project goal is to enhance conservation of ecosystems that provide critical goods and services for rural livelihoods and food security in the Mt. Elgon landscape. This is a country child project to the global GEF Food Systems, Land Use and Restoration (FOLUR) “Global Knowledge to Action Platform” child project which seeks to support transformational shifts in the use of environmentally sustainable practices and policies for priority global value chains. The Uganda child project has a transnational link to the Kenya FOLUR child project “Integrated Landscape Management for conservation and restoration of the Mt. Elgon Ecosystem in western Kenya” which will be implemented in the Mt. Elgon ecosystem. These two GEF-7 FOLUR child projects are complementary since both aim at addressing the drivers of the negative outcomes and governance barriers that prevent the achievement of secure ecosystems and livelihoods in a critical and fragile transboundary ecosystem. Therefore, the project will provide many experiences and lessons to share with other similar areas of Uganda, regionally and globally, enabling scaling up and out for greater global environmental and livelihood benefits.

This project has been conceived to transition the Mt. Elgon region to a sustainable, integrated landscape with efficient value chains of coffee and staple crops (maize, banana and Irish potato). This will ultimately enhance food security and conserve the ecosystems that provide critical goods and services for rural livelihoods in the Mt. Elgon landscape. This will be achieved through the following four components: 1) Integrated Mt. Elgon Landscape Management System and institutional frameworks and improved governance, 2) Sustainable coffee and staple crops production practices and responsible value chains, 3) Natural habitat restoration, and 4) Knowledge management (sharing, learning and scaling up).

Component 1 will support the mainstreaming of Integrated Landscape Management approaches and biodiversity conservation into national and district development plans as well as strengthening governance, law enforcement and compliance for improved regulatory environment in the nine district local governments in the Mt Elgon landscape. This will be done by strengthening the institutional and organizational capabilities of sub-national and national institutions for the implementation of ILM. Extension workers, key local government leaders and existing structures such as the Mt Elgon Ecosystem Stakeholders’ Forum (MEESF) will be trained in governance, law enforcement and compliance monitoring to improve the regulatory environment, tenure rights and security of land rights holders, and encourage multi-stakeholder engagement. A land use management planning process will be undertaken to mainstream biodiversity conservation into the production landscape. Commodity production systems managed by farmers and groups, specifically coffee, will be assisted to meet third-party certification standards through training and provision of technical assistance. Sustainable Land Management (SLM) practices including improved tree cover through agroforestry practices on the landscapes and planting of indigenous plant (trees, shrubs, herbs and grasses) and grass species. Through support of deforestation-free commodities, High Conservation Value Forest (HCVF) loss will be avoided while climate-smart agriculture (CSA) practices and increase in vegetation cover across landscape will be promoted.

The diffusion of ILM and SLM into the priority sectors of Agriculture, Forestry and Land will be done under component 2 by influencing policy through evidence-based action that shows enhanced adoption of sustainable coffee and staple crops production practices in the Mt. Elgon landscape and improved sustainable market linkages and responsible value chains for coffee and staple crops. This will be achieved by: (i) promoting highland specific climate smart agriculture and SLM practices, including on-farm diversification, (ii) creating incentives (revolving funds and credit schemes) for sustainable production of crops and their marketing, and (iii) building the capacity of farmers, extension workers and other actors to apply sustainable coffee standards along coffee value chain.

Under component 3, degraded forests, fragile lands and unstable slopes will be restored for biodiversity conservation, ecosystem services and carbon stocks for mitigating climate change. In so doing, greenhouse gas emissions will be mitigated /sequestered, the loss of HCVFs will be halted through deforestation-free agriculture. Ultimately, this will result in controlled flooding and soil erosion, aquifer re-charge and sustainable coffee and other staple food crop production and improved food security. Through stakeholder engagements, Restoration Action Plans (RAPs) will be developed and approved at the district and sub-county levels. A total of 20,000 ha of degraded forests and 250 ha of wetlands, 35,000 ha of degraded farmland, fragile lands, unstable slopes and hilltops, and 6,000 ha of degraded riverbanks will be restored. Restoration activities will include gulley treatment, soil erosion and landslides control, water source protection and control of water logging, planting of indigenous tree species in agroforestry and woodlot setup.

Component 4 will facilitate and enhance knowledge management (sharing, learning and scaling up) through which improved Integrated Landscape Management approaches at landscape, national and regional levels is expected to be realized. An interactive M&E system to track implementation of ILM in Mt. Elgon landscape for purposes of scaling out in similar areas in Uganda will be developed and operationalized. Best practices and lessons learned at landscape, national and regional levels will be documented and shared for wider adoption, replication, leveraging and dissemination of FOLUR IP actions and results through landscape, country, regional and global platforms and knowledge networks.

1.3 The Revolving Funds Incentive Credit Scheme for the Mt. Elgon Landscape

The project wishes to establish revolving funds and credit schemes, in conjunction with the following project implementing partners aimed at attracting and rewarding farmers, community members, the private sector and other stakeholders’ participation in Biodiversity Conservation, Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR), Sustainable Land Management (SLM) and for sustainable production of crops, value chains and their marketing in the Mt. Elgon landscape:

1. National Environnent Management Authority (NEMA).
2. Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF).
3. Ministry of Water and Environment (MWE).
4. Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA).
5. Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA).
6. National Forestry Authority (NFA).
7. Bududa District Local Government.
8. Bukwo District Local Government.
9. Bulambuli District Local Government.
10. Kapchorwa District Local Government.
11. Kween District Local Government.
12. Manafwa District Local Government.
13. Mbale District Local Government.
14. Namisindwa District Local Government.
15. Sironko District Local Government.
16. International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
17. World Agroforestry Research Center / ICRAF
18. Bugisu Cooperative Union.
19. Sebei Elgon Cooperative Union.
20. Kalaa Mugosi Women Empowerment Ltd.
21. Mt. Elgon Agroforestry Communities Coop Enterprise Ltd.
22. Bushika Integrated Area Cooperative Enterprise Ltd.

This will be achieved by conducting a mapping exercise of existing and potential revolving funds and credit schemes and identifying their strengths and weaknesses, ownership and governance issues, transferability and transformability of capital through good governance and rule of law and establishing their security, fairness and property rights (including women’s rights). Based on the mapping and analysis exercise, the project will promote “best-bet” practices for enhancing production and marketing and design economic incentives (credit schemes, revolving funds, etc.) to enhance production and marketing. The incentives will be designed in a manner that will not distort the market by providing at below market related cost. In collaboration with the Global Program, training of borrowers regarding revolving funds and credit schemes procedures will be done to increase their access to institutional credit. Further, the procedure for credit disbursement will be made simple so that it may not be difficult even for the less educated and illiterate households to have access to credit.

Sebei Elgon Cooperative Union and Kalaa Mugosi Women’s Empowerment Ltd already run low level incentive schemes involving support of farmers in general for the former, and women in particular for the latter, for raising and sale of high yielding coffee seedlings. IUCN also implemented the Community Environment Conservation Funds (CECF) focusing on Biodiversity Conservation, Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR), and Sustainable Land Management (SLM). These form good entry points.

1. Context and principles of the assignment:

The incentive scheme is intended to form a critical part of the GEF 7 project by providing monetary and non-monetary impetus to the populace to take desired action for sustainable production of crops, Biodiversity Conservation, Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR), and Sustainable Land Management (SLM) in Mt. Elgon landscape. In this regard, the scheme must seek to:

1. Set achievable targets – measurable targets for sustainable production of crops, Biodiversity Conservation, Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR), and Sustainable Land Management (SLM) in return for rewards.
2. Target different demographics and groups – men, women, youth, PWDs, elderly persons, and offer appropriate rewards for each group.
3. Sufficiently attractive to motivate popular participation, and complement (operate in tandem with) the project’s public relation (PR) campaign and FOLUR IP actions and results at landscape, country, regional and global platforms and knowledge networks.
4. Sustainable – must be able to continue in perpetuity, even after the end of the five-year span of the project. The incentive scheme must be designed to remove the identified barriers and create an enabling environment and institutional framework for sustainable production of crops, Biodiversity Conservation, Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR), and Sustainable Land Management (SLM).
5. Replicability – should yield lessons which can be applied to other areas in Uganda and beyond through which improved Integrated Landscape Management approaches at landscape, national and regional levels is expected to be realized. In this regard, best practices and lessons learned at landscape, national and regional levels will be documented and shared for wider adoption, replication, leveraging and dissemination through landscape, country, regional and global platforms and knowledge networks.
6. Attractive to the private sector – must provide sound business case and reasons why the private sector should contribute and participate in sustainable production of crops, Biodiversity Conservation, Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR), and Sustainable Land Management (SLM).

3 Objectives and tasks of the assignment:

3.1 Objectives

The main objective is to identify and design an incentive scheme aimed at attracting and rewarding farmers, community members, the private sector and other stakeholders’ participation in Biodiversity Conservation, Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR), Sustainable Land Management (SLM) and for sustainable production of crops, value chains and their marketing in the Mt. Elgon landscape.

The specific objectives of the assignment are to:

1. Identify existing and potential incentive schemes (revolving funds and credit schemes) and select appropriate ones for sustainable production of crops, Biodiversity Conservation, Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR), and Sustainable Land Management (SLM), in Mt. Elgon landscape.
2. Train farmers (both men and women), youth, PWDs, elderly persons to manage and utilize incentive schemes (revolving fund and credit schemes).
3. Promote appropriate incentive schemes (revolving fund and credit schemes) for sustainable crop production, Biodiversity Conservation, Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR), and Sustainable Land Management (SLM), in the Mt. Elgon landscape

3.2 Tasks

The consultant will be expected to carry out the following tasks involving a mix of research, consultations and canvassing the views of various stakeholders, including but not limited to, a) the private sector, b) target communities, farmer groups etc.), c) Project implementing partners (see Section 1.3):

1. To study, review and identify existing incentive schemes in a similar context to gather replicable lessons at national, regional and global levels and provide key lessons for adoption and replication.
2. To mobilize and harness the goodwill of the Uganda private sector in general and in Mt. Elgon Landscape in particular to participate in and contribute to the incentive scheme by appealing to both their sense of corporate social responsibility, and as a marketing opportunity.
3. To analyze the various groups which might be targeted for participation in the scheme; and to align rewards accordingly, e.g., youth, individuals at the household level, farmer associations/groups level, and community level etc.
4. Map the role of domestic companies/suppliers in value chains of leading domestic, multinational and regional companies that have made or may have incentives to make public climate commitments, including for sustainable crop production, Biodiversity Conservation, Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR), and Sustainable Land Management (SLM) and potential partnerships to leverage marketing of the beneficiaries’ agricultural products and services.
5. Map women owned and gender balanced startups, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the target nine (9) districts with potential for crop supply chain and marketing partnerships for improved sustainable market linkages and responsible value chains for coffee and staple crops.
6. Identify potential social enterprises and public-private partnerships (PPPs) for responsible value chains for coffee and staple crops targeting vulnerable communities to market their products produced by the women green business groups in the target area.
7. Identify environmental, social, legal or other challenges that could hinder private sector investments and scale-up of sustainable crop production, Biodiversity Conservation, Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR), and Sustainable Land Management (SLM), including circularity and supporting value chains.
8. Conduct a study of the demographics of likely reward recipient groups/categories to determine the relative targets/rewards.
9. To assess the qualitative and relative value of measurable targets on sustainable crop production, Biodiversity Conservation, Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR), and Sustainable Land Management (SLM), to be met and the correspondent value of rewards which might be required for: i. Year-one of the schemes, and ii. In subsequent years of the project.
10. Provide a range of non-monetary and monetary rewards which might be attractive to various project stakeholders, e.g., individual households, farmer groups, community groups etc.
11. Identify and describe the key tools for the operation of the scheme; and recommend the simple steps required to procure and institute the same, e.g., an App.
12. Devise a simple system(s) for recording and tracking sustainable crop production, Biodiversity Conservation, Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR), and Sustainable Land Management (SLM), implementation in relation to rewards.
13. Develop a system to assess, value and record the measurable targets of sustainable crop production, Biodiversity Conservation, Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR), and Sustainable Land Management (SLM), to be rewarded at any given time.
14. Identify key private sector partners who might be desirous and capable of contributing to such a scheme.
15. Engage and identify prospective private sector partners and determine the nature and quantum of their likely contribution – products, goods, services etc. being offered as part of the scheme.
16. Discuss, agree and document strategies to encourage and incentivize prospective private sector firms to join/participate in the scheme.
17. Liaise with the Project Management Unit (PMU) and develop widespread knowledge of the incentive scheme by key communities/publics.
18. Design and institute measures to measure, monitor and assess the performance of the scheme at key intervals.
19. Recommend and provide guidelines on the key steps required for implementing the incentive scheme.

5 Deliverables

The consultant shall submit the following deliverables within the agreed timeframes:

1. Benchmark study of existing incentive schemes in a similar situation (sustainable behavioral change): description of the context, key aspects of the scheme, replicable lessons, failure or limit analysis.
2. Beneficiary Groups report detailing:
   1. Mapping analysis of the demographics of likely reward recipient.
   2. Description of non-monetary and monetary rewards attractive to different groups – nature, targeted group, quantity, duration.
   3. Quantity and relative deliverable target value of sustainable crop production, Biodiversity Conservation, Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR), and Sustainable Land Management (SLM) and the correspondent value of rewards which might be required for (i) Year-one of the schemes, and (ii) subsequent years.
3. Private sector involvement report, detailing:
   1. Motivational factors analysis of private sector to be involved in the incentive scheme: market exposure, environmental corporate responsibility, business development etc.
   2. Comprehensive database of firms and institutions which have agreed to participate in the scheme (number, e-mails etc.), filtered by size, interest, sector, motivational factor etc.
   3. Description of the Incentive offers from the private sector: nature, quantum, duration, readiness to implement, targeted groups.
4. Key specifications for digitizing the incentive scheme, detailing:
   1. Description of the key features of an App to operate the incentive scheme, including (i) tracking and use of beneficiaries’ rewards, (ii) private sector offers management, (iii) incentive performance monitoring, (iv) recording and tracking the intake in relation to rewards, (v) measurable value of sustainable crop production, Biodiversity Conservation, Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR), and Sustainable Land Management (SLM).
5. “How to” guidelines to implement the incentive scheme: planning, stakeholders’ involvement, communication steps, app design stages etc.
6. Recommendations to encourage and expand the incentive scheme, detailing:
   1. Description of strategies to encourage and incentivize prospective private sector firms and District Local Governments to join/participate in the scheme.
   2. Precise activities to be implemented by the Project Management Unit to ensure widespread knowledge of the incentive scheme by key communities/publics.

6 Duration: 30-man days spread over a period of 2 months.

7 Qualifications and experience

Basic requirements**:**

The ideal skills set, and experience required for this assignment should include the following: In-depth experience and qualification in the related fields (5-10 years’ experience), viz., a) Marketing (mandatory), b) Business Management, c) Community Development, d) Economics.

Experience and skills:

Experience and familiarity with the Ugandan private sector. Previous experience and qualification in data management and analysis, process design. Previous experience in environmental projects implementation in the East Africa, and preferably in Uganda would be a considerable asset. Demonstrated ability to think creatively with innovation, using new technologies, and be adaptable to new ideas.

How to apply

https://www.iucn.org/procurement/currently-running-tenders