Consultancy Service for Piloting Information Access for Shrimp Farmers on Improving Farming’s Practices and Productivity in Ca Mau Province

TERMS OF REFERENCE
Consultancy service for piloting information access for shrimp farmers on improving farming’s practices and productivity in Ca Mau Province

Country:          Vietnam
Organisation:    SNV - Netherlands Development Organisation
Project:           Scaling up Mangrove EbA in the Mekong Delta (MAM2 project)
Location:          Ca Mau, Tra Vinh province
Duration:         10 January, 2018 – 30 July, 2018 (indicative 90 days)

I.  Background to the assignment

SNV Netherlands Development Organisation has been working in Vietnam since 1995. Using market-based approaches and SNV’s Balancing Benefits framework for gender equality promotion, SNV is committed to reducing poverty by catalysing environmentally sustainable solutions for low-income people in agriculture, energy, water & sanitation, and REDD+.

Southeast Asia has lost half its mangroves over the past 30 years, primarily as a result of clearing for shrimp ponds.  This has serious consequences, as mangroves protect against tidal waves and storm surges. They are vital fish nursery-grounds, provide timber, honey, and other products and raise land levels by trapping sediment.  They also sequester carbon faster than any other forest type.  Healthy mangroves thus make important contributions to both climate change adaptation and mitigation and form the basis of coastal ecosystem-based adaptation.

The “Scaling up Mangrove EbA in the Mekong Delta” (MAM2) project is funded by the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU), and implemented by SNV and IUCN in coordination with Ca Mau, Tra Vinh, Ben Tre Provincial People’s Committee (PPC). This project builds capacity of local stakeholders (Aquaculture/forestry sectors, local authority, private companies, and farmers), improves livelihoods of mangrove – shrimp farmers on degraded mangroves by promoting shrimp certification and restoration, provides policy recommendations on Payments for Ecosystem Services on Aquaculture and creates enabling conditions for accessing climate change funds. The project’s focus sites are in Ca Mau, Ben Tre and Tra Vinh.

The MAM project, SNV-Vietnam Agriculture programme has been cooperating with Ca Mau Provincial People’s Committee/Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, seafood enterprises, Forest Management Boards and shrimp households in Ca Mau since 2012.

II.        Consultancy service description:

1.    Assignment Objectives and Outcomes:

The MAM2 project is now seeking a national specialist to improve access to information for shrimp famers on weather, water management and market prices in order to improve farming practices, in Ca Mau, Tra Vinh province.

The specific objectives of this assignment are:

• to improve access to information for shrimp farmers on weather-related risks, weather forecast information and shrimp market prices;
• to improve shrimp farming management by reducing risks from water supply (cross-contamination of shrimp farms and polluted input’s water sources).

The outcomes of this assignment will be: improved shrimp farmers knowledge and practices in farming for improved productivity and incomes of farmers to adapt to climate change risks.

2.    Scope of the assignment

The project aims to establish pilot areas in Nhung Mien Commune in Ngoc Hien District, Ca Mau and in Long Khanh Commune in Duyen Hai District, Tra Vinh province in order to replicate this to all project areas involved, such as Tra Vinh and Ben Tre.

The selected consultants will apply/access existing public weather information sources, market price information available in the provinces and monitored and/or water quality factors available in the provinces.

3.    Methodology/Tasks

• Review current needs for information of shrimp farmers in MAM’s project sites (Ca Mau, Tra Vinh, Ben Tre);

• ­Design information system for collecting, editing and transferring information to farmers (environment, water, prices...):
  
  • Measured sites/points;
  • Factors for monitoring;
  • Timing;
  • Information transferring.

• Testing/mobilizing demands/feedback on the suitability of the designed information system to match the needs of the target group (shrimp farmers) in pilot sites (Nhung Mien, Long Khanh) by testing information services at households;

• Conduct 2 trainings for local stakeholders (communes, local associations), farmers in project sites; and related district, provincial departments (about 50 participants/each training);

Detailed tasks

• Develop a geodatabase of shrimp ponds, canals, water quality and shrimp farmers’ information in focus project areas for linking and sharing information
  
  • Select the base map;
  • Site selection, environmental factors and timing interval for measurement of water quality information;
  • Weather forecast (at least 3 days) - Analysis from existing sources (for example: wind, rain...);

• Design Short Message Service (SMS) for simple text-based instructions and/or Mobile Application for users on shrimp farming information:
  
  • Forecast weather information for stocking;
  • Water management information warning for shrimp farming (discharge, input) for improved water quality and shrimp productivity;
  • Market price information;

4.    Deliverables:

All deliverables should be both in Vietnamese and English with the following content:

• A proposal for fulfilling the assignment that includes methodology, design, monitoring and work-plan and estimated costs for the whole package;
• Technical report on creating/improving access to information for shrimp famers on improving shrimp productivity in Ca Mau province (at least 8 pages). In which, first draft must be submitted before: 30 June, 2018 and final draft will be 30 July, 2018
• All relevant data, maps collected;
• An information Database of weather-related risks, weather forecast information, water information; shrimp prices;
• An information transfer system (SMS Mobile phone text message) that can provide advance on shrimp market and early weather warning information from database for users on shrimp farming
• Conduct 2 trainings for local stakeholders (communes, local associations), farmers in project sites; and related district, provincial departments (about 50 participants/each training); Consultant will provide training materials and PowerPoint presentations for training (in soft copy) in July, 2018;

5.    Timeline:  This work should take place within a period not exceeding 90 working days, between 15 January, 2018 and 30 July 2018.

III.      Qualifications, skills and experience required:

The consultants should demonstrate expertise and capacity in the following areas:

• At least Bachelor's degree in IT, GIS or other related subjects; having at least 4 – years’ work experience in the above areas;
• Understanding of mangrove shrimp farming and related sectors/ technical areas (water monitoring, weather and so on);
• Capable to work with community, local stakeholders and farmers;
• Excellent facilitation and communication/training skills;
• Having capacity of reporting in Vietnamese and English in technical reports.

IV.       How to apply:

Interested consultants/ firms are requested to submit:

• Detailed proposal demonstrating the ability to deliver on this assignment, included financial proposal, area survey, logistical support etc. during implementation of this assignment; Estimated working days to provide the deliverables.  Support will be provided by the SNV Field Coordinator, partners in the Provinces, Forest Management Boards (FMBs) on carrying out field activities and working with local farmers.

Components of the technical proposal:

• Understanding of the assignment
• Proposed assignment approach, methodology and tools
• Work plan and resource arrangements
• Team roles and specific tasks

Annexes: CVs of team members, relevant publications or other evidence of relevant capacities

Components of the budget proposal:

• Package rate of the work and daily rate of each member
• Operational and support costs
• Total estimated costs

Deadline for proposal submission: January 10, 2018

Interested applicants are invited to send their completed proposals via email to: [email protected]