- BACKGROUND1.1 About Expertise France:
Expertise France (EF) is a public agency part of the AFD Group, merging six agencies under the supervision of the French Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Economy and Finance with a strong inter-ministerial vocation. EF offers programme engineering and technical assistance by developing and implementing international cooperation actions worldwide. EF operates in various development and institutional cooperation fields, including safety and security reform, post-crisis/stability, public health, human rights, strengthening of institutions and NGOs, and governance.
Expertise France designs and implements projects which aim to contribute to the balanced development of partner countries, in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda and the priorities of France’s external action.
1.2 About Expertise France in Syria:
Since 2013, Expertise France has been implementing direct non-humanitarian assistance programmes across Syria. EF developed and implemented several stabilization projects targeting conflict-affected communities in Syria through local Syrian NGOs and CSOs with whom EF built strong partnerships. Expertise France’s main fields of intervention cover the following sectors: health, livelihoods, early recovery, and support to civil society.
2. PROJECT COMPONENTS AND RESULTS
Supported by the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs, the Syria Area Based Integrated Recovery (SABIR) project is implemented since 2020, in defined geographic areas in the North-East of Syria. The project is aiming at improving (I) access to essential services through public infrastructures rehabilitation (II) access to livelihoods opportunities, support to agriculture, livestock, technical and vocational education, training, entrepreneurship, (III) enhanced social cohesion and finally (IV) strengthened social capital by delivering tailored capacity building activities to local partners.
The SABIR project’s overall intended impact is to contribute to addressing the post-crisis recovery challenges to pave the path towards sustainable development. The sub-objective of SABIR IV is to build more resilient local communities towards greater stabilization in the northeast of Syria.
2.1 SABIR phase IV (2024-2026) specific objectives are:
- Access to basic services is enhanced through the rehabilitation of public infrastructure.
- Local communities have improved access to inclusive and sustainable livelihoods opportunities.
- Social Cohesion has increased in areas where a diversity of communities and sociodemographic live.
- The capacities of local partners are strengthened to implement project activities and improve community engagement.
3. OBJECTIVES OF THE ASSIGNMENT
Within the framework of SABIR IV, Expertise France has invested in the rehabilitation of water and electrical infrastructure and supported the livelihoods of vulnerable communities through technical and vocational education and in-kind support to small-scale businesses and farmers. These interventions have brought tangible short- to medium-term benefits in Northeast Syria, especially across Al-Hassaka, Raqqa, and Deir ez-Zor governorates.
However, the region faces growing environmental and climatic pressures, particularly recurrent droughts, decreasing water tables, increased evapotranspiration, and shifts in seasonal rainfall—which pose serious long-term risks to the sustainability and effectiveness of these interventions. While SABIR has supported communities to recover from conflict and economic instability, climate change now presents a new, complex layer of vulnerability that could undermine those gains.
This study is commissioned to fill a critical knowledge gap: there is currently limited localized evidence on how climate change is concretely affecting water availability, agricultural productivity, and the adaptive capacity of smallholder farmers and rural systems in this region. Without this evidence, it is difficult to design interventions that are not only recovery-oriented, but climate-resilient and future-proof.
Expertise France is therefore commissioning a thematic study to assess the impact of climate change on water resources and agriculture in Northeast Syria, with the aim of generating evidence-based insights to inform adaptation and mitigation strategies and ensure sustainability of interventions under changing climatic conditions.
The specific objectives of the assignment include, but are not limited to:
- Assessing the vulnerability of rehabilitated water infrastructure (under SABIR IV) to current and projected climate related risks (e.g. drought, temperature rise, seasonal variability), and identifying practical adaptation strategies for sustainable water management.
- Analyzing the effects of climate change on agricultural productivity in the targeted areas, with attention to changes in cropping patterns, water availability, and soil degradation.
- Identifying environmental and socio-economic factors (internal and external) that influence resilience and adaptive capacity of farmers and small-scale producers.
- Identifying and documenting practical adaptation and mitigation practices relevant to water and agriculture in Northeast Syria, to support climate-resilient program design and policy formulation.
The study is expected to contribute to the strategic orientation of similar type of Expertise France projects in Syria in the future, by identifying climate-sensitive approaches that build long-term sustainability and climate resilience into ongoing and future interventions.
4. METHODOLOGY AND APPROACH
The selected service provider will adopt a mixed-method approach that combines both quantitative and qualitative data collection. The research approach will also be a participatory approach from different perspectives. As such, the data collection could be through but not limited to desk review, geospatial and climate change data analysis, stakeholder consultations, and field-level assessments. The methodology must ensure the generation of context-specific, evidence-based, and actionable insights to guide future climate-resilient programming in Northeast Syria(Al-Hassaka, Raqqa, and Deir ez-Zor governorates).
The following components are expected to guide the methodological framework:
4.1 Desk Review and Secondary Data Analysis
Review relevant national and international climate reports, vulnerability assessments, and environmental strategies (including Syria’s Nationally Determined Contributions(NDCs), water/agriculture policies, and climate risk profiles).
Identify climate trends and projections in the region based on global and regional datasets (e.g., IPCC, FAO, NASA, Copernicus, or other relevant sources).
4.2 Climate and Agro-Ecological Mapping
The consultant will carry out a desk-based review of existing geospatial and climate data from credible sources (e.g., Copernicus, FAO, NASA, UNOSAT). The aim is to summarize key insights related to water availability, land use, crop zones, and vegetation or rainfall trends in the three target governorates (Al-Hassaka, Raqqa, and Deir ez-Zor). The consultant should specify the locations analyzed and clearly state the limitations of available data. This task is intended to provide contextual understanding, not detailed mapping, in line with the scope of the current study.
Overlay climate risk maps with agricultural production zones to identify high-risk areas.
4.3 Stakeholder Engagement
Conduct Key Informant Interviews (KIIs) and Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) with local farmers (especially smallholders), community leaders, agricultural extension workers, water station managers, local authorities, and NGOs operating in the target governorates on the impacts of climate change perceived so far and the adaptation and mitigation measures adopted by the stakeholders.
4.4 Field Data Collection
- Collect qualitative and quantitative data from a sample of farming communities and water infrastructure sites..
- Assess farmers’ perceptions of climate change, adaptive practices, changes in crop yields, water availability, and exposure to climate-related shocks.
4.5 Data Analysis and Final Report
- Analyze qualitative and quantitative data to identify patterns of climate vulnerability and resilience.
- Use climate modeling tools and scenario analysis (where possible) to project future risks and impacts under different climate conditions.
- Conduct cost-benefit or risk analysis of recommended climate-smart interventions from a household or community-level perspective.
How to apply
8. APPLICATION
Applications should include:
- Technical proposal/offer: motivation, methodological approach, and human resources (CVs for key personnel should be attached), gender balanced teams are recommended. The consultancy firm and the team leader should have the following:
- Local or international organizations experience with a capacity to operate in Syria independently from the contracting organization.
- Have an active network of workers and contacts within Syria.
- Previous experience conducting technical research and evaluation works in NES (with track record and references)
- Coordinated team, through existing TPM, NGO, or association of able individuals.
- Demonstrated systematic and consistent roles and responsibilities between the team members.
- Demonstrated experience with quantitative and qualitative research, data management and statistical data analysis.
- Strong understanding of humanitarian and evaluation ethics and a commitment to ethical working practices.
- Action-oriented and evidence-based approach and strong drive for results.
- Highly developed self-management and communication skills.
Team leader:
- Master degree or higher in environmental science, climate science geography, water resources or sustainable agriculture or other relevant field.
- Minimum 10 years’ experience, in design, monitoring, management and evaluation of development projects and programs.
- Experience in leading research teams. Excellent inter-personal, teamwork, and crosscultural communication skills
- Experience in working with government agencies (central and local), civil society organizations, international organizations, and donors in Syrian context.
- Experience working in rehabilitation of public infrastructure, livelihoods activities and economic recovery is a plus.
- Experience in Syrian context and understanding of development context and challenges in Syria is an advantage.
- Excellent command of the English language, spoken and written.
- Planning schedule: As part of the technical offer, the framework contractor should submit the assignment workplan with a precise timeline (to be finalized in the Inception Report).
- Detailed Financial proposition; including and detailing all costs related to travel, logistics, etc. The financial proposal should not exceed 25,000 EUR
- A sample of previous works
- Names/references of past clients
- Complete and submit two specified documents — Sworn statement on exclusion criteria, the absence of conflict of interest and safety questionnaire.
- All inquiries related to this call for submissions must be sent via email to erbil.office@expertisefrance.fr no later than August 16th, 2025, at 11:59 PM (Baghdad time). Expertise France will provide responses to all submitted questions within five (5) working days, or sooner where possible. To ensure proper processing, the email subject line must be clearly stated as: Question_SABIR.
- Interested applicants are required to submit their applications, along with all supporting documents, no later than August 30th, 2025, at 11:59 PM (Baghdad time) to erbil.office@expertisefrance.fr , with the email subject line clearly stating Climate Change Research.
- Please be informed that our email server can receive files up to a maximum size of 9 MB. Applications exceeding this limit will not be delivered to the tender email address. Therefore, it is strongly recommended to compress your application into a ZIP file or submit it via an easily accessible online platform to ensure successful delivery.For comprehensive information on the application, kindly refer to the following link, which provides access to all relevant application documents in full detail: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1XEmSnJgFpp6B1SiRMAku3lud7v1VAW40?usp=sharing
