81277377-Decentralized Water Resources Management & Water Resources Protection in Zambia

Description

Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH has been commissioned to implement the project "Sustainable Water Resources Management and Agricultural Water Use" (communication title: "Accelerate Water and Agricultural Resources Efficiency", AWARE). The overall objective of AWARE is to enhance climate smart water resources management and efficient agricultural water use for smallholder farmers in the Lower Kafue Sub-Catchment in Zambia, applying a gender sensitive approach. The project is implemented in conjunction with the "Support to the Sustainable Commercialisation of Zambia's Smallholder Farmers" programme through co-financing by the European Union (EU) and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and has a runtime from February 2019 to September 2023. In April 2021, the project has been expanded by an EU Addendum with a specific focus on Integrated Watershed Management (IWsM). Several work packages of the project are currently processed in parallel by GIZ with direct implementation as well as different sub-contractors. With regards to decentralized water resources management, some activities remain to be implemented together with stakeholders in Zambia. To promote these and to fulfil the IWsM project focus that came with the recent EU Addendum, consulting services from a Contractor are required. The focus of the services will be on identifying suitable areas for sustainable extension of irrigated agriculture and for Catchment Protection Measures (CPMs), on supporting the implementation of CPMs, and on developing and implementing a sustainability concept for Water User Associations. Besides providing a team of long-term and short-term experts, the Contractor shall facilitate the procurement of equipment services by third parties for this purpose. Close coordination and consultation with the GIZ project team in Zambia will be required. Lot 1: A Contractor is required to provide consulting services related to AWARE with its overall objective to enhance climate smart water resources management and efficient agricultural water use for smallholder farmers in the Lower Kafue Sub-Catchment in Zambia, applying a gender sensitive approach. The Contractor shall contribute to AWARE"s Outputs 2 (16 strategic Catchment Protection Measures (CPMs) implemented by Water User Associations (WUAs)) and 3 (4 active and representative Water User Associations in the Lower Kafue Sub-Catchment). Specific importance shall be given to the process of the establishment of 10 Integrated Watershed Management (IWsM) and CPM sites through the WUAs and communities. Furthermore, the Contactor shall assess feasible alternatives for the Cash for Work (CfW) approach to undertake parts of the construction works (i.e. digging of trenches, re-shaping of gullies), for instance as part of IWsM Road Maps. Tasks of the consultancy are clustered into three work packages, namely Water User Associations (WUAs), Integrated Watershed Management (IWsM), and Lower Kafue Sub-Catchment (LKSC). Specific tasks related to WUAs include the development and implementation of a sustainability concept for WUAs including income generation opportunities and services, the development and implementation of a concept to monitor water abstraction and quality, and capacity development. Specific tasks related to IWsM include the support to the establishment of 10 IWsM and CPM sites through WUAs and communities (including IWsM Road Maps), the development of alternative community-based implementation modalities to CfW, and the publication of a "Compendium on Integrated Watershed Management and Catchment Protection in Zambia". Specific tasks related to the LKSC include identifying 10 sustainable irrigation expansion areas, updating the LKSC Management Plan, and supporting the approval of the same. The Contractor may be a single firm with local branches or a consortium of various consulting firms. The involvement of local consulting firms from Zambia within subcontracting or joint venture arrangements is permitted and desirable. The overall duration of the Contract shall be 18 months (anticipated from 1st February 2022 to 31st July 2023).