Consultancy Title: Business Case development for Western Area Peninsular Water Fund
Location: Home based with travel to Freetown, Sierra Leone
Dates: ASAP for 6 months
Background
Catholic Relief Services (CRS) in partnership with the Nature Conservancy (TNC) through the Replenish Africa Initiative funding by the Coca Cola Foundation have initiated a programme aimed at improving drinking water and flood resilience for Freetown, Sierra Leone by promoting collective investment in nature-based solutions (NBS). In Freetown, as elsewhere, the lack of information of possible NBS solutions, their associated costs and beneficiaries’ needs are principal barriers for mainstreaming these investments (UNEP, 2014).
Freetown faces a myriads of water security challenges, including water shortages and flooding. The city is in the Western Area of the country and serves as Sierra Leone’s major urban, economic, financial, cultural, educational and political center. The city perches on steep slopes on the north end of the anvil-shaped peninsula and is around 38 km long and 16 km wide with the city mainly occupying the northern and eastern areas. The peninsular has a very high annual rainfall –more than 4000 mm – and is characterized by a high surface runoff, particularly in the months of June to September. As the city grows, people are pushing into the Western Area Peninsula Forest Reserve (WAPRF) causing massive deforestation and degradation.
Considering the socio-economic importance of the WAPFR in the context of being the only fresh water source for the city and its environs, there is an urgent need to address the deforestation and degradation to safeguard water supply and build flood resilience for the city, not only for the current generation but for generations to come. To achieve this, effective mobilization of stakeholders is needed, including upstream and downstream communities as well as strengthening of governance and structures. This comes with investment needs which must be met through a well-structured collaboration of different stakeholders with interest in the sector.
A consortium bringing together CRS, Ministry of Water Resources (MoWR), Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MoAF, Ministry of Land and Housing (MoLH), National Water Resources Management Agency (NWRMA), National Protected Area Authority (NPAA), Environment Protection Agency (EPA), Guma Valley Water Company (GVWC), Freetown City Council (FCC), and Western Area Rural District Council (WARDC) have determined a need for cost-benefit analysis of possible NBS investment portfolios. CRS seeks to hire a contractor to complete this “Business Case” analysis. The analysis should include the following components and be based on an analytical framework developed by TNC (see Appendix, fig. 1).
Scope of Work
The contractor will assess projected catchment degradation of the Sierra Leonean Western Area Peninsula Forest Reserve (WAPRF) and the resulting effect on ecosystem functions related to water supply and flooding in the absence of a Water Fund (“business-as-usual [BAU] scenario”). Through stakeholder engagement, refine and assess a set of conservation measures to address water supply challenges (“Conservation scenario”). Compare the change in ecosystem function and resulting priority ecosystem services flows between “business as usual” and “conservation” scenarios. Assess the economic value associated with the differences in priority ecosystem services flows between the BAU and Conservation scenarios. Analyze the project finance cost of the conservation scenario over time. Compare benefits and costs of the Conservation scenario to quantify the present value (PV) return on investment (ROI), net benefits, and cost-effectiveness of the Conservation scenario.
Key Deliverables
- Presentation of land use land cover change results and projections to 2050 along with the underlying assumptions used to create the model
- Presentation of the proposed approaches used for the hydrologic, hydraulic, morphologic modelling
- Document of the hydrologic, hydraulic, and morphologic models to be used to generate the BaU scenario to generate outputs for service flows
- Document with hydrologic, hydraulic, and mophologic models on the BaU scenario to generate outputs of target service flows; BaU+ target outputs
- Document with itemized list costing out potential interventions (total cost)
- Document listing the conservation intervention portfolio – and their costs – that will be used to generate a model of the conservation scenario
- Using conservation intervention portfolio, generate conservation scenario model output for priority ecosystem service flows and quantify changes b/w BaU and the conservation scenario
- Document summarizing single & multi-objective cost-effectiveness metrics.
- Technical report, presentation and executive summary, organized by components outlined in Section A (see document attached), summarizing methodology & findings.
- Hi-res JPEG & native files, visuals – all final and native design files should be uploaded to the appropriate Box folder
- Geodatabase containing all spatial data used, the inputs of the models and the resulting products.
Knowledge and Skills requirements
– Master’s degree in Environmental Economics, Geography, Environmental Engineering, or related field.
– Proficient in GIS and hydrologic model development and evaluation
– Knowledge of conservation intervention costs
– Past experience developing Water Funds business cases and conducting Return on Investment analysis
– Experience working with a broad range of stakeholders
– Exceptional writer with expert command of English grammar
How to Apply
For more detailed information on the consultancy, see document attached.
If you meet the entry qualifications and are interested and available to undertake the consultancy assignment, please submit you application to Simon Okoth ([email protected]). Please include an Expression of Interest letter, CV, technical proposal (describing how deliverables in Section B will be produced) and an all-inclusive financial proposal detailing your professional fees and other miscellaneous consultancy costs for delivery the assignment. The selection process will be competitive.
CRS’ talent acquisition procedures reflect our commitment to protection children and vulnerable adults from abuse and exploitation.
EOE/M/F/D/V – CRS is an Equal Opportunity Employer
