Alternative Response Options for Mitigation & Adaptation of Coffee Farms (AROMA) Program At Conservation International

Overview: Program & Consulting Services

1. Background

   Conservation International (CI), in collaboration with the Governments of Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, and Uganda, has developed a Concept Note for a Green Climate Fund (GCF) Global Program entitled Alternative Response Options for Mitigation & Adaptation of Coffee Farms (AROMA) Program (hereafter AROMA or the Program), please see: https://www.greenclimate.fund/document/alternative-response-options-mitigation-adaptationcoffee-farms-aroma-program.

   The AROMA Program will increase the climate resilience of coffee communities in Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, and Uganda while reducing maladaptive geographic expansion of coffee production, resulting in significant GHG emissions reductions. AROMA will utilize holistic, replicable, multi-stakeholder approaches at the farm and landscape level, such as building landscape-wide and farmed-based management and restoration plans; as well as building global and national finance mechanisms to address the most critical needs of vulnerable local communities, governments, and the private sector. The Program will engage the private sector, including large coffee companies, and governments to increase scale of impacts and ensure the sustainability of the project. The AROMA Program seeks to achieve a paradigm shift to climate resilience for smallholder coffee producers and support the development of low-carbon pathways for the coffee sector.

2. Program Objectives

   The AROMA Program is designed to increase the resilience of coffee communities while mitigating the risk of expansion of coffee’s carbon footprint in participating countries (overall impact), while providing a framework, suite of tools, and financial mechanisms that can be applied and replicated in additional geographies within participating countries and in other coffee producing nations.

   The goal statement of the Program is as follows:

   IF enabling conditions, knowledge management, and improved financial mechanisms are in place; THEN vulnerable coffee communities will be empowered to achieve a low emissions development pathway that improves smallholders’ resilience to climate change while reducing onfarm GHG emissions and clearance of standing forest; BECAUSE coffee farmers will have the tools and resources to adapt to climate change and private sector investments will be effectively deployed to incentivize improved production.

   Because smallholder farmers and policymakers will improve landscape management planning and policy, there will be improved production, increased ecosystem services, and reduced expansion of coffee areas into standing forest. The Program also seeks to support sustainable growth and productivity of smallholder farmers and their communities in perpetuity.

   Program Outcomes:

   1. Landscapes have the enabling conditions to become climate resilient.
   2. Climate resilience increased for smallholder farming households.
   3. Private sector engaged in climate-resilient and low-carbon coffee supply via global coalition (Sustainable Coffee Challenge).
3. Overview of Consulting Objectives, Terms of Reference, Deliverables and Deliverables Schedule Conservation International (CI) is seeking consultancy services provided by a suitably qualified consulting firm or organization (for simplicity, referred to as “Consultant” in this document) to contribute to the development of a GCF Funding Proposal for the Program based on the Concept Note described in Section 1 of this RFP. The Funding Proposal (FP) development work will be funded in part by CI co-financing and in part by a GCF Project Preparation Facility grant to CI (“PPF Grant”).

   The Consultant’s work will be subject to the requirements of GCF and its fiduciary agent, the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS), as included in the eventual contracting agreement.

   The PPF Grant includes work on four PPF activities:

   1. PPF Activity 1: Pre-feasibility and feasibility studies
   2. PPF Activity 2: Environmental, social and gender studies
   3. PPF Activity 3: Program design
   4. PPF Activity 4: Identification of program-level indicators

   The Consultant will support CI and its partners to: develop feasibility studies; design interventions; develop indicators; provide detailed recommendations and information on environmental and social safeguards, gender mainstreaming, economic and financial impacts; develop the implementation timetable; and conduct stakeholder engagement with the countries participating in the Program as described in this TOR for PPF Activities 1-4 (collectively, “PPF Activities”). The consultant shall ensure alignment with GCF policies, frameworks, and Funding Proposal requirements. Work is expected to begin no later than March 2025 (subject to prime donor funding) and proceed according to the delivery schedule included in Section 5 below. The Consultant will report to, liaise regularly with, and take technical guidance from Conservation International’s Center for Sustainable Lands and Waters (SLW). SLW staff will supervise the Consultant’s performance and be responsible for review and acceptance of all written deliverables. The Consultant will also conduct its Activities in close consultation with CI, CIVentures, the governments of the participating countries and the AROMA program partners: CIMexico, TechnoServe (Guatemala and Honduras) and the Uganda Coffee Development Agency (UCDA/Ministry of Agriculture). The Consultant will incorporate feedback from the stakeholder engagement process, CI technical experts, the CI-GCF Agency (acting as the PPF and Program GCF Accredited Entity [AE]), and the GCF. Payments for all deliverables are subject to approval by both SLW and the CI-GCF Agency.

   The consultancy will preferably be carried out by a team of professionals under the supervision of a Lead Consultant and include sub-contracted national consultants with relevant experience based in each country in order to successfully complete the deliverables for PPF Activities required by CI to develop the Funding Proposal. The consultancy objectives, responsibilities, outputs and required qualifications included in Section 5 have been organized under fields of expertise but can be re-arranged depending on the team composition proposed by the Consultant. CI values consortia that are inclusive and diverse in composition, leveraging the breadth of national expertise in the Program countries to best achieve the consultancy aims and objectives. While the consultancy is 24 months, all deliverables will be drafted within 14 months of signing the consultancy agreement / contract. The consultant(s) shall undertake revisions based on CI and partner feedback during months 16-18, and will be available to address any feedback/requested revisions from the GCF Secretariat and the GCF’s ITAP during months 18- 24

4. Minimum Requirements

   The make-up of the consultancy team is expected to include the following positions/areas of expertise to be effective in producing quality deliverables:

   a) Team Leader

   b) Professional Specialist in Environmental and Social Safeguards

   c) Professional Specialist in Gender

   d) Professional Specialist in Monitoring and Evaluation

   e) Professional Specialist in Economics and Financial Studies In addition to the key positions above, which may be either international or local consultants, CI anticipates that the consultancy team will also include additional consultants based in Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico and Uganda (referred to as national consultants in this RFP) to ensure the project meets the local needs and the context in these countries. Local consultants should be fluent in the local language(s).

   Minimum qualifications and experience for all positions include:

   a) Postgraduate or other advanced university degree in area of expertise (at least master’s level, or equivalent, in biology, ecology, sociology, economics or related social science).

   b) Demonstrated analytical ability, project design, and proposal and/or report writing skills.

   c) Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English.

   d) Competence in the use of standard Microsoft Office applications (Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint).

   e) Strongly preferred: Experience working in Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico or Uganda or similar-type countries on climate change mitigation and adaptation programs, coffee sector and smallholder farmer interventions, sustainable financing, Indigenous Peoples’ issues and/or environmental sustainability issues.