2023-11-09

Feasibility study of rehabilitation of irrigation canals – Bulaburde district, Hiraan region of Hirshabelle state, Somalia

Bulaburde, Hiraan, Somalia
Posted on November 9, 2023

STS International Solidarity

Feasibility study of rehabilitation of irrigation canals – Bulaburde district, Hiraan region of Hirshabelle state, Somalia

Closing date: 10 Nov 2023

Terms of Reference

Feasibility Study to determine the suitability and possibility of rehabilitation of irrigation canals in Bulaburte District.

Background

STS International Solidarity is a non-governmental organization dedicated to providing lifesaving relief in emergencies and development assistance to the most vulnerable people recovering from conflict, disaster, and the impact of climate change. We believe in the importance of sustainable livelihoods and food security for individuals and communities, and we are committed to improving these critical components of sustainable development.

STS works with communities including women, children, internally displaced persons (IDPs), refugees, and returnees to build resilience that transforms and safeguards their rights and wellbeing through a variety of programs and initiatives. STS has been implementing projects in hard-to-reach areas for over 15 years. Currently STS is working in Somalia districts including in Jowhar, Baidoa, Bulaburte Beletweyne, Marka, Afgoye, Dollow, Kismayu, Warsheikh, Abudwak and Dusamareeb districts.

Project Background

The project emanates from the premise that livelihoods are people’s best defense against hunger and malnutrition: people with resilient livelihoods are better prepared for and can better cope with shocks and withstand crises. Investment in resilience reduces humanitarian needs and allows for a more targeted allocation of humanitarian resources, increasing resilience and reducing vulnerability and needs. In this regard, the attention to the resilience of food systems aims to strengthen the enabling environment in which livelihoods operate and resilience takes shape. Somali farmers lose up to 30 percent of their crop harvests annually due to poor post- harvest storage and inadequate climate smart farming practices which limits potential export growth. Household access to food is hampered by poor crop production amongst other factors. This project specifically looks to address this challenge and support select farmers’ cooperatives to improve production, adopt climate smart production techniques, improve yield management, understand, and leverage market opportunities better.

The project will support the development of cereal grains (maize, sorghum, and cowpea) value chains to improve effectiveness and efficiency for enhanced smallholder farmer’s profitability. Farmers will be assisted in making appropriate production and marketing plans to ensure sustainability and profitability.

To achieve this, the project will support the analysis of the linkages and roles of the different value chain agents (from the producers to the consumers) to identify gaps and opportunities for investments. Second, the project will also focus on capacity building and institutional development of farmers, farmer associations, and public-private partners to enhance skills in production, marketing, business management, and leadership. Strengthened organizations will facilitate producers’ collective access to inputs, credit, output markets, and technical training.

STS working in partnership with WFP will support Small Holder Farmers with a package of activities including (i) training on climate smart agricultural technologies and practices; (ii) rehabilitation of canals through desilting and cleaning which can benefit vulnerable households (iii) improvement market linkages including through training and linkage with agro-dealers, institutional buyers, and grain traders locally. These interventions will improve farming practices and strengthen agricultural production and trade. By connecting these farmers to WFP’s HGSF programmes, the proposed approach will also provide stable markets for local farmers’ produce. The project will be implemented in Bulaburte and will focus on improving production and climate smart technology and practices as well as market linkages in farmers’ cooperatives.

Scope of Work

The objective of this assignment is to prepare a Feasibility Study to determine the suitability and possibility of rehabilitation of irrigation canals in Bulaburte Districts focusing on assessment of the efficiency and environmental impact of the existing system in the District, as well as on identification of possibilities for development of a long-term sustainable solution that would balance the irrigation water demand with requirements for protection of water resources.

The feasibility study shall provide sufficient information for analysis of the main parts/facilities consisting the hydro-irrigation system in Bulaburte District with all its functional elements, operational advantages and disadvantages and identification of possible sections of interventions/rehabilitation.

STS shall make available all available data and information regarding the current situation of the irrigation and drainage system in Bulaburte District, and STS shall make available relevant reports on climate change impact on the water and agriculture sector in the district.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the supervision of the STS Project Development Specialist, Project Agronomist and Project

Engineer, the Contractor shall be responsible for carrying out the following tasks:

• Review information contained in existing technical and other documentation related with hydro-melioration system with Bulaburte District, as well as any older feasibility studies/assessments for rehabilitation of the existing irrigation and drainage system, including also the developed preliminary flood risk assessment for Bulaburte Districts in

order to determine the baseline situation/status of the irrigation and drainage infrastructure in Bulaburte district.

• Carry out a rapid agro-socio-economic assessment, including the performance of the agriculture sector and contribution of the irrigation system to the economy of the communities within Bulaburte District;

• Analyze unit/standard water demand of the region’s main crops; historical hydrology

(precipitation) data; official statistical (agriculture census) data, etc.;

• Analyze and elaborate to enough details at least 3 possible technical solutions for modernization/improvement/upgrade of irrigation and drainage systems in the District that would be based on utilization of modern irrigation techniques, including development of the systems in phases. The technical solutions have to take into consideration the present facilities of the system (e.g. dams, intakes, reservoirs, etc.), operational modality, possibilities for water management optimization in water storage against water distribution for irrigation purposes, the condition of the irrigation and drainage infrastructure including the system of open and closed canals, etc.; The solutions should also consider innovations and technology improvements that will ensure long- term sustainability of the system and would balance the irrigation water demand with requirements for protection of water resources;

• Carry out economic Cost-Benefit analysis – identification of all direct and indirect socio- economic benefits and costs of the project; valuation of the benefits and costs;

• Carry out financial analysis – capital budgeting (investment), O&M and equipment replacement cost; required water tariff structure to cover costs; tariff affordability analysis; project financing options (equity, loan, grants, other); discounted cash flow (DCF) analysis or least-cost analysis; sensitivity and risk analysis, etc.;

• Define the necessary changes, if any, in water management policies on local administration (such as water tariff policy, tariff affordability and other economic instruments) and organizational setup;

• Identify key risk factors and the relative magnitude of project sensitivity on them for the technical solution;

• Present the draft feasibility study to the STS International Solidarity, and other relevant stakeholders with an aim to get feedback on proposed technical solutions for modernization/upgrade/rehabilitation of the irrigation and drainage system.

Main Outputs

A tentative content of the feasibility study would include:

• Technical analysis – inventory of existing infrastructure, irrigation water demand; possibilities for supply of required water quantity (water availability and balances); possible influence of climate change on water demand or supply; applicable technologies for modern/drip irrigation and technology supplier(s); technology-specific requirements

that determine the distribution network layout, water pressure in the system, water filtration requirements, etc.;

• Financial analysis – capital budgeting (investment); analysis of O&M and equipment replacement cost; required water tariff structure to cover costs; tariff affordability analysis; project financing options (equity, loan, grants, other); discounted cash flow (DCF) analysis or least-cost analysis; sensitivity and risk analysis, etc.

• Economic Cost-Benefit analysis – identification of all direct and indirect socio-economic benefits and costs of the project; valuation of the benefits and costs;

• Institutional and Stakeholder analysis – identification of project stakeholders and assessment of their “interest” in the project; recommendations for gaining stakeholders’ ownership of and commitment for the project; organizational, management analysis, etc.;

Qualification Requirements

The Contractor shall have extensive experience in developing and managing complex projects in the field of irrigation development, water resources/watershed management, and environmental/water infrastructure. The Contractor must have a track record of a minimum 3 projects of comparable size and complexity degree (irrigation development, water resources/watershed management and environmental/water infrastructure projects). A list of these projects shall be submitted with the proposal, including contact details for reference checking purposes (e-mail addresses and/or fax numbers for contact persons).

The scope of work requires a multidisciplinary team of skilled professionals with previous experience in similar water resources projects. Team members shall possess excellent relevant technical skills to successfully implement the assignment.

The team of experts shall be able to respond to the requirements of the following mandatory

Team members and/or

areas of expertise

Qualification requirements of Lead experts

**1.**Team Leader

• Advanced universitydegree (minimumM.Sc.)in relevant area (Civil or Environmental Engineering, WaterResources, Environment,Natural Sciences)

• Minimum 10 years of professional experience in similar assignments (development and management of complex irrigation development projects, water resources management,water infrastructure projects and similar)

• Experience of carrying out a similar study inSomaliashall be a strongasset;

• Track recordof minimum5 projectsof comparablesize and degree of complexity(development and management of complex irrigation development, water resources / water

expertise.

infrastructure management projects and similar)

• Team Leader of at least 3 projects of comparable size and degree of complexity

**2.**Agriculture / Irrigation Expert

• Advanced university degree (minimum M.Sc.) in agriculture, land-use, soil science or similar

• Minimum 7 years of experience from complex irrigation projects

• Experience of carrying out a similar study in Somalia shall be a strong asset;

• Experience from at least 5 projects that involve irrigation development, assessment of crop water demand and similar

3. Hydrology/ Hydrogeology/ Hydraulic Engineering

• Advanced university degree (minimum M.Sc.) in civil/hydraulic engineering, hydrology, hydrogeology

• Minimum 7 years of experience from irrigation development, hydraulic modeling, preparation of hydrological / water balance studies

• Experience of carrying out a similar study in Somalia shall be a strong asset;

• Experience from at least 3 projects/assignments that involve irrigation / hydraulic modeling, preparation of hydrological / water balance / flood risk management studies

**4.**Land-use / GIS

• University degree in engineering, computer science, geo- spatial sciences or similar; advanced degree is considered an asset

• At least 5 years of experience from projects/assignments as

GIS/database management expert

• Experience from at least 3 projects as GIS expert

**5.**Agro-economist expert

• University degree in Economics, Environmental Economics, Business, Engineering or similar disciplines); advanced degree is considered an asset

• Minimum 5 years of experience in environmental economics, economic valuation of ecosystem services, cost-benefit analyses of environmental investment projects and similar

• Record of at least 3 relevant projects (cost-benefit analysis of environmental projects: feasibility studies, cost-benefit analyses, environmental economics, economic valuation projects or similar)

Terms and Conditions

The Contractor is expected to establish and maintain close cooperation STS field Team in

Bulaburte and other relevant stakeholders.

• Language

The feasibility study shall be submitted in English.

It is Contractor’s responsibility to ensure high quality proofreading of the produced

documentation. The quality of the documents is subject to STS approval.

• Sources of data

The Contractor has the general responsibility for collecting the required data, evaluating its quality, and incorporating it into the work. STS shall provide available documents and will the facilitate communication with the relevant institutions.

• Duration of the assignment

Maximum available time for completing the assignment is up to 3 weeks upon signing of the contract.

• Methodology

The interested companies/Team of Experts need to develop a methodology describing all of the steps that will lead toward successful completion of the assignment. The methodology will be subject to detailed evaluation and together with the experts’ qualifications and financial proposal will have the key role in the selection process and the award of contract.

• Reporting requirements

The Contractor will report to the STS Project Development Specialist through the Project Engineer. In addition, and when required, the Contractor will be providing regular information on the progress to the relevant STS field team.

• Ownership and submission of data, reports and other material produced

All primary data, reports, and other documentation obtained and/or developed during this assignment shall be made available to STS in electronic format on email. STS has an overall ownership of the outcomes produced but can transfer then to the relevant national entity.

• Payment schedule

The payment will be processed in installments based on the deliverables/milestones defined in the contract signed with STS and in accordance to the company’s proposed methodology and approach.

How to apply

How to apply:

If you have the required skills, experience, and a passion for making a positive impact in

vulnerable communities affected by conflict, disaster, and climate change, we invite you to apply.

To apply, please submit your Technical proposal and Financial proposal to the email

info@stsint.org with the subject line “Consultant- (Feasibility Study to determine the suitability and possibility of rehabilitation of irrigation canals in Bulaburte District.)

Application deadline: [10th November 2023].

Note: Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted for further selection processes. STS International Solidarity is an equal opportunity employer.

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