Call for EOI: Gender Equality & Social Inclusion Consultant - Agriculture Sector

CALL FOR EXPRESSION OF INTEREST (EOI)
GENDER EQUALITY & SOCIAL INCLUSION CONSULTANT - AGRICULTURE SECTOR

BACKGROUND

SNV Netherlands Development Organisation

SNV is a not-for-profit international development organisation driven by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Founded in the Netherlands in 1965, we have built a long-term country presence in over 24 countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Our global team of local and international advisors works with local partners to equip communities, businesses, and organizations with the tools, knowledge, and connections they need to increase their incomes and gain access to markets and basic services - empowering them to break the cycle of poverty and guide their own development. Our work focuses on three sectors - Agriculture, Energy, and Water, Sanitation, & Hygiene (WASH).

SNV has been working in Viet Nam since 1995, and currently has over 30 national and international staff. SNV Viet Nam’s team works hand-in-hand with communities, government agencies, and businesses in more than 50 provinces, including the remotest and poorest areas of the country. We operate from a country head office in Hanoi and regional offices in Ho Chi Minh City and Dalat.

Globally, SNV has committed to the Gender Practitioner Collaborative’s Minimum Standards for Mainstreaming Gender Equality.

PROJECT RATIONALE AND DESCRIPTION

Poverty and vulnerability are predominantly rural phenomena in Viet Nam, and the agriculture sector remains of critical importance to rural socio-economic development, employment, and livelihoods. Viet Nam has become an agricultural powerhouse – a leading global producer and exporter of many key agricultural commodity crops. However, agricultural production in Viet Nam remains dominated by smallholder farmers, who, as the Covid-19 pandemic has shown, are extremely vulnerable to commodity price shocks, market fluctuations and supply-chain disruptions. In addition, Viet Nam is widely recognized as being one of the countries most adversely impacted by climate change due to the large proportion of the population living in low-lying coastal and delta regions and dependent on land and agriculture for their livelihoods.

Building on the success of the "AgResults Vietnam Emissions Reduction Challenge Project” (AVERP) in Thai Binh province, funded by the Australian Embassy in Vietnam, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), SNV Netherlands Development Organisation continues working with government partners at central and provincial levels to design the Project: “Transforming Rice Value Chains for Climate Resilient and Sustainable Development in the Mekong Delta (TRVC)”. Using Pay-for-Results (PfRs) mechanism, the TRVC Project will incentivize and attract the participation of private enterprises in the Rice Value Chain, aiming to scale-up innovative technologies to achieve higher economic outcomes for smallholder farmers (SHFs) and all Rice Value Chain actors, improve rice quality and inclusive social values while reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and mitigating environmental footprints as co-benefits. Thereby, the Project will play a catalytic role in creating the transformation of rice production and trading towards sustainability and bringing inclusive values ??in the most rice-intensive production provinces in the Mekong Delta; actively contribute to the achievement of sustainable and climate-resilient development in the Mekong Delta.

We are seeking an experienced Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) Consultant to lead our efforts to integrate GESI to our pipeline sustainable rice project to be implemented in the Mekong Delta of Viet Nam.

KEY TASKS & RESPONSIBILITIES

The GESI Consultant will report to the Agriculture Sector Leader and the Project Team Leader. S/he is responsible for conducting GESI Assessment and GESI Action Plan as part of cross-cutting section of the Project Design document. Detailed tasks include:

• Following the guidelines of Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Strategy of DFAT, conduct GESI assessments and analyses to inform the design and development of gender-sensitive responsive actions and safeguard for the promotion of low carbon rice farming in the intensive rice cultivation areas in An Giang, Dong Thap and Kien Giang.
• Identification of practical activities to ensure gender and social inequalities are addressed in design of new projects.
• Develop GESI Action Plan (GAP) where appropriate or required according to donor safeguard requirements.
• Identify appropriate GESI targets and related indicators as well as GESI-related monitoring methods for project M&E.
• Contribute and fulfill the relevant part of the risk registration tool vis a vis risk identification and mitigation on GESI.

For more details on the Expression of Interest process, submission requirements, and evaluation details, please see corresponding sections below:

Selection Process

SNV will review all Expressions of Interest received in accordance with the guidelines and criteria in this solicitation. SNV reserves the right to exclude any EOIs that do not meet the guidelines. Please note that SNV is unable to provide detailed feedback to those EOIs that are not selected.

Step 1: SNV will shortlist selected EOIs, and unsuccessful respondents will be notified. Successful applicants will be contacted by SNV.
Step 2: SNV will release Requests for Proposals (RFPs) for the specific activities and contract with the selected organizations/ consultants.

Protection of Information

We request that Expressions of Interest responses be free of any intellectual property that the applicant wishes to protect. Should offerors wish to include proprietary intellectual property that they believe would be helpful for SNV, please note the proprietary nature of such information. Costing information will be kept confidential and will not be shared beyond SNV.

Issuance of this EOI does not constitute a commitment, award, or engagement on the part of SNV nor does it commit SNV to any future commitment or engagement.

Note: SNV reserves the right to change or cancel this requirement in the EOI/or solicitation process at any time.