Consultant for Environmental Mitigation and Monitoring Plan (EMMP) for FTF Premier

TechnoServe is recruiting a Consultant for Environmental Mitigation and Monitoring Plan (EMMP) for FTF Premier, to be based in Nampula and Nacala, Mozambique.

Description

• Feed the Future Mozambique Promoting Innovative and Resilient Agriculture Market Systems (FTF Premier) is a five-year, $25.5 million market systems activity that seeks to seize on opportunities to work with local market actors, increasing the resiliency of the agricultural market system in the Nacala Corridor to absorb, adapt, and respond to external climate, economic, and political shocks; to reduce poverty; and to improve food security. Through its facilitative approach, FTF Premier will facilitate support to primarily private sector actors through three main components, including exploit attractive market opportunities where the Nacala Corridor has a comparative advantage, catalyze and expand local agro-processing industries, and work with and through local third-party service providers as delivery partners
• The activity will focus on national, provincial, and regional opportunities to increase adoption of improved technologies, reduce post-harvest losses, introduce and diversify food processing (especially for fortified foods), improve business organization, and managerial skills through trainings for firms and farmers that will increase the competitiveness and profitability of agribusiness
• Activities under each sub-objective (SO) will be delivered by local partners with FTF Premier staff serving to guide, build capabilities, and pivot where needed
• SO1: Increase revenues and improve the profitability of a range of market actors by building the business, financial, and technical capabilities of agri-SMEs to provide better goods and services to medium and large agribusiness
• SO2: Improve market access for smallholder farmers (SHFs) and agri-SMEs by incentivizing large-scale buyers to test and expand inclusive sourcing models; piloting and scaling interventions to improve critical market infrastructure and value-add services; and supporting improvements to the policy and business enabling environments
• SO3: Increase access to financing and investment by reducing the high cost of capital and addressing the inherent risks financial partners face in agricultural lending
• Cross-cutting SO (CCSO): Expand economic opportunities for women and youth by integrating inclusive principles under each SO

Purpose of assignment

• FTF Premier has finalized a number of value chain and end market assessments to identify priority interventions in the Nacala corridor to increase income and create employment opportunities. The FTF Premier team will develop a detailed work plan in the third week of February based on the assessment outcomes and the selected priority interventions. To assure environmental compliance with USAID regulations of the activities in the work plan, the FTF Premier EMMP will need to be revised and updated based on the revised work plan. The main objective of this assignment is to revise the FTF Premier Environmental Mitigation and Monitoring Plan, based on the new work plan that will be developed in the coming month. The Consultant will conduct this in collaboration with the Premier Grants Manager, the Technical Director and the Chief of Party (COP) and will when requested liaise with USAID on the final document
• Per USAID guidance, an EMMP is an action plan that clearly defines:
• Mitigation measures. Actions that reduce or eliminate potential negative environmental impacts resulting directly or indirectly from a particular project or activity, including environmental limiting factors that constrain development
• Monitoring indicators. Criteria that demonstrate whether mitigation measures are suitable and implemented effectively
• Monitoring/reporting frequency. Timeframes for appropriately monitoring the effectiveness of each specific action
• Responsible parties. Appropriate, knowledgeable positions assigned to each specific action
• Field Monitoring/Issues. Field monitoring needs to be adequately addressed i.e. monitoring dates, observations, issues identified and resolution. This field is primarily for documentation during implementation
• Training of the PREMIER Team. Training the program team in implementation of the EMMP, how to conduct environmental assessments on subgrantees and how to report to the donor on environmental issues and activities
• Deliverables and timelines:
• Item Due Date
• Revised Draft EMMP for Technoserve Review: 22nd March 2023
• Final Draft EMMP: 26nd March 2023
• Final EMMP after USAID feedback: 10th April 2023

Duties

• The specific tasks and deliverables under this contract are outlined below
• Review applicable documents, in particular, FTF Premier the Mozambique Agricultural Portfolio IEE, the
• Premier Technical Program Description and the Premier Cooperative Agreement
• Review the current FTF Premier EMMP (per the required USAID format), incorporating the new updates based on the revised annual plan, for submission to USAID on 31st March, approximately 50 pages)
• Based on USAID comments on the draft EMMP, prepare a final EMMP

Requisites

• Proven understanding of environmental risks of agriculture and market systems development programs
• Knowledge about USAID environmental compliance regulations and requirements
• Proven experience in developing EMMP’s for USAID or similar programs
• Preferably a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental studies, agriculture or a related field, plus at least three years of experience in a commercial or international project setting or a master’s degree with one-year experience
• Knowledge of USAID environmental monitoring requirements on grants would be an advantage
• Proven experience on related assignments
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in Portuguese and English

Notes

• Only shortlisted applicants will be contacted
• Deadline for Submitting Proposals: All proposals must be emailed to the address below with your proposal attached in one or more files (PDF preferred). You will receive an auto-confirmation upon receipt. DO NOT email your proposal to any employee of TechnoServe or deliver your proposal in hard copy to a TechnoServe office. Failing to adhere to these instructions may make your proposal ineligible for consideration
• Terms and Conditions: The Request for Proposal is not and shall not be considered an offer by TechnoServe
• All responses must be received on or before the date and time indicated above. All late responses will be rejected
• All non-responsive answers will be rejected
• All proposals shall be considered binding offers. Proposed prices must be valid for the entire period provided by the respondent or required by the RFP
• All awards will be subject to TNS' contractual terms and conditions and dependent on the availability of donor funding
• TNS reserves the right to accept or reject any proposal or cancel the solicitation process at any time, and shall have no liability to organizations submitting proposals for such rejection or cancellation of the request for proposals
• TNS reserves the right to accept all or part of the tender when the award is made
• All information provided by TNS in this RFP is offered in good faith. Individual items are subject to change at any time, and all bidders will be notified of any changes. TNS is not responsible or liable for any use of the information submitted by bidders or for any claims arising therefrom
• TNS reserves the right to require any bidder to enter into a non-disclosure agreement
• Bidders are solely obliged to pay for any costs, of any kind, that may be incurred by the bidder or any third party in connection with the Response. All responses and supporting documentation shall become the property of TNS, subject to confidentiality claims in relation to the Response and supporting documentation that have been clearly marked as confidential by the bidder
• Competitors are required to identify and disclose any actual or potential Conflict of Interest
• We encourage all qualified individuals and organizations who share TechnoServe's vision of improving the lives of others through proven business solutions to apply. Candidates based in the region are encouraged to apply
• With our commitment to diversity, we pride ourselves on being an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer and do not discriminate on the basis of gender, race, colour, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, HIV/AIDS status, protected veteran status, disability, and all other protected classes
• Time frame: March 20 to April 10 2023