Call for EOI: Integrated Planning Specialist

CALL FOR EXPRESSION OF INTEREST  (EOI)

INTERGRATED PLANNING SPECIALIST

BACKGROUND

SNV Netherlands Development Organisation

SNV in partnership with IUCN, UNEP and ICEM are in the preparation phase of a BMUB IKI-funded project Viet Nam Nature-based Solutions for Adaptation in Agriculture through Private Sector Transformation (VN-ADAPT), which is expected to start in early 2023.

The project goal is to strengthen Viet Nam’s resilience to increasingly urgent climate risks by promoting and scaling up nature-based solutions/ecosystem-based adaptation (NbS/EbA) in the agriculture sector. It addresses key barriers constraining the transition to sustainable land use and enables widescale adoption of NbS/EbA in the sector through three interlinked work packages:

1. Improve decision support systems and builds multi-stakeholder partnerships, mobilising key actors around shared visions of climate resilient land use that prioritise the role of nature and ecosystem services.
2. Develop legal guidance for mainstreaming climate and biodiversity objectives in sectoral and sub-national plans and new legislation to incentivise NbS/EbA measures in production landscapes at scale.
3. Catalyse public and private innovation and investment on NbS/EbA in agriculture in two priority landscapes, the Mekong Delta and Central Highlands, which are important in global supply chains of rice, shrimp, and coffee.

Mekong Delta

The Mekong Delta (Dong Bang Song Cuu Long) is a fertile floodplain that is home to over 21m people (21% of national population) across 13 provinces. It has a large, but relatively unskilled, workforce remaining highly reliant on agriculture.

The Mekong Delta is considered among the world’s five most vulnerable deltas under climate change impacts. The region is already changing with increased temperature, rainfall variability and more frequent occurrence of extreme weather events (i.e., severe droughts). In the coastal zones, the subsidence of the river delta leads to increased flooding and saltwater intrusion from the rising sea level making the population even more affected by and vulnerable to climate change. Freshwater throughout the Delta is facing quality and quantity challenges. Water quality is affected by salinization and chemicals runoff. In short, climate change is exacerbating direct anthropogenic drivers of land use change and ecosystem degradation.

Central Highlands

The Central Highlands (Tay Nguyen) economy remains dominated by primary industries and is a strategic hub for the production of a variety of perennial crops. The region has a particular reputation for coffee, and with about 650,000 ha of coffee, accounting for over 90% of the coffee area in Viet Nam and one fifth of worldwide coffee production. Other important crops include pepper, tea, fruits and vegetables, flowers, rubber, cashew and cassava.

The area is highly vulnerable to climate change. The magnitude and frequency of floods during the wet season are expected to increase in the region over the coming years due to more intense rainfall linked to longer and wetter monsoon conditions. Droughts are projected to become more severe due to rising temperatures and rainfall deficits in the dry season, particularly in the northern part of the region. Climate exposure and sensitivity has and will further impact agriculture, through damage to crops, loss of arable lands, decreased agricultural productivity, and overall loss of livelihoods and incomes.

However, the agricultural success in this region has come at the expense of the environment, with large-scale deforestation, water pollution and land degradation taking place. The highly intensive model of production, predominately monocrops with high fertilizer and pesticide use, is taking a toll on the natural environment as well as socio-economic sustainability. Major challenges in this landscape include declining water supply, deforestation, land degradation and improper use of agrochemicals. These impacts threaten the future of agricultural production.

INSTITUTIONAL CONTEXT

The 2017 Planning Law (PL) provides the legal basis for integrated planning at national and provincial levels with a view to increasing accountability, streamlining planning, and reducing unnecessary environmental loss and damage. In addition, there are a range of policies, laws and regulations in Vietnam that regulate and influence planning processes. 

The PL also mandates the use of Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) for the plans developed for relevant sectors and geographies. The SEA technical approach is defined in the 2020 Environmental Protection Law (EPL). An SEA was carried out for the Mekong Delta Integrated Master Plan that MPI completed in 2021.

Implementation of the PL and associated regulations and achieving the goal of integrated planning that integrated environmental and climate change considerations, still face many obstacles including lack of capacity and conflicts of interest.

ASSIGNMENT DESCRIPTION

The consultant will work with national and provincial government agencies to conduct the following tasks:

1. Review results and lessons learned from the implementation of the PL, which requires provinces to prepare integrated, cross-sectoral plans, in five focal provinces that have developed/are developing provincial master plans: Ben Tre, Bac Lieu and Kien Giang in the Mekong Delta, and Lam Dong and Dak Lak in the Central Highlands. The review should consider: the extent of integration across sectors; the inclusion of environmental and climate change dimensions; the negotiation/harmonisation between sectors and their objectives; the utility of decrees/guidance; the extent of public participation, etc.
2. Document the application of SEAs in the five focal provinces, for example in the master planning process, and/or in agriculture, water, and aquaculture sectors.
3. Identify specific opportunities to address gaps and integrate NbS/EbA into provincial, particularly water and agricultural planning and investment in the Mekong Delta and Central Highlands (including new plan development if relevant, e.g. Central Highlands master plan)
4. Based on these tasks, prepare a report with major conclusions and recommendations for VN-ADAPT design with a focus on components related to planning.

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.