Position: National consultant to support the sustainable management and harvest of Bon Bo seed– a NTFP in Nghe An province
Duty station: Nghe An province
Reporting: VFD Nghe An provincial coordinator
I. Background
The USAID Vietnam Forest and Deltas Program (VFD), from 2013 to 2018, is being implemented through Winrock International, the Netherlands Development Organisation SNV, American Red Cross, Vietnam Red Cross and Centre for Sustainable Rural Development (SRD). The USAID Vietnam Forest and Deltas Program is embarking upon a six-year effort that supports four provinces to accelerate their transition to climate resilient, low emissions development through investments in reducing net emissions from forests, and enhancing resilience of people, places, and livelihoods to short and long-term climate impacts. In VFD, SNV provides technical leadership for the sustainable landscape component that is focusing on upland landscapes, with the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation and forests degradation, maintaining and enhancing existing forests stocks and increasing climate change resilience and sustainability of landscapes. Ethnic communities in rural mountainous people are vulnerable to climate change impacts and yet have a high dependence upon natural resources for their livelihoods. Increased income for local people through more sustainable management and harvest of NTFP has been identified as important steps in reducing forest dependence and increasing resilience to potential impacts of climate change, hazards and economic difficulties.
The seeds of Bon Bo - a native tree species grown under Nghe An forest canopy is being harvested by local communities as medicinal material in unstainable manner. VFD is seeking for a national consultant to support the local communities in the management and exploitation of this nature gifted resource more effectively and sustainably.
II. Consultancy service description:
1. Objectives
The objective of this consultancy is to support Nghe An province in developing the technical guidelines and providing trainings on sustainable management, harvest and processing of Bon Bo seeds – a NTFP in Nghe An province.
2. Scope of work
- The geographic focus of the assignment is only in Nghe An province.
- The trainings will be conducted for 03 districts of Nghe An including: Que Phong, Tuong Duong and Ky Son.
- The guidelines and trainings will focus on: enrichment planting, management, harvest and processing of Bon Bo seeds for commercial purpose.
3. Methodology and tasks
- Conduct desk review on: biological characteristics of Bon Bo trees in Nghe An.
- Conduct desk review on any existing guidelines (if any) made by other projects or organizations.
- Conduct review the current traditional methods of harvest and processing of Bon Bo seeds and identify the areas for improvement.
- Conduct interview and consultative meetings with local communities to understand the training needs and evaluate the effectiveness of new methods recently introduced by VFD.
- Based on all the above, develop the technical guidelines and providing trainings on sustainable management, plantation, harvest and processing of Bon Bo seeds.
- Provide trainings for the staff – Training of Trainer (TOT) of Ky Son, Tuong Duong and Que Phong district agriculture extension Centers on sustainable management, plantation, harvest and processing of Bon Bo seeds.
- Assist the trained staff of district agriculture Centers to further provide trainings to at least 800 local households.
4. Deliverables:
- Backbone deliverables
- Technical guidelines/trainings materials on sustainable management, plantation, harvest and processing of Bon Bo seeds – a NTFP in Nghe An province.
- Reports of trainings conducted.
- Supportive deliverables:
- Desk review reports on biological characteristics of Bon Bo trees in Nghe An.
- Reports on the issues of traditional methods of harvest and processing of Bon Bo seeds and identified areas for improvement.
- List of participants trained
- Photos of the trainings.
- List of participants
- List of reference documents collected and used
5. Timeline: The expected total duration of the assignment is from Dec 2016 to August 2017. The number of exact days will be discussed and agreed with the selected consultant later.
III. Qualifications, skills and experience required:
A local NGO or individual consultants with the following background is encouraged to apply:
- University background on forestry or biology.
- Intensive knowledge of forestry sector and NTFP in Nghe An.
- Strong experience with community development and capacity building projects.
- Working experience with local and ethnic communities through livelihood development projects.
- Proven experience in developing training programmes and training materials to local stakeholders and local people in such topics as improved production practices.
- Proven experience in promoting sustainable management of NTFP. Any experience with Bon Bo will be an advantage.
IV. How to apply:
Interested consultants are requested to submit their technical and financial proposal demonstrating their ability to deliver on this assignment and CV to: [email protected] [1] by 8 December 2016 with the title: “Consultant to support management and harvest of Bon Bo seeds”
Key compositions of the technical and financial proposal:
- Understanding the background of the assignment
- Proposed assignment approach, methodology and tools
- Work plan and resource arrangement
- Working package of the consultant with daily rate
- Total estimated costs.
- Relevant publications if any