Terms of Reference (TOR)

Published March 12, 2025 | By Amphaphone Phongphan

National Climate Smart Agriculture Consultant (NCSAC)

Governance, Forest Landscapes and Livelihoods (GFLL) – Northern Laos

BACKGROUND

The Government of Lao (GoL) has demonstrated its commitment to reduce emissions through its active participation in the global initiative of REDD+ — Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation. The GoL views REDD+ as an opportunity to balance conservation and development through the effective land use planning and sustainable management of its rich forest resources.

The GoL through the Department of Forestry (DoF) at the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) initiated its REDD+ Readiness process with its participation in the World Bank’s Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF). Having completed its REDD+ Readiness DoF started its first sub-national emission reduction project through FCPF’s Carbon Fund in 2018.

Titled Governance, Forest Landscapes and Livelihoods – Northern Laos (GFLL) the six northern provinces of Lao PDR, namely Bokeo, Huaphan Luang Namtha, Luang Prabang, Oudomxay, and Sayaburi. The area constitutes approximately one-third of both the country’s geographical and forest area, with a population of 1.8 million people and where the dominant land use designation is forest. The project is managed by a National Project Management Unit (NPMU) located at the REDD+ Division of DoF.

GFLL is now in its implementation phase and is planning to recruit a National Climate Smart Agriculture Consultant (NCSAC) for its NPMU.

OBJECTIVE OF ASSIGNMENT

To contribute to the development and implementation of climate smart agriculture approaches and technical models in selected villages of the project area.

SCOPE OF WORK AND MAIN TASKS

The Consultant duties and responsibilities include, but are not limited to, the following:

Develop a work plan for climate smart agriculture as required by the project document, results framework, and operations manual
Provide technical support for climate smart agriculture, value chain development, market access, and small and medium size enterprise linkages
Develop technical models to promote climate smart implementation of selected crops
Contribute to land use asessments, PLUP, and other measures for village level zoning
Support PAFO (Province Agriculture and Forestry Office) and DAFO (District Agriculture and Forestry Office) staff for agriculture and forestry activities
Support the development of agriculture, forestry and natural resource management plans and actions in project villages, and develop budgets, and monitoring mechanisms
Develop and maintain coordination mechanisms with PAFO AND DAFO and other stakeholders in the project
Develop implementation strategy to mainstream the Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) technologies across all areas of intervention, including high value crops and irrigation
Analyse existing good practices and knowledge on CSA in Laos and provide practical guidance on including climate smart technologies in each of the identified value chains
Identify and rank crops affected by climate change and natural hazards, and recommend priorities to be addressed, on the basis of assessed impacts and relevance of crops to food security, incomes, added value and export
Assess barriers, gaps and needs for the adoption and implementation of climate smart agriculture approaches for selected crops related to policy, governance, research, technology development, information, and capacity building
Design and conduct capacity building activities as required to meet all project objectives
Design and undertake consultation activities with stakeholders
Provide technical support to Village Development Committee (VDC) for planning, development, implementation, and monitoring of village action plans
Work closely with the NPMU, Technical Assistance Team, and other Development Partners in the project area.

DELIVERABLES

The National Climate Smart Agriculture Consultant will provide the following deliverables:

Work plans and budgets
Village action plans and agreements
Monitoring and reporting plan
Technical presentations and briefs
Reports of workshops, consultations and field visits
Progress reports of activities

Monthly self-report on activities and time sheet.

EXPERIENCE AND QUALIFICATIONS

The candidate for the position of National Climate Smart Agriculture Consultant should have the following experience and qualifications:

A bachelor’s degree or higher, majoring in agriculture, climate change, economics or related field
At least five years experience related to agriculture project planning and development and climate change
Demonstrated expertise with development of technical models for CSA, agro forestry and agriculture-forest linkages
Knowledge and practical expertise in climate change mitigation/adaptation and community-based project development and implementation
Ability to design and conduct capacity building events for different stakeholders
Prior experience with forest projects, preferably in Northern Laos
Familiarity with Department of Forestry procedures and regulations, and work experience at province and district level with Provincial and District Agriculture and Forestry Offices
Field-based experience at the village level with local communities, village institutions, including with Village Development Communities
Technical knowledge of regulations related to agriculture, land tenure, forest and land use zoning and planning and PLUP – Participatory Land Use Planning and in development of PLUPs

Experience in working and collaborating with government representatives, local authorities, civil society organizations, and other stakeholders
Familiarity with use of spatial planning tools and resources
Fluent in writing and speaking in Lao and English.

DUTY STATION AND DURATION

The National Climate Smart Agriculture Consultant will report to the National Project Coordinator, REDD+ Division in Vientiane, Lao PDR. The Consultant will be based at the National Project Management Unit in Vientiane with frequent travel to the project sites. The services of the expert are required full-time for an initial one-year period from 01 July 2023 to 30 June 2024.

E-mail: procurement.gfll@gmail.com