Expression of Interest - Details
- Eoi Name:
- Consultancy Services For The Design Of A Redd+ Benefit Sharing Plan
- Pack #:
- TF-093723
- Post Date:
- 23rd February, 2017
- Submit Date:
- 01st March, 2017
- Tender Cat:
- Consultancy Services
- Agency:
- Nursing and Midwifery Training School- Koforidua
- Industry:
- General
- Description:
- Consultancy Services For The Design Of A Redd+ Benefit Sharing Plan For The Ghana Cocoa-Forest Redd+ Programme (GCFRP) Area
A. BACKGROUND
The Government of the Republic of Ghana, represented by the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources in collaboration with the Forestry Commission of Ghana (FC), an implementing agency of the Ministry, intends to engage a Consultant to undertake the assignment as listed above.
Ghana has been implementing REDD+ Readiness Activities since 2011 with financial support from the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) of the World Bank and other local and international partners. The Climate Change Unit of the Forestry Commission serves as the National REDD+ Secretariat (herein referred to as NRS) and has responsibility for the coordination of Ghana’s REDD+ process. Ghana has made significant progress on REDD+ readiness, with her REDD+ Readiness Package (R-package) endorsed by the Participants Committee of the FCPF in September 2016. Key activities under the four (4) FCPF’s REDD+ Readiness thematic components, i.e.:
• Readiness Organisation and Consultation;
• REDD+ Strategy Preparation;
• Establishment of a Reference Emission Level/ Reference Level;
• Setting up of Monitoring System for Forests and Safeguards.
The first phase of Ghana’s REDD+ Readiness was successfully completed in November, 2014 and Ghana has received Additional Funding from the FCPF for continuation and consequent completion of REDD+ Readiness activities to enable the country to fully develop the frameworks, systems and structures necessary for engagement in an international REDD+ mechanism.
Additionally, Ghana has also been selected into the pipeline of the FCPF Carbon Fund following approval of Ghana’s Cocoa-Forest REDD+ Emissions Reduction Programme Idea Note (ER-PIN) by the Carbon Fund in Brussels in early April, 2014. In line with Ghana's emerging national REDD+ strategy options, the Ghana Cocoa-Forest REDD+ Program (GCFRP) targets the cocoa and forests mosaic landscape within the High Forest Zone, with a vision to reduce carbon emissions driven by expansionist cocoa farming practices and other agricultural drivers, whilst enhancing farmers’ productivity and fostering a multi-stakeholder, public-private sector, collaborative effort across the program area. As part of the methodological framework requirements set out by the Carbon Fund for the development of the Emissions Reduction Program Documents (ERPDs), all Emissions Reduction (ER) programs should use clear and transparent benefit sharing mechanisms which respect customary rights to lands and territories and reflect broad community support so that REDD+ incentives are applied in an effective and equitable manner.
Based on the above and building on work already done under the first phase of REDD+ Readiness assessing options for benefit sharing schemes to be adopted for REDD+ based on existing benefit sharing schemes in the Forestry sector, a consultant is being hired to develop a Benefit Sharing Plan (BSP) for anticipated monetary (carbon) and non-monetary (non-carbon) benefits from the GCFRP. A BSP in this context is defined as a plan developed by the Emissions Reduction program Entity in accordance with the ER program document and the methodological framework of the Carbon fund.
B. OBJECTIVE OF ASSIGNMENT
The objective of this assignment is to develop a BSP through a transparent and inclusive process that respects the rights and privileges of all relevant stakeholders and also clearly defines the expected inputs, roles and responsibilities for achieving the desired Emissions Reduction. The BSP will elaborate on the benefit sharing arrangements for monetary and non-monetary benefits, as described in the ER program document and taking into account the important need for managing expectations among potential beneficiaries.
2.1 Attributes of the Benefit Sharing Plan
• The BSP should identify the potential beneficiaries and describe their eligibility to receive potential monetary and non-monetary benefits under the ER program and the types and scale of such potential monetary and non-monetary benefits should be culturally appropriate, gender and inter-generationally inclusive;
• The BSP should define the criteria, processes and timelines for the distribution of monetary and non-monetary benefits;
• The BSP should provide monitoring provisions for its implementation and also an opportunity for participation in the monitoring and or validation process by the beneficiaries themselves;
• The BSP should be prepared as part of a consultative, transparent and participatory process just as with the consultative processes of the GCFRP and should reflect inputs by relevant stakeholders including local communities;
• The BSP should be disclosed in a form, manner and language understandable to the affected stakeholders of the GCFRP;
• The design of the BSP should comply with relevant applicable laws, including national laws and any legally binding national obligations under relevant international laws as applicable, and conform to the Methodological Framework of the Carbon Fund.
C. SCOPE OF WORK
Working closely with the NRS and other key stakeholders, the Consultant shall develop a BSP for the GCFRP taking into consideration findings and recommendations of the review and assessment of a study on options for benefit sharing for REDD+ in Ghana conducted during Phase 1 of REDD+ Readiness (William and Ernest Foli et al. 2014). The development of the BSP shall be transparent, inclusive and undertaken in close collaboration with the NRS and other key stakeholders, especially local communities, women and vulnerable people. To effectively undertake this exercise, the consultant shall develop a consultation plan for convening and facilitating discussions on the BSP with cross-sections of key stakeholders in the NRM sector including policy makers (e.g. MLNR, COCOBOD, MESTI etc.), private sector actors especially actors involved in the design and implementation of the evolving GCFRP, and civil society actors and representatives of local communities.
Specific Tasks
a) Scoping of REDD+ rights in the context of the GCFRP
Consultant shall acquaint himself/herself with gaps in Ghana’s legal framework with respect to benefit sharing, which are well-documented and related to the context of REDD+ in Ghana. Where these gaps are unlikely to be addressed in a short timeframe (e.g. legislation on tree tenure) for the development of the ERPD, the Consultant should suggest a working definition of REDD+ rights in the context of the GCFRP and how they meet universal principles of equity and effectiveness (based on options analysis). This scope should be subjected to vetting by the relevant stakeholders.
b) Establish Principles, Criteria and Indicators for Benefit Sharing
The consultant shall:
• define the expected benefits, both monetary and non-monetary, and the criteria for the classification of these benefits;
• through an extensive consultative process, determine the criteria for defining the share of benefits that goes to each beneficiary taking into consideration their contribution towards the successful implementation of the GCFRP.
c) Scoping and identification of actors and beneficiaries in the program area
The consultant shall:
• determine the key stakeholders (actors) and potential beneficiaries taking into account the scope and nature of benefits to be generated from the GCFRP;
• clearly define the roles and responsibilities of each actor or entity in the GCFRP;
• provide clarity on the identification of potential carbon and priority non-carbon (watershed management, soil management, etc) benefits, taking into consideration the implementation plan for the GCFRP;
• develop indicators for assessing the performance of different entities or actors involved in the implementation of the GCFRP;
• develop modalities for managing the risk of non-performance from any of the entities or actors within the GCFRP;
• propose a set of criteria for the selection of suitable representative for various stakeholder groups, especially local communities, who have the capacity and mandate to act on their behalf.
d) Clearly define the options for sharing of REDD+ benefits
The consultant shall propose appropriate percentages of ER revenue to be shared among different eligible beneficiaries based on varying responsibility scenarios.
The identified options should be assessed against a transparent list of criteria, including, but not limited to:
• Effectiveness (to what extent do the options proposed address the drivers of deforestation and forest degradation);
• Efficiency (what are the costs associated with running these options); and
• Equity in ensuring all relevant stakeholders are duly benefited (to what extent the proposed options promote fairness).
e) Management Arrangements for Benefit Sharing
The consultant shall:
• Propose a mechanism for the transparent and timely channelling of financial benefits targeted beneficiaries;
• Integrate and adapt the feedback and grievance redress mechanism (FGRM) developed for REDD+ in Ghana to the proposed BSP in a manner that ensures consistency and enables the FGRM to solve any grievances arising out of ER payments or benefits;
• Based on best practice, propose the rate and basis of update or review of the BSP if needed;
• Develop a monitoring and evaluation plan that promotes equity and fairness in the of the implementation of the BSP;
f) Establish a Benefit Sharing Plan
Finally the consultant should consolidate all the findings and results of tasks undertaken into a Benefit Sharing Plan detailing both carbon and non-carbon benefits, actors, beneficiaries and percentage share of benefits/risks to each stakeholder group. A roadmap should be developed to set up an institutional framework with supporting legal structures to facilitate the implementation of the BSP. In so doing, the consultant shall advise and prepare the most appropriate legal document that formally establishes the detailed BSP as well as associated sub-agreements that would eventually be signed between program potential beneficiaries and actors.
D. KEY DELIVERABLES AND OUTPUTS
Deliverables
The Consultancy is expected to last for a period of six (6) months and the expected deliverables are:
• Submission of an inception report indicating work schedule, methodology, planned consultations etc, two (2) weeks after signing of contract;
• Two monthly progress reports based on the validated work plan;
• First Draft Report of BSP four (4) weeks to the end of the contract (This report shall be subjected to key stakeholder review and re-submitted to the consultant for any edits);
• Submission of Draft Final BSP two weeks to the end of the contract (This report shall be subjected to National validation and re-submitted to the consultant for final edits);
• Submission of Final BSP by the end date of the contract.
Outputs
• Benefit Sharing Plan developed for the GCFRP area.
E. REQUIRED COMPETENCIES AND EXPERTISE
• In depth knowledge and understanding of Ghana’s Forest Laws and Policy;
• Knowledge in international REDD+ Benefit sharing requirements;
• Experience in multi-stakeholder engagement processes;
• Familiarity with the Carbon Fund’s methodological Framework for ER programs;
• Extensive knowledge in benefit sharing schemes within the forestry sector in Ghana;
F. EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATION AND PROFESSIONAL EXPERTISE
• The consultant should have at least 5 years experience of research in the fields of either social science, natural resources or both. He or she should hold a minimum of a Masters degree in Social science and/or Natural Resource management with minimum 7 years working experience in collaborative resource management. The consultant should be assisted by a researcher with a minimum of a BSc in Natural resources or a related field.
G. LANGUAGE REQUIREMENTS
• Fluency in both written and spoken English
• Fluency in the most widely spoken language in the ERP area (i.e. Akan) will be a plus.
H. INSTITUTIONAL AND ORGANIZATIONAL ARRANGEMENTS
During the delivery of services, the Consultants shall be under the direct supervision of the Head, National REDD+ Secretariat or any staff of the NRS delegated by the Head for that responsibility. The Consultant shall also work closely with the World Bank Task Team Leader for the FCPF and other key national and international stakeholders.
The Forestry Commission of Ghana (FC) now invites eligible Consultant with proven capabilities and qualifications to indicate their interest in providing the services. Interested Consultant must provide information indicating that they have the required qualifications and relevant experience to perform the services (Description of similar assignments and experience in similar conditions, appropriate key staff). Consultants having the required experience and competence relevant to the assignment shall be assessed and compared, and the best qualified and experience Consultant shall be selected. Proposals shall be assessed by “Qualitative Assessment method†by which Consultant with the most appropriate qualifications and references shall be selected. Only the selected Consultant shall be asked to submit a Combined Technical and Financial Proposal.
- Source of Funds:
- -
- Region:
- National
- District:
- Not Applicable
- Contact Person:
- The Head of Climate Change Unit, Forestry Commission
- Email :
- beemayaw@gmail.com
- Tel :
- 0302-401210 / 0244769874
- Fax :
- Website: