CONSULTANT TO CONDUCT AN ASSESMENT OF THE ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND ENVIRONMENT BENEFITS OF THE RUBAYA DEMONSTRATION PROJECT-GICUMBI DISTRICT AND BENEFITS OF PROJECT REPLICATION

Background  Rwanda’s “Vision 2020”, the country’s overarching national planning and policy framework to which other GoR strategies, plans, programmes and policies are anchored, recognizes that environmental degradation makes it more challenging to achieve development objectives such as poverty reduction.  Thus, environment and development issues need to be addressed in a co-ordinated manner. The document states clearly that Rwanda will endeavour to “mainstream the environmental sustainability issues in all development policies, programmes and actions to realise equitable and sustainable development. As part of the road towards realising the Vision 2020, environmental sustainability has been given priority both as a specific sector and as a crosscutting issue in national medium term strategies like the just concluded Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy (EDPRS I) and its successor strategy (EDPRS II) now under preparation, as well as other national, sector and sub national planning processes. The integration of pro-poor environmental sustainability objectives into national planning at all levels serves as a critical input to both sustainability and national poverty reduction initiatives. In close collaboration with the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, sectors have been very active in mainstreaming environment and climate change in their plans, budgets and policies. The Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning (MINECOFIN) has been spearheading this exercise through the Sector Strategic Planning guidelines and the Budget Call Circulars where all budget agencies are required to mainstream environment and climate change.        Subsequently, drawing lessons from the recent initiatives, the process to mainstream Environment and climate change issues into the next generation of the EDPRS is underway. However, the main issue at hand is how the national, sector and sub national policies that include environment and climate change can be designed and implemented to reach and sustainably transform the lives of the poorest people at the community level. This requires that policy objectives are translated into practical tangible actions on the ground that sector and sub-national entities like agriculture, local Governments and community actors use to further mainstream environmental sustainability and achieve economic and social development goals. It is against this background that REMA decided on a pilot demonstration of an integrated environmental management program named Rubaya Demonstration project in Rubaya sector, Gicumbi district.  The main purpose of this initiative was to practically demonstrate how poverty problems related to environment and natural resources management (land use, agriculture, human settlements, health and education) can be addressed through participatory integrated approaches to generate sustainable livelihoods, fight poverty and transform rural economies in an environmentally sustainable manner.  More specifically, how investments in environmental sustainability can help achieve development goals such as poverty reduction, food security and the empowerment of women. To address the above mentioned problems REMA therefore supported the initiative which includes a number of inter-linked components. These include provision of water reservoirs to control run-off and ensure that it is productively utilized; control of soil erosion to reduce the loss of fertile top soil and retain much of the water through terracing.  In the demonstration project, Girinka, the one cow per family has become a communal rather than individual project. There is a common collection centre for waste from the cows and also human waste which is used to generate biogas that is distributed to all the houses for cooking and lighting. The residue is then used as manure in the terraces. Rain water from all the rooftops is collected into 7 underground tanks of 100m3 each from where it is piped to different taps in the village (Umudugudu). To ensure effective replication and scale up of the best practices and the lessons learnt from the Rubaya demonstration project and to effectively support the on-going EDPRS II processes, REMA/PEI is recruiting an international consultant and a national consultant to carry out an analysis of the costs and benefits of the demonstration project as stipulated in the specific ToRs as outlined below. The consultants will be selected under a Consultant Qualifications Selection (CQS). The consultants will collaboratively assess the economic, social and environment benefits of the Rubaya demonstration project-Gicumbi District and benefits of Project replication Introduction Rwanda’s “Vision 2020”, the country’s overarching national planning and policy framework to which other GoR strategies, plans, programmes and policies are anchored, recognizes that environmental degradation makes it more challenging to achieve development objectives such as poverty reduction.  Thus, environment and development issues need to be addressed in a co-ordinated manner. The document states clearly that Rwanda will endeavour to “mainstream the environmental sustainability issues in all development policies, programmes and actions to realise equitable and sustainable development. As part of the road towards realising the Vision 2020, environmental sustainability has been given priority both as a specific sector and as a crosscutting issue in national medium term strategies like the just concluded Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy (EDPRS I) and its successor strategy (EDPRS II) now under preparation, as well as other national, sector and sub national planning processes. The integration of pro-poor environmental sustainability objectives into national planning at all levels serves as a critical input to both sustainability and national poverty reduction initiatives. This is fully recognized by the Government of Rwanda, which through the support of the Poverty and Environment Initiative Program (PEI), led by REMA in close co-operation with MINECOFIN and other ministries has been very active in influencing the sectors to mainstream environment and climate change in sector plans, budgets and policies. The Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning (MINECOFIN) has been spearheading the exercise through the Sector Strategic Planning guidelines and the Budget Call Circulars where all budget agencies are required to mainstream environment and climate change. Subsequently, drawing lessons from the recent initiatives, the process to mainstream Environment and climate change issues into the next generation of the EDPRS is underway. However, the main issue at hand is how the national, sector and sub national policies that include environment and climate change can be designed and implemented to reach and sustainably transform the lives of the poorest people at the community level. This requires that policy objectives are translated into practical tangible actions on the ground that sector and sub-national entities like agriculture, local Governments and community actors use to further mainstream environmental sustainability and achieve economic and social development goals. It is against this background that REMA decided on a pilot demonstration of an integrated environmental management program named Rubaya Demonstration project in Rubaya sector, Gicumbi district.  The main purpose of this initiative was to practically demonstrate how poverty problems related to environment and natural resources management (land use, agriculture, human settlements, health and education) can be addressed through participatory integrated approaches to generate sustainable livelihoods, fight poverty and transform rural economies in an environmentally sustainable manner.  More specifically, how investments in environmental sustainability can help achieve development goals such as poverty reduction, food security and the empowerment of women. To address the above mentioned problems REMA therefore supported the initiative which includes a number of inter-linked components. These include provision of water reservoirs to control run-off and ensure that it is productively utilized; control of soil erosion to reduce the loss of fertile top soil and retain much of the water through terracing.  In the demonstration project, Girinka, the one cow per family has become a communal rather than individual project. There is a common collection centre for waste from the cows and also human waste which is used to generate biogas that is distributed to all the houses for cooking and lighting. The residue is then used as manure in the terraces. Rain water from all the rooftops is collected into 7 underground tanks of 100 cm3 each from where it is piped to different taps in the village (Umudugudu). To ensure effective replication and scale up of the best practices and the lessons learnt from the Rubaya demonstration project and to effectively support the on going EDPRS II processes, REMA/PEI is recruiting an international consultant(s) and a national consultant to carry out an analysis of the costs and benefits of the demonstration project as stipulated in the specific ToRs as outlined below. Considering the nature of the project, which is a first for Rwanda and the most substantive pilot project in all of the nine PEI Africa countries, the detailed data collection and analysis required, plus the modelling work required, the project is recruiting both an international consultant and a national consultant, to ensure the necessary consultancies and most cost-effective approach to the consultancy.

Duties and Responsibilities

Purpose: To identify: The net economic, social and environmental benefits of the Rubaya demonstration project The potential net benefits to Rwanda of the replication of the demonstration project in order to make the case for the Government and development partners to invest in the widespread replication of the project. REMA realises that identification of the net benefits plus effective documentation of lessons and good practices learnt in the Rubaya demonstration project will be critical to effective replication of the project. This replication could play a key role in achieving a number of EDPRS objectives and MDGs, particularly those relating to poverty reduction, food security, environmental sustainability and economic and empowerment of women. This consultancy will generate the information necessary for REMA and partners to present a strong case for the effective scale up and replication of Rubaya to other provinces, districts and sectors based on the benefits and the best practices and lessons learnt from the project. Duties and Responsibilities of the Consultancy The Consultants will prepare two reports in close consultation with the PEI programme manager that identify: Stage One) The net economic, social and environmental benefits of the Rubaya demonstration project Stage Two) The potential net benefits to Rwanda of the widespread replication of the demonstration project. The consultants are to undertake the following tasks in close consultation with the PEI Programme manager: Stage One: Identify the net economic, social and environmental benefits of the Rubaya demonstration project Provide general background information and description of the Rubaya project Identify data collection requirements to support verifiable and meaningful results Identify methodologies to measure the net economic, social and environmental benefits of the Rubaya demonstration project and describe how they would be applied in this consultancy. (E.g. Cost-benefit analysis and Social Return on Investment analysis; Group discussions, household surveys etc). Description of development, social and environmental issues targeted by the project. Links to EDPRS and DDP objectives and MDGs should be identified Identify the detailed activities and costs of activities in monetary and non-monetary terms. (E.g. time contributed by community members) Identify the economic, social and environmental benefits of the project in monetary and non-monetary terms. Links between the benefits and EDPRS objectives, the DDP and the MDGs should be described.  The identification of benefits should also identify poverty-environment issues and how they are addressed by the project.  Assess the net benefits in monetary and non-monetary terms, including the rate of return on investment and the social rate of return on investment. Describe and assess the effectiveness and efficiency of the institutional arrangements for the design, implementation and management of the project. This is to include assessment of the cooperative that was created to manage the demonstration project, including the suitability of the co-operative for ensuring sustainability of the demonstration project Draft a monitoring system with appropriate indicators and the baselines to monitor the Rubaya demonstration project. Specific issues and categories of costs and benefits to include in the report – (but the report is not to be limited to these); Cost of the former houses and the actual cost to date of the new houses, including maintenanc Water access and water use compared to the distances formerly travelled and time taken to fetch water, identify how the time saved is used The use of biogas versus fuel wood use - measure the quantity of fire wood that was formerly used and how biogas supports environmental sustainability, improved cooking and water purification, time saved etc How the agriculture production and productivity increased in quantity and was diversified due to Rubaya project activities – e.g. terracing, irrigation, manure from the biogas, etc. Measure how this impacted on food production and food security, household incomes, employment etc Evaluation of the benefits from one cow program and how this program impacted on  production, incomes, employment and food security, including improved nutrition for children The impact of the demonstration project activities in reducing social vulnerability e.g from land slides Impact of the project on health issues by, for example, data collection at the relevant health clinic Impact on education Assess the impact of the demonstration project on social cohesion and security issues  Assess the qualitative change in citizen empowerment as a result of the demonstration project, including on information obtained during the consultancy (e.g. from household surveys/interviews Identify and measure the impact of the demonstration project to the surrounding population (externalities). These externalities include the distribution of cows to other people outside the demonstration project through one cow program. Make any recommendations for improving the design and implementation of additional examples of the Rubaya project. Stage Two: Identify the potential net benefits to Rwanda of the widespread replication of the demonstration project Identify the methodology to identify the potential net benefits of different levels of scaling up the Rubaya project in terms of relevant EDPRS objectives and MDGs. (E.g. in terms of incomes, including on poverty reduction, food security, environmental sustainability including soil erosion and deforestation, water and sanitation, gender, child health and education, fiscal implications, including tax) The different levels of scaling up are to be discussed and agreed, but will include at district, provincial and national levels. Estimate the net benefits at different level of scaling up, to be presented consistent with the analysis in Stage 1, including in terms of relevant EDPRS objectives and MDGs but with additional categories e.g. on fiscal indicators. Output/deliverables Inception report within 14 days of the signature of the contract, to include Comprehensive and detailed methodology for stages 1 and 2 Report outlines (chapters) for Stages 1 and 2 Summary of data availability Draft report-Stage 1 Final Stage1 Report Draft Stage 2 Report Final Stage 2 Report Summary report based on both reports A policy brief based on Stage 1 report summarizing the benefits and lessons learnt of the Rubaya project A policy brief based on Stage 2 report supporting the scaling up of the Rubaya project Outline communication strategy to influence key decision-makers (PEI Rwanda is likely to develop a more comprehensive communication strategy) Presentation of reports at workshop Finalisation of reports Management/Reporting The consultants will report to the PEI Rwanda programme manager, who will provide day to day and overall management on behalf of REMA. The assignment is to be carried out in close consultation with relevant ministries, particularly MINECOFIN. Draft and final reports to be provided to REMA and MINECOFIN UNDP Rwanda and PEI Africa will provide technical advisory support, including substantive input to methodology design, detailed comments on draft reports Key Government of Rwanda ministries will be requested to provide comments on drafts, participate in validation workshops and the final workshop. (MINRENA,MINECOFIN, MINAGRI Local Government, Water etc),  Validation workshops will be held for the draft reports (suggest that these workshops be attended by a smaller group with substantive technical skills) Final reports  presented at a workshop Respective roles of the International and National consultant The international consultant is to lead the consultancy, with the national consultant being managed by the international consultant. The PEI Rwanda national manager will provide management guidance to clarify any issues arising over the respective roles of the international and national consultant.

Competencies

Functional Competencies: Excellent communication skills, reporting with ability to express ideas clearly, concisely and effectively, both orally and in writing; Good planning& organization skills Professionalism Strong interpersonal skills with ability to work under pressure; Ability to take initiative and to work independently, as well as part of a team Good planning & Organization skills

Required Skills and Experience

International Consultant Education Master’s degree or preferably PhD in a relevant field such as economics, development studies, Environment/Natural Resources Management Experience Minimum 10 years work experience in related fields such as poverty-environment mainstreaming, design and implementation of Poverty Reduction Strategies, project design, monitoring and evaluation, cost-benefit analysis and associated methodologies, and strategic planning; The international Consultant should be familiar with carrying out cost benefit analysis and modelling; Experience in poverty focused data analysis and management of environmental issues; Be willing to travel extensively in rural areas and districts. Languages Requirements Fluency in written and spoken English. Knowledge of French is an added advantage National Consultant   Education Master’s degree in relevant field such as economics, Environment/Natural Resources Management    Experience  Minimum of 5 years’ experience with at least 3 years working experience in Rwanda; The national consultant should possess a good understanding of ongoing processes such as EDPRS, sector planning and DDPs; Have familiar with participatory rural appraisal techniques; Experience in institutional coordination and harmonisation; Proven capacity to organize and facilitate workshops and meetings; Computer literacy in full Microsoft Office Package and web browser capability; Languages Requirements Fluency in written and spoken English. Knowledge of French is an added advantage Ability to communicate in the local language Kinyarwanda All reporting must be in English Duration of Assignment The assignment will comprise 54 days for the international consultant and 72 days for the national consultant over a period of 4 months starting from the date the contract is signed Submission requirements The application shall include: A motivation letter expressing suitability for the assignment Curriculum Vitae of the consultant with the required supporting documents (Copies of Academic qualifications); List of previous work, contractual responsibility and successful completion of at least 5 similar services; Methodology that demonstrates a clear understanding of the Terms of Reference, relevance to the assignment needs and a work schedule that responds to REMA’s proposed assignment timeframe A detailed work plan and a financial proposal that will facilitate contract negotiations. Address for submission:   All applications to be clearly marked “Application for International/National Consultant to conduct an assessment of the economic, social and environment benefits of the Rubaya demonstration project-Gicumbi District and benefits of Project replication” and Addressed to: The Director General of REMA Inyota House, near UK Embassy Boulevard de l’Umuganda P.O.Box 7436 Kacyiru-Kigali,          Other Details:Late applications shall not be considered and online application is unacceptable The deadline for the submission of applications shall be on 04/03/2013 at 14h00; Terms of Reference (ToRs) of the above mentioned consultancy can be collected at REMA’s reception or on REMA’s website (www.rema.gov.rw); Your documents shall be valid for a period of 90 days from the date of Submission; Enquiries regarding this consultancy may be addressed in writing to:   etushabe4@gmail.com  and fredsabirwa@yahoo.com           FC: 30000

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence.

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